It’s been ages since I’ve updated my website, I know. In the past year, we’ve moved house and studio, and it’s been a bit of a mad roller coaster. I’ve been working, but everything I do feels disjointed, unrooted. I’ve done some books, some drawings and paintings, but nothing’s really caught hold and gained traction.

It’s bee said that moving studio is particularly difficult for an artist, that it affects the work more than you’d imagine. I’m going to keep at it- being in the studio at least five days a week is not only a discipline but soul practice for me- but I’m going to keep my expectations minimal for a while.

I’m feeling drawn to realism again, and I’ve done several journals’ worth of watercolor/ink sketches of West Seattle, of various coffee shops, of all the things we’ve seen as we’ve been in this state of flux. Now that we’re here in a new house with my new wonderful home-based studio, I'm painting again. It’s been a while but it feels good. It’s all still very personal, but it’s coming along.

I’m also participating again in Seattle Poetry Lab’s Poetry Postcard Fest in August. I absolutely loved the experience of both creating and receiving all the poems and cards, some handmade, some thoughtfully chosen, but all welcome.

Last year I did collage, but this year I’m going to do sketches, studies, and small paintings. Here’s my first warm-up: a 45-minute study of a chunk of lichen and moss that I found outside my back door, propped appropriately on a drawing stomp.

Selling a house involves unexpected opportunities to make journal sketches

There’s also a lot of waiting around in coffee shops (thank you, Cupcake Royale)