Embracing the Season You Are In
Studio Notes Issue 9 | September 3, 2026
Taking a Break
I has been a minute! I'm sitting down to write this with a hot cup of tea and shaking my head at where the summer went. While the type A part of my brain wants to lay on a guilt trip for not moving my creative business forward very much over the last couple months, another part is celebrating crushing my day job in July and then totally disconnecting for the majority of August.
July and August were complete polar opposite experiences for me. July was peak second half of summer camp craziness. We cooked muffins in the cabins, explored the different animals that call Colorado home and their adaptations to survive, made piles of puffy paint (shaving cream, white glue, and food coloring, IYKYK), and spent the month furiously trying to prep for the fall as I got ready to take an extended vacation. For the first time EVER, I missed the last two days of summer camp. One day I was corralling children, and the next I was taking in the quaintest view of the Mediterranean from Mallorca, Spain.
View from our first Airbnb.
Vacation Vibes
I wish I was kidding, but I feel like I spent the first couple days mostly sleeping. For the next 3+ weeks, Vasya and I explored all different corners of Mallorca. For the first week we decompressed in Port de Valdemossa, swimming, eating, and doing a bit of climbing and site seeing. During week 2 we welcomed three other friend couples to the most gorgeous villa in Manacor for a lively week of exploring, snorkeling, jumping off rocks into the sea, the solar eclipse (!), and just being silly by the pool. Finally we bid farewell to our friends and enjoyed a final week just the two of us at Cala Sant Vicenç enjoying yet more food, wine tastings, and soaking up all the sun and swimming we could. This was the longest time we had ever spent in one place and while I do love a vacation where you are trying to do all the things, it was also nice to just relax and get to know one place well.
View at Formentor overlook.
Valdemossa.
The buttresses of the Palma Cathedral.
Cala Sant Vicenç
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What did I not do much of during July and not at all during August? Be creative. In July, I slowly worked on getting a holiday collection up on Spoonflower (if you are already planning for the holidays, check out Holiday Delights), but did not do much painting or drawing. For vacation, I did bring a small set of painting supplies, one paint palette, a couple brushes, and some small pieces of paper, but all I did was move them around my suitcase throughout the three weeks.
And it was the best decision.
Instead of meticulously scheduling our days while on vacation to make the most of it, I actually rested - seriously so much sleep. I read books on the beach. I ate my body weight in bread, cheese, and cured meat. I sampled as many different wines as I could. I swam almost every day.
Back in the Studio
When we finally made the trek home, I felt excited to get back into my studio for the first time in a while. I've been looking at my goals for the year and thinking about what direction I want to go through the end of 2026. I've cleaned and organized my studio. I've been reviewing my current pattern collection list deciding what to tackle first. I've journaled a lot. Most surprising of all, I have been making something every day since I have been back. It's the first thing I do when I get into the studio lately. No computer, no Instagram, no phone, sometimes no noise at all. I've worked on paintings, made sketches, doodled, all without any clear end goal in mind.
I don't even know where this painting came from. Missing the colors of Spain, I pulled out a bunch of my bright paints and this is what happened.
An hour painting carrots that may or may not make it into a pattern at some point.
It has been lovely just to play and create. Sometimes I only work for 10-15 minutes and work on something small. Sometimes a few minutes turns into a few hours. I'm prioritizing consistency over hustle at the moment, and trying to hold onto that relaxed feeling from summer vacation for as long as possible.
Until next time!
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