Yay for colorful art!

Yay for colorful art! 

 I read this sweet article about the impact of colorful art on our well-being. I was immediately pulled in to it because it featured artwork by Jessica Poundstone, whose colorful artwork I've long admired. 

Colorful artwork can trigger the release of dopamine, 
a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward,
leading to feelings of happiness and well-being
- Dr. Shivani Khetan

If you want to make some colorful art to improve your well-being… Come to my virtual art making session! Every Thursday I host a (free!) virtual art making session called Studio Time!  If you're in need of accountability and creative community - this is a great place to find it. We are a friendly bunch and everyone is welcome! Drop a comment if you want to be added to the weekly reminder list, or visit this link for more info. It would be fun to see you there!

100 Days of Rainbow Play

This year, I decided to do #100daysofrainbowplay for my The 100 Day Project. Today marks say 12 and I've already covered digital and analog designs, played with patterns and did one fun photo piece with a beloved family photo of their grandmother 😂 

Looking for Rhythm

It has been such a long stretch of grey days here in Buffalo, but the sun came out for a stretch and it's a welcome change. That lovely lady on the right is a sneak peek of a cool project that has consumed some of the past few weeks. (more about this summer)

 January has felt like the longest month on record in a strange way, but I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the holiday reset / work-week-lost-to-snow tunnel. I'm trying to see if I can find some sort of rhythm. I've been making an effort to spend 10-30 minutes in my cozy front studio window working in my sketchbook, or – just being present. Feels good, and looks like this:

Another thing I'm trying to get back into the practice of…writing! For the past few years I've carved out roughly an hour a week to write. I flip between introspective journaling time and other writing, like newsletters. I'm a huge fan (and highly recommend!) my friend Stella's Show Up and Write group as my anchor for this practice. I need all the help I can get having some sort of routine for my week, and this is a wonderful part of that routine. If you want to learn more, or request an invitation to join in here (scroll down – it’s two thirds of the way down the page) ;)

I'm knee deep in the planning headspace for 2024 – I have some big plans for the year ahead. I'm applying for some mural opportunities, spring pop-up events, and hoping to work on some new product offerings for 2024. Oh, and carving out time each week to create some new artwork. I always want to do all the things! That said, I'm also trying to put some boundaries in place to protect my creative energy and help focus my attention.

What is Art? (A love story)

I figure most of you are here because you know me, or love art, or love my art. So, here is a story about love, and art!

Aaron and I met in the first period of our first class our freshman year of art school. It was called Methods and Concepts, a foundations of art class, Monday morning at 8am. A short time into that Monday morning class we were divided up into groups to discuss the question – what is art? Our little group of 5 or so went back and forth for a few minutes tossing out things that might be, or might not be art. It can be hard to define art. Is a painting on a wall in a museum art? What about a photograph? Are the marks the cavemen scrawled in the caves art? Is my couch art? What about music or dance? Do they count as art? 

The groups dispersed and the teacher opened up the conversation to the class. What is art? One person thought that art was indeed a painting on the wall of a museum. Others thought it was more inclusive and roped in dance and music, sculpture and words. And some of us thought it was concept or intention that made art. Really, anything could be art if it was imagined to be so. A desk could be art. An idea could be art. A life could be lived as art.

Two kids nearing art school graduation, and same kids last month at the Carnegie International exhibition

Aaron and I were very much aligned in the anything can be art camp and that started our friendship. And that friendship grew into a love and that love still grows. And so does our drive to keep exploring art – it is the way we try to make sense of the world around us.

I've found the phrase “blur the lines between life and art” written in several notebooks and sketchbooks over the years. I recently went to a virtual artist talk with two artists who I deeply admire Deborah Roberts and Vanessa German – and that phrase came up in their conversation as well. Let's live life as the ultimate artistic practice and fill our lives with the love and magic of art! 

What is art to you? I would love to hear.

Art Swatches

When I feel lost in the studio, I find footing usually one of two ways – cleaning/rearranging or by making shapes on small 3" square pieces of paper. It is very low stakes and a great way to maintain a bit of a creative rhythm. I learned about them through Birdie Fitzgerald who is a fellow color and collage loving artist.

Over the past few years I've been building a library of these cards. They are an alphabet of sorts – the building blocks of my visual language. Just like letters they can be placed into a multitude of arrangements, or appreciated on their own.

These shapes have found their way onto a tissue paper design for packing up orders in my shop, my playing cards and tea towels, and are finding their latest iteration in a new series of work. I find over and over again that it’s the small things that add up to make the big things – case and point, art swatches!

Give it a try if you are ever feeling stuck. Even if it doesn’t become a launching point, I imagine it will be a step along the way to get you closer! What are your favorite things to do if you are stuck and unable to make art? I’d love to hear…

A Year of Play – half way mile marker

Things have been busy around here – I have been carving out time to play in the studio and in the garden. Both are an investment of energy with unknown destinations – a leap of faith that something beautiful will grow in time. I am finally on the other side of a long creative drought (yay!) and am feeling like my creative well is sloshing around with ideas that have me excited to be spending time in the studio.

When I started this year of play, I thought that sounds so fun! But I'll tell you… play can be work. It is hard to play. We don't live in a culture that really values play. We are so primed to be constantly productive and playing feels like a frivolous luxury that someone in their forties shouldn't prioritize. It seems so ironic that I'm putting in effort – working – to make time for play and allowing my mind to wander. The reward is huge. I feel more relaxed. I feel energized. I feel more at ease with the uncertainty which is the most certain element of this life we are living. My creative well is expanding, growing deeper and more fulfilling, and that feels exciting and worthwhile.

