The Practical Palette
I believe art should be part of the tapestry of your day. For years I have relentlessly built a life where art is pouring out of every corner of my world. I’ve crafted a little kingdom where the beautiful, the tragic, the bizarre, the bold, and the wild sits beside me as I travel through the humdrum monotony of modern life.
A Calendar Canvas
As we start the journey of 2024, it's similar to facing a clean, crisp, blank canvas. The possibilities lay out before us, waiting to be decorated with the brushstrokes of our desires and intentions. But how do we adorn this canvas with a blend of precision and spontaneity? Let's dive into the practical art of planning your year, adding in a touch of creative freedom.
Looking Back and Looking Forward
Well friends, it’s been a wonderful year in my world. For years I’ve been creating art and dreaming of ways of sharing it with the world. This year I’ve been able to build my online shop, my blog, and my website and make that dream a reality.
Artful Gifting
As the holiday season approaches, finding the perfect gift for the art lover in your life can be a challenge. You want to show the ones you love how special and different they are by getting them something that speaks to their interests. For those who appreciate the emotional and psychological depth of art, this curated gift guide offers seven thoughtful ideas that seamlessly integrate art into daily life.
The Art of Gratitude
When I think about the things I’m grateful for, art is very high on the list. The pleasure and satisfaction art, in all its forms, brings into my life cannot be understated.
The art of Hygge
Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is more than just a word; it's a way of life. With its origins in Danish culture, hygge embodies the idea of finding joy and comfort in the simple things. It's about creating a warm, cozy atmosphere, building meaningful connections, and appreciating the beauty in life's everyday moments. In essence, hygge is the pursuit of happiness through simplicity.
Tantalizing Textures
We often assume that emotional reactions are based in our minds, but actually, they’re also physical.
From Canvas to Couch
Art has the power to transform everyday objects into expressions of depth, emotion, and expression. Art-printed home furnishings have become a popular trend, allowing us to bring art into our lives in unique and unexpected ways.
Artistic Adventure
Traveling is an opportunity to explore new places and experience different cultures. It’s also a powerful tool for personal transformation. When we travel we experience the suspension of our everyday lives. We interrupt our intrinsic patterns and allow us to be more intentional.
beauty as a basic human need
Interior design is a celebration of fulfillment of our needs and not just at the level of surviving, but of thriving.
By selecting art to decorate our homes with we are giving our subconscious subtle clues that we are, in fact, safe.
The feeling of peace, when we look around a space we have decorated, can soothe our nervous system.
the beauty of basking
By creating outdoor living spaces that are full of the same artistic expression we bring to our indoor spaces we can merge our cognitive and emotional world with the natural one.
The whole world is a canvas for you to create your story in, so why not write a few chapters outside?
What do you see?
Perception of art has always intrigued me. I was drawn to accumulate art as a teen and while I didn’t recognize it as collecting, I knew I wanted to be surrounded by beautiful, emotive, unique expressions of the human experience.
Unleashing Contained Chaos
Where are your edges? Those limits you give yourself for how you show up in any given situation. How you feel. How you communicate. Who you allow yourself to be. We all have them. But are you sure they’re yours?
when joy leaks out…
My creative process isn’t so much of a process. It just happens. I sit down in my studio and I just begin choosing papers and shapes and textures and before I know it, something is forming. I don’t ever sit down with a plan in mind. I just let it come through me. I’m often as surprised as anyone else as to what shows up.
the power of color
Given the choice, would you rather experience pain in a room painted red, or a room painted blue? If you picked blue you’ve given yourself an advantage. Studies have shown that pain perception is much higher after exposure to the color red and much lower with blue. That’s just one of the surprising ways color affects our brains.
art. why bother?
Creativity is innate in humans, but it comes at a cost. Our brains burn precious calories to create art. Logically, it would be in our best interest to spend those burned brain calories in more practical ways. So why then have humans been compelled to create beautiful things that serve no practical purpose?
A colorful day in the neighborhood….
Art is a joyful experience of seeing your thoughts and feelings come to life from your imagination. The feeling of seeing the paper transformed from a blank slate to a patchwork of feelings is a profoundly satisfying experience. Showcasing my artwork and seeing people’s reactions to it just magnifies that feeling.
the beautiful and the functional
From a phone case to a tote bag, to a pillow, our family items provide so much more value than just protecting our phone, carrying our items, or giving us comfort. They are a form of self-expression and a really important one.