This is a piece that 14-year-old me would have been very excited about. I almost didn’t even make it. I sketched it out & thought, “No, I can’t do that. It’s too on the nose & no one will want it.”
Then, I went home for the night, had a good night’s sleep, woke up the next day, and all of a sudden, I was really excited about it.
I ended up taking the canvas off the stretcher bars, so I could sew the studs on. I’m so glad I did rather than just gluing them on because I think it makes it look more interesting & I’m less worried about them falling off in the future.
I’ve started a new series of single-letter paintings to explore different lettering styles. I was originally just going to do one for each letter of the alphabet, but now I have SO many ideas that it looks like it’s going to be an even bigger project than the original plan of 26 paintings.
Can be displayed as initials or monograms, but it would be an absolute dream come true if someone bought enough of them to spell out a full word or a name. 💛
- a whole year of new spreads in the Learn by Letter Journal (I post a new spread every Wednesday on Instagram using the hashtag #handwrittenwednesday) 📝
- an entire series of single letter paintings (new “A” painting was listed yesterday!) to expand my lettering & illustration repertoire 🖼
- traveling across the USA throughout the year (11 trips to 5 different states planned so far; possibly a couple more to be added) ✈️
- partnering with one of my closest friends on a long overdue music project (can’t wait to share once it’s more developed!) 🎶
Trying to approach this year a little differently.
1. Read More Books - I own a LOT of books. I love books. I love the way they look. I love the way they smell. I walk into a bookstore & my heart just melts. Even so, I have read less than 5% of the books I own. This year, I’m going to try to fix that. I’m also going to TRY not to buy more books until I get through some of the ones I already own, but I know myself too well to make that promise.
2. Listen to More Music - This one sounds like a no-brainer. Like, why would a human need to make an effort to actually listen to music? I’ll tell you why. I grew up my entire childhood & teenage years playing piano every day. It was a huge part of my identity. When I told people that I was going to college for music, no one was surprised; no one was concerned. Then, I actually got to college. I started out as a Music Education major, went for 2 years & discovered I had no desire to teach or even be around children. I took a couple years off and then went back as a Music Performance major focusing on classical piano. I went for 2 more years, and to be quite honest, I couldn’t handle it. My university wasn’t a good fit for me, and I doubted there was any other school I would be able to get accepted into or be able to afford. I developed a cyst in the palm of my hand from practicing piano for several hours every day. My doctor suggested I take some time off from playing, and I was grateful for an excuse to finally give up. All my life, I was working toward a career in music, and there I was, a two-time music school dropout. No one could possibly have been more disappointed in me than I was. I was so upset with myself that I couldn’t listen to any music anymore without being reminded of all of it. It’s been a couple of years since all of that happened, and I think I’m finally back at the point where I’m ready. I’m ready to reclaim my love for music. I’m ready to stop being so incredibly hard on myself & start moving forward again. So yeah, there’s that…
3. Watch More Classic Films & TV - I am embarassingly ignorant of movies that were produced before I was born. There’s not really much to explain about this one. I might post some reviews here on tumblr if any of you are interested.
4. Cook More Meals at Home - My husband and I practically eat out for every single meal. It’s not that I can’t cook— it’s the planning, the grocery shopping, the prep time & the cleaning up afterward— it’s the work hours you don’t get paid for. Time spent preparing meals is not time spent painting which feels like a waste, but I know that we can save money & eat healthier by cooking our own meals, and I have to keep reminding myself of that…
5. Exercise More Regularly - This is something that I’ve never been good at. Ever. I’ve never needed to be. I’m used to being the smallest person in the room my entire life. I’m 28 now, and the eating out every day (see resolution #4) is finally starting to show a little bit. I mean I am the kind of size that putting on a few pounds means literally putting on 5 extra lbs. but I figure I should catch this as early as I can. I know everyone is one this, “Love your body. Overweight people are beautiful, too,” kick, but honestly, not only do I not like how my tummy looks right now, I also don’t feel super great physically & feeling healthy makes a world of difference.
So yeah, this year should be pretty enjoyable. I’m looking forward to it.
This pair of jeans has been one of my favorites to wear because they have a good amount of stretch, but the material is such a light color that I manage to ALWAYS get some sort of stain on them within 5 minutes of putting them on.
I haven’t worn them in months because they now have stains that I just can’t get out.
Solution: just paint over all of it & keep wearing them anyways.
The words are from an excerpt from a letter that Tennessee Williams wrote to Donald Windham in July of 1943—
“I am sitting at my kitchen table waiting for my lover to arrive with lettuce and tomatoes and rum and sherry wine and a big floury loaf of bread in the fading sunlight. *Coffee is percolating gently, and my mood is mellow. I have been very happy lately, just wallowing in it selfishly, knowing it will not last very long, which is all the more reason to enjoy it now.”
