The season is shifting. Each day I notice something new. The angle of light. The colors of falling leaves. The sound of geese calling as they begin their journeys. I try to stay connected to the seasons. As a gardener, the wheel of the year directs so much of what I do. As a botanical artist, my inspiration is tied to nature and its cycles.

When I first stepped into my studio this morning, frost glittered on the deck out the sliding doors, the light pale as the sun cleared the tops of the trees on the hill behind our house.

Hello, my friend. How are you?

I’ve had a slow start to my year. Intentionally so. At least at first.

One day recently I looked out at my garden and thought about how I’ll be better able to connect with nature when we finally find our property in the country.

As we near the end of 2024, I can’t help but feel reflective. I look back at the year, the projects I’ve tackled, the goals I’ve accomplished, and I begin dreaming about 2025.

Hello my friend!

Summer has arrived in full force and my garden continues to enchant me every day.

I’m back from my blogging break and although I only skipped one post, it seems as if I’ve been gone a long time.

My peach and cherry trees are filled with flowers. Daffodils are blooming and everywhere I look outside, spring is progressing.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been dreaming about projects and setting goals for this year. As I mentioned here on my blog and in my Joy Letter, I’ve been taking my time with this. And it feels good.

In September I mentioned some of the projects I’d been working on after moving into my new studio. One was prepping for my show at Viva Gallery, which I wrote about last month. I’ve since finished the others and thought I’d share them with you today.

On Main Street of my little town of Viroqua, Wisconsin there’s an art gallery run by a cooperative of 23 local artists.

Some projects live in my head for a very long time before I get around to bringing them into the world. Painting a series of “barn” quilts for my house and garden is one of those projects.

Today on my blog, I planned to share about the Winding Roads Art Tour, but as I was driving home on Sunday evening I realized I hadn’t taken a single photo all weekend.

When I was first starting to learn to make art I thought that if only I could discover the perfect art supplies, I’d be able to create the beautiful, perfect art I imagined in my head.

In the middle of winter when frost decorates the windows of my studio and I pull on another sweater, I’ll think back to summer days in my garden, cicadas singing, sketchbook on my lap.

One of the things I love most about my garden and gardening is connecting with nature. I plant my garden and I tend it, but I’m not really in control.

After being canceled the past two years because of Covid, the Winding Roads Art Tour is finally going ahead.

I spent Monday in my garden. Mondays are technically the weekend for me and I was so glad my time off coincided with good weather.

The sun is shining, warm and bright. The garden is humming with bees and I catch the scent of roses, mint and spicy tulsi. I step among the blooms with my scissors at the ready,

Sometimes a project comes along which is a complete joy. My collaboration with Kickapoo Meadery was one of those projects. This fall I worked with Roots and Refuge Farm on another.