jan '26 favorites
Small things that made my January just a little bit better.
creating
At the beginning of January, I was stuck, unable to begin making art. I find this often happens when I step away for a week or so. In an attempt to do something, anything, I decided to make an art journal version of a mood or inspiration board. Keeping it simple, I cut out magazine images of things I love. This is an easy, low-bar type of creative fun with no right or wrong. You don’t need all the answers or any answers. Just a magazine, scissors, and glue.
Watch the video of my process here and then give it a try.
following
YouTube: Jenny Grant has a grungy style and uses lots of collage in her artwork
Pinterest: Helen Wells boards are bold, colorful, and eclectic, which is similar to her art style
Instagram: Megan Arline makes beautiful art with a creative use of fabric, stitching, and color.
Waiting for the perfect circumstances to create means all you’ll be doing is waiting. You will never feel ready to create your real, authentic work. What you need to do is create anyway.
—David Limrite
inspiring (artist)
Born in Barbados in 1913, Gwendolyn Knight moved to the United States at the age of 7, living most of her childhood in Harlem. She was a dance and theatre enthusiast before beginning to make art in her 20’s. Knight married artist Jacob Lawrence in 1941, and they found ongoing artistic inspiration in each other.
I was pleased to learn that Knight taught art here in Seattle at the University of Washington in the 1970’s. She then had her first solo show at the Seattle Art Museum.
My interpretation of her silkscreen artwork, titled “New Orleans,” is shown here. I gave myself an hour, painted on top of collage, and across two pages in my art journal, which immediately ensured it was different from hers. I quickly realized my mistake in deciding to paint wider than the original; the composition became too heavy on the right side. Copying an artist’s work as a study, even in your own style, is a powerful tool for learning. It is one I would highly recommend.
reading
I just finished reading Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey. It is an exploration of how art and faith intersect using the stories of nine famous artists. Ramsey discusses how great art emerges from flawed and damaged people. From Rembrandt to Van Gogh to Edward Hopper, this book helps the reader engage with art that otherwise can feel difficult to understand. I found the exploration of these artists to be insightful and broadened my understanding of their work.
Beauty draws us deeper into community. We ache to share the experience of beauty with other people, to look at someone near us and say, “Do you hear that? Do you see that? How beautiful.”
—Russ Ramsey
blooming
I know I wrote effusively about this camellia last January, expounding on the shocking nature of the blooms. And once again, despite my best attempts to find another plant, shrub, or tree, it comes back to this. Let’s just say if blooming were an Olympic sport, my beloved winter flowering camellia would be on the podium.
Hardy. Tough. Persistent. Charming.
indulging
In the food group of my dreams, these Lemon Cupcakes would be part of a balanced diet. My daughter-in-law, Melanie, dropped these off the morning of my birthday (which is also her birthday and, quite frankly, who bakes on their own birthday?). Like edible sunshine, these cupcakes are pure happiness with a citrus zing. Permission granted to eat more than one.
It gives a new twist to an old saying, “when life gives you lemons….”
Beauty is whatever gives you joy.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay
arranging
This beautiful arrangement is courtesy of my daughter, Mackenzie. My love of flowers is no secret, so receiving them as a gift always makes my day. Opening the door to a box from Farmgirl Flowers is an instant mood booster, daring to brighten even the gloomiest of days.
capturing
Winter sunrise.
Vivid. Brilliant. Intense. Certainly cliché.
Let’s agree to continue finding wonder in the common and ordinary, and not become immune to its beauty.
Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul.
—Luther Burbank
landscaping
Lest you get the wrong idea that I am inside all winter, paintbrush in hand, contemplating the next grand masterpiece, I offer you this image. Despite my absence from the photo, I guarantee you that a moment before, I was chiseling up old bricks. This hands-and-knees work is better suited to a 30-year-old. My back agrees, but for the time being chooses silence over strife. Prone to the dramatic, trowel in hand, the song, “Working in a Coal Mine,” comes to mind. That’s a bit extreme because, well, I’m not underground, am I? Meanwhile, Fitbit buzzes, confirming that this counts as exercise, so I find comfort where I can.
PS…Also absent from the photo is a taskmaster named Rick, who gets things done. He also has a backache.
celebrating
Most people consider January the worst month of the year. I mean, there is probably not one of us who thinks in September, “I can’t wait for January”. Not only are the days short, but there is a post-holiday slump that knocks the wind out of us. Couple that with failed resolutions, and you’ve got yourself a real downer.
In the midst of “Dry” January, my birthday arrives. Pompous and cheerful, oblivious to the lack of high spirits. Trust me, no one is in the mood to celebrate. My daughter-in-law Melanie agrees, and each year we press on as custom decrees. Birthdays should be celebrated regardless of collective apathy. Thankfully, our young joy makers wholeheartedly embrace any cause for celebration, leaving no doubt that joy is in the passage of time, no matter what month it arrives.
Youth is a gift of nature, but age is a work of art.
—Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
replacing
Is it just me, or does it seem like the life span of a kitchen appliance is getting shorter with each passing decade? Maybe that’s nostalgia talking, as I also vaguely remember walking a mile to school barefoot in the snow, but memories are nimble that way.
Dishwashers come, and dishwashers go. Hopefully, they depart with minimal damage to your kitchen. So if the water valve handle breaks off as you are twisting it shut, well, that’s on you for not changing it out when the neighbor suggested it 9 years ago.
As in all things, there are lessons to be learned. A broken dishwasher, although frustrating, reminds us that there will always be unexpected interruptions. A reminder to fix what is broken. A prompting to appreciate the simple things.
There is never an ideal time for a dishwasher to go out. Or for the water valve handle to break off. Or for your kitchen to flood. Even nostalgia can’t change that narrative. But one day soon, as memory will have it, this too will be fodder for discussion, no doubt in a humorous way. Nostalgia, if anything, tends to file off the rough edges of our difficulties. And for that I am thankful.
Each person carries an invisible backpack full of unfinished tasks. These things can weigh on you. To lighten the load you must finish the task or let it go. Give yourself permission to stop worrying about the things you are never going to do.
—James Clear
I’m curious, what’s on your list of favorites?
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