Creating beauty around you
Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul ~ Alice Walker
I spent the long weekend working on my kitchen. I know how to party, right? Well, at least I put a little art in it.
After moving into my little house more than four years ago, after my divorce, I had hoped to make it feel like mine. My friends had helped me see the potential in this place, and I excitedly filled a Pinterest board with ideas. However, two weeks after moving in my youngest child had an accident and I spent the next full month cleaning wounds and injecting antibiotics into a picc line as they lay on a bed in the living room.
We hadn’t even unpacked yet.
Not long after, life served up other challenges and my plans for making my house into the quirky little place I envisioned sort of went by the wayside. I managed to do a few necessary things - new gutters, a window or two, updating electricity, but the house largely sat…unedited.
My mind was elsewhere.
So, buying a couple of gallons of paint and some storage pieces, taking off some cabinet doors, and painting a line of dandelions above my sink felt more like a revolution than a renovation. (if you subscribe to my letter from a lil fish you know how I feel about dandelions)
I still have work to do. I’m currently sewing a curtain for under the sink, and someday the floor needs to be replaced, but it feels comfy and warm now, and a great first step.
My soul needed it.
Workshops!
The shift of seasons is a great time to take some workshops. I have a few scheduled now and will be rolling out some totally new ones, some that lend themselves perfectly to holiday gift-giving. If you want to make a handmade holiday, keep an eye here because we’re going to get a jump on it. There are some fun holiday ornaments, cards, and toys coming soon.
On the calendar right now:
Intro to Monoprinting - Tuesday, September 15, 6-8pm
Felted Loon workshop - Sunday, September 20 10am to noon
Painterly Paper Sunflowers - Sunday, September 27, 10am to noon
Find them all HERE
Events
Tomorrow is the second Thursday of the month and that means Art Club! I’ll have some special pastels for fabric out on the tables. You draw your design and heat set it to make it permanent. I’ll have some prepped cotton fabric here to play with so come on out 6:00-8:00pm. It’s always free and fun. Bring a friend. And you’re always welcome to bring your own projects to work on.
Third Space Thursdays with the Sowing Room resume next week. Join us from 6:00-8:00 for an inclusive, welcoming, and free activity.
This Saturday I will be at Pride in the Park in Brainerd doing a fun art activity. Please come check it out, 10:00 to 3:30 at Gregory Park. Find the Facebook event HERE
Sunday, we’ll be hosting Chatty Hour in the studio from 12:30 to 1:30. Our friends from the Sowing Room will serve as hosts for this casual “drop‑in” opportunity designed to foster meaningful conversations, reduce loneliness, and build new connections through simple, low‑stakes interactions. FREE to attend plus coffee, tea or soda!
Don’t let the road construction scare ya. You can still access the Franklin Arts Center and my studio by parking in the lot on Kingwood and entering through the South Door. 1001 Kingwood, Brainerd, Suite 101 with the red door.
I am so grateful for your support and cheers. Thanks for helping this lil fish swim.
