A Secret Inktober

I suppose it won't be secret after this post, but I spent the month of October having my own Inktober without posting it anywhere on social media. I really enjoyed that! A lot! To be honest, my daily commitment to draw every day had been going on long before October 1st, and I always use … Continue reading A Secret Inktober

Returning Home

Hello Blog Friends! I do miss posting here as I am spending more time over on Substack. You may also be signed up there as well, and I’m grateful for that. Really and truly…your email-box doesn’t know whether you receive a post from me via Substack or via my blog. On the receiving end of things … Continue reading Returning Home

The Ache of Advent

Here it is...that ache so familiar...a longing for something other, right here at the beginning of December. It comes to me in the early hours just as the sky outside my studio window begins to glow. It comes as I pull out decorations, some as old as my husband and I have been married, 34 … Continue reading The Ache of Advent

The Light Letters

As evening comes so early these days, I'm like a plant straining towards any light she can find. Advent is a wonderful time to lean into light-filled endeavors, from stringing up twinkle lights to reflecting on the reason for the season. It's also a wonderful time to lean into making things, be they for gifts … Continue reading The Light Letters

Blooms Behind Blinds

I have a small orchid forest here in my studio sunroom. The orchids seem quite happy atop a shelf on my desk where they can have window light diffused by blinds. I keep this section of blinds closed during the brightest part of the day so as not to scorch them, especially in summer, when … Continue reading Blooms Behind Blinds

Wheesht

I have begun to read Wheesht, a book by Kate Davies, a knitwear designer I have long admired. My dear friend Ellen gave me this book some time ago and I never got around to reading it. Creative Making in Uncertain Times is the subtitle and I came across the book yesterday in an upstairs … Continue reading Wheesht

Endings & Beginnings

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. How some things end and other things begin. How an ending here makes way for a beginning there. Like how my sketchbooks, whose filled final pages give way to a fresh new book in which to pour lines and colors over the coming days and weeks. Like … Continue reading Endings & Beginnings

A Life-Giving Force

I walk into a garden and I immediately sense a shift. Perhaps it is simply the aromas of thyme underfoot, jasmine on a trellis, roses in bloom, and rich loamy soil. Maybe it is the visual profusion of greens punctuated by blooming color. Whatever it is, I cannot help but feel a pulse of life … Continue reading A Life-Giving Force

Devotion

Courtyard Garden. Ink & Watercolor. Sketchbook. When you look up synonyms for the word Devotion, you read words like affection, ardor, zeal, attachment, fondness, love and passion. There is always something or someone on the receiving end of these words. It isn't possible to just be devoted. One is devoted TO something. One has fondness … Continue reading Devotion

A Drawing Opportunity

Though every day, every moment, is a drawing opportunity, I have been offered a huge opportunity to go draw at a beautiful garden in Asheville, NC. This weekend I am headed to Devotion, the name of Mignon Durham's beautiful garden and home which she has built, planted and curated for the past nine years. To … Continue reading A Drawing Opportunity