Whew! It sure has been a while since my last newsletter…and for good reason. I’m due with my third baby this November! Thankfully this pregnancy has been uncomplicated, but even so, there was a period in second trimester when I didn’t feel at all like painting and it was a bit concerning!
Ironically that has changed now that I’m in my final weeks of pregnancy and it seems like all my creativity is fired up.
Several works in process. I have been loving exploring different color combinations.
With these new works in progress, I have been starting with a base color layer and have been trying to be much more intentional about color schemes and color choices, and am loving the results so far.
For now I am just laying down base layers and getting the composition feeling right - this is always the hardest part and takes the most mental energy.
My hope is that by doing the “hard” parts now, I can continue to chip away at these paintings after baby comes, when I know time and energy will be limited.
That being said, I know life with a newborn will be both hectic and slow at the same time. For now I am enjoying sitting with these paintings and allowing them to evolve gradually. I am itching to take these even bigger, but again, also trying not to put any pressure or expectations on myself!
Now for the garden content no one asked for…
Besides painting and pregnancy, this year has been the year of gardening. My husband has been toiling away at our garden for 5+ years now, but this is really the first year that I’ve taken interest. Our summer garden provided more tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and zucchini than we could eat — until the heat of summer brought fungal diseases and pests (seriously, squash vine borers, pickle worms, cucumber beetles — maybe find a different garden next year!!). It was still a great and successful summer garden.
We’ve since planted our fall garden, which so far is doing great (fingers crossed).
Our fall garden highlights from left to right: 1) First “successful” broccoli - even though it’s only about 3 inches wide, this is the largest broccoli head we’ve ever been able to grow! 2-3) Harvesting daikon radishes from the garden and pickling them to be used for home made vietnamese banh mi sandwiches - yum!
That’s all from me for now!
With the Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, wishing you and your family a great and restful holiday season!!