A Fresh New Year of Art and Exploration

Don’t you love the freshness of a New Year full of potential? I do! I have my pile of books, I have time and I have all the ideas that have been incubating and collecting in my notebooks while I celebrated the holidays with friends and family.

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day,
a fresh try, one more start,
with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.
~JB Priestley

Some fresh new exploring is in order. I want to explore collections – my own, and ones I have been gifted. I’ve always been one to walk looking down at the ground and picking up seed pods, feathers, lichens and such. I collect shells, rocks and miscellaneous finds from the beach. I like vintage white buttons, clasps and fasteners; the older the better.



Having been gifted a few brass bells, I add to my collection when just the right find comes my way. A vintage desk bell is my newest addition, having arrived in my Christmas Stocking. I wonder what kind of business it served in it’s former life, announcing the arrival of a new customer?

I am collecting beautiful objects. A pair of shoes. Some glasses.
Telephone. Typewritter.
…Their delicate and finished appearance is friendly.
And they are quiet.
~From the movie The Science of Sleep




Books have always called my name. “Come look!” they say from their shelf. So I am especially enjoying the book Etcetera, by Sibella Court. You might have read the recommendation about this book at Donna’s blog or at Ro’s blog. It’s full of yummy photography of all kinds of collections displayed in interesting ways. Being freshly inspired, I am starting a new collection of photographs of my collections.

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen
from one to another mind.
~James Russell Lowell

My pile of fresh new books includes one about working intuitively in the studio. A suggested exercise using a burning candle to “paint” with smoke has caught my eye and my imagination. How fun! What a great color!




I’m inspired by a book of interviews of artists in New Mexico and peeks into their studio spaces. My own studio remains unfinished, but the insulation is here and will be installed in the ceiling soon. I am looking forward to the added warmth! It’s time to think about the finishing touches and final arrangement of equipment and working spaces.


Books are not made for furniture,
but there is nothing else that
so beautifully furnishes a house.
~Henry Ward Beecher




For rich images and insight into process, I am reading Histories Real and Imagined. It is a detailed look into Lissa Hunter’s body of work as a “basket maker” and assemblage artist. I love her work which incorporates natural objects such as rocks, mark making, and objects she has made. I’m looking forward to finding a cozy spot and flipping through the pages at a leisurely pace.

I love her because she makes things.
You know? She makes things with her hands.
~From the movie The Science of Sleep



It’s time now to begin on a series of collage for the International Collage Exchange. I enjoy the process of making 13 or so collage. Having a due date is motivating and I always learn a lot as I work my way through the series. Then there is the fun of sending them off to the world, and seeing a return package come to my mail box, plump with collage from artists all around the globe. This year my series will revolve around mark making.

Re-Fresh Your Creative Practice is a new coaching group I developed for artists which is beginning soon. You can read more about here.

A friendly hello to all the new followers. It is my pleasure to meet you! It’s deliciously pleasant looking forward to this Fresh New Year, with time in the studio and time creating. Happy Fresh New Year to you all!