Between Thanksgiving break spent with family and trying to get my gift guides posted, I didn’t share my four things last week!  It’s that time of year when I start feeling a little crunched to post everything in a timely manner.  But I really love writing this post each week.  It gives me a catch-all place to share bits and pieces of my work and life. Here are my four things for the week: Art & Fear, Dickensian, “they call it art”, and more pet portraits.     what I’m reading Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.  Oh my goodness, this book blew my socks off, and I plowed through it in two days, taking copious amounts of notes.  This book was first published in 1994, when I was in high school, but it still felt so relevant.  There were some clues that the book was older,

As a small business owner myself, I love supporting other small business owners.  It takes a lot of work to turn a vision into a reality and a lot of faith to take that big scary step.  While I’m not a huge fan of the post Thanksgiving gauntlet of sales (although it is admittedly  good time to start your Christmas shopping), I love that there is a day to celebrate and encourage support for small businesses, so I thought I would highlight some of my favorites.  Some are personal friends, and all of them I’ve shopped from for years. I have been collecting Linen Bee dresses and tunics for almost 10 years.  All of their clothes are custom made to my measurements, so they fit just how I like them.  Their fabrics wash well and their designs are timeless.  They are my go-to pieces for travel, church, outings, and antique markets. 

The Christmas shopping season is among us, and Black Friday (which seems to last over a month now) Sales are already happening.  As I have in the past, I’ve put together a few gift guides, mostly consisting of things I own and love that might be good for someone on your list.  While I love bargains and good deals, I’ve never been one to shop for or buy something simply because it’s on sale.  Instead, I hope the things I want are included in a sale; if not, I’ll wait for them to go on sale.  So, some of these things are included in Black Friday sales, and some aren’t. Here are my gift guides, of things I curated for cooks, makers, gardeners, Jane Austen fans, writers, readers, and a few guides that include tech accessories. things that are just fun, and some of my favorites from 2025.    

I’ve spent a lot of time at the easel this week, painting every day.  I am pushing through to get as many pet commissions done for Christmas presents before it’s too late for oils to dry in time.  I used to sit in front of old pieces of furniture, and now I sit in front of small wood panels clamped in an easel.  Both tasks are about transformation.  Both involve paint, brushes, and creative decisions.  I have grown and changed as an artist, and my business has evolved, but at the heart of it, it’s just me and paint, pictures, and words, sharing what I’m up to each day. I’ve just been thinking a lot this week about creative seasons, how things change, and how they stay the same. Here are my four things for the week: Mansfield Park, Next Gen Chef, no need to sparkle, and new papers…  

It’s hard to believe we’re in the final two months of 2025.  Didn’t it just start?  I remember someone telling me I pressed the fast-forward button on my life when I was holding a newborn Marshall in my arms, and she was right.  The years seem so fleeting and precious, and our growing, maturing boys are a great measuring stick for the passage of time.  I love this time of year, though—the cooler temperatures and build-up of anticipation to Christmas.  I’m feeling particularly childlike as this holiday season approaches.  I’m eager to start decorating and working on handmade projects, baking, and then enjoying the calm between Christmas and New Year’s.  This will be our fourth Christmas in this house, and I think I finally feel settled here.  I’m learning it takes about that long, about three years, to feel at home in a new house.  And that feels good. Here

It’s our final few days before it gets dark ridiculously early.  I’m already feeling the darkness creeping in as I’m sitting at my easel in the afternoon.  I love winter and all that comes with it—soup, Christmas, hoodies and wool socks, football games, and snow—but I wish it came with more sunlight.  I know you can’t have one without the other, though, so I’ve pulled some extra lighting into my studio so I can continue to work a full day despite the lack of light.   Here are my four things for the week: Austen, Austen, an introduction, and repetitive seasons.       what I’m reading While in England, I had the chance to visit Jane Austen’s home in Chawton, which left me with a craving to read her books.  (I will share more about that visit in a post next week.)  I read Sense & Sensibility ages ago, but I

Autumn is in full swing here in Maryland, and we are in the thick of our yearly battle with the leaves falling from our six 50-year-old maple trees.  Jeff takes the lead on the leaves, and I’m working on garden chores to give ourselves the gift of a tidy yard over the winter, and garden beds ready for spring mulching and planting.  I plan to work more on that now that the pool is closed and I don’t have to spend time fishing leaves and twigs out of the water.  It’s been a week of reintroduction to my work routines with varying degrees of success!  Why does it take so long to get back into a rhythm?  I’m slowly getting there… My four things for this week: more about the Cotswolds, asking for suggestions, gingham & linen, and back at the easel.       what I’m reading I am definitely

I had planned to write Four Things posts while traveling, but that didn’t happen.  Our days were full and, when we did have downtime, I didn’t want to spend it pecking away at my computer.  Instead, I wrote in my journal to record all my experiences, thoughts, and observations as close to the moment as possible.  I wandered around the villa’s grounds where we stayed in Italy.  I painted, sketched, and soaked it all in.   But now that I’m home, Four Things is back.  Here is what I’m reading, watching, loving, and working on…Cotswolds Memoir, Knife Edge, why we bother, and plowing through the mountain before me…     what I’m reading I was scrambling before we left for our trip to get everything done, so I didn’t have to worry about things left undone while overseas.  For that reason, I didn’t read up on the places we were visiting