Finding Beauty in Styles You Love and in Yourself

The Allure of Cottagecore

Firstly, lets get into the style that I gravitate toward and why. I hope this will help you identify the styles you like and understand what draws you to them.”. Even when I thought I knew what styles I liked in the beginning, I had a very hard time nailing down the common threads of the things that I liked so that I could use those similar ideas as inspiration for my own artwork and style.

    For me, Cottagecore has always spoken to something deeper—a connection with nature and the quiet, often overlooked beauty of woodland creatures. In fact, I’ve written about how animals like mice and opossums, often misunderstood or overlooked, hold a special place in my heart because they embody resilience and gentleness (more on that in my post “Spirit Animals and the Beauty of the Misunderstood: Mice, Opossums, and Woodland Creatures”). 

These creatures often make their way into Cottagecore aesthetics, whether it’s through charming forest scenes or as symbols of quiet strength. Their presence in art reminds me of the soft, magical undercurrent of this style, and how it draws me in, not just because of its outward beauty, but because of the deeper, often hidden meanings behind the visuals.

     I’ve also always loved supernatural, magical, and mythical motifs. While Cottagecore isn’t typically known for mythical components, it does have a magical, whimsical atmosphere with hidden meanings, which I enjoy incorporating with more mythical elements.

As for the full style of Cottagecore, it tends to have a very soft palette as well as very soft and natural textures. I gravitate towards pastel colors which tends to fit nicely into the Cottagecore world as well as very warm natural colors as well.

       In closing, even though I have always loved Cottagecore, it took me a long time to pinpoint what I liked about it so that I could start incorporating elements into my own art.

Newer Love: Art Nouveau

While Cottagecore speaks to the heart with its simplicity and whimsy, Art Nouveau offers a different take on nature -one filled with elegance and intricate details. Let’s dive into how I started exploring this newer aesthetic and what I found in it.

Not too long ago I started noticing some art on Pinterest that I really liked but I didn’t love. I started to look into this new style and tried to learn more about what it is that I did like about it, even though there were larger elements that I also didn’t like about it. I didn’t let the things that I didn’t love about it stop me from figuring out what I did like so that I could incorporate it into my own work.

     To be more specific,. I noticed that Art Nouveau included very natural elements that I liked, but it incorporated them in an entirely different way than Cottagecore. This style flourishes in the elegant flowing of natural elements as well as intricate patterns that are also inspired by nature. Now, these intricate patterns go against the simplicity of what Cottagecore is, but thankfully I am not planning on fitting into a specific style category – instead I plan to pave my own way and make my style, my own!

    There were a few things I didn’t like about Art Nouveau, but I’m not letting them deter me. For example, Art Nouveau often portrays feminine figures in a very vintage style, which doesn’t resonate with me.. But just like Art Nouveau, things with a vintage vibe tend to be a hit or miss – it ends up being something I either really vibe with or truly just don’t like.

     In the end, I have started pooling these different interests together to start to blend them into my own style and voice.

The Journey to Your Own Creative Voice

Now it’s your turn!

Let me help you start your journey into finding your own creative voice. I truly believe that your creative voice will develop over time and it isn’t something that you have to rush into or even push to try and find for yourself. I do believe, though, that through exploring your creative voice and the things that inspire you, this will help you expand your inspiration pool, it will help you tap into the soul behind the art that you love. Even if it doesn’t immediately unlock your creative voice, it will help you weed out other things that you maybe tried and aren’t at the heart of who you are.

1) Build a Collection of Art That You Like

     So how should you start this journey you may ask?  First, I suggest going on social media—wherever you usually browse art—and as you scroll (no doom scrolling!), screenshot any pieces that truly call out to you. Don’t just pick something you ‘kind of like’ or something that sparks a random idea; choose art that resonates with you and evokes emotion (even if you don’t fully understand what you like about it yet).

