Life Update

We’re in the second quarter of 2026. Updates have been fewer and further between than expected. This time, it isn’t because I haven’t been writing. In fact, I’ve been doing more off-the-blog submittable writing than I have in many years. More on that later.

The first of the year started with a bang! I completed my first painting on the first day of the year, After the Paramedics Left, and when I later shared it on our town Facebook group it was a big hit! The post resulted in over 750 “reactions”, many interested buyers, a sale, print sales, and a large scale commission.
That kept me busy through February.

In February, I put a lot of energy into managing family matters with my nearly adult son. Graduation is just around the corner, and I absolutely cannot believe how fast life is changing.

While I was managing that, my husband was tying off loose ends and exiting his previous job! He formerly worked for one of the top 5 companies in the world, commuted far more frequently than he had been promised in his interview process two years prior, and was traveling all of the time. Between August and November he was only home for a consecutive week twice. It was hard on our family, our marriage, our home, and my sanity. Then, two days after Thanksgiving, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, he suffered a pulmonary embolism. It was scary, and in a lot of ways he is still recovering.

February marked two years at the old place and he was able to secure a position elsewhere. The compensation is lower but togetherness is our top priority. Upstairs, seated in our shared home office, he told his team of over 100 people goodbye with a speech that included. “I’ve put my career first–and maybe second, if I’m being honest–for twenty years. It’s time for me to put my family first.”

He continues to be a leader in his new company but the work/life balance is a welcome change. He has more time to devote to being the family man I knew he was in the early stages of our relationship. Our friendship is going through a rebirth and he’s been tackling beside me the aspects of homelife that have had me drowning. He’s been a great cheerleader as I navigate these early stages of building my art business.

I’ve been doing plenty of painting and many submissions to residencies and gallery shows. That calls for a lot of writing about my practice, my ethos about my work, and the like.

What’s next?

Now that the snow has melted and the daffodils are blooming, I am shifting my energy in different directions. I’m hopeful that this summer will be a bountiful art festival season. I have received a rejection from my my top festival, but I’m just getting started.

Gallery submission season was a flurry of hustling to get one painting done after another. I’m astonished that four months into the year, I’ve been accepted into seven different shows, with more to come! I have two commission opportunities on the horizon and I’m finishing up works for two shows I had planned on submitting to earlier on in the year. Then I’m shifting gears.

No more anticipating more gallery shows and making paintings to fulfill themes. I’m going to focus my efforts on cranking out a painting a week and building out my website to reflect the work I’ve been producing–already eight new paintings in 2026!

I can’t wait to share more of what I’ve been working on with y’all!