A bit about me

Hi there, I’m Terri Conrad — an artist, surface pattern designer, teaching artist and lifelong believer in the power of creativity to bring more joy, beauty and meaning into everyday life.

For the past 18 years, I’ve had the wonderful privilege of creating and licensing my art for home décor, gift, stationery and fabric. What began with a handful of art supplies, no formal artistic training and a whole lot of determination grew into a creative career I could never have imagined when I started.

And somewhere along the way, my relationship with creativity began to change.

I realized that making art wasn’t simply something I did for a living. It had become one of the ways I returned to myself.

Painting, cutting paper, making marks, playing with color and following my curiosity became a daily mindfulness practice — a place to slow down, quiet the noise, notice what I was feeling and reconnect with the parts of myself that can so easily get lost in the busyness of everyday life.

These days, I’m less interested in creating something perfect and much more interested in what happens when we give ourselves permission to create simply for the pleasure of creating.

I believe creativity can be playful and beautiful, but it can also be restorative. It can help us become more present, more curious and more connected to ourselves. Sometimes a brushstroke is just a brushstroke. And sometimes it tells us something we didn’t know we needed to hear.

That belief is at the heart of what I’m creating now.

Through my in-person workshops and YouTube videos, I’m sharing the experience, techniques and creative wisdom I’ve gathered over nearly two decades as a working artist — while encouraging you to loosen your grip on the outcome, trust your own instincts and discover what creativity might offer you.

You don’t need to consider yourself an artist. You don’t need special skills or expensive supplies. And there is absolutely no “right” way to do this.

Just a willingness to begin.

My own work continues to be inspired by flowers and gardens, collected treasures, beautiful papers, pattern and color, the romance of everyday life and the imperfect beauty of things made by hand. I paint, collage, journal, experiment and follow whatever happens to be calling my attention that day.

And yes, I still create and license art. That chapter remains an important and much-loved part of my creative life. But today, the canvas has become a little larger.

I want to create art that brings joy into the world and create spaces where others can experience the joy, connection and self-discovery that making art has given me.

Because I’ve come to believe creativity isn’t something reserved for artists.

It belongs to all of us.

Come create, discover & grow with me.