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| Hello From the Editor |
Every spring, it happens. The days get longer and we feel the primal urge for a reset, usually in the form of a workspace cleanup or a more ambitious total home refresh. If we fight the urge and don’t do it, then we’re left feeling disgruntled and out of sorts (No? Just me?). It’s far easier to lean into the experience, which has been around long enough that a spring-oriented clean is built into the traditions of both Nowruz and Passover. Of course that’s the case: the cleaner your desk is, the more mental space you’ve got. The physical experience of organization, of casting off the excess baggage that you’ve let pile up over the previous year, opens your mind and keeps you inspired.
For this issue of The Good Hour we thought we’d celebrate the reason for the season (okay, okay, not THE reason, but A reason), by giving you some tools, tricks, and tips for priming the right side of your brain by allowing the left side to do its thing, getting you ready to dive into a new season of artistic growth with a clear head and an organized workspace.
– SAM HOCKLEY-SMITH, GUEST EDITOR
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| 1 |
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| We Tried It |
| Refresh your workspace this spring |
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| 2 |
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| New/Now/Next |
| Cat Coquillette on visual trends and incorporating them into her work |
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| 3 |
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| Q&A |
| Siobhan Twomey and Rich Armstrong create using unexpected tools |
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| 4 |
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| One Small Practice |
| Kickstart your creativity in 10 minutes |
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| 5 |
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| Final Thought |
| Give mom the gift of time back |
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| Give your workspace a much needed organizational refresh this spring.
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Some links in this email are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you make a purchase.
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| Cat Coquillette Pink Cherry Blossoms Wall Art Print: |
| Why we like it: Besides being a Skillshare mainstay, Cat Coquillette’s art and prints are available all over the world, and there’s a reason for that. Coquillette’s pink cherry blossom print is the perfect piece to spruce up your workspace, plus it allows you to enjoy the almost surreal beauty of the iconic spring flower without having to navigate hordes of tourists. |
| Why it might not be the right fit: Maybe you don’t like flowers? |
| Verdict: Nothing says spring like fresh art depicting spring flowers to hang on a wall near your freshly cleaned desk. |
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| At Home Magazine Holders |
| Why we like it: We get it, print magazines are not exactly common household items anymore, and we all know why that is. But also, we’re pretty sure you’ve got some, and we’re certain that if you revisited them you’d find a wealth of artistic inspiration and unexpected source material. Get one of these magazine holders—we’re partial to the sage green and pearl blush colors, which’ll give a vintage pop of color to your workspace—and suddenly your space will feel fresh and new.
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| Why it might not be the right fit: You hate physical objects and want everything to exist inside of your computer. You only own really tall magazines. |
| Verdict: These are affordable, come in colors we actually like, and do wonders to tidy up your workspace. |
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| Plum Paper Planner |
| Why we like it: It’s a physical object, but it’s entirely customizable. We’re willing to hazard a guess that if you mainly use your phone or computer’s calendar or internal planning tools, you like them because you can fit them into the shape your life takes, rather than vice versa. This Plum Planner offers a wealth of options to tailor the planner to your unique needs, so that you can glance at it quickly, without having to toggle between tabs or move from screen to screen.
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| Why it might not be the right fit: You want complete integration with all of your devices. You can’t read your own handwriting.
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| Verdict: Physical planners are still extremely useful, even if you rely on what’s on your computer screen. Make one that matches your needs, and feel your brain declutter. |
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| Pegboard Organizer |
| Why we like it: We’ll just say it—pegboards have got to be the most underrated organizational tool out there right now. It doesn’t seem like that should be the case, but here we are. Adorn it with little shelves for plants, pens, and small pieces of artwork. Your stuff will be visible, but not cluttered.
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| Why it might not be the right fit: If you’ve got limited wall space, or you are an extremely austere person who doesn’t want to look at anything but the work in front of you.
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| Verdict:Everyone could use a pegboard, and this one is customizable and simple to set up. Go for it!
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You may know Cat Coquillette as one of Skillshare’s Top Teachers (check out her new class—Design to Shine!), or maybe you recognize her vibrant prints from when we recommended them earlier in this newsletter, or you’ve already got some of her work in your home. Whatever the case may be, Cat is great at hitting on the creative zeitgeist of the year. We caught up with her to talk about visual trends and how she incorporates it into her work in organic ways.
What visual motifs are on your radar for Spring 2026?
I publish a free trend report every year and I am genuinely obsessed with forecasting.
Water gardens and frogs were a big call in my trend report this year, and I got to watch it validate in real time when the Dior AW 2026-2027 show happened in early March at the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. They built out a full water garden set with artificial water lilies floating on the pond, frog-shaped minaudières, lily-pad earrings, and water lily heels. It was so fresh and creative, plus a full-circle moment for my trend report.
Beyond that, I'm watching horses in a big way (hello, Year of the Horse), a resurgence of Paisley, olives and martinis, bag charms and cute spot illustrations riding the bag charm trend, and alternative animal prints like cow, tiger, fawn, and zebra.
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For our second installment of Creative Recess, the video series where we challenge Skillshare creators to, well, challenge themselves to create using unexpected tools, unconventional prompts, or new ways of working, we asked artist and entertainer Siobahn Twomey and multi-hyphenate artist Rich Armstrong to not only create new work using methods they hadn’t previously tried, but also had them try to make each other laugh. You’ll see how that went in the full video, but in the meantime, read an enlightening excerpt about creativity below.
I’m curious…what surprised you?
Siobhan Twomey: When we started with the inside out prompt, I thought, okay, I’m just going to see what happens. See what emerges. And that helped me through all the rest of the prompts. So even when I was panicking, going, “I have no idea what I’m going to draw,” the drawing comes through once you get something on the page.
Rich Armstrong: I think that what surprises me consistently is when there’s a timer involved, it’s like…let’s just go. You’ve just got to create. You kind of bypass the fear instinct and the perfection instinct and you just create, and then now you can throw things away or edit it—change it. I’m very curious about how Siobahn’s doing, her drawing, her painting. I think that for me was the biggest surprise. It’s like, Oh I actually quite like working with people, but not on the same thing.
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| Creative Recess: Siobhan Twomey and Rich Armstrong battle human-generated prompts |
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We’re back! Another week, another prompt that’ll kickstart your creativity and open your brain to new possibilities. This go around, we invite you to travel back in time to the ancient days of elementary school, where you probably spent more than a few hours doodling in the margins of your worksheets. Were those moments boredom-induced or were they bits of creativity breaking containment? The answer is actually a bit of both.
Doodling is magic like that. It’s a low-stakes way to rev up the creative part of your brain. Sometimes as adults it’s hard to recapture that magic, which is why we’re recommending Toby Haseler’s class, Learn to Draw Flowers — The Art of One Line Floral Doodling, which is exactly what it sounds like.
Here’s your prompt for the day. Do this no matter what your practice is —this is about opening up your mind and getting those creative juices flowing.
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