I feel so grateful to spend another year making art and sharing it with you all. Here are a few snippets from the year:
Highlights!
- Had a baby
- Artwork was featured on AD
- Traveled with said baby and hosted a retreat in Greece
- Finalized the dress collaboration with Beau and Ro (coming Spring 2025!)
- Business did not collapse while Brooke and I were on maternity leave (Thank you Mama G and Emmerson!!!)
- Released and sold a BUNCH of paintings and prints!
- Worked with some fun designers
- Made the best halloween costume of all time (IMO)
- Another year with Sezane!
- Still LOVING the boxes we made for our framed prints for Christmas!
Lowlights
- Painted a commission horizontal when it was meant to be vertical
- Blooming Horizons didn’t sell very well which is always a bit of a bummer
- Bought so many ceramics in Italy and then had to carry them all the way home because the post office was closed
- Had a technical mishap and released paintings but then no one could purchase them on the website
- Dripped paint on a finished work on paper and totally ruin it
- Planned a photoshoot for the day I returned home from Greece like a ding dong… had to cancel
- Order shipping supplies that didn’t fit what we needed to ship
( I hope you know these are just honest, and make me laugh now!)
THE MOST LOVED PRINT WAS... 'Everybody's Home'
MY FAVORITE PAINTINGS FROM EACH COLLECTION THIS YEAR WERE...
Seashells - Washed Ashore
Blooming Horizons - In the Garden - No. 1
Ode to the Marsh - Slate Skies (which is also available as a print!)
Al Fresco - Lemon Squeeze // Summer in Navy - No. 6
Sun, Moon + Sea - Rosy Waterway // Salt Grass - No. 5
THE SERIES THAT WAS THE HARDEST TO WORK ON AND WHY... 'Blooming Horizons'
I loved the sketches I made when I was in the Cotswold’s of the rolling hills, but it was challenging for me to translate that to a larger work. I tried a bunch of different ways, and then I thought I really found a groove! Then, the pieces didn’t sell well at all. Definitely was a bummer, but I still love them. Cie la vie!
MY FAVORITE COLLECTION WAS... 'Al Fresco'
I always have so much fun filling paper with scenes of summer! I love playing with the light and shadow on the tablecloths. It’s just such a fun one.
SOMETHING NEW I TRIED WAS...
Creating a ceramics collection! I really enjoyed working with Karen Casteel on this collection as she has been such an encouraging teacher through this journey. I really enjoyed finding my style in this new medium. There was so much terminology to learn… grog, glaze, underglaze, firing cones, etc! I think we finally found a great combination that really reflects my work well.
THE MOST WATCHED REEL WAS...
Dean's first trip to the studio with 44.3k views!
MY FAVORITE COLOR I USED THIS YEAR WAS...
Lemon Yellow by Acryla Gouache
MY FAVORITE MEMORY FROM THE STUDIO THIS PAST YEAR WAS...
probably after I got my rug in the studio and everyone and their kids just ended up on the floor eating lunch together. I got the rug specifically for that reason. It’s the perfect spot for picnics and playing.
A GOAL I HAD AND REACHED WAS...
Hosting classes at the Surfrider Hotel! I’ve been wanting to get out there since we released our collaboration, and it was such a perfect weekend. I got to meet so many amazing people and was really inspired by Malibu’s incredible scenery.
A GOAL I HAD AND DIDN'T REACH WAS...
I had plans to finish an entire Amalfi Coast/Capri collection while we were traveling there, but I started a bunch of paintings but hardly finished any! Traveling with a baby definitely is different, my downtime was definitely spent focusing on him more than painting. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I am excited to get those paintings finished back in the studio. A collection for 2025!
THE PERSON WHO INSPIRED MY PAINTINGS THE MOST WAS...
Lucy Laucht! I found her work because she began hosting a workshop at Melisses the same year I did. The color in her photographs is incredible. Lucy released a new book Il Dolce Far Niente that I purchased for my studio director’s birthday and then ended up getting it for myself because of how inspiring it was! For my Amalfi collection I am hoping to capture a similar feeling in my paintings as she did in her book.
MOST LISTENED TO ALBUM IN THE STUDIO WAS...
The Tortured Poets Department (Taylor Swift forever!!! Even got to go to the Eras tour! Plus I think I have a crush on Post Malone. Oops!)
A CHANGE THAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR WAS...
we painted the studio! When we first moved into the studio we painted everything Decorator’s White, which typically is a neutral white, but in our space it leans very cold. So, we refreshed the space this year with the color ‘Pointing’ by Farrow and Ball. It may not look very different in photographs, but it feels so much warmer!
A FEW BOOKS I LISTENED TO THIS YEAR WHILE PAINTING WERE...
The Martha Rules by Martha Stewart (Martha is sharp and cool and inspiring!)
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans (SO interesting. Helped me understand what the bible is REALLY saying about women. Maybe not what you think!)
The Charm School by Nelson DeMillie (KGB Spy book with a hint of romance!)
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis (Interesting interpretation of what heaven could be like!)
The Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown (Not my usual, but spacey and fun!)
The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah (So good. WWII from a female perspective)
The Women by Kristin Hannah (Great/hard read! Vietnam from a female perspective)
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Loved this one. A beautiful story about family, sibilings and an old house!)
A NEW SERIES I'M THINKING OF DOING FOR 2025...
Kitchens! The Olive Harvest! (Will I get over my fear of painting people? Only time will tell!)
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