POP UP SHOPS, PAINTING CHALLENGES, AND THE STUFF OF DREAMS

Last weekend I had the honor of having a pop up shop at my favorite modern home store, West Elm. Blake and I are big fans of their furniture and design so I was kind of geeking out about this event. I debuted some new pieces from my spring collection along with some fresh prints. So many of my friends and family were able to stop in and check out my latest. I also got to chat with lots of kind customers. It can be scary and intimidating as an artist to put yourself and your work into the world but I was so humbled by the encouragement and support I received! Also, being highly caffeinated helped a little bit too! Blake brewed up some fabulous Rowsters coffee beverages while I shared about my newest works.

So what else is happening? I decided to challenge myself to a daily painting challenge for 30 days. I’m currently a few days behind, ah! Day twelve is on the horizon and I wanted to share how it’s been going. First off, it is way more difficult to carve out time and energy than I anticipated! I’ve failed a couple of days when life gets in the way but I am still loving it and getting more than I imagined from it! Working full time in art for a fortune 400 company has been seriously great but it has also lit a fire in my soul to continue creating for myself. At the end of a busy work day sometimes the last thing I want to do is paint, but at the same time I’m filled with passion to create something “just for me” or for my amazing clients. 

These days I literally eat, sleep and breathe art! I was only a few days into this challenge when I started dreaming of painting! I’m hoping this is similar to dreaming in a secondary language. My Spanish teacher always said it was a big step when you started to dream in Spanish. I can remember just how excited I was when I was studying abroad in Seville and frequently dreaming in Spanish! I feel just as ecstatic now to be dreaming in art! And just in case you were wondering, I dream of painting peonies! 

I took a few days off from my challenge to prep and recover from the pop up shop but am  excited to see what comes through the rest of the challenge. You can follow along on Instagram or Facebook and I’ll share a few updates here on the blog as well! 

Lastly, I’ll be logging my new original paintings and fresh prints for sale in my online gallery very soon! Subscribe to be the first to know when they’re live!