For Keep's Sake

If you've ever encountered my work, you may know that recycling, reworking and reusing things is kinda my thing. Recently I took a gift given to a loved one and turned it into something else they'll hopefully continue to enjoy. 

Hearts and Wings for Spring

 Spring arrives this week in our hemisphere, and I've been busily preparing. In stolen moments between my creative tasks in my studio, I've been doing garden tasks, including clearing out, organizing seeds, repotting existing plants, and sowing. 

Inspired by...

Here's a video I created yesterday during a walk. I shared some of my inspiration as an artist. And I feel that inspiration and hope are very necessary during these turbulent and uncertain times. So I created this:

 

Aspirational Auntie

My name is Renée, and I'm blessed to be an aunt to a number of young people. Three of which I have within my immediate grasp and influence.

I sometimes like to think of myself as a junior or "bonus" mom. And I do my best to show and teach my nieces and nephew (5, 14, and 15) things I think could be useful and pertinent for them in life. That includes how to have fun.

Wordless Wednesday

Balancing Act

I'm taking a moment to reflect today. It is now late July and therefore more than halfway through the year. We have yet to reach the dog days of summer, but I'm looking out on a muggy, cloudy afternoon, watching for the latest round of storms to hit and thinking about how quickly fall will descend on us.

Unplanned Obsolescence

 After years of [somewhat] adequate service, I recently bid farewell to a key member of my team here in this studio. I was not prepared to part ways. I spent several months and dollars seeking a resolution. But the matter simply could not be resolved favorably. 

Tuesday: Things I Make for Me

 This one is a little different. Because this TIMFM post is about something different I make for me: space.

Tuesday [Things I Make for Me]

It happened. I'm surprised that I evaded it this long. Time and time again, I have been regaled with others' horror stories. And my own experience lived up to the grave descriptions.

Different But the Same

The days of sameness are passé. We are human beings. Individuals. And what makes us interesting are our differences.

I recently read a book that discussed evolutionary psychology. It talked about modern man's reasons for certain behaviors and choices and how they are linked to survival instincts we've had hardwired into us for millennia. It also touched on the possibility that some of those behaviors may no longer serve us.

Give and Take

 April was Earth month. And in