I wrote in a journal a few years ago that I was allergic to words. I felt that way for a long time – those imprinted memories from childhood can really be impactful! Most of my life I have found it easy to communicate with images and impossible to find the words to round out the visuals. Over the course of the past few years, through the help of journaling, writing regular newsletters and attending a weekly writing group called Show Up and Write – I'm getting over my word aversion! Writing privately has given me the capacity to consider sharing more openly.

This month I am going to start writing out some of the building blocks to my story and sharing them here with you. I remember my grandma critiquing a coloring page that I made as a kid (in the most well meaning way) that really kind of pissed me off at the time, but recently sparked a series of sketchy patterns that have been growing over the past few years (see below!) I have deep memories of spending time after school in the sample room of my dad's architectural firm playing with color swatches and building little worlds of my own. I had a jewelry business with my mom when I was in elementary school and that sparked my interest in creating and selling things.

I have also had a few big earth shaking life events that have drastically shaped who I am and the reasons I make the work that I do. I am finally feeling ready to open up and connect in this space on a much deeper level with some of these stories. It is easy to share the bright and colorful artwork that comes out of my creative practice, but the stories that have shaped my perspective and allowed me to see the rainbows have come after a few intense storms. So, I am going make an effort to write and I'm sure in the process, I will learn some things. :)

I (heart) NY

I recently took a trip to meet some amazing and inspiring fellow members of the Art Brand Alliance. This group has had an incredible impact on me the past two years, and I’m grateful to have met so many wonderful artists and made new friends. I even got to meet my friend Lizzie Clark in person, while wearing a fantastic dress (with pockets!) for which she designed the pattern!

Along the road I also was able to spend some quality time with my awesome mom. We went to the Corning Museum of Glass, saw a fun art show featuring some modern quilts by Becky McNeill. Yay for getting out on adventures.

2021 Recap

Tis the time of the year to reflect on the year we are leaving and plot the year ahead!

2021 was a year of learning for me. I took an intensive art business class, and painted three murals. I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave a virtual talk at our local chapter of Creative Mornings. I designed a book and t-shirt for Silas’s graduating elementary school class. I held a studio sale, held true to sending out monthly newsletters. I took on a few new clients, worked with a photographer and dear friend to document my studio practice. I took a pottery class just for fun. I started showing up to a weekly writing group and was so inspired that I adapted the format to start building that sort of community as it relates to showing up weekly to make art. I met new people, deepened friendships and spent time with loved ones. I cooked a lot. I applied for residencies and public art projects. I played in the dirt and together with Aaron we overhauled our tiny backyard. I created two pattern collections and overhauled my website. While it wasn’t my best year financially, I worked really hard and have created a much clearer vision for what I want to do in the years ahead.

I've cleaned the studio and have been dreaming about all the things I want to do in 2022. While I love the idea of embracing a word to guide the year, I've never been one to be able to narrow it down to just one. I think last year I had four or more. This year I'm focusing my energy with one guiding anchor – PLAY. Magical things come out of allowing ourselves to play and I’m excited to dive in.

Year One of My LLC

We just wrapped up an end of summer getaway and I snapped a pic of this sweetest heart in the sky... I wanted to share it with you, along with a rainbow doodle made during a recent studio session.

In other news, August 20th marked the one year anniversary of my LLC. This year has not gone how I would have dreamed it would go (I know I am not alone there!). However, I was able to paint 3+ murals this summer, I started journaling and sending regular newsletters. I took the Making Art Work class – giving me tools to level up across the creative board, and also met a group of lovely women through the course who inspire, support and encourage me. I joined the Art Brand Alliance – another amazing resource helping and supporting me as I work to bring my creativity into the world in a sustainable way. I started carving out time for the studio weekly and have a foundation from which I can grow... so lots of good things! I'm excited to see how the rest of this year will unfold.

Thanks so much for following along with my journey. Big virtual hugs from me to you. Stay well!

Yay for Birthdays

In 2013, I started to make art again after a 12 year hiatus. I started small, with 5 small pieces of art, every week for one year ­— and that became The 5/52 Project. Later that year, I purchased my domain name. It was a birthday gift to myself and an investment in my creative future. So, today I turn 42 and my website turns 8! (cue the confetti!)

week 40 colored pencil and acrylic on vintage photographs, 2014

It is amazing to look back and see how many of these elements that started my practice are still rooted in the work that I make now. I am still in love with color and its ability to conjure emotion and heart. I am still fascinated by photography and all the ways it shows us a point in time from a unique perspective. I still love projects and parameters to help shape my creative energy, and also enjoy a sense of playful experimentation in my practice. I am in awe of the creativity and endless beauty in nature and often seek its guidance in trusting the cycles of the earth.

Pick Me Up, mural Buffalo, NY, 2019

This past year, I have been tending to my literal and figurative garden – planting things, tending the soil, watering, and patiently waiting. I would never have imagined that the brushes I bought to learn painting and color theory in college would be used to paint giant murals 20 years later. Or that I would be following in the steps of many of my family members, embracing entrepreneurship and learning about the business that makes the art I love work.

I spend a lot of time thinking about an art filled future and planning what technique or strategy I want to learn next... What can I do better? I rarely take the time to look back at how far I have come. I've taken the scenic route or been detoured many times along this creative path, but have always found my way back to the road that calls me to create and share the wonders that I see.

Sending lots of love from me to you. I hope that the work I create brightens your days and offers a sense of optimism in this crazy world. I'm feeling so grateful for another trip around the sun and the ability to watch the seeds I am planting bloom in due time.

Thank you for supporting me in this artistic adventure – it is a gift and means so much to me!