You may recall that I've been working on a series of pieces (over several years now) that use gardening and plant metaphors as a way to try and capture my experience of motherhood. This is my latest piece in that series. It's called "To Pinch or To Prune." Pinching is a type of pruning that involves removing the top of a plant's main stem to encourage branching and fuller growth. Pruning is a more general term that involves cutting off plant parts with tools like scissors or pruners. In parenthood, there are so many different ideas about how best to... Read more →

Late last year, I worked on a series of six pieces all about my adventures by the Charles River with my young son. I call them "The River Walk Series." They're all 16x20 monotype collages. I'm delighted to share that three have sold thus far. It's always such a delight for me when someone loves my work enough to take it home. Rebekah Joy Plett said it best: "When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song. You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of... Read more →

Visiting art is one of my favorite things to do. Pre-baby and pre-pandemic (aka pre-2020), I visited a museum... ...or a gallery or an exhibit of some kind weekly. I visited museums in other towns... ...in other countries... I sought out street art... ...and attended classes and art talks... ...and lots of events at art museums. I went by myself... ...on dates... ...with friends... ...and with my family. But now…I’m lucky if it’s once every two months. So, I’m working on changing that and getting back to weekly art adventures because they fill me up. (And, actually, I have to... Read more →

Is it too late to share some Christmas-ish photos?! I hope not, because I'm going to do it anyway. Is this like wearing white after Labor Day? No longer taboo? First up, this is the gingerbread house that my Mom, my son, and I made: Making projects with him I am always yelling at myself in my head: DON'T TRY TO CONTROL THE PROCESS. LET IT BE WHAT IT IS. Most of the time, I manage to roll with whatever he wants to do. And in the end, it's always lots of fun and nothing that I expected. And now... Read more →

As I mentioned to weekly newsletter subscribers several weeks ago, I was hoping to make the time to create some sort of non-fire related Hanukkah countdown thing for my son. Well, I finally figured out a simple project that would work for his age and interest level, but still work for us as a family down the road. Plus, it's pretty. Inside each of the little houses is a small toy and a piece of Hanukkah gelt. After we light the candles each night, he can untie the bow on top of the appropriately labeled little house to release the... Read more →

On today's podcast I'm talking to Julia Wester about being a working mom, quarantining with a broken leg, and transitioning from her job as Oh Joy's Creative Director into her own business as a freelance stylist. If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. On the off chance that you've never listened to a podcast or don't get why anybody would want to, here are some facts: (1) Podcasts are convenient. It's a recording that is available to you whenever and wherever you'd like to listen. You can pause, stop, start, fast forward, and... Read more →

Just before the baby was born, I was hired by The Washington Post and The Lilly to journal about my first 30 days of motherhood. You can read my raw, real, and absolutely honest account of those first thirty days on the Washington Post's website and in the Lilly newsletter. I think the illustrations they put in the article are weird and don't really match, but perhaps that's the artist in me? Here's a link to the article. I would say, "enjoy," but people have told me they cried while reading it, so instead I'll say, "I hope you take... Read more →

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! (We celebrate both in our household!) We are so delighted by the wonderful gift we received this year: He is a sweet little baby who loves lying on his side, stretching, tilting his head back, and jamming his fingers into his mouth. We can't wait to see more of his personality emerge over the coming year! Hope you are having a happy day! P.S. This month's livestream for members will be on Saturday (December 28) at 2pm EST. If you'd like to join in on the art fun (and meet the baby), you can join... Read more →

After 40 hours of labor, our beautiful baby boy came out kicking and screaming. It had been such a long and slow labor that nobody thought the end would be quite so fast. When he started to crown, it was just me, my Mom, Steve, and a nurse in the room. The nurse called for back up and told me to stop pushing. But I couldn't stop him from coming. No back up came. She called again. No back up came. She pulled the emergency cord from the wall and the room flooded with people just as his shoulders popped... Read more →