I live my life in widening circles (new prints and sketches)

“I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world” Rainer Maria Rilke

I love this concept of living in widening circles — that we learn new things constantly and are always folding that learning into our understanding of the world. I view my life and business as two widening circles that intersect and complement each other. Each week I learn more about my skills, fears, dreams, and expanding well of courage. Each week I also learn more about what balance looks and feels like on a daily basis.

Think about the circle of your life this past year. How has it widened to include new experiences, ideas, talents, and wisdom? I just love looking back to see how we’ve grown.

Now friends, here’s a peak at what’s been going on lately:

Sketches! I spend only a few minutes on each sketch so that I don’t get stuck in perfectionism. I’ve laughed a LOT while attempting to draw certain animals, but that’s part of the fun, right? The goal is to keep loose and not take myself too seriously.

New prints in the shop! 

Eric and I worked super hard over the weekend to color correct and edit a bunch of new prints and we’re almost caught up! I’m so grateful for his support. Here are the newer paintings now available as prints (8.5 x 11 unmatted and 11 x 14 matted prints are available). Head over to the shop for more details.

Larger print sizes. We’ve also started to explore offering more print sizes and they look seriously amazing. Check out some of the test prints we did this week:

Here I am for scale. This is a 13×19 test print of ‘Celebrate the journey’

A test print of Morning Sea underneath the original painting. This print is on 17×22 paper

We Will Always Have Each Other, on 17 x 22 paper

Larger prints will be available soon for many of my paintings. If you’d like to see a large print option for a particular painting, leave a comment below this post and let me know which one!

Painting. I’ve relaxed my one-painting-per-week schedule a little bit. The schedule was exactly what I needed throughout the winter / spring and my style has grown so much from regular practice. I still plan to paint weekly, but in the spirit of balance, I’ve given myself permission to paint more slowly, to let inspiration seep in, and to use some of my creative time for sketching and learning.

I love the idea that we’re never locked into anything in life. Try something, feel what’s working and not working, and adjust, adjust, adjust. Here’s the background I have so far, and we’ll see where this painting leads.

Now I’d love to know: when was the last time you tried something new? I recently listened to an interview with an artist who said that she consistently tries new things, from taking classes to cooking new recipes, as knowing that she’ll be unskilled at something for a while helps to keep her mind fresh and active.

Getting outside of our comfort zones really does impact everything.

Have a beautiful day, friends!