Finding Your Creative Community in Every Season of Life Every once in a while, a neighbor will stop me on a walk and ask, “How’s the art coming along?” And I never quite know how to answer. “Oh… good! Busy!” I usually say with an awkward smile, which is true, but I know what they’re … Keep reading…
We Don’t Have to Choose One Version of the Story A little over a week after returning home from teaching an art retreat in France, I found myself struggling to walk upstairs because my lungs were completely worn out. Unfortunately, the feeling was a little too familiar. The year before, after teaching a retreat in … Keep reading…
What I love goes to France… For several weeks before leaving for France to teach at my in-person workshop, my bedroom floor looked like a disorganized garage sale. There were sweaters, shirts, jackets, shoes, and what felt like fifteen versions of the “perfect travel pants” spread everywhere. I was heading to the Loire Valley to … Keep reading…
The moment I step onto the sand, something in me changes. My shoulders drop. My breathing slows down. And my brain, which normally has about seventeen different things happening at once, gets noticeably quieter. This is the sixth time I’ve taken what I lovingly call my solo art beach retreat, and over the years, it … Keep reading…
Knowing Your Priorities Is the Easy Part. Living Them Is Different. Recently, I shared the four priorities that matter most to me at this point in my life. I’ve been thinking about them recently, mostly because I’ve discovered that naming your priorities is the easy part. Living them is where things get interesting. When I wrote … Keep reading…
My Top 4 Priorities in Life (And Why Art Isn’t #1 Anymore) A few years ago, someone asked me what my top priorities were, and without giving it much thought, I immediately said, “Making art.” At the time, that answer felt completely true. Art had become such an important part of my life, and so … Keep reading…
What it really means to be an artist (even when you’re not making art) A funny thing has happened over the past few years. If someone asked me what I do for a living, I’d answer without hesitation, “I’m an artist.” But if they asked what I actually spent my days doing, they might be … Keep reading…
From the very first collage I created in my thirties, I dreamed of doing art for a living. But life has a way of asking us to set our dreams aside for a while. There were mortgages to pay, a corporate career to build, and responsibilities that demanded my attention. The dream never disappeared, though. … Keep reading…
Fear and uncertainty seem to be surrounding us. And with no end in site, it’s easy to get caught in the net of our collective fear, going down doomsday rabbit holes, reading article after article about what is happening and not happening, and how much worse it’s likely to get. Yet in the middle of … Keep reading…