On Change:

I’ve been thinking a lot, listening to a lot of creative podcasts, writing in my journal a bit; and something that comes to mind is how tastes and what you make as an artist change over time.

I used to embroider a lot, like, all the time. I remember working on a commissioned piece on a lunch break at my old job. I don’t remember the last time I did any sort of embroidery and you know what? That is totally ok. I can be hard on myself thinking that because I don’t do certain things anymore that I am being lazy. It’s not lazy, it’s changing tastes and styles. It could be a long break was needed and I’ll come back to it naturally. I don’t want to force myself to embroider in my art again because I most likely won’t enjoy it, or it might even come across as forced to the viewer and look totally out of place in a piece. If I get the urge to embroider something I will be happy but I’m not going to get down on myself right now.

Currently:

A real quick look at some fun I’m having in old sewing and craft books right now. Inspired by Lisa Congdon’s painting in old books, I thought this would be a fun exercise the other night to transition from day job (I work at home most days and my desk is for work and art) to working on creative projects that evening. It was nice to immediately close the work laptop and paint on paper. Then I took a break to make dinner and get in some TV, and later worked on writing a review for my new project, Belmont Book Review.