ADHD Artist Watercolor | Finding Peace Through Creative Chaos

There's something beautifully honest about watercolor that mirrors life itself. You can plan, prepare, and hope—but once that brush touches wet paper, the paint has its own ideas. After fifteen years of working with this medium, I've learned that fighting against its nature only leads to muddy disappointments.

Living with ADHD means my mind often feels like those first chaotic moments when pigment hits water—thoughts bleeding into each other, ideas flowing in unexpected directions. For years, I saw this as something to control, to contain. But watercolor taught me a different approach.

The best paintings happen when I stop trying to force the outcome and start dancing with the medium instead.

In my South London studio, surrounded by half-finished sketches and coffee-stained palettes, I've discovered that chaos isn't the enemy of beauty—it's often its birthplace. Those happy accidents, the unexpected color bleeds, the way light catches a wet wash at just the right moment—these are the gifts that planning alone could never deliver.

This philosophy extends beyond the easel. When commission clients ask for something 'exactly like the reference photo,' I gently explain that watercolor's magic lies in its interpretation, not replication. We're not creating photographs—we're capturing the feeling of a place, the memory of light, the essence of a moment.

And sometimes, that requires surrendering to the beautiful chaos of watercolor's unpredictable nature. In a world that often demands control and certainty, watercolor teaches us the grace of letting go—and finding peace in the process.