I often hear artists say that if you want inspiration, or if you want to know the colours, textures, and patterns you are drawn to, then go look in your closet. My wardrobe is pretty boring. But my daughter’s, on the other hand, definitely inspires me. She got a beautiful peach coloured dress with a lovely peach pattern on it for her first birthday. I would totally wear it if I could find it in my size. I am drawn to that dress everytime I open her closet. So, I thought I should actually use that inspiration as I have been taught. First, I went online and searched for illustrated peach patterns and took screen shots of the ones I like. I also looked at images of actual peaches in trees and took some more screenshots. Then I watched a video tutorial about painting peaches on YouTube. Then, I finally dove into my art journal and painted a peach. It’s not earth shatteringly beautiful, but I’m happy it’s there. And I’m definitely motivated to go paint some more peaches, and maybe try creating my own peach pattern painting. There’s something so satisfying about painting fruit.

I was actually away from home all week doing some house painting (much less inspiring, though the end result was great) for my mother in law. So I have missed all my babies, and pets, and plants, and am happy to wrap them all in some love today. Needless to say, that not much art happened. I did this peach spread before I left. I have already been shifting gears with my art journal practice, even though it’s still new. I find myself meandering a bit from the intended colour palettes, and I also find that I’m wanting to use it as a place to try out artistic ideas before committing them to canvas. I wanted this art journal spread to be reminiscent of a cross stitch sampler. I know that’s pretty nerdy, but hey, I’m a grandma at heart. In the ongoing search for “my style” (which in my mind translates to a particular type of genre/style that I would be satisfied to make into a series or 2 or 12), I have discovered that there is always a draw towards textiles and hand crafts like embroidery, so I’m trying to marry all these things. Will it be successful? Stay tuned…