Mystery Stitch Along

And more ideas to finish 2020 together!

I admit, my ideas often outpace my available time. (Well, admitting, that’s allowing for quiet family evenings, knitting, gardening, and long hikes - the older and wiser part of me is still learning about balance.) Nonetheless, it’s time for me to decide which ideas I want to pursue in the studio through the end of this crazy year before I once again start fresh in 2021 with the larger projects I’ve put on hold for now (see list at end).

As I reflect on what I’ve needed to get through this year, I’m hoping my final projects for 2020 will find ways to inspire, connect, and help others too. The holiday season is going to be tough for all of us trying to keep our families and communities healthy while still finding ways to be connected and celebrate in some way. I believe in the spirit of creativity and I believe we can do this!

So, without further ado, here are the projects I’m releasing soon. I’ll also be having FREE giveaways on Instagram. I hope you are inspired to create your own project to share with your friends and family or feel free to join me with trying or sharing one of these!

Pairs of Paintings

My favorite art in my home is that which reminds me of a special memory or person (which is why my art is usually either acquired on vacation or from a friend). I love seeing a piece and enjoying the memories all over again. That is why, on October 15, I’ll be releasing the first batch of “Pairs of Paintings” to my Newsletter subscribers (releasing to the public October 22). These will be little 4 x 4 and 5 x 5 inch paintings available as matching sets. The idea is to keep one and give one so that you can always have a little reminder of the friend or loved one sharing your painting pair (or triplet, as the case may be). I’m trying to keep these affordable (hence the small size) so that it’s easier to gift. I’m also offering mugs and totes with these to create sets to make it even more fun to gift away!

Paint by Design

In December I’m releasing a new “Paint by Design” birch board limited series. Based on the paint-by-number concept, but without the numbers, these boards will be primed and prepped with one of my designs printed onto the board - ready for you to paint! I’ll be starting with a small series of 3 images based on previous paintings. I’m hoping it can be a fun way for friends or family to share a project or to simply enjoy the meditative process of filling in shapes with color. I’ll also be making the designs themselves free to download so that everyone can give it a try.

Paint-a-long Tutorial

December 6 I’m offering a FREE LIVE paint-a-long tutorial event on YouTube. In November I’ll provide the winter themed design and supply list so that everyone can be ready to join in the fun. Everyone is welcome. I’m hoping this can be a fun way for friends and family to participate in a group activity online (all levels welcome - kids too) and have a shared painting to enjoy. After the live event I’ll keep the video link active to replay through the month of December to give anyone who wants to participate a chance to join. How fun it that?

and last but not least…

Mystery Stitch-a-long

I was turned onto the fun of Mystery Knit-a-Longs a few years ago by my amazing local knitting group of moms. Thanks to their warmth and kindness as well as amazing knitting knowledge I, surprisingly, started knitting again after giving it up in my ‘20s. Before I joined their lovely coffee knitting group (as a mom friend, not really a knitter), I had absolutely no thought of knitting. Now, thanks to their encouragement and inspiration, I’m currently enjoying a Mystery Cowl Knit-a-long by the amazing Casapinka. Truly, the fiber community is amazing with many designers finding fun ways to keep us all engaged.

(If you would like a little fiber joy added to your in-box, I highly recommend joining the Olive Knits Newsletter by the amazing Marie Greene. She always puts a smile on my face and a bit of fiber inspiration too!)

But wait, you said “Stitch-a-long”

Well, I’m combining my love of the knitted mystery with my desire to produce a 3rd counted cross stitch design, and what do you know, I discovered there is a whole Mystery Stitch-a-long crowd out there in fiber land too! So, I decided what the heck, I’m going to join in the fun! In November I’ll be releasing a Holiday Mystery Stitch-a-long. The pattern will use the same shape and size of my previous two bird patterns, but the design will be a M-Y-S-T-E-R-Y until the final sequence of stitches is released! A supply list will be provided November 1. First stitches will be released weekly starting November 22 - with 4 weeks of stitching fun!

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Projects on Hold until 2021

I admit, I have a long list of projects I want to complete with some even on hold for a few years as I get distracted by other ideas. (I’m here to remind you if YOU have projects piling up, that’s OK! Sometimes the best outcome for a project is giving it time to ponder, even if it’s subconsciously, and sometimes even letting it go...) However, I do plan to return to these eventually. For now, though, I’ll just keep creating when and what I can!

Oregon State Parks Series (started in 2015)

This series has developed almost entirely within the confines of my imagination. It has been a long, slow, progression and I feel like it will emerge at the right time (or merge with the right project) eventually. I have 1 completed painting to credit to this series, “Cascadia”. The rest are still in the ideas, notes and sketches phases. I hope to eventually take this series and use the experience to create a National Parks Series.

Fragaria Series (started in 2012, on hold since 2015)

This is a very personal series with several of my favorite paintings to its credit. I grew up spending summers with my family at a ramshackle little beach community called “Fragaria” on the Puget Sound in Washington. I still have a few paintings yet to complete which showcase the beach houses a bit more. These paintings take a lot of emotional processing and I just haven’t had the motivation to sift through it all for a few years as other projects took hold of my creative energy. I know I will get back to it when the time is right.

Unbound Series

Based on new (to me) collage techniques and pages from my favorite childhood bird book - I still have pieces of collage materials from this series all over my studio and will certainly jump back in when 2021 (and the sights and sounds of Spring) roll around.

Wildlife Tapestry Series

This series morphed from my wildlife portrait series and will grow as painting (and poem/story) ideas come to me. Currently I only have 2 paintings I credit to this series, “Bear & Peacock” and my recent “Time Stopped When I Saw You Look at Me”. I’m in no particular hurry, but will just enjoy the journey with this series, slowly but surely.

2020 Meditations

A contemplative means to an end, this series just kept me creating through our collective pause as April 2020 (and beyond) came at us with such uncertainty. I finished what I could, and hope to go back and finish more as I continue to need those contemplative pauses from time to time.

BEING

While very different from my usual work, this series is one of my most personal and most treasured. It takes a look into my inner struggles from the summer of 2019 when my father died after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease and with the experiences of being a woman coping and caring and finding room to grow. Using new materials and processes with knitted pieces and monotypes, and this series has a lot of development yet to come. While it started as mostly smaller pieces, larger pieces are in the planning and works and will come to life (I hope) in late 2021. It may merge in some way with my Cellular Thoughts series too. Time will tell.

Cellular Thoughts

Out of all my projects, this series has developed the most in my sketchbooks over the last year, after initially starting with a small collection of paintings. It has since become (on paper at least) a community sculptural project of grand proportions (I hope). I have a detailed vision of where I want this project and future paintings to continue to go and am trying to take my time to develop it properly. In that light, I am currently now working on a smaller scale version of the latest direction of this series which I hope to have ready to share at the end of next year as a means to garner the support and backing I’ll need to push the project further. (If you’re a knitter, you can help HERE too!) I’m excited, but know this project will take a lot of time, energy, and enthusiasm, and won’t be something that can pay the bills (which in our current state of affairs is more important than usual for me). So, I will keep it on the back burner, simmering nicely on low, while I finish out this year with smaller fun projects for (hopefully) all of us to enjoy!