From Skunked to Slayin'!

The Watercolor Wizardry Journey with Zarah McIntosh: From Skunked to Slayin'!

In this heartfelt episode, host Zarah McIntosh shares a candid update from her personal growth and artist’s journey in Idaho, blending stories of fishing adventures, garden inspiration, and transformative moments in building her online art business. Discover how Zarah finds creative alignment and motivation—from navigating setbacks on the riverbank to capturing everyday beauty in blooming flowers and strategic garden planning.

As the visionary behind the Watercolor Wizardry Academy, Zarah opens up about the importance of authenticity, starting over in business, and teaching hyper-realistic watercolor techniques to empower artists at every level. She discusses hands-on learning, beta testing for her new academy, the role of daily storytelling, and the joys and vulnerabilities of building a business straight from the heart.

Tune in for inspiration on topics like:

• Creative mindset and overcoming artistic blocks

• Building confidence through hyper-realistic watercolor art

• The value of community and beta testing for online courses

• Using Kajabi for course hosting and growth tools for artists

• Nature and garden moments that fuel artistic vision

Plus, hear stories from Zarah’s daily life—like testing new fishing spots, finding joy in both success and failure, connecting with friends, and capturing beauty in nature—all influencing her watercolor practice and community-building approach.

Whether you’re an artist, creative entrepreneur, or simply looking to align your passions with your life’s work, this episode offers encouragement, practical tips, and a behind-the-scenes look at the Watercolor Wizardry journey.

Subscribe now, connect with the Watercolor Wizardry community, and join Zarah as she transforms creativity into confidence—one story at a time.

Keywords: Zarah McIntosh, Watercolor Wizardry, creative journey, artist story, hyper-realistic watercolor, art teaching, online art academy, Kajabi, creative entrepreneurship, fishing in Idaho, daily growth update, nature inspiration, watercolor techniques, beta testing, art community, building from the heart, gardening inspiration, mindfulness for artists.

Zarah [00:00:00]:
Hey. Just wanted to talk to you guys about what we did yesterday. So we went out fishing, and, yeah. So what we have over here in I'm in Idaho, and we have checkpoints for fishing because they're checking the boats for shellfish. They don't want it transferring over to because it's an invasive species. So they're checking for a specific shellfish, on all the boats that go into the river or the lake. So anyway, so we were at the checkpoint, and they were talking about how people were catching brown trout, lately in the river that we were going into so to, you know, go for that if if we were interested. And so the first half of our day, we went to the spot where they were saying, you know, people were reporting they were catching brown trout.

Zarah [00:00:51]:
And we were trying. We didn't really have gear for specifically for brown trout. I don't know if there's even a difference. We normally just fish for, like, small mouth bass for fun, and we like it for, like, all you can eat fish and chips and stuff. So we fished, oh, I don't know how long, like an hour, hour and a half, and just kinda slowly fishing the bank. And nothing. Like, nobody even got a bite at all. And, yeah.

Zarah [00:01:19]:
So we were like, okay. Time for a change. So we went to the spot where I know that smallmouth bass, love, which is rocky. They like rocky areas. So we headed over to across the river to the other side where it was rocky and a bit deeper. And the first part of the day wasn't you know, didn't nothing was happening. But then my honey got a fish, and it was a good one. It was a nice sized fish, beautiful fish.

Zarah [00:01:49]:
So he got that, and then I got one, I believe, or maybe not. I think I did get one. So we're one one to one. And then he started catching, like, back to back fish, and he got up to five. There our limit here is six. And so I knew that it oh my god. If I don't catch up, we're gonna go home, and I'm just gonna have one and he's gonna have five. And that's not gonna happen.

Zarah [00:02:16]:
No. Just kidding. At least I'm gonna try. So the the when I knew, like, come on. You know? You gotta you gotta cash. You gotta cash. You can't go home yet. So I go, you know, to cast my line and everything, and a whole section, I noticed, was, like, unwound from the reel, so I had to straighten out my line.

