Notes from My Studio 2 July 2025: Planting Seeds, New Journals for Sale and a New PWYCW for July...and a Request
I believe in planting seeds...
The world is a mess. I’m a mess. Yet, here we are still trying to do the best we can and carry each other forward.
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
-Robert Louis StevensonI want to plant more seeds. It’s what I try to do with my work, my workshops, and in my every day life.
Even when the world feels heavy, I still believe that there are good people in it, trying to do what they can. I believe that artists are here to remind us, to encourage us, to nurture dreaming and hope, to show us a path forward. It’s not a pipe dream. Look to artists of the past, this is what their work has done and continues to do, long after they’re gone. Art reminds us of our humanity and connects us. We can’t forget that.
My request, for those of you in red states, please be loud. This Big Atrocious Bill will hurt far too many people (my family and many, many others across the country)… Thank you.
At 1 pm PST, on my blog, I’ll have NEW work for sale, lots of painted and collaged journals. At 1 pm, you can refresh the page and the post should pop up. Thank you for looking! I appreciate your interest and support… and I LOVE seeing what people do with my journals!
I’ve moved my pay what you can Juicy Living: Art Journaling Series to the SECOND Saturday of each month. Like all of my workshops, if you can’t make the live session, there’s always a recording.
The work at the very top of the page is from my online art community, The Art Life: Building Your Visual Vocabulary. Every Friday we have live painting sessions (I call them sessions, they’re part workshop, part salon, part come paint with me, an hour or so to encourage you to get to your art area and make something.) We have additional workshops, salons, and lessons throughout the month. I’m pouring all of myself into this monthly workshop. This month, we’re looking at the work of a wide variety of artists, exploring the theme of SUMMER. I’d love for you to join us. We are small but mighty!
“The Man Who Planted Trees” a short film by Frédéric Back
Years ago, my husband shared a film with me. I haven’t stopped thinking of it since. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here.
If you’re looking for more of Back’s work, I’d recommend following it up with Crac!
Both are well worth your time.
“He'd been planting trees in the wilderness for 3 years. He'd planted a hundred thousand of them. Out of those, twenty thousand had come up. Of the twenty thousand he expected to lose half, because of rodents or the unpredictable ways of Providence. That still meant ten Thousand Oaks would grow where before there had been nothing.” -Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees
PS I am a working artist…
Thank you for reading this and being a part of the journey.❤️🎨
Kelly