Prioritize Your Big Work

I recently purchased Sarah Greenman’s Oracle Deck and this is the first card I pulled: “Prioritize Your Big Work.”

art, business, joy, inspiration, lifeAnne ButeraApril 30, 2021inspiration, oracle deck, oracle cards, Sarah Greenman, My Big Work, my purpose, prioritizing art, prioritizing our work, goals, making goals, setting intentions Comments

Joyful Companions: Looking Back at 16 Years of Dogs in the Garden

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

garden, joy, lifeAnne ButeraApril 9, 2021dogs, dogs in the garden, rescue dogs, greyhounds, rescued greyhounds, retired racing greyhounds, Siberian Huskies, Pitbull mix, rescued pitbull mix, gardening, gardens, about me, in my garden, my gardens Comments

Shake Up Your Self-Care and Recommit to What Truly Brings You Joy

Back in November I vowed to fall in love with winter. And I did, for a while.

Pursuing Curiosity: Using Art Books for Inspiration and Self-Care

When I was 16, a newly-minted driver’s license in my wallet, where did I go on my first solo drive?

books, inspiration, lifeAnne ButeraFebruary 19, 2021books, inspiration, Inspiration Deck, Skillshare classes, self-care, self care, joy, about me Comments

Looking Back and Connecting the Dots of our Journeys

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

art, creativity, lifeAnne ButeraJanuary 22, 2021about me, podcasts, Abby Glassenberg, Craft Industry Alliance, creative journeys, looking back, looking forward, creativity, childhood Comments

Simplifying: Goals, Intentions and Planning My Year

I sit at my table with a steaming mug of earl grey beside me. The table is strewn with notebooks and lists and calendars. My pen is poised to write, but I’m having trouble adding anything to the page.

creativity, lifeAnne ButeraJanuary 15, 2021planning, planning for the year, tips for goal setting, setting intentions, January, January 2021 Comments

Choosing a Word for the New Year

I just got back from my long morning walk with Clara. It feels good. To be out in the winter mornings. To notice the changing landscape.

life, seasonsAnne ButeraJanuary 8, 2021word of the year, planning for the year, new year, welcoming the new year, overcoming anxiety, dealing with anxiety, anxiety, winter, embracing winter, loving winter, beauty Comments

Shift Your Perspective and Recommit to Your Heart

I stumbled into my shoes, pulling on my hat and coat before rushing two wagging dogs out the door.

I was still wearing my nightshirt.

I wasn’t wearing any socks.

I hadn’t even put on my glasses.

Finishing My 10 Year Painting Celebration with Gratitude

Bright sunshine and warm breezes. Clear blue skies and crisp snow. Cold, dark, wet days. This month I’ve tried to be present for it all.

November has been a gift. A strange month, but a gift, too.

Sips of Inspiration: an Interview with Dana Barbieri

I’ve been giddily anticipating posting it and I’m so happy to finally be able to announce this month’s guest: Dana Barbieri.

art, inspiration, life, Sips of InspirationAnne ButeraNovember 20, 202010 years of learning to paint, 10 Year Painting Celebration, 10 year painting celebration, 10 years of learning watercolor, 10 years of watercolor painting, 10 Years of Learning How to Paint Comments

10 Year Painting Celebration: Nudging You Toward Your Dreams

My heart raced and I held my breath. I felt a flutter in my stomach as I sat down with a set of watercolors, some paper and a brush to paint for the first time.

Embracing Stillness: Lessons Learned Waiting at the Vet

This year I’ve gone to more vet appointments than I can count. I guess I could count them, flip back through calendar pages and tally up appointments for tests and surgery and treatments and more tests.

Enjoying Autumn

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.

Facing Fear

About three and a half years ago I was frozen in indecision. Paralyzed by fear. Fear of making the wrong decision. Fear of making a mistake.

art, joy, lifeAnne ButeraOctober 2, 2020fears, fear, overcoming fear, letting go of fear, getting over fear, how to overcome your fear, cats, love Comments

Beauty is Important

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.

How to Keep Going When You Feel Insignificant

Last week I wrote about committing to self-care during the month of September. As I sat down to write to you today with the intention of expanding on the idea, it seemed so silly.

Why Committing to Self-Care Is Important (Especially Now)

September is here. How did that happen?

During this month we often get our first killing frost, turning my garden to blackened mush and ending its season of painting inspiration. Is it any wonder that I mourn the coming of the fall?

Collecting Everyday Joys

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.

Late Summer Garden Update

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.

fabric, garden, joy, life, seasonsAnne ButeraAugust 21, 2020garden, garden assessment, late summer garden, butterflies in the garden, monarch butterflies, tiger swallowtail butterflies, red spotted purple butterfly, monarch butterfly on verbena, tiger swallowtail on zinnias, garden harvests, gardening, garden joy, gardening for wildlife, gardens, garlic, zucchini, summer squash, cube of butter summer squash, cube of butter yellow zucchini, eggplants, herbs, tulsi, holy basil, japanese beetles, japanese beetle damage, japanese beetle damage on roses, skeletonized leaves, plum tree, raised beds, cinder block raised beds, hog panel trellis, small gardens, urban gardening, container gardens, growing tomatoes in containers, Stellar tomato, Tasmanian Chocolate tomato, Roadster tomato, geranium kiss tomato, purple poppies, lauren's grape poppies, breadseed poppies, poppies, bachelor buttons, calendula, saving seeds, tomatoes, patio gardening, cosmos flowers, sunflowers, surprises in the garden, verbena bonariensis, Spoonflower Design Challenge, Wallpaper design, climbing vines wallpaper challenge, spoonflower climbing vines wallpaper challenge, botanical wallpaper design, botanical fabric design, surface pattern design, fabric design, Spoonflower, spoonflower wallpaper, Spoonflower contest, spoonflower fabric designer, spoonflower fabric, watercolor, watercolor paintings, botanical watercolor paintings, clematis paintings, clematis, clematis wallpaper Comments

Lessons in Slow Living

Last week I pulled out all my spinach plants. They’d bolted (begun to flower and go to seed) a few weeks earlier. I’d been harvesting leaves from the stretching stems nearly every day, but it had gotten to the point where the plants had toppled over and were no longer producing new leaves.

lifeAnne ButeraJuly 10, 2020slow living, slowing down, lessons from my garden, Ellie Beck, Mindful Thoughts for Makers, mindfulness, lessons from laundry, garden salad, gardening, growing food, garden harvests, watercolor paintings, Garden Harvest watercolor painting Comments

notes from the studio

Shared the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.