All of my kids are officially back to school and I am back to work in a more full-time position. It's always a little bittersweet to return to our normal rhythms but it feels good to tackle the giant list that has been accumulating on my phone of all the things I need to accomplish in my studio practice. 

August was a very full month spent in Chicago and Southern California…

I'm not quite sure how July is already over, but it was a very full and fruitful month. My time in the studio was mostly spent printing for wholesale orders including the addition of a new shop in Emerald Lake! My time and attention was turned to the Banff market each week which was often an adventure in itself. The weather this month has been so unpredictable, and very rainy. I personally love a good walk in the rain and will gladly accept this weather to a smoky season of forest fires. 

I'm so grateful for your support during my annual birthday sale. July is always such a busy month despite the fact that my children are home from school and there really is no actual schedule. Can someone please tell my brain that, as it continues to wake me up every morning sometime around 7am.

My time and attention to nature has been abundant this last month. Time in the mountains, time caring for the garden, and time in my very own neighbourhood. We had so many beautiful rain showers in June making the earth green and lush and full of wildflowers. The fawns are gaining more independence, wandering further away from their mother's care. I truly love this time of year. The season of attention and care which blossoms into abundant summer fruition. 

Life is such a strange, wild, glorious thing filled with experiences that can strengthen us, break us, and provide us with the most profound joy. People all around the world are simultaneously experiencing the best days of their lives and the absolute worst and somehow we're exposed to all of it. To the real, raw humanity of the world.

Spring is by far my favourite season and has brought so much refreshing energy into my life and creative practice. Who knew that consistent time in nature would feel so good and provide so much refreshment?! I'm so thankful I challenged myself to spend each day in nature for 30 days.

I've been enjoying the slow process of creating my next collection Wild Pacific.

I get a little bit vulnerable about what it means to run a creative business in 2025 with the ever changing global business landscape and reaching for creative goals.

May in the Canadian Rockies brings with it the welcome return of warmer weather, glorious green leaves, and long sunny days. My creative energy levels always crave the month of May and the return of summer.

I've been tucked away in the studio creating original watercolour paintings for my next collection: Pacific. I've spent the last week painting a 24x36" watercolour of a beach in Tofino that I'm still undecided how I feel about. Some paintings are finicky that way. Thankfully I've been doing this long enough to know that not every painting needs to be an immediate success and some paintings take their time to grow on you. 

I'm excited to share this collection with you that I have yet to set a release date for. I'm carefully taking my time with each painting, resisting the urge to rush through the creative process.

It’s no secret that I’ve been in a creative rut lately. I don’t know if it’s burnout, 45 year old brain fog, or too much time scrolling on my phone that’s causing it, but it’s likely a combination of all three. 

 To combat this funk I’m giving myself a 30 day creative renewal challenge! From Monday to Friday for the next 30 days I’m going to paint for at least 30 mins, walk for at least 30 mins, practice a new creative hobby for 15 mins, Read a new book, and journal each day.

I’m excited for this 30 day challenge. I know it will be just the medicine I need to refresh my creative practice and my mind.

This March has felt like a bit of an energetic funk for me personally. It could be the fact that the weather really never knows what it's doing this time of year, but I think the recipe I'm craving is more time in nature. 

I stumbled on this quote yesterday which is something I think we all need:

"Movement is medicine for the body.

Nature is medicine for the mind.

Art is medicine for the soul."

I spent a lot of time procrastinating a fairly difficult commissioned watercolour painting last month, which meant spending a lot of time behind the scenes on the less glamorous side of a creative business.