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.

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.

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.

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

Would the question make you feel uncomfortable?

Back in December Abby Glassenberg interviewed me for the Craft Industry Alliance Podcast. Our conversation aired this week.

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.

Today I’m taking over the Carve Out Time for Art Instagram account. I’m so honored to have been asked to share my day with that creative community. Carve Out Time for Art was created by Marissa Huber and Heather Kirtland and this is what they have to say about it:

My friend Ruby recently wrote a blog post about reclaiming the word creativity and it got me thinking. To be honest, it fired me up. I love discussions like this. I love thinking about and talking about creativity. I wrote a response to Ruby on her blog and then I thought I’d take my thoughts and craft them into a blog post of my own to extend the conversation.

Today is my birthday. I love birthdays. When I was a child my mom always made them so special. I guess I never let go of the joy of celebrating my day.

Are there things you wish you could do, but “know” you can’t because you don’t have the talent?

Around ten or twelve years ago, before I got the rose tattoo on my ankle I studied images of roses and planned out a design. I even made a sketch and brought it and lots of photographs with me to my appointment. I clearly remember telling the tattoo artist “I want something like this sketch, but I can’t draw”.

When I first started writing a blog and named it My Giant Strawberry one of the things that appealed to me about that name was how it spoke of my big dreams. Back then I had a lot of dreams, but I never imagined I would begin painting or that painting would become a main focus for me.

For a while now I’ve been in a weird place in my art journey. Knowing that I need to change, or am on the cusp of change, but not knowing how to do it or what that change is supposed to look like. I know I mentioned it last month.