I was blown away by the responses to last week’s post about social media. Thank you to everyone who left a comment, sent an email, responded on IG or shared thoughts over at Skillshare. It seems a lot of us are a bit dissatisfied right now. Today, though, I thought I’d post something a little lighter!

My main intention with my blog is to encourage and inspire you. To discover beauty. To look for joy. To embrace your creativity.

The wind shrieks a puff of snow off the roof and as I step outside the storm door shatters an icicle onto the stairs.

Colorful leaves crunching underfoot. Pumpkins arranged on the front steps. Gently falling snow.

This week has been beautiful. Bright sunshine. The bluest skies.

There’s no mistaking that autumn is here, but it’s my favorite kind of autumn. And my garden is still blooming.

I am filled with a swirl of thoughts and feelings. Maybe you are, too.

These days. They’re hard. This year has been hard. It continues to be hard.

What a week it’s been.

Although I think they’re a good idea any time, when life feels heavy or dark, I find it helps to write a Joy List.

Won’t you join me in the garden today?

As slowly as 2020 seems to be progressing, the summer is certainly speeding past. I can’t quite get my head around the fact that it’s already late August.

This is my seventh summer in my current garden. It’s a bit hard for me to believe it’s been that long already. I’ll have to do a general post about creating this garden, but today I want to talk about roses.

This week is National Pollinator Week, its purpose to celebrate pollinators and bring awareness to how important it is to protect them. I spent a little time reading a bit more about pollinators (there are many more species of pollinators than just bees!) and paying attention to all the visitors in my garden these last few days.

These are my favorite days, dividing my time between my studio and my garden.

I’ve been unplugging as much as possible. And it feels good to be so focused. I’ve fallen in love, again, with my art. There’s so much to paint! Some flowers come and go in the blink of an eye.

May is steadily marching by and spring is unfurling a little bit more each day. The nest of baby grackles in the bushes behind our fence has already been vacated. And yet I’m impatient with spring’s progression this year. Maybe every year. But this year, especially so. Mostly I just want nice weather. Sunshine and warm air so I can walk barefoot in the garden and plunge my hands into the soil.

How are you doing? I hope you’re staying well. Hanging in there. Navigating your way through these days. Noticing joy.

Last week I invited you to share your story and I’m inviting you again this week. Share your thoughts, feelings, anything you want to chat about.

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.

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.

At Seed Saver’s Exchange’s Heritage Farm there’s a garden beside the barn. A sign in the garden says it “has a mind of its own.”

About this time of year when the garden is at its height I begin making notes for next year. What I want to grow more of. What I forgot to grow. What I’d like to try. Today I’m sharing the first of a series of posts about some of my favorite plants to grow (and paint). I’d love for you to join in and share some of your favorites, too.

I wrote the words “Shake Things Up” at the top of the page in my notebook this week. I’ve been working on a plan to reinvigorate my art-making as lately I’ve been feeling a bit off.

“Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

—Henry James

Ah, summer. Here in Wisconsin summer is well and truly here.