Flower Stories

One of the things I love most about making and sharing art is forging connections around the beauty and joys of flowers. Over and over again my customers have shared their personal stories of certain plants or flowers.

Sips of Inspiration

I am so excited to finally be sharing a project I’ve been working on for a while. First in the dreaming stage, more recently in the DOing stage.

And today with an official announcement.

creativity, inspiration, gratitude, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraMarch 6, 2020interviews, Sips of Inspiration, A new interview series, Youtube, artist interviews, inspiring women, inspiring people, inspiration, creativity 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

Getting Out of the Box

The other day my cousin Sarah* shared a post on Instagram which was a part of a longer piece she shared on her blog. In it she wrote “stepping out of the box I decided I was going to do something to treat me.” Although her words were about the importance of doing something for yourself, what kept running through my head was idea of stepping out of the box.

gratitude, joy, magic, creativity, lifeAnne ButeraOctober 11, 2019mindfulness, mindfulness practice, beauty, beauty is not insignificant, being open to change, being flexible, being present, cats, rescue cats, black and white cats, greyhounds, retired racing greyhounds, animals help us be present, Magical Mindfulness, Jools Sinclair, Sarah Venema, studio, art practice, art studio, gratitude practice, gratitude, transformative power of gratitude, joy, Joy Lists, art by Anne Butera, anne butera, nasturtiums, dahlias, spiderwebs, gardening, gardens, cooking, fall, autumn, autumn in the garden, making soup, making bread, making art, sketchbooks, nature, healing power of nature, magic in nature, observing nature, beauty in nature, stepping out of the bos, stepping out of the box, getting out of the box, boxes we create for ourselves, schedules, routines, liitations, breaking free from limitations, self care, self-imposed limitations, creativity is self care, treating yourself Comments

An Opening Reception

Last night was the opening reception for my show at Viva Gallery in my town of Viroqua, Wisconsin. The gallery is an artist cooperative with 23 (I think) members and each month it hosts a guest artist. I’m the guest for the month of October.

Why Joy?

I talk about JOY a lot. The word is up there in my logo. It write about JOY in my blog posts. I describe my paintings with the word and when you sign up for my newsletter I send you a set of Joy Lists as a thank you. On top of that, I call my newsletter a JOYLetter.

2018 -- a Year in Review

Reviewing a whole year is a hard thing. Once you sit down to do it you realize how slippery a year can be. How difficult to contain with words or even photos.

gratitude, life, paintings, studio, fabric, creativity, bloggingAnne ButeraDecember 28, 2018new year, year in review, word of the year, accomplishments, creative accomplishments, artists, sewing, crochet, studio, paintings, press, being present, gratitude, Anne Butera, 2018 Comments

On Dreaming Big

When I first started writing a blog and named it My Giant Strawberry one of the things that appealed to me about that name was how it spoke of my big dreams. Back then I had a lot of dreams, but I never imagined I would begin painting or that painting would become a main focus for me.

The Answer to Slowing Down? Gratitude

How is possible that Thanksgiving has already come and gone? If you celebrated it, I hope it was peaceful, joyful and filled with love.

It seems I’m always pondering how fast time is flying by and how I’m not able to keep up with it. Am I the only one? Do you feel this way, too?

seasons, life, gratitude, artAnne ButeraNovember 23, 2018gratitude practice, gratitude, giving thanks, slowing down, being present, mindfulness practice, mindfulness, gratitude is the answer, thanksgiving, joy, seasons, changing season Comments

notes from the studio