Reading · An Artist's Notes

Another New Year is here!

I know it’s been a while since my last post here. I was grateful, though, to spend some lovely quality time over the Holidays and New Year with family. But now it’s time to fully engage with my studio practice again, and I’m excited to start another year here with you!

First, I recognize this year has started with great difficulty for many, and the state of the world is quite scary, to say the least. I hope wherever you are, you are safe and finding ways to cope and/or make your voices heard.

I know it can be hard to be/feel creative in such a time and place. It might be a good time to remember that creating art can be an important part of a mental health or meditative practice; it can help you find connection with others and feed your passions, providing much-needed sustenance. As an active observer of the arts, you can enjoy the health benefits of taking in and reflecting on art. However art and a creative practice may play a role in your life right now, may you find peace within the chaos, may justice prevail, and may creativity fill the rest of our days ahead in 2026 and beyond.

When I started this little writing experiment in 2020, I never imagined I’d still be here six years later. While it’s been fairly irregular and unstructured most of this time (despite various attempts to corral my notes into something more directed), I’m starting this year with a few parameters to focus my efforts.

What can you expect going forward?

Look for monthly studio updates (e.g. today’s note) as a means to share the art I’m making and the scope of what an art career may look like. This will just be a little walk-through of photos I’ve captured as I go about my artist life.
Regular “Devotions” as a means to find moments of peace and creativity throughout the year (currently showing up as photographic journal notes such as “A Walk in the Woods”, but may take other forms over the course of the year.)

Occasional Excerpts from writing and poetry projects to keep myself accountable (aka on schedule) as well as share this other creative novice side of myself. (Some excerpts will be short quotes from my current writing projects, and some may be longer and include a portion of my writing - such as the original poem in “Time Waits for No One”)

Periodic Reflections on life as an artist. These posts often take the most energy for me to produce and evolve over time before finally being published. They are also where I want to learn and grow the most, seeking out more opportunities to articulate my practice in a meaningful way, to look critically at the plethora of media thrown at us, and to sort through how that shapes a creative process. With that in mind, they will show up when they are ready, I’m able, and hopefully be more in-depth and meaningful to my readers over time.

My hope is that a little structure will enable me to continue posting with the honesty and openness I’m trying to offer, while keeping me from posting paralysis (when my writing insecurities take hold and I leave a string of unpublished posts unread).

I also hope that providing a better idea of what I’m offering in this space will make a subscription more worthwhile and reliable for anyone considering such. I have a lot of unknowns in my future (I’m looking at you, Grad School applications), but wherever tomorrow takes me, I hope to keep writing and sharing my experiences as an artist with you - as well as the occasional bonus art offered to my paying subscribers. (Sign-up as a paying subscriber by March 1 to receive the next offer).

And no matter where you find/follow me, I’m now also offering a newsletter via mail (announced in my latest CollageO post).

Inspired by literary friends and, in particular, an analog newsletter approach³ - I hope you will consider signing up to receive (free to US enrollees via US Mail) a quarterly newsletter/zine launching this year. For now, I expect to send four mailed updates in 2026. I may include a mini collage or two along the way (or maybe just a few collage tidbits to add to your collection)…
(Side note: I also offer paid versions of this effort in my Studio Store as Collage, Postcard, Sticker, and Notecard Clubs. If you are a member there, you don’t need to sign up here. I will include my analog newsletter within these subscriptions.)

Analog Newsletter Signup

Now back to my January studio update…

While I have been fairly quiet online, I’ve been busy in the studio and connecting with other artists this month!

In order of appearance…

(Photo 1) We’re a puzzling during the Holidays kind of family. After finishing two puzzles while both my kids were home, we finally brought out this one: “The NeverEnding Story”, produced by Nautilus Puzzles

(Detail image by Nautilus Puzzles)
It’s one of three of my designs produced by Nautilus, and it is a beautiful wooden heirloom-quality puzzle. If you like difficult puzzles, this one is hard but very rewarding. And I love all the bird and flower shapes!
(Photo 2 and 3) I started the year off by taking an encaustic printmaking workshop at Atelier Meridian in Portland, Oregon thanks to a friend’s recommendation (who also recommended the fun hotel choice of McMenamins White Eagle Saloon). The class provided a lot of insight into both how encaustics work as well as printmaking monotype and monoprint techniques. It’s the jump start I needed to finally break open my encaustic supplies and setup a workstation of my own.
(Photo 4) Thanks to another artist friend, I started reading Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art by Lauren Elkin. It’s dense but full of interesting thoughts and a bevy of artists and articles for further investigation. I’ll share more once I finish it.
(Photo 5) I submitted my first knit wall-hanging design to an art opportunity! If anything comes of it, I’ll let you know.
Planning has begun for the 4th annual Northside Open Studios Tour - thanks to an amazing core leadership volunteer group. My contribution is updating the poster, social media and advertising images (photo 6), and tour map. Thankfully, each year I get a little better at making the updates less cumbersome (for someone not trained in graphic design but fairly capable with InDesign and Photoshop).
(Photo 7) I’ve enjoyed several long hikes (now that I’m done with marathon training - phew!) I find time alone in the forest is one of my best creative incubators. Misty mornings also gave me a great opportunity to photograph some ephemeral grey backgrounds; the windy winter weather also often meant climbing over large fallen trees with roots forming intricate, lacy designs.
(Photo 8) I had the honor of sharing my piece, “Protection Spell”, as a part of the Collective Visions Gallery Annual showcase in Bremerton, WA. Attending their opening, I was reminded of all the ways an artist can feel supported. It was truly a unique and special event full of engaging art, dedicated patrons, and amazing artists from all over Washington and Oregon. If you have a chance to be in that beautiful part of the world before February 27, I highly recommend taking in the show. (Also pictured, “Ethereal Bouquet” by Toby Mason and “Pine Needles in Three Rings” by Roberta Cooper.)
(Photo 9) After working on a backlog of art to scan from 2025 - I was delighted to share my 200th mini “BKind” collage, along with several new embellished card designs in my latest Collage O post.
SOLD & Commissioned
Even though I try not to let sales have hold over my sense of artistic value, I admit it’s with a sense of gratitude and validation that I send work to its new forever homes - especially when it’s work where I’m trying something new. Thank you to those who can provide this kind of support at a time when good tidings seem hard to find. It is a boost to my studio practice in more ways than one!
Following is a selection of work sold in January.

I’m closing out January by preparing work for shipment (a delicate process for larger pieces) and continuing work on a commission piece that’s long overdue (but, thankfully, with a very understanding client). Hopefully pictures of that piece will grace next month’s studio update!