Savoring Summer and Embracing Creative Play

Hello my friend!

Summer has arrived in full force and my garden continues to enchant me every day.

What's Going on in the Garden July 2021

The purple poppies have been stealing the show around here lately.

Late Summer Garden Update

Won’t you join me in the garden today?

As slowly as 2020 seems to be progressing, the summer is certainly speeding past. I can’t quite get my head around the fact that it’s already late August.

fabric, garden, joy, life, seasonsAnne ButeraAugust 21, 2020garden, garden assessment, late summer garden, butterflies in the garden, monarch butterflies, tiger swallowtail butterflies, red spotted purple butterfly, monarch butterfly on verbena, tiger swallowtail on zinnias, garden harvests, gardening, garden joy, gardening for wildlife, gardens, garlic, zucchini, summer squash, cube of butter summer squash, cube of butter yellow zucchini, eggplants, herbs, tulsi, holy basil, japanese beetles, japanese beetle damage, japanese beetle damage on roses, skeletonized leaves, plum tree, raised beds, cinder block raised beds, hog panel trellis, small gardens, urban gardening, container gardens, growing tomatoes in containers, Stellar tomato, Tasmanian Chocolate tomato, Roadster tomato, geranium kiss tomato, purple poppies, lauren's grape poppies, breadseed poppies, poppies, bachelor buttons, calendula, saving seeds, tomatoes, patio gardening, cosmos flowers, sunflowers, surprises in the garden, verbena bonariensis, Spoonflower Design Challenge, Wallpaper design, climbing vines wallpaper challenge, spoonflower climbing vines wallpaper challenge, botanical wallpaper design, botanical fabric design, surface pattern design, fabric design, Spoonflower, spoonflower wallpaper, Spoonflower contest, spoonflower fabric designer, spoonflower fabric, watercolor, watercolor paintings, botanical watercolor paintings, clematis paintings, clematis, clematis wallpaper Comments

2019 Year in Review (& Thoughts About a Decade)

Another year has drawn to a close. Another decade, too. On January 1, 2009 I wrote in my journal: “2010. Wow. Seems so futuristic.” And here we are in 2020, even more futuristic-sounding.

But I don’t want to jump into 2020 without spending some time considering 2019 first.

life, creativity, studio, sewing, paintings, gratitude, joy, artAnne ButeraJanuary 3, 2020word of the year, year in review, 2019, 2020 Calendars, 2020 desk calendars, art, painting, goals, intentions, 2020, welcoming the new year, growth, Grow, GROW, greyhounds, retired racing greyhounds, challenges, life, life challenges, watercolor paintings, a year of paintings, a year of watercolor paintings, joy, handmade joy exchange, failure, being unafraid to fail, learning from our failures, art dreams, art by Anne Butera, artist, art exhibit, Viroqua Wisconsin, Viva Gallery in Viroqua Wisconsin, Rooted Spoon, Rooted Spoon Kitchen Table, Rooted Spoon Culinary Viroqua Wisconsin, Viroqua Healing Arts Center, McIntosh Memorial Library, embroidery, sewing, spoonflower garment sewing, fabric design, Spoonflower, studio, art studio, sketchbooks, sketchbook practice, Sketchbooks, Dana Barbieri, collaboration, collaborative sketchbook, artist collaboration, yoga, yoga mats, Youtube, skillshare, Skillshare, sketchbook class on Skillshare, Skillshare classes, Skillshare teacher, teaching on Skillshare, Anne Butera's Skillshare classes, gouache, creative journey, creative journeys, garden, gardening, garden joy, looking back, looking forward, dreams, don't give up on your dreams, dreaming big, creative dreams, big dreams, moving from dreaming to doing, living your dream, making our creative dreams real, making your creative dreams real, going for your creative dreams, grow, intention, inner critic, Sonya Philip, Yoga With Adriene Comments

growing inspiration: tomatoes

So far my Growing Inspiration posts have been about flowers. Of course I love flowers. I love growing them and painting them. I love cutting them for the house and watching the butterflies and bees and hummingbirds visit them in the garden.

But one of my very favorite things about the garden is eating from it.

growing inspiration: violas

In my first Growing Inspiration post I wrote about nasturtiums. If there’s a flower I’ve drawn and painted more than the nasturtium, it might be the viola.

They always have a place in my garden.

notes from the studio