Back in 2018, I published my first coloring book, Beautiful Bugs.  Since then I’ve had the personal goal of publishing a second, ocean-themed book.  Slowly I’ve been widdling away at drawing the pages. (My monthly commitment of sending printable coloring pages to my newsletter subscribers has helped me with this). Well, last week I finished my 15th and final ocean coloring page.  If you’re on my mailing list, this will be familiar to you (if you’re not, you can download it via my Etsy shop).

I still have to work on a cover and title page, and then format it to print — but I’m super excited!  I feel proud of all the drawings and am excited to have it in my hands.  I'm still deciding on a title for the book that's not totally cheesy.  Sea Magic? Ocean Wonders? The Awesome Ocean? Marine Magic? I don't know!

 Here’s a little preview of some of the pages. If you’ve been following me for awhile, these will be familiar to you.

Ok, done patting myself on the back.   Now here is a picture of a silly bear Ransom and I saw at the zoo this morning.

If you scroll through my "art" page, you can see that I just seem to be gravitating towards sweet animals lately. Such as this sweet baby beluga.

And my Valentine's Day 2022 design.

That's just a thought.

Here's some more thoughts.  Things I accomplished in my little art business in 2022 . . .

That last bullet point is why this blog has become so quiet.  And why I am sending out less newsletters.  Because now I have a second blog and a second newsletter list. My goal is to blog once a month on each website, and send one newsletter a month for each group (one for my own art, and one for my Bright Studio peeps). Phew. We'll see how that rhythm works out as time goes by.

It's actually been kind of nice to put less pressure on my own art making to bring in sales.  I still enjoy running my Etsy shop and developing new designs and patterns, but since the art classes are doing well, I'm not concerned about turning my own art into a full-time gig. There is less weight

I'm excited to see what 2022 will bring.

December is one of my favorite times of years.  I just love the Christmas season. And now Ransom is old enough to really get into all the movies, decorations, and anticipation,so that makes it all extra magical.

Every year since 2015 I've created a Christmas design.  I thought it would be fun to peek back and see where I've been.  So here we go.

I hope those seven images brought you some Christmas cheer!  I think my favorite is still the alpaca.  Which is your favorite?

It’s November.  Thanksgiving is next week. I should be sharing cozy holiday things with you.  But I just can’t right now.

Because at the moment I’m sitting on a couch in shorts and a tank top with the sound of waves crashing coming in through the window.  And because of the time change, I’m getting up early enough to see this every morning.

The Maxwells are in Maui 😎

So instead of sharing something cozy, here is the Hawaiian state bird I drew a few years ago — the nene. It’s a type of goose.

A couple of  days ago we learned about the state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. AKA the reef trigger fish. We saw some swimming around a coral reef while touring in a semi-sub (part boat, part submarine), and later that same day I saw them while snorkeling at Napili Bay.

​  I feel like we bonded, so that’s what I’m drawing next.

I’ve started to split my time between my own art making and a new creative endeavor, Bright Art Studio.  I turned our lower level spare room into a studio, and have started teaching classes for preschool-elementary aged kids.  If you aren’t local to Portland but still want to follow along, I have a blog just for the studio where I’ll  detail some of our projects and point you towards resources and inspiration for creating art with your own family. 

I’m still trying to figure out how to best organize my time — to balance working on developing and planning for classes, while also working on my personal art business (not to mention my most important job title — Mommy).  

I still hope to pop into this blog once a month (used to be twice a month).  Today I want to dump a bunch of Merry Manatees on you.  This sweet guy is my holiday 2021 design and is available in all manner of products.  Here are some of my favorites. (I’m sharing this with you now, before Halloween, so you can be prepared and not have to worry about inevitable shipping delays and supply chain issues as Christmas gets closer.  AKA If you see something you love, order it now!. Click on the picture to get more  info.)

And I'll end with one more cozy image, more matching this season.

Happy Autumn!

Earlier this summer I finished the above tattoo design,  and just couldn’t leave it.  Being a book lover myself, I love an opportunity to create bookish designs.  So I tweaked it a bit to create this, which you can grab as an art print in my Etsy shop (and soon a sticker!)

