In the Studio Lately...

During Christmas break, I limited my art supplies to a journal, Prismacolor Ebony pencils, and charcoal pencils. My goal was simple: to play with value. Every year I set a new goal as an artist, because every single painting teaches you something new. The learning never stops.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the studio getting fresh paintings ready for February. I’ve been experimenting more too, especially with loose, unstretched canvas. For some reason, it feels more freeing, and I’m excited to see how those pieces feel once they’re stretched and framed.

My home studio is tiny and full of books, ideas, colors, and controlled chaos…probably not unlike my ADD brain. Sometimes that part of me drives me nuts, but I also think there’s a lot of possibility there. I really do think it’s a gift.

Ellie is always nearby, usually sleeping under my painting table. And whenever I stop to ponder a painting, she crawls into my lap and falls asleep.

Outside the studio, life has been full too. My youngest just graduated from high school, and I still don’t quite know how that’s possible. How is my baby boy all grown up?

I’m really looking forward to spending some time in Florida with him…sun, sand, and time by the water. There’s no place I’d rather be. I don’t know if I think better there, or if life just slows down enough for me to breathe and spend time in God’s word.

As I’ve been painting, I’ve been blocking out most of the news. I’m trying to paint, draw, or read instead of defaulting to my phone during this long, cold winter. I truly think these practices are healing to our souls..and when I can add gardening back into the mix, I will be oh so very happy.

As I read this back, I realize I sound a bit like Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross 😂 which honestly makes sense.

So here’s the challenge:
Go find something you love doing, something that excites your brain, and spend four hours this week pursuing it. Take the time you might normally lose to your phone or computer and put it toward something that feels healing to your soul. ❤️

Patterns of Prayer and Painting

This is where the ideas begin to form for me... quiet mornings in my home studio, surrounded by the familiar rhythm of paint, brushes, and books. Usually, I take what I’ve been studying in scripture and let those words shape the concept I want to explore on canvas.

I’ve found that nothing has formed my faith or shaped who I’ve become quite like my dedicated time in the Word. When I’m painting, I’m meditating on whatever I’ve been reading... turning those phrases over and over in my mind, letting them find their way into color and form.

“There is no knowledge of self, apart from the knowledge of God.”
— Jen Wilkin

Lately, I’ve been contemplating PRAYER... the spiritual discipline of making time for it... being still and present before God. I’ve noticed how my prayers are often repetitive. I find myself praying the same words over and over in different seasons of my life.

That repetition has made me think about patterns... how my prayers become word patterns I speak to God... a rhythm I return to again and again. It’s such a familiar idea to me. Even as a little girl, I loved going to the fabric store with my granny... standing in the aisles and looking at all the beautiful patterns in the fabric.

Of course my mind would fixate on this idea of patterns in prayer... how prayerful meditation is, in a sense, a way of creating order out of the chaotic thoughts swirling in my head. I’ve been journaling about these ideas for over a year now... letting them slowly take shape. Perhaps one day soon they’ll come to fruition in a new series of work.

“Prayer is the space between heaven & earth.”
— M. Wiederkehr

For now, I’m grateful for the chance to sit with these thoughts... to notice the patterns... and to keep seeking that quiet space where creativity and faith meet.

Where I’ve Been (and Where I’m Going)

If you’re wondering where I’ve been… I exited stage right over a year ago and have been pretty quiet ever since.

Originally, I stepped away to have surgery on my arm and elbow. The healing was excruciating and took far longer than anyone expected. Afterwards, I found myself preparing for my oldest to leave the nest and head off to college… and somewhere in the middle of all of that, I had one of those “If I’m almost no longer a mom on a 24/7 basis… Who am I? Who does God say I am?” moments. Or panic. 😅

Essentially, I think I had a midlife crisis… but really, it was more of a midlife pause and ponder. Not necessarily a crisis.

While I pondered, I packed up my sweet boy—bought a million dorm room essentials—and started sorting through his childhood things. And then, right in the middle of it all, our precious dog Josie (aka JuJuBEE) was suddenly in unbearable pain. We had to put her down. Her pain was awful. 💔 It broke our hearts—truly shattered us into a thousand pieces. She was THE BEST.

We pulled ourselves together, kept packing, and moved him to school. Phil practically had to drag me away. I sobbed—ugly sobbed—all the way to the car. Ugh.

Then we came home… and immediately started packing up our entire house. We moved everything in one week. Yes, I nearly derailed. I lost my mind. I was exhausted beyond words… and yet, by the grace of God, I kept moving forward.

And then—my youngest tore his ACL + MCL. We were waiting for surgery when Hurricane Helene hit… so we entered survival mode.

It has been… a year. And when the dust finally settled, I had to sit with that midlife pause a little longer.

So… what now?

I’ve been deep in scripture—studying, writing, pondering, and seeking direction. “Should I stay or should I go?” 🎶 — my personal theme song.

But here’s the thing:
I have to paint.
It’s part of my bones, my breath. It’s how I make sense of the world. It’s how I meditate on scripture. It’s how I wall myself off and find quiet time with God. It was knit into the fabric of my being.

I have to be creative—whether that’s painting, writing, or gardening.

So who am I?

I am a child of God.
A daughter of the King.
A wife. A mom. A daughter.
A writer. A gardener. A reader and keeper of books.
An obsessive scripture studier…
An artist. And an introvert.

My work seeks to capture the essence of God in the midst of life—in the LIGHT, the WATER, the FOREST, the SEA, the SKY, and the GARDEN.

With every painting, what I’m quietly asking is:

Are you slowing down enough to notice the beautiful ways God is touching your life… or are you in such a hurry you’re missing it all?

My Summer Reflections

Over the past spring, God began to whisper to me and in many different ways to Pay Attention & Receive. Those words seemed to be in every passage of scripture I read, in every book I listened to as I painted, in podcasts, or the radio…everywhere I looked those two words repeated.

And then I stumbled across a quote in The Waymaker by Ann Voskamp:

“In the stillness, there can be attentiveness beyond our own questioning of God, to the questions God is asking us……   Attentiveness leads to receptiveness. And the more attentive we are to what is happening in our lives, the more receptive we are to God’s way, and my attentiveness to God’s questions, God’s asking, might ground me, reroute me, return me…..Attend to God’s questions to tend your own soul. Attending to where you are tends to change the way you are.” ( pg 150 - 152)    

I have found as I creep closer to 50 and my children begin to approach the moment where they fly from this nest we have created, I am in a state of wondering, wondering what it has all been about. And yet, this summer God very gently whispered to me that these two sweet, thoughtful humans we have raised, have been and still are my most important work.