It’s been a minute…how is it mid April already?

I know I missed sending out anything in March. Sorry.

Things have been changing for me and I’m seeing it show up in how I work and what I have the bandwidth to work on.

I’m finding the amount of things I used to say yes to dwindling and not in a negative way, but in a, let’s make sustainable choices kind of way. It’s not easy when it’s your default. I approached the past few years since retiring from teaching full time as a chance to try everything and see what stuck. See what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. See who was responsive to my work and where the vibes felt right.

But all of that data means nothing if you don’t analyze it. I needed to stop collecting all the information, and sit down and look at what has worked and what hasn’t. It’s a hard pivot when it’s not you’re inclination to stop and FOMO kicks in. But when you’re body and brain are telling you otherwise, you need to listen.

The biggest realization I had recently was as I was preparing for my Feature Artist Exhibit this May at The Workhouse I had gathered images and had a lot of ideas about how I wanted to present them but I kept hitting walls when it came to the next steps. I was struggling with choosing the final images and it became pretty frustrating because the last show went way smoother.

Then I remembered, number 1….the state of the country. Need I say more.

And number 2, not listening to my gut and panic working. I am calling this phase of the transition from fulltime employment to full time artist, “Misguided Overcommitment”. The well meaning, yet not helpful habit of saying yes to too many things in the hopes it will immediately create stability when what you’re actually doing is spreading yourself so thin you can’t make any valuable progress towards your goals because you can’t think clearly enough to make sound decisions. I stopped and looked back at my schedule the past year and how many shows I’d committed myself to and then realized I hadn’t carved out any dedicated time to just.make.art.

Not a piece for a show.

Not a bunch of items to sell at a market.

Just make the work I wanted to make.

It just didn’t happen.

And a byproduct of having so many scattered commitments was I had to keep re-organizing my space, digging through my things to find what I needed recreating chaos over and over in my studio that was really causing stress. This was full on ADHD that had fully bloomed and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Cue ADHD medication experiments.

I’ve not had an official diagnosis because Out of Network Dr’s start at $400 so that hasn’t happened yet.

But I am researching supplements, lifestyle changes and my own habits that exacerbate things and we are making progress. There’s a LOT of us over 50 women out there who this is happening to and to all of you reading this going, “Yup,, me too!" I salute you! A few resources I’ve returned to are @theadhdweasel & @adhdwithjennafree for both tips that I can try when I have capacity and also just for validation that what I’m experiencing doesn’t.make.me.a.failure!!!

Wild, right?

But I digress.

Cut to these last few weeks before my show, a collection of work that ironically are images I want to help people take a pause and and exhale amid all this friggin’ chaos!!!

Go figure.

We make what we need.

And I needed these moments.

I need more space. More moments of quiet. More sky.

Some are large, some are small, some are lit from within, some let light pass thru them.

All of them I hope are helpful.

The show will be up starting May 1st to the last week of May TBA with an Opening Reception mid-month on Saturday May 16th from 3-6pm.

I’m treating it as a kind of open house having it earlier in the day so it’s not a separate trip because I know how far a drive it is for people, and appreciate any local peeps who can make it! I’ll be sharing my studio hours on Instagram and Threads so if you plan to come by let me know so I don’t miss you!

IN OTHER NEWS!!!
New Journal Planner enters the chat.

I don’t do January to December planners anymore, I just start when I need more room and make my own.
They are receptacles for all that swirls around in my brain and getting that out on paper is literally part of my daily practice and supports my mental health.
I’ll share my whole journal ecosystem soon!
The cover is the key. It’s a very intuitive process that has me pulling imagery from all over to create a mood that infuses the book with the vibe I want for the chunk of time it captures. This one feels good. Loaded with potential.
Images include top left: a shot of Cafe Reggio in NYC I took in January, top right: Pinterest, bottom is a page from a travel magazine with a washi tape mountain over a perfume swatch I got last year and a quote I had typed up left over from a workshop I did. Washi tape details sprinkled about as well.

I’ve been busy teaching a few classes in late February and all thru March that went really well. I’m realizing how teaching adults has become more and more of the groove that I fit in at this point in my life so I’m planning the rest of the year with that in mind. If you’d like to learn more about the classes click the links below & I’ll be sharing new offerings on my site in the coming months.

Classes offered at the Workhouse Arts Center

Updates on the show and and a subscribers preview will be happening soon. Once the pieces are finished I can build the page here and share it with you all. In the meantime thanks so much for being here and keep an eye as usual on my Instagram for the day to day stuff.

Oh, and trust me, I want to talk about Artemis II but will save that for later!

Thanks for being here~

Coffeeshop Dispatch Vol. 11

Coffeeshop Dispatch Vol. 10