In winter and early spring, it’s easy to forget how abundant and colorful my garden is during the growing season. I jog my memory by looking through photos and coming back to my blog posts.

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

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.

Last week a package arrived on my doorstep. I thought it was going to be some backordered art supplies. But the box was bigger than I was expecting. And it was heavy.

When I saw the label I couldn’t wait to get the box opened. It was my Minky Couture blanket!

Over the years I’ve fallen in love with sketchbooks, but it took me a while. I’ve shared before about how even after I started making art I felt intimidated by them. The biggest reason behind my fear was an idea that what appeared on the pages needed to look a certain way. Prioritizing product over process is a great way to stifle your creativity in all art, but especially within the pages of your sketchbook.

Another year has drawn to a close. Another decade, too. On January 1, 2009 I wrote in my journal: “2010. Wow. Seems so futuristic.” And here we are in 2020, even more futuristic-sounding.

But I don’t want to jump into 2020 without spending some time considering 2019 first.

Dahlias! Oh, dahlias. They’re one of those swoon-inducing flowers you’re sure to see when scrolling around on Instagram or Pinterest. Other than sunflowers, they have the biggest flowers I know.

The other day my cousin Sarah* shared a post on Instagram which was a part of a longer piece she shared on her blog. In it she wrote “stepping out of the box I decided I was going to do something to treat me.” Although her words were about the importance of doing something for yourself, what kept running through my head was idea of stepping out of the box.

Last night was the opening reception for my show at Viva Gallery in my town of Viroqua, Wisconsin. The gallery is an artist cooperative with 23 (I think) members and each month it hosts a guest artist. I’m the guest for the month of October.

So far my Growing Inspiration posts have been about flowers. Of course I love flowers. I love growing them and painting them. I love cutting them for the house and watching the butterflies and bees and hummingbirds visit them in the garden.

But one of my very favorite things about the garden is eating from it.

In my first Growing Inspiration post I wrote about nasturtiums. If there’s a flower I’ve drawn and painted more than the nasturtium, it might be the viola.

They always have a place in my garden.