Finding Focus and a New Fabric Collection

In the Studio

Feb 19

Studio Notes Volume 3 | February 19, 2026

Finding Focus

This week I have been mulling over the idea of focus. On our drive to Penitente Canyon to climb this past weekend, Vasya and I listened to Atomic Habits by James Clear in the car. I read this book a couple years ago, but it was new to Vasya. I enjoyed revisiting the concepts (the audiobook is also great) and it was a bonus having somebody to talk about the book with. With Immersion 2026 right around the corner (starting March 2! 🤯 ), I have been thinking about how to ensure I get the most out of this 12ish week experience.

What's Immersion you ask? It's an online course entirely focused on surface pattern design that I am retaking this year as an Alumni. I'm a very different person and a different artist than when I took Immersion in 2024. I know more of what to expect and what I want to get out of the experience, but I also want to have to mental space to really be present and to let the experience unfold. I keep coming back to this phrase that I hear Marie Forleo say a lot on her podcast:

Simplify to amplify.

In January, I tracked my studio hours for the first time ever and I found that I was averaging 19.5 hours a week on my art business, across painting, working on patterns, blogging, newsletter writing, social media, admin, and probably more that I am forgetting. This is on top of working full time and I'm an athlete. Last time I took Immersion, I spent at least 20-25 hours on the course each week. What's my point? Something is going to have to give. If I really want to make the most of this course experience this year, I'm going to have to put aside probably 90% of what I've been working since the year started so that I can go all in on this experience. This is what I'll be focusing on for the next couple weeks.

Studio Scenes

I am still on a roll with my minis, so much so that I think I might have stumbled upon an accidental 100 day project. As painting takes more of a back seat once Immersion starts, these minis are probably going to be the easiest way to paint with less pressure.

New art supplies. I treated myself to some new supplies at the start of the year and I still have not unboxed them. I think this is another sign that I am doing too much. 🤦‍♀️ BUT some of them are goodies to use during Immersion, so I promise an unboxing will happen soon, probably over on Instagram.

I designed a new pattern and submitted for a design brief. I don't like to show the final pattern until the design brief winners have been selected, but here is the original artwork I created for the pattern, can you guess the theme?

Studio Notes are excerpted from my monthly newsletter where I share what is happening in the studio, what’s new on the blog, things I am loving, creative inspiration, freebies and more. Join the Collector’s Club to receive the full edition delivered to your inbox.

In the Wild

It has been unseasonably warm in Colorado this winter. While this does not bode well for our fire season this summer, it is good for getting outside (hello riding my bikes in shorts in February!). In addition to bike rides, I took myself on a solo hike up Bergen Peak in Evergreen, Colorado and took lots of pictures to fuel my mini paintings and drawings. Just this past weekend Vasya and I took a quick trip to Penitente Canyon in the San Luis Valley for some camping and climbing. It was a balmy 22 degrees overnight, but during the day it was beautiful. It was nice to get out of town and enjoy blue skies during the day and endless stars at night. And I added three more climbs to my tally. One of my personal goals is to lead climb 100 sport climbing routes outside this year, this past weekend brought my tally up to 10/100!

view of snowcapped mountains through the trees — Bergen Peak Hike, Evergreen, Colorado

cliffs and pine trees in the foreground and mountains in the distance — Penitente Canyon, Colorado

New on the Blog

What do you do when you are feeling a bit out of your league and like you do not belong? This is what the latest two articles on the blog are tackling. If you are an OG, you know that I started learning how to design fabric back in 2024 when I first took Bonnie Christine's Surface Pattern Design Immersion course. This course did so much to open up my world to the possibilities of what I could do with my art, so much so that I joined Christine's membership at the end of completing my course. Things were going well until she did a complete rebrand of her membership late last spring. Suddenly I was feeling completely overwhelmed and unsure whether it was the right space for me anymore. Of course, this transition also paired with when my chaos of a summer was really hitting its full swing last year. I went from full of excitement to continue developing my design skills to not creating any art for months. It took a podcast and a complete reframing of my attitude to get out of my own way and start designing again. From Doubt to Design shares how I had to embrace feeling like the least experienced in the room and how I finally found the motivation to start working on a new fabric collection, Sweet Provisions. To take a deep dive into my design process for Sweet Provisions, check out Designing a Farmstead-Inspired Fabric Collection. The full collection is now available for purchase on Spoonflower.