It made me reflect on my other book-y drawing.  For instance, this one below was my first and still one of my best-selling designs. I remember drawing it in my sketchbook at a coffee shop about 5 years ago. It's still my bud.

And this next I created in Procreate last winter.  I remember working on this when there was snow on the ground (which is rare here in Portland, Oregon) and sitting with Ransom on the couch, watching Dino Dana.

I’m surprised I don’t yet have a book pattern.    Bookish wrapping paper sounds like a lovely idea.  

Here’s some fun book wrapping paper I found on Society6 . . .

Have you read any good books lately?

I've embarked on a fun new collaboration with Slinger Inc. to offer some of my designs as temporary tattoos.  I felt like it made sense.  I already create tattoo designs, but not everyone is ready for the lifetime commitment.  These should last about a week or so.  I've ordered some for myself and will definitely let you know how they turn out!

Here's a look at some of the designs that are available

I think a venus flytrap tat would be pretty awesome.

I'd like to introduce you to my newest pattern of honey bees and lisianthuses.

Which of course sprung from my Lisianthus and Honey Bee Wreath. I turned all the separate elements into vectors and created  the pattern in Affinity Designer on my iPad

Ransom (age 4) has been drawing tons of awesome robots.  I kind of want to make those into a repeating pattern as well.

They're pretty awesome, am I right?

 While writing this post, my head is bopping to some French Pop, its pretty fun. You might want to check it out.

I've been having the blahs this week about my art. 

Thankfully, when I'm not having the blahs (I guess I could call it having the ahhs or ah-ha's) I put systems and schedules in place to help me accomplish the goals I have for myself.  For instance, I want to learn more about using Affinity Designer, so Fridays are my learning days and I spend time every Friday learning. Right now I'm going through a Skillshare class about that. I also am working on a children's book with a friend, and Wednesdays I try to spend time working on that. So even when I don't feel like it, every day I have something to show up to.

Last night, I was thinking about my blahs and having a grass-is-greener moment (maybe I should be a fitness instructor..working in a library could be fun...being a mail carrier seems nice...).  I then questioned myself -- decades from now what would I regret not pursuing right now? Immediately I thought -- art. I want to keep pursuing this thing I have with art -- as a designer, illustrator, teacher and/or whatever is next.

For now, I'm going to keep showing up to my art even when I don't feel like it. I've been doing it long enough to know that the blah's don't last, and showing up consistently always leads me back to the ah-ha's.

Thinking about these quotes are a good motivator for me when I'm in the blahs . . . I've turned to them for years.

This is also helpful.  An illustration from Gingiber...

Ok, pep talk done! 

In my last post I left you with a to-be-continued regarding a floral wreath of lisianthuses. 

  Well, I've since landed on a center for the wreath.

For awhile all I had was the bee, but knew that I wanted some kind of wording as well.... I could only think of trite bee puns, like "bee happy" or  "bee present."  For as much as I love this illustration I wanted some special words and those didn't cut it.   

Well, then in my church community group we spent one evening as women talking about the desire we have to unveil beauty.  One phrase from the bible study stood out -- beauty nourishes
"Beauty may be the most powerful thing on earth. Beauty speaks. Beauty invites. Beauty nourishes. Beauty comforts. Beauty inspires. Beauty is transcendent. Beauty draws us to God. As Simone Weil wrote, “The beauty of the world is almost the only way by which we can allow God to penetrate us . . . Beauty captivates the senses in order to obtain permission to pass straight through to the soul . . . The soul’s inclination to love beauty is the trap God most frequently uses in order to win it.”

Beauty is essential and misunderstood. 

 Flowers aren't beautiful for nothing. I feel in the context of this illustration the beauty of the flowers nourishes the bees and vice versa.

And writing this out makes me think of another tattoo design I'm working on for a friend. It's just a rough sketch right now, but it's reminding me of the beauty of a mother's body for her children (birth, milk, snuggles, wiping bottoms etc)

And our bodies help little bodies navigate big rocks.