2) List the Traits You Like About Each Piece

   Next, after you have captured a few inspiration images, let’s say 10 or so, put them together all in one place. Then, get a journal or a text document out and just write what you think about these artworks, both the individual pieces and the things that you find in common between them. What draws you in? Is it the color, the style, the vibe? Maybe there’s a particular theme or motif that resonates with your own life or experiences. Don’t filter yourself or try to think about the “right” thing or what you’re “supposed” to write during this process, just journal and express what feels right to you. It’s all about embracing yourself and your thoughts – letting yourself be free

3) Reflect on Your List and Find Connections

    Phew! Now that we did all that mental heavy lifting, let’s do some reflection. Take a step back and look at your list/journal entry and see where the dots connect. Think about where common threads keep showing up, whether that is content, color, style, vibe, composition, or any other aspect of the art. 

Think about why these elements matter to you. What feelings do they evoke? Do they remind you of a place, a memory, or a dream? Reflect on both the pieces as individual artworks and as a collection—what themes connect them? Are there things you love but wouldn’t necessarily want to include in your own work? 

Don’t just think about what you like—focus on what truly moves you and why. Also, when you put together this list of ideas, make sure not to filter yourself-don’t think about what you think you can or can’t do, just think about what you would be interested in trying (because you won’t know if you even can if you haven’t let yourself try).

4) Start Experimenting With Your New Ideas

    The last and most important step is to start experimenting and playing! Take all the ideas you liked and let them inspire you. Find ways to mix and match these ideas and experiment with how they can blend together.Once you start trying out these different ideas, keep in mind to keep YOURSELF in the art too. Always make your art true to you, nothing is truly “original” anymore, everything comes from somewhere, but every single person is also unique –  things that make you, YOU, are different ways that you can make that art true to you even when you take inspiration from other art styles!

5) Do This Exercise Over and Over Again

     One last little practical tip is to not let that first list be the one and only time you do this exercise. We’re constantly changing and adapting, and so are our tastes, and that’s okay. Sometimes the first batch of art you collect may not give you exactly what you’re looking for—maybe you were too open with your choices—and that’s fine. Just go back and collect more art. If scrolling through your feed isn’t working, it’s time to dig deeper.

6) Dig a Little Deeper

   My suggestion for doing this is by finding an image on Pinterest-this is where I like to do this-and search things that you like. Once you find that one piece that really speaks to you, scroll down and look at the recommendations and see if any of those styles have things in common that you like. 

From here, keep going down the rabbit hole collecting more and more specific artworks that you can use to analyze the styles that you like.

    Throughout this whole process don’t let yourself get intimidated by imitating the art and the styles that you have found. The point of this practice is for experimentation and exploration NOT for imitation. Use all the pieces and ideas that you collected to inspire and use as a stepping stone along your journey, not as an end goal.

Embracing the Unknown in Your Creative Journey

   Throughout this whole process you have to let yourself get out of your comfort zone. One of the biggest keys to finding yourself in your art will be to allow yourself to explore – and it’s not really exploring if you aren’t pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. 

  Honestly, I am right there with most of you – I HATE pushing myself out of my comfort zone – it’s anxiety inducing, scary and just not comfortable! So, I completely get it. But I’ve also learned that the best things in life are meant to be worked for;if it was easy to do then everyone would do it and even though everyone technically can do art if they want to, not everyone can make the art that YOU can and will make.

       If you don’t let yourself explore outside of your comfort zone then you may be holding yourself back from creating the art that only you can make and you will only discover this version of yourself by exploring the most open and authentic you.

Conclusion

       The beauty of artistic exploration lies in the freedom to draw from whatever inspires you most. Whether it’s the rustic charm of Cottagecore and the flowing elegance of Art Nouveau, each style holds a piece of your creative puzzle. 

What I want YOU to try to do is to embrace these influences, not as destinations but as stepping stones to discovering your own voice. You don’t need to mimic what’s come before; instead, let these styles be what inspires something new and personal in your own work.

    As you continue this creative journey, remember that your voice is uniquely yours, shaped by the styles you love, but defined by how you weave them together into something only YOU can make. So go ahead, experiment with what speaks to you, mix and match, and most importantly—trust in the process. The art you create will not only reflect the beauty of the styles you admire but also reveal the beauty within yourself.