October’s creative coffee date with Jess Greenleaf and Samantha Dion Baker was a lovely reminder of why we make art in the first place — not just to create beautiful things, but to stay connected to ourselves.
Samantha has a gift for blending the ordinary and the artful. She’s the illustrator and author behind several beloved books, including, most recently, Draw Your Adventures (affiliate link). Last Friday, Sam joined Jess and me to talk about her sketchbook practice, which emphasizes joy in the moment. You can watch our conversation below, then keep reading to find a written overview and important links:
Sam talked about how keeping a sketchbook is as much about awareness as it is about art, and how daily drawings help her stay connected to the present moment. She shared how sketching simple, ordinary things can become an anchor in busy times, and how that practice helps to keep creativity alive even when life feels chaotic.
If there was a takeaway from this part of the chat, it’s that you don’t need a block of time or a grand plan to stay creative. Just show up, even briefly, and let those minutes add up. That’s how you build a creative practice that lasts.
Throughout the course of our conversation, Sam explained that she layers watercolor (or colored inks), pen, and handwritten notes to capture the feeling of a subject than the technical precision of it. That led to a lot of talk about specific supplies, and we promised to post links. Here they are:
We also compared favorite pages from Draw Your Adventures. Sam chose pages 6, 15, and 142; mine is page 92; and Jess picked pages 106 and 154. Each of us found something that resonated within those pages.
Sam also shared her “70/30 Rule,” which I suspect will stick with many people (myself included). In order to make any creative practice a habit, most of your time, about 70%, should be fun and carefree. That could mean thirty minutes of doodling lines, swatching colors, or drawing stick figures and flowers. The remaining 20–30% should challenge you because that’s where growth happens. Keeping the majority of your creative time joyful ensures that your practice stays meditative and sustainable.
Samantha also shared details about her upcoming 2026 Sicily Sketching and Drawing Retreat, which sounds like a Mediterranean dream. She explained that she began teaching in Sicily because Fabrizia Lanza, owner of the Anna Tasca Lanza cooking school and author of Food of Sicily (affiliate link), reached out to her one day in 2019. The two creatives kept in touch throughout the pandemic, and once things cleared up, Samantha hosted her first retreat. She’s been returning annually ever since!
Thanks to everyone who joined us live; these inspirational chats are always one of the highlights of my month! We’ll be welcoming Sam back in January to talk about the habits that keep creativity alive all year long, and I hope you’ll join us then. In the meantime, keep creating, keep experimenting, and don’t forget to have fun with it. Thanks so much for watching/reading!
Warmly,
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