Zarah [00:02:43]:
So I let my line drop all the way to the bottom and then just, you know, started to unravel the reel so I can reorganize everything and rewind the reel with the line without the a whole section was out. I don't even know how that's possible, but somehow that happened. So while I was straightening out my line, which took a while, like, it took, I don't know, like, at least ten minutes, I would think, because I was unknotting things, and it was a lot of line that I had to take out. And I don't know how things like that happened. But anyway, while I was working on that, I noticed that my line, like, had a pull to it. So I was like, they're checking out my bait. I'm not even moving it because I let it drop to the bottom. They're actually messing with my bait.

Zarah [00:03:34]:
So, you know, I just focused on clearing up my line and, you know, making sure everything was good. So I reel it in, and lo and behold, there was a beautiful fish on the other end. So that was cool because I wasn't even I didn't even try to fish. I just let it drop to the bottom. So after that happened, I was like, wait a minute. They're below the boat. They're just right under the boat probably, you know, for the shade because it was full on sun. You know? Who knows? You know? So they're at the bottom.

Zarah [00:04:07]:
So I was like, okay. And there was a fairly strong current because it's spring summer right now. So, you know, the river has it always has a current to it, but it's a it's extra it's a little extra fast right now. Not too fast, but fairly fast. So the fishing is, you know, because your bait is lightweight so it gets carried off, so you have to kind of let it drop a certain way so that your line doesn't get pulled by the current and your bait never gets very deep. So, anyway, so I started learning how to get it to just to sink down. Right? So so I let the line sink all the way down. And when I noticed that it's no longer sinking, then it start reeling, you know, slowly and kinda teasing.

Zarah [00:04:56]:
And and now I started catching fish, like, back to back. So my honey was at five, and I managed to hit my limit at six before he got to his next fish. So that was awesome. I don't know if he if he did that on purpose to let me win. I don't know. But so that was really fun. And so when I got to my limit, I started coaching our friend, John, because he was still at zero. So I I started walking him through, like, just let it drop.

Zarah [00:05:25]:
Like, notice how the current is pulling it. Just, let the line go and let it drop down. And then when you notice it stops dropping, then you start moving it. You know? It was about 12 feet deep or so, maybe nine, ten, around there. And, and he finally catches his fish, and then my honey caught his limit. And then we had been out for quite a bit, and it was pretty hot. So after that, it was pretty much time to go. But at least everybody got a fish, and it was so great.

Zarah [00:05:56]:
So that was a great day. And, yeah, happy ending even though the beginning was really pretty sad because nobody had not even a bite. So but we did we did get to fish an area that we'd never fished before. We don't normally go to that side of the the river, because it's a muddy side. We don't unless unless it's, because we have a railway also by the river. So on the the areas where the railroad is close to the shore, there is rocky areas. So we fish that and we get fish there. Anyway, that was it was a fun day.

Zarah [00:06:35]:
Yesterday was a super fun day. We had a great a lot of fish, big fish. So that was that was a lot of fun. Yeah. And I just wanted to share I know there's no watercolor. Nothing about watercolor, but I had a fun day yesterday, and I took a bunch of pictures. I just kinda let the day be. So in the morning, I took pictures of more irises that was starting to bloom.

Zarah [00:06:59]:
They were dark purple ones just outside the house. And then I kinda walked around the garden that we have, and we have chives that are just totally, totally blooming right now. They're so I took some close-up shots of that. And then Honey needed to go to the hardware store, so I went with him. And they had a garden center, and so I actually went there and took pictures of the flowers that they had. So I had I have pictures of clematis, rose, just, you know, little roses, and, what is that? Honeysuckle, which I'm excited about because I love honeysuckle. The smell of honeysuckle. Oh my god.

Zarah [00:07:37]:
We had a honeysuckle, a wild one in Edmonds. And, you know, when I come home from work I would always smell it in the summer and springtime. So I kind of miss that and I'm excited about planting a honeysuckle somewhere strategically so that when I walk outside I can smell it. That's the goal. Right now we have lilacs and from the shop to the house I can smell the lilacs, which is awesome. But I'm trying to figure out where would be a good spot for honeysuckle to grow. Yeah. So that's the dream.

Zarah [00:08:11]:
More flowers. Yay. So yeah. I will let you go. Oh, this is longer than I was anticipating. Okay. I will talk to you guys tomorrow. Alright.

Zarah [00:08:19]:
Bye.