Summer is my husband’s busy season for work, but the kids and I have been taking it sloooow. Think lazy mornings, easy outings to the beach or the pool or the library, and lots of reading, swimming, movies, and art projects at home. We go out and check on my tomatoes everyday. We watch ospreys catching fish. We see Carla May’s pumpkin seeds she planted last fall sprouting up all over the yard. Living in Destin, my kids have gotten so spoiled they don’t even want to go swimming until after 3:00 when I no longer require sunscreen. What a life.
I haven’t done a ton of client art projects this summer since I’ve been focused on spending time with my kids, but in the pockets of time I’ve had while they are at camp I did a BIG website update. I’ve always used pre-made website designs in the past, but I had a blast building and designing this one all by myself. Check it out here and let me know if you see any typos haha.
Last summer, I made a list of things for the kids to do when they are bored and posted it up for them to see. We found it really helpful. So this year, I made another one and, by request, made a printable version that you can find here.
Back in March, I started keeping a “weekly visual journal” inspired by Helen C Stark. I go through my journals each week and pick some favorite things. Then I create a spread of highlights from each week with both words and pictures. I started by using all kinds of materials but the last couple months I’ve settled on Micron pens and Caran d’Ache gouache.
I had the absolute PLEASURE of being the art sponsor my daughter’s dance recital. The theme was “brand new” so for my initial design I thought about brands and how the most influential use of branding in the art world is Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans, so we started with a riff on that, which you can see in the bottom left corner above.
But, we ended up going with more of a focus on the “new” part - a depiction of seeds in a garden sprouting into a big beautiful flower, which was appropriate for a new dance studio blossoming after their first year.
The kids in the recital did amazing and it has been such a joy seeing so many girls in town wearing their T-shirts!
I’m not sure if I ever shared pictures of the merch I made for my book club for our retreat back in January, but last month we had our annual summer boat cruise meeting and almost everyone brought their “Book Club Baddie” bags so we snapped a pic.
I did a few updates for my husband’s restaurants last month. We updated the chalkboards at Local Market and added ~*cocktails*~ to the menu. These are my favorite chalks for restaurant chalkboards in case anyone is in the market. The texture is super smooth without being pastel soft and the colors are vibrant. I also painted some frozen drink machine signs for The Sand Flea. You can see a peek into the process for painting drink signs here.
Some more summer fun: Harry and I have been working our way through this Draw with Mom! workbook which has fun prompts on every page for parents and kids to draw together.
I got commissioned by my childhood friend Beau Genelin, who is running for City Council of Fort Payne, Alabama, my hometown, to create a summer checklist of fun things to do. Fort Payne folks can click here to download and print and have a great time checking them off! And vote for Beau, of course!
An activity I LOVE to do in the summertime is tie-dye our old clothes that need a refresh. We spent an afternoon last week in the yard with 5 or 6 items of clothing each and this tie dye kit. It comes with gloves but I always forget to wear them.
Finally, some things I was inspired by this month:
bright summer colors
laughing and catching up with old friends
Butch Anthony and honestly the entire art collection at Billy Reid in Nashville
vintage Jack’s art
florals inlaid in enamel
the tiniest slices of pie for the most whimsical end to a great dinner at Bastion
If you made it this far, leave a comment with something you have loved doing this summer and I’ll randomly pick someone to receive a small piece of original art! I had planned to end with a comic but Substack is saying my email is too long so you can find it here. xoxoxoxo