Hello! If you subscribe to my postcard newsletter you know I was very excited about trying out a new show this weekend! I went yesterday and it was lovely but I can’t make it back today and regret not mentioning in the postcard to check my website for updates. Since I am a one-person business this does happen occasionally that I can’t follow though. I apologize for any inconvenience!
Spring 2024
Winter 2023-24
Fall 2023
I had a wonderful time at Newport Autumn Fest. I appreciate everyone who came to my booth and enjoyed my books. I finished Rust this season and was happy to share it at a show. Thanks to everyone who took a copy home!
Here are the moments I captured in pictures this season. I’ve been cleaning out my studio to make room for new work while also making lots of watercolor experiments.
This winter I’ll be working on Landscape Diaries and illustrating a compilation of poems too small to be their own books. Sign up for my newsletter if you would like to get updates, thanks!
Summer 2023
A year ago I started selling at Portland Saturday Market and moved in with my boyfriend. It was a lot of change at once, but all very welcome. I had wanted to do the market in my 20s and at age 48 I finally got around to it. I had the best time. I wanted it to replace my day job and at the end of the market season I had to reflect on that goal. (cont. below)
It seemed the things I needed to do to make the market my living were moving me in the opposite direction of what I wanted artistically. My books are my greatest passion and they were only a tiny slice of the income I brought in. Also while all the market prep was fun it took up most of the time I used to have to paint. I decided to spend the coming year working on my books, getting deep into my abstract paintings and drawings, and hopefully finding a few indoor art sales that would be a good home for my work.
It’s been a busy and fulfilling year making 2 new books, working on 3 more new books, enjoying family life, traveling with my fellow to Greece and England, getting COVID, starting a new job that is a better fit for me than the old one, planting flowers and ferns. I found a couple new art sales I’m excited to apply to but would like to find more bookish events.
Even though I miss the market I am glad I decided to let it go for a while to collect my thoughts and feelings about art and money. I am all-for artists making money but for me the art needs to come first. In retrospect I wish I had gone there without needing to make money. To just show up with my books and a few original paintings and talk to people about how beautiful nature is. How beautiful humans are even though we don’t always act like it. I may still have taken this last year off, maybe I would have lost interest sooner but I think it would have moved me more in the right direction. I am contemplating whether I could have a re-do next year. I’ll keep you posted of course. Thanks so much for reading!
Week Night Studio
This has been my studio during my day job work nights latelyđź’ś I am enamored with simplicity so even though my closet is still crammed full of paintings and my project table is slightly organized chaos I love spending the evening on the couch with just colored pencils, a pen and a journal.
I don’t get to share everything from my workbooks because I journal in them a lot and that’s too personal to post but when I can share pages I will because I love seeing other people’s visual journals, workbooks and sketchbooks.
Scatters
This is actually an old piece I felt like remaking after cleaning out a drawer of paintings.
Watercolor Tutorial
I’ve been meaning to try my hand at making a tutorial video for some time and since everyone is stuck at home during the COVID-19 outbreak it seemed like if there was a time someone might want to watch a video about how to play with watercolor paints this would be it. Let me know what you think!
Little Books Explained
I picked up In the Slough from PaperJam Press yesterday, it is now available in my new WooCommerce shop under the “Books” tab. I’m really excited about making more Little Books. It seemed like a good way for me to be able to do what I love most—illustrate my own nature poems into short books—while also providing something useful to others by making them card size and providing a place to write a note to a loved one in it.
These days we are rightfully tired of clutter, wary of collecting and gifting unnecessary junk and we want to reduce our negative impact on the environment. Since Little Books house heartfelt, intimate poems they can be seen and felt as a special gift while using very little extra resources than a traditional greeting card. They are presents for people we love who really don’t want more stuff. They are for people who love to give gifts but want responsible options.
These are printed on 100% recycled paper. I rode my bike to the shop to look over the proof and took the bus to pick up the finished copies. I even rode my bike to the post-office this morning to send out my first orders. I am going to try my best to keep up the alternative transportation theme so these books can have a hint of environmental stewardship added to their value.
I have a 50% off sale to celebrate the opening of my shop and the completion of my second Little Book, it runs through May 14th. I’d love to know what you think of this idea!