January so far has been pretty full already. I am gearing up for a solo show at Gallery Blue Door this spring in Baltimore. I have been thinking about duality a lot in regards to my work. This piece was a continuing meditation on those thoughts. I added the salvaged piece of Wormy Chestnut. Wormy Chestnut come from trees that were killed by the chestnut blight of the early 1900s. These trees were subsequently damaged by insects, leaving holes and discoloration in the standing trees. The trees were then subsequently harvested and converted into lumber. Beauty from destruction. A history kept.
At a time when we are told to believe things that contradict what we see with our own eyes, and the turning back of progress and the attempted erasing of history, it’s important that we witness and record and remember.
The plant imagery is from the lavender that grows in my garden. Lavender often represents healing, physical and emotional. Have you ever looked out on a field of lavender? So soothing just to the eye.
My worry load is heavy these days. I know I am not alone. I think we all need to mentally surround ourselves with lavender fields in full bloom.
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The first two weeks of 2026 have been quite, um, terrible to be honest, in terms of what is happening in the outside world. I have been really busy though because I have had major deadlines all convening in the same two weeks this month. Normally every year I look over my previous year to get that overview of where I’ve been and figure out where I want to go. But this January, it took a while because 2025 was such a heavy year and honestly I didn’t want to look back. And well, 2026 is already worse. And it’s only been two weeks. Sigh.
I have also been sick for about a month now. I do believe that I am finally on the tail end. After my show came down at the end of November, I felt drained. I looked back at the year and realized that I had a show almost every month that I had been producing for. Of course I am grateful for every opportunity, but I was tapped out honestly.
January 2025 was a continuation of two different shows from 2024 that I participated in with the Goxxip Girl Collective. In February, I had a two woman show, Wild Wonder, at Lark & Key Gallery. In March XoXo Gallery had a benefit show that I participated in with one piece. April brought a show in my beloved Chicago at Woman Made Gallery with one of my pieces juried into “Under All Is the Land”. In May I was invited to show one piece at Crows Nest’s “The Speed of Fashion”. In June I installed my sculpture “Resilience in Community” in the woods at Adkins Arboretum. I had no shows in July and knew I needed to get work done, but I was having such a hard time concentrating in the studio. That was when all the raids were happening in Chicago. I did a daily collage practice to help me create. I participated in a group show “From the Forest” in August at Manor Mill , and then a group show in October, “Art of Birds” at Lark and Key. Fleckenstein Gallery in Baltimore celebrated their 25th anniversary and I was fortunate to show two pieces there. And then of course, in November, the topper of the year- my solo show at Artists & Makers in Rockville.
So very grateful for these opportunities to show and share my work in physical spaces. Not only for supporting my work, but also to connect with people. Openings and gatherings help to make real time connections with people in a time when community is so important.
2024 was a year of teaching and I really reduced that in 2025. I just didn’t have the time. I need to figure out a balance between the two this next year.
2025 was a year of really getting out of my comfort zone in many ways. There is so much growth when one comes out of that zone of safety, but I think I would like to hibernate a bit.
I am really proud of myself that I kept on creating, considering what an insane year it was. There were times when I would questioned it all, but still, I kept going. Times when I felt afraid and anxious. And I kept creating. Creating is what saves me. It always has.
But I also learned that it is important to rest. Not just for physical health and sanity, but also for refilling the creative well. I also learned that if you don’t rest, your body will make you.
As for my 2026 studio/art goals? I need to think more on that. hmmmmm