About Hop-A-Long Studio

Hop-A-Long Studio was founded in 2019 as a platform to help people find wholeness and self-care through creativity. Through art techniques, projects, and inspiration my hope is to help you build or improve your self-care routine through creative practice.

How Can I Help You?

Creativity can be so much more than creating beautiful objects or art. It is also a way that we can express deep emotions and learn more about ourselves.

Creativity can be expressed in a variety of ways, but my favorite is the art journal. Using an art journal is a great way to practice art techniques and gain confidence in your creative skills. But more importantly it is also a private place for us to reflect, share our thoughts and discover the things that we value.

When visiting Hop-A-Long Studio, I hope that you feel inspired and gain confidence in your art skills through these tutorials and projects. My desire is that this will help cultivate a creative self-care habit in your own life. This is meant to be a safe space to develop your creativity and explore the things that are important to you.

I will also be sharing my personal life lessons and the things that I am learning through my artistic practice. My hope is that this will be helpful to you, and that we can walk together through this journey of creativity.

About the Artist

My name is Nadine Milton, and I am a mixed media artist and creative storyteller living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I have always loved expressing myself through creativity and have pursued a variety of creative practices throughout my life. These include photography, music, scrapbooking, art journaling, and painting with watercolors and acrylics.

As a life-long learner, I have taken a self-directed approach to my art education. By studying under a variety of artists through weekly classes and workshops along with my own creative exploration, I continually work on improving and broadening my skills. I believe that we can learn so much from each other. The creative journey is something that should be experienced in community with others.

Why Focus on Self-Care?

I spent most of my working life in corporate business environments, with high stress and fast paced work. I learned early on in my career that a creative artistic practice was necessary for me to be able to find restoration and rejuvenation after the busy workdays. We all need an outlet. A chance to use a different part of our brains to slow down and find restorative rest.

A few years ago, I went through a very challenging time in my career. I experienced complete burn out for the first time in my life. I ended up being so sick that I couldn’t work for more than a year. This was a huge wake up call for me. This caused me to evaluate what I wanted for life, including a career. I needed to figure out how I was going to recover and stay healthy. I had to learn to cultivate habits so I could care for myself both mentally and physically.

Through this journey I spent a lot of time working in my art journal and finding creative restoration. I was always a creative person, but I came to the realization that art and creativity were important for my health. It was no longer just a hobby or interest that I fit in when I had time.

Over time I was able to regain my health, and from that experience decided to start this website to help others. My goal is to inspire you, help you and encourage you to find wholeness and self-care through creativity.

Why is the Studio Called Hop-A-Long Studio?

The inspiration for the name “Hop-A-Long Studio” came from watching my pet rabbits playing. One moment they are incredibly brave; running around the house, chewing everything and are incredibly confident and bold. The next moment they are hiding and fearful, jumping at every little sound. So fearful that something is going to eat them.

They remind of how we can feel at times. There are moments of bravery and courage. But also moments of fear that can paralyze and prevent us from moving forward.

I chose the name Hop-A-Long Studio because it’s a reminder that we can be both fearful and courageous.  Every step (or hop) forward is a learning experience. If we give ourselves the space to learn, to make mistakes and grow, this can help us find wholeness and self-care. Our lives are a journey, it can be exciting and scary but also so incredibly fulfilling.