Something special happened this year, and maybe it’s something that happens every year, but this was the first time I’d noticed it. The blooming prickly pear cacti were absolutely gorgeous!
I was inspired by the cacti at Allen Park in Austin and decided to paint them. But I seemed to accidentally follow the path of cacti bloom west to Enchanted Rock and then north to Caprock Canyons, where I was blown away by the number and color of the flowers…
The lovely cacti at Allen Park.
Drawing the prickly pear cacti.
Working on the painting, based off of the outlines I drew.
The final painting “Blooming Cactus”, acrylic on canvas, 30″x30″, part of my Iconic Texas series, which seeks to highlight The Lone Star State’s public parks.
Detail image of the painting.
The flowering prickly pear cacti at Enchanted Rock State Park, Fredericksburg, Texas.
The prickly pears at Caprock Canyons State Park, Quitaque, Texas.
…They were just so absolutely stunning, I think I need to make more of these paintings!
COMING UP! Art For The People Gallery will be hosting an opening reception for their THRIVE! exhibit on Saturday, July 10th from 3-6pm. I’m thrilled to have some art included in the exhibition and to be attending their first reception of the year! Come celebrate with us!
The event is free and BYOB! And if you can’t make it to the reception, the exhibit will be on display until September 30th.
It’s that time of year when we pause to take stock of the past and make plans for the future. This year feels heaping with struggles and triumphs. When I look back over my schedule I get dizzy. And when I look at the biggest lessons I’ve learned, one thing stands out: this was a year of STRESS.
Learning how to manage and live with stress on a daily basis was my biggest, longest challenge this year. And my number one goal for next year is to keep stress management as a top priority. I’ve watched myself on days when it felt like my thoughts were racing and realized that my ability to focus and make good decision is impaired…and so is my self-awareness.
If I’m chronically stressed, I’m more likely to have trouble planning, make poor decisions, unconsciously seek comfort or escape (hello, wine and chocolate!), and I’m not even aware I’m doing this because I’m stressed. The worst part is that people are really good at rationalizing our actions, so, after eating all the chocolate and drinking all the wine, I might tell myself “I deserved it” or “just wanted to relax”, which is fine sometimes, but could prevent me from confronting the stress that drove me there and finding healthier ways to deal with it.
If 2020 was a year of stress, 2021 will be a year of routine.
I’ve found that regularly scheduling stress-reducing activities into my week keeps me from getting to that spun-out place. The bonus is that most of these are things I wanted to do already (exercise, meditate, go for walks, take a long bath), I’m just encouraging myself to do them regularly by prioritizing and scheduling them.
Everyone has their own list of things that relax them; I challenge you to write yours down and pick one or two that you want to make a habit of. Write it down, make a plan, set an alarm – make time to connect with and care for yourself.
One way I practiced self-care this month was by making a reservation to visit The Blanton’s Expanding Abstraction exhibit.Hiking is a long-time favorite way for me to get exercise, relax, and clear my head. Here, I’m soaking up the sun on the Barton Creek Greenbelt.Some fall colors along Turkey Creek Trail in Emma Long Metropolitan Park.Allen Park’s short but sweet loop trail.Magical springs along the Little Fern section of the River Place Nature Trail.
MORE GOOD STUFF
In November, I was one of over four hundred artists who participated in The Austin Studio Tour. This was the first time the annual tour went virtual and I was really impressed with the quality and quantity of videos produced by the community. Check out art studio tours, demonstrations, and interviews with artists online at austinstudiotour.org for at least another week. (I’m hoping they keep the site up past the end of the year, but we’ll see.)
“Pink Prickly Pear” – Acrylic On Canvas – 12″x24″, painted as part of The Austin Studio Tour.“Among The Hoodoos” – Acrylic On Canvas – 20″x24″, finished during the studio tour. Based on a photo I took of Bryce Canyon National Park in 2014. I think I started painting this because I’ve been feeling some serious wanderlust after spending so much time at home.
In late November I received a grant to build a sculptural art piece that’s inspired by and created from optical illusions, color theory, and color-changing light. It’ll be part of a drive-through art event just outside of Austin on January 15th and 16th. Tickets haven’t been released yet, but you can follow the event on Facebook to stay up to date.
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m loving Elizabeth Gilbert’s take on the creative process and found a short version if you don’t want to read her book. Check it out:
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for letting me share my art with you! Your support means the world to me.
Wishing you stress-free holidays and a safe and happy new year!
Good news! I finally have some dates for my first-ever-solo-art-show that was originally scheduled for May: my Iconic Texas series will be on display during May, 2021 at the Dougherty Arts Center!
Of course, we don’t know exactly what the exhibition will look like in terms of group gatherings, but we will figure out a way to safely enjoy the art together, in person. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity and the support of the Dougherty. Check out this amazing video they created for my show:
And coming up a little sooner: the Austin Studio Tour is kicking off in November! It’s a virtual event and I’ve been busy adding art to my online gallery, prints to my shop, and videos to my YouTube channel.
Find out more about my art by checking out the newly expanded tour website at AustinStudioTour.org starting November 14.
The Studio Tour is my go-to for holiday gifts and I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone has been creating.
All this planning for the future made me realize that we’re heading toward cooler weather and my swimming days are numbered. So I grabbed my tube and headed out to a couple Travis County parks along the Colorado River.
Tubing near the cliffs at Tom Hughes Park on Lake Travis.Watching sailboat races from Bob Wentz Park on Lake Travis.
I had no idea these parks existed until just a few weeks ago! After seeing all the new-to-me places on the Travis County Parks website, I’m challenging myself to explore them all.
MORE GOOD STUFF
If you live in Austin, check out Dear Diary Coffeehouse on Chicon Street, they’re helping out the local art community by turning their indoor seating area into a gallery and gift shop! You can browse stickers, prints, and much more when you pick up your coffee and you can even order art delivered to you when you place an order online. Check out the “Local Artists” menu to see photos of the art.
I’m currently re-reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s an easy, fun, inspiring journey through the inner lives of creatives. It’s on the list of books that have changed my life and I recommend it to everyone.
I’ve been getting in the Halloween spirit by watching horror movies by A24 Films and decorating my apartment with crafty cute little bats made by reusing paper towel or toilet paper rolls.
Catty and I wish you a wonderfully spooky and happy Halloween!
Over the last eight months, I forgot what it was like to have a routine. The winter holidays turned into a breakup, then a move, then a world-wide pandemic. (Wow, that escalated quickly!)
I’ve been living in survival mode for a while and needed a vacation. So, I took a week off to relax. There aren’t a lot of entertainment or travel options right now, but I challenged myself to try to get out and experience something new each day.
It was a difficult challenge, and I did spend some serious time on my sofa watching movies, but it turned out to be a helpful motivator. Check out all the cool stuff I found:
Turkey Creek Trail in Emma Long Metro Park……my new favorite hiking trail!Thunderstorm clouds rolling across the Texas Hill Country.I played around with watercolor painting, a medium that I’m fairly new at.I realized that I can tube in the river along a beach that’s only a 20-minute walk from my home. The water was perfect!
After relaxing for a week, I was excited to get back to work. One of the big projects I’d been putting off was writing a mission statement and 2-5 year plan. The time off cleared my head enough for me to answer all the tough questions and now I have a printed statement (manifesto?) up at my desk, a constant reminder of my goals.
The questions I tackled:
What are my values? What habits do I want to cultivate? Who am I? What do I want? What is preventing me from getting it? Who do I want to meet? What gift(s) am I offering them?
This turned out to be an especially helpful exercise when I realized that I wanted to make a new daily routine for myself. When I saw on paper that I wanted to do yoga regularly, I was reminded to add it to my schedule. There are bigger goals too, like getting my art into galleries in other states. It seems like such a long-term goal that I simply wasn’t including it in my schedule, but I’ve broken it down into smaller parts, making it easier to begin.
It’s only been a week on this new schedule, but I’m already sleeping better and feeling more grounded and healthy. And I’m so glad I started doing yoga again; I can’t believe how tight my legs are!
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WHAT’S KEEPING ME BUSY
Doing free online yoga classes every morning with Yoga With Adriene.
But the coronavirus infection rates in Texas have dramatically increased since Memorial Day and I want to protect myself and others. So, I’m staying in…or at least, close to home.
To satisfy my wanderlust, I’ve been going on solo hikes and walks around my new neighborhood. It’s a small neighborhood, only a few winding streets, but it’s on top of one of the tallest hills in Austin and has great views. It also happens to be a few miles from a big city park that offers swimming, camping, and miles of trails.
So, maybe I can plan a great stay-cation?
Looking out over Lake Travis, on a trail near my home.Someone is leaving these adorable painted rocks around my neighborhood.
I originally planned to take a week off in June to relax and prepare for work on my next series of paintings. But like so many other items penciled into my planner, that vacation time was erased by the pandemic.
I’ve worked hard to adapt to the new reality of life while distancing. My art show was canceled and shopping feels safer when it’s online, so I’ve been taking online classes to gain the skills I need to run a better business and build a better website. It’s still a work-in-progress, but I have some art prints available in my online shop and the Art For The People Gallery has added my stickers to their website.
Looking for opportunities to exhibit, my friend and I participated in The National Arts Drive , a drive-by art show created to support artists who have lost the ability to share their craft.
It’s been good to stay motivated and busy. Having goals to focus on has helped keep me positive. But it’s been a difficult time for everyone, and even my free time can feel like work.
As much as we may try to keep it light, conversations with friends and family are pulled toward current events. We grapple with the new normal, grasp for actionable steps, and strive to understand different points of view and incorporate, tolerate, or fight against them.
It’s been a lot of work, all of this new information, new perspectives, new challenges, moving into a new home. I think it’s time I took a break to process it all, so that I can integrate it into a new life.
Like a butterfly in its cocoon, I need to rest so that I can transform.
Taking time to get outside and out of my head is vital for maintaining my mental health.I regularly hike on the Barton Creek Greenbelt and recently discovered the Lost Creek portion, with its impressive cliffs and flowing water.On one of our hikes, my friends and I found this obviously hungry and lonely cat meowing around the trash cans. He is now healthy and happy in his new home.Scenic drives are a great way to get out of the house while socially distancing. Earlier this year, some friends and I did a convoy tour of Willow City Loop, which is a perfect day trip from Austin.Just going for a walk can have huge rewards! I discovered this cactus in bloom along the side of the road, in a neighbor’s yard.
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WHAT’S KEEPING ME BUSY
Weekly free professional development classes for creatives, online at CreativeLive.
