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.

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.

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.

All week I’ve been thinking about what I want to share in my first post of 2024.

If I were to ask you, “Are you an artist?” What would your answer be?

Would the question make you feel uncomfortable?

“In the pocket of her jacket, Aunt Edna found a small sable brush, and throughout dinner she repeatedly dipped it in her water glass and drew…. upon her absorbent napkin.”

I’ve been teaching on Skillshare for over 6 years. My first class came out in July of 2016.

Today I have 27 classes on the platform.

My blogging calendar has a different post scheduled for today, but I came down with a bad head cold this week and that other post didn’t get written.

Earlier this year I invited you to share suggestions of what you’d like to see here on my blog. Since then I’ve been sprinkling in posts inspired by you.

One type of question a few of you had was around making decisions.

I’ve been in a bit of a creative funk. I know it’s just a natural part of the ebb and flow of my creativity. It’s taken me years to be able to recognize this and let the funk happen.

Your materials are gathered. You have time. You have a space to work. But when you sit down to create… nothing.

In a recent review of one of my classes, a student wrote:

“She encouraged me to step out and paint for me instead of for approval.”

Right now zinnias, dahlias, cosmos and marigolds color my garden and feed the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

September is here and I’m relishing the seasonal shifts.

It’s hard to believe this is the last week of my month of gratitude. August has flown by.

I think back to childhood Augusts with school looming and days of freedom dwindling. Back-to-school was both exciting and welcome but also tinged with sadness for the ending of summer.

Piles of fabric line a shelf in my studio closet. Sewing patterns fill a drawer. I love wearing handmade clothing. I love to sew. Most of my fabric has been matched up with sewing patterns — some bought especially for specific projects — but it’s been a year or more since I’ve done any sewing.

The Get Re-Inspired Creative Retreat is now over. I’m not sure if it ended up being what I planned, but it was nurturing, fun and I learned a lot.

Today I was supposed to be wrapping up the Get Re-Inspired Creative Retreat. I planned to share my finished papier-mache pieces and sum up the lessons I learned over the course of the month.

But as this week approached, I realized I wasn’t finished with the retreat. So I’m giving it one more week.

Sun streams in through the window and I curl up on a comfy chair in my studio, a book balanced on my lap.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

In reality…