Finding Solace & Making Space to Create This Summer
Thoughts from the Studio & Making Space to Create
How is your summer unfolding so far, and how are you making space to create?
Summertime brought its usual mix of beach days and family activities. There are full rhythms with three children home from school. I love summer; it truly is my favorite season. But it often pushes my creative practice to the margins.
Last year, I barely painted between June and September.
Oil painting needs uninterrupted time. For me, this usually looks like 4-6 hours a day for several days in a row. This includes time to setup, complete the underpainting, mix the perfect colors, and then actually paint layers. There's also time needed to clean brushes (my least favorite part). Family life and busy summer schedules meant making space to create was quite a challenge.
This summer has felt different though. I've found myself returning to a medium I first fell in love with in high school: soft pastels.
The flexibility of pastel painting has been a true gift. I can sit down for thirty minutes or less, make meaningful progress, and pick right back up later. I don't have to worry so much about remixing colors or dried paint on a palette. It has allowed me to continue creating in a season that once felt difficult to navigate as an artist.
Returning to pastels has reminded me of something important. We must slow down to receive beauty. Before translating beauty into art, I believe we have to let ourselves receive it first.
The Story Behind Finding Solace
One of my most meaningful recent paintings began with a photograph shared by a friend.
Her image captured a deer quietly crossing the marsh at golden hour. The peachy golden light softly glowed over the treetops and grasses. There was something about this whole scene that immediately gave me pause.
It was so peaceful.
Life can feel noisy, hurried, and heavy. This small moment reminded me of something really important. Beauty and peace exist everywhere. We only need to notice them.
This feeling became the inspiration behind Finding Solace.
As I painted, my thoughts landed here: Solace isn't found by escaping our circumstances. Sometimes it's found by paying closer attention to the gifts and beauty already present within them.
The marsh grasses weaving along the intracoastal waterways.
Evening light that paints the clouds.
A mama deer wading quietly through the landscape. Her fawn babies not far behind (I wish I could have seen them too! My friend who took the photo shared this extra sweet detail with me).
Simple things that bring beauty and wonder.
If this feeling resonates with you, I welcome you to explore prints of Finding Solace here:
Beauty Worth Beholding
I've realized that both Finding Solace and my recent pastel work are connected by the same idea. Scenes like marshes at golden hour and sunflower fields under summer skies call to me and ask to be painted. I am drawn to moments like this that invite us to pause.
To look a little longer with a still and quiet mind.
To notice details we might otherwise skip over.
The changing, fleeting colors of a sunset.
The texture of grasses moving in the wind.
The glow of light across a field of sunflowers.
These are the moments that continually inspire my work as a landscape painter. They encourage me to be intentional with making space to create new art.
They are ordinary moments with extraordinary impact on our hearts and minds. If we can receive it.
A Return to Wonder
I love being an artist. Painting continually teaches me to pay attention. The word behold means "to perceive the reality (or truth) right in front of you." I would also add "to perceive the beauty" before you.
In many ways, that's what this summer is about for me.
Finding a creative rhythm that works in a busy season.
Making space to create, even if just for a few minutes.
Returning to a medium I haven't used in years.
Exploring new skies, new landscapes, and new possibilities.
And continuing to practice the art of beholding.
Perhaps my paintings offer this to others. I want my art to be a gentle invitation. My greatest hope is that it encourages you to slow down, pause, and breathe deeply. And to find beauty in ordinary places.
What's Inspiring You?
Some of my favorite paintings begin with photographs and stories shared with others.
Do you have a favorite landscape photo? It could be a coastal scene or mountain overlook. Maybe a marsh view, flower field, or beautiful sky. I would love to see it.
Simply reply to my newsletter, or send me a message, if you'd like to share a photo. I'll share the link to join below. If your photo inspires a painting, you'll get the first opportunity to purchase the original before it becomes publicly available.
Click here to join my Beauty & Brushstrokes newsletter and share your favorite landscape photo.
Thank you for following along and supporting my journey. It is my greatest joy to create work inspired by the beauty of nature and share it with you. I hope you are also making space to create this summer.
Keep beholding beauty,
Wilmington NC artist. Fine art prints. Original oil paintings. Soft pastel paintings. Coastal art. Nature inspired art. Sunflower painting. Marsh landscape art. North Carolina artist. Interior design inspiration. Making space to create.