February Wrap Up

February was a month of balancing work-life-art and feeling pretty good about it. The day job has been busy but there was still time to make plans with friends and make art. It's not as perfect as I feel it could have been- I could have done a lot more with the art, but it feels good overall (and that matters!). The boyfriend and I went to Milwaukee for a long weekend of museums, eating, and drinking; another fun Midwest winter trip.

I haven't been doing so well with being present lately; my mind is all over the place and unless I'm painting I am having trouble focusing. I am working to block out more creative time and not let other things distract me. As I type this I have the whole evening ahead of me to create and work on whatever I need to catch up on. 

Here's the February wrap up:

•  Went to the Milwaukee Museum of Art, mostly spending time in the contemporary collection (they have a Kehinde Wiley piece that I love)
• Some great books arrived this month! 100 Days of Discussion by Jennifer E Synder (which is also helping to support this artist residency). There are several ways to use this book and I think I will be using it as a solo journal. Map Your Business by Tara Swiger also arrived. So many things to dig in to!
• Listening to: Pay Attention Podcast interview with Jennifer Synder. Tara Swiger's Explore Your Enthusiasm episode titled How do you get up in the morning when everything is awful?

Photo Round Up

100 Days of Discussion by Jennifer Synder 

Map Your Business by Tara Swiger

Tyanna Buie (American, b. 1984)
Incarnation, 2015
Assembled screenprint with collage and ink, charcoal, and mixed media on paper
150 × 133 1/2 in

Milwaukee Art Museum

Have a great March! 

Crazy Late January Wrap Up

Hello! February so far has been crazy busy! I didn't want to skip my January wrap up so instead it's very late.

Besides politics in America, 2017 is off to a great start. I've been exploring and playing around more with collage and art journaling and it's really inspiring me. I'm working to be present and focus when I'm working on something that requires my full attention. Less multitasking! The boyfriend and I took an impromptu overnight trip to Holland, MI and I came back feeling so refreshed. While we were there I took the time to stop and look around me and really appreciate the beautiful things and the fun we were having. I'm happy with the balance I have in my life right now and feeling good leads me to create more. Take that, depression! 

Here's a look at the creative things I enjoyed in January:

• Attended the Shawnimals 10 year Ninjatown retrospective at Rotofugi. Check out this Chicago artist if you're not familiar. I have been a fan of his work for years and picked up a few new products he was selling. Love the new dumpling blind box series!
• Listening: Creative Online Strategy /What's Your Story podcast-Recommended episode #2 with Emily McDowell. Heroine: Women’s Creative Leadership, Confidence, Wisdom-Recommended episode Are you an "artist"? with Lisa Congdon. 
• Good Read: Productivity in Terrible Times

Photo Round Up

Shawnimals at Rotofugi

Got a old drawer at an antique shop for $1 to hold miscellaneous collage papers. 

Sketchbook page

Holland, MI

Foggy day at Holland State Park on Lake Michigan

Word of the Year + Desktop Wallpaper

All the time I hear about making a "word of the year" each year to sum up what you'd like to do or accomplish. I finally decided to choose a word this year and I landed on "Present". My mind wanders a lot, often thanks to anxiety, and I'd like to stay more present in the moment and in my life overall. I made a desktop wallpaper with a digital painting of mine if you'd like to download! Let's get this year off to a great start. 

Click image to download

December Wrap Up

Happy New Year! I am really enjoying writing these wrap up blogs, it’s a great way to reflect on what I’ve been up to creatively and enjoying in my life.

Here we are in 2017 and I am behind on getting my new online shop up and running. So it goes. The day job and real life...well, happen. I don’t want to say they get in the way because it’s all a part of a multi-faceted life. You know what I mean, right? Anyways, I am taking a look at my goals and working on ways to find the best balance that I can.

So, let’s look at December:

• Started working on the Get Messy free intro to art journaling class

• Discovered the How She Creates Podcast. I am loving it! The episodes often feature more than one guest and are a great round table discussion

• The Reed’s Art & Craft fair was a blast! This was the second year I worked with Reed’s Local to put this event on

• Worked on Katie Lee’s End of Year Awesome and it really put things into perspective for me. It’s so easy to focus on the negative and what I didn’t accomplish, but writing down what I was proud of doing this last year made me feel awesome.

• I won a giveaway from Paper & Oats via Shailey & Katie’s podcast, I chose the Calendar & To Do List printable. Thanks ladies!

Art journal page, this sketchbook is almost full!

Images from the Reed's Art & Craft Fair

Working on Katie Lee's End of Year Awesome