Thank you, April showers!

Happy May, Reader!

Please picture me in sunshine yellow galoshes splashing through all of April's shower puddles to get to you. When I do, I wrap you up in a rainbow hug and we go frolicking in the Maytime meadows all a-burst with flowers and bugs and breezes🌼🐝😚 That is the beauty of May and that is the feeling I hope this email brings with it today.

Every year when Spring rolls around, I find deeper truth in the rhyme, "April showers bring May flowers" and this year it's got me thinking about the seasons of my creativity garden. Not every season is one of abundance and light but that doesn't mean we're falling behind. If you're feeling stuck in your creative endeavors, pause and think about how you can embrace your rainy season and trust that your flowers (aka ideas) will bloom when they are ready. In the meantime, what is some way you can feed your creativity today; not to see an end result today but purely to feel the nourishment behind letting your garden grow in it's own time🌸

Studio Tidings

WORK

I am elated to share that one of my favorite projects to date is finally launching: a Cowgirl Collection for Gibbs Smith will be available to purchase on 6/23!

"From bold bookmarks and collectible buttons to playful stickers, totes, and giftable keepsakes, our Cowgirl Collection is filled with Western charm, adventurous spirit, and heartfelt style. Designed for readers, dreamers, and modern-day cowgirls, each piece brings a little wild heart energy to everyday life."

Kicking my boots and tossing my hat as I share this fun collection🤠

Peruse it here!

And don't forget to ask your favorite local gift stores to stock it so you can peruse in person✨

PLAY

In my grad program (how was that already 5 years ago??!), we were taught to explore illustration as a practice not just a career. A big part of that involved diving into a multitude of mediums and methods and it got me fascinated by wood working + illustration in 3 (or 4?) dimensions. Four years ago, just after I graduated, I drew this pug and sent out my design to be woodcut so I could paint it and turn it into a clock. It has been sitting, stopped in time, for years because I couldn't get the clock part to work but I *finally* dug into it recently and am loving working to the tick-tock of my pug clock🐶

LATELY

May was a wild month and I have oodles of news. Here are some highlights in a nutshell:

I've been accepted to the Milkwood Residency for Writers and Illustrators and I'll be spending the first half of this month in New York researching, painting, writing, and making picture books. Can't wait to share all my treasures from it all next month!👏
(Photo above is courtesy of Milkwood Farm)
New book announcement!! Scroll this email for more details😜
I finished my first cable-knit sweater (vest) and I think anyone who has spent hours knitting knows that's big news🙃