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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.
Read MoreLast 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.
Read MoreLast night we got back from vacation, a trip to Ohio to visit Matthias’ family. We had a wonderful time. it was great to get away, to relax and have fun with family.
Read MoreI’ve mentioned before that I’ve been enjoying practicing yoga with Adriene, whose free videos I watch on Youtube. She often says “a little goes a long way.” It’s an encouragement to add yoga into your life, even if only in a small way.
I’ve been thinking about the idea of a little going a long way, not just in terms of yoga, but in all areas of life.
Read MoreSomehow September is here. Schools are back in session. It’s feeling more and more like fall. BUT, it’s technically still summer. And I want to hold onto summer as long as I can.
Read MoreI wrote that phrase in my journal this week to describe my garden, but I think it’s a good phrase to describe what I want life to be right now.
Read MoreI wrote the words “Shake Things Up” at the top of the page in my notebook this week. I’ve been working on a plan to reinvigorate my art-making as lately I’ve been feeling a bit off.
Read MoreI sit in the garden and watch the robins taking turns on the nest in the birch tree. The nest is perched in a crotch of branches high above my patio. It doesn’t look very secure, but I’ve watched it hold tight when its windy. One robin swoops to the branch and the other plunges away. A few minutes later they switch. And switch again.
Read MoreLast week I wrote about how making time for doing nothing, for rest, and for savoring the joys of summer is important for well-being and creativity.
And then a funny thing happened.
Read More“Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
—Henry James
Ah, summer. Here in Wisconsin summer is well and truly here.
Read MoreI’ve been feeling so inspired lately. My garden is providing me with abundant painting ideas, but more than that, it seems everywhere I look I see beauty and find encouragement from people who are living authentic, creative lives.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreThis week I painted bleeding hearts with the paint I mixed last week.
It’s lovely to be working with flowers from the garden again. But it’s also been a bit frustrating trying to get back into a groove of art-making and gardening and all the other stuff that life demands.
Read MoreIt’s another rainy day today. Last week I wrote about making time for the garden, but since then I haven’t been able to spend much time outside. It’s been too wet and cold.
I’ve been thinking a lot about patience. I’d say I’m a fairly patient person.
Read MoreI haven’t yet gotten around to painting more tulips. I’ve been a little busy. But also standing firm against overwhelm. I’m determined to take my days slow and to enjoy the spring. Oh how I love this time of year. The relief from winter. Being able to play with flowers and dig in the dirt.
Read MoreOver the past week I was painting tulips. I’ve painted tulips before. Even earlier this year from a grocery store bouquet.
This time I was so excited to be working on a painting with flowers from my garden. The first time this season.
Read MoreI came back from a trip to Seattle at 2 am on Wednesday morning and since then I’d been struggling to get back into the swing of things.
That is, until I realized that I could let go of the pressure to do, do, do and give myself time to rest and readjust.
Read MoreI’m taking a little break and soaking up some inspiration.
I hope you are taking time to savor life’s joys, whatever you might be doing. Even on an ordinary day we can find things to celebrate.
Read MoreToday I’m taking over the Carve Out Time for Art Instagram account. I’m so honored to have been asked to share my day with that creative community. Carve Out Time for Art was created by Marissa Huber and Heather Kirtland and this is what they have to say about it:
Read MoreMy friend Ruby recently wrote a blog post about reclaiming the word creativity and it got me thinking. To be honest, it fired me up. I love discussions like this. I love thinking about and talking about creativity. I wrote a response to Ruby on her blog and then I thought I’d take my thoughts and craft them into a blog post of my own to extend the conversation.
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