one day in may

i've got the month of MAY on my mind today, this dreary day in march.

here's a piece i did last month for nahcotta. i imagined these friends out on a fun, springtime adventure... see those two cars in the background? i just love this photograph.

do you have any springtime adventures planned?

may for me means book release, twist fair and ada's first birthday!

{in the studio}

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hi there & happy friday!

well, it's been a wee bit quiet over here due to some unexpected travel (more on that later), the stomach flu (me), and pink eye (ada). we're home, and both feeling better thank goodness, but man-oh-man did that flu knock me down for days. ada was really fine, just looking a little funny in one eye : ) who knew that pink eye isn't really pink, it's just a cold in the eye. hmm, learning something everyday as a new mom! here's hoping that flu stays away from our house (and yours!) for a very long time. today is the first day in a while that i'm up (and dressed!), actually functioning and, best of all, having lots of energy and ideas flowing! yay! sketchbooks and chalkboards are being filled.

i've recently torn apart the studio, re-designed and organized it, so i'm excited to say i'll finally have pictures to show you! i realize that for the past year (!) or so i've had to keep quiet with pictures here on the blog because so much of what i was working on was for the book, and it's nice to finally have the freedom to take lots of pictures to show you! i miss sharing my studio shots! of course, my little snapshots are no where near as nice as the ones you'll find by thea in the book, but here are a few snapshots of recent studio activity. in these photos, i was in the midst of my new series that i made for the eta 9. for these pieces, i working on them all at once, putting one down then picking one up... the process was a bit different for me, but i really love how they all came out. i hope you like this little peek behind the scenes! (a couple more here)

i've really missed being here, it's great to be back with fresh ideas and energy.

i'll have lots more to share with you next week!

have a great weekend,

xo *s

ps: do you like the new header and tabs? : ) i'm pretty happy with them, change is good and it was about time. stay tuned, more things to come.

new originals!

we stayed just along the shore

acrylic/mixed media on board

one of my brand new originals, currently for sale at nahcotta!

the enormous tiny art show opened over the weekend at nahcotta, but i was so busy painting for class that i forgot to mention it to you! i worked on this new series just for the show and really love how they came out. see them all here! can you tell that i was channeling spring with these pieces???

a monday list.

my pieces for the eta show.

getting everything together for my squam classes!

i am going to make beet soup.

a list of (some not so fun) things:

- the day started out with an eye full of shampoo. foreshadowing.

-i then opened my shipment of carefully chosen squam supplies to discover that they had shipped everything but the paint. yes, the paint which was the majority of the order.

hello? dick blick? yes, um, i'm gonna need that paint you forgot to put in the box to teach a painting class in a few days... instead of bursting into tears, i suprised myself by remaining calm, cool and collected. they overnighted it for free and say it'll be here tomorrow. i leave for squam on wednesday. so that's that. fingers crossed.

- remember how i was going to share with you my photos from the opening of the enormous tiny art show at nahcotta? well, let's just say things didn't go quite as planned... in our first attempt at a mini summer vacation, (note that summer is pretty much over and this was our first attempt at a get-a-way) our new car died on us just as we pulled into freeport, maine. we thought it'd be fun to go to freeport, walk around for a bit and then hit our favorite spot for dinner before then making our way back down south (about an hour or so) to portsmouth, nh for the opening.

instead of having a leisurely and relaxing eveing, we rode in a tow truck to portland, then in a taxi to the airport, then in a rental car back to portsmouth. we made it to the very end of the opening, got a very late dinner and made it home just after midnight. yup. that was fun. i say all this to tell you that's why i don't have any pictures of the opening because we were just too frazzled. i hope you'll forgive me.

- i've been having fun packing up for squam and i thought you'd like to see a sneak peek. notice no paint yet, but lots of other fun goodies! i'm getting so excited to teach my class!

- i had special photo shoot with this amazing lady last weekend! it was so much fun, she's magic that one... can't wait to show you the shots she took of me. excited to see you in a couple of days thea!

- school started last week. i had first day jitters even though it my husband's first week as a new professor here at smith. i made a first day of school celebratory dinner that included a fresh arugula and goat cheese salad, a homemade pizza with carmelized onions and summer squash and chocolate lava cakes... it was nice to be cooking again now that the kitchen is (somewhat) unpacked. it was delicious. i am now attempting a chilled beet soup. wish me luck.

- the crisp fall air is officially here. love.

- hopefully with paint in tow, i head for the beauty of squam on wednesday morning. i cannot wait. going with an open heart and mind and with a car packed totally full of creative supplies. i'm so looking forward to meeting many wonderful people and having a magical time. i keep having to pinch myself.

till soon,

xo *s

synchronicity

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i made this painting called "you and i" for the eta VI. flash forward to the other day when, on a whim, while looking for new-to-me music for the studio, i came across this song on itunes. it just so happens to also called "you and i"! i just LOVE LOVE LOVE this song... can't stop singing it, in the car, in the studio, in my head.... i hope you like it too! (there's not a video, but i hope you'll listen to it and then perhaps do a little dance around the room too... ) enjoy.

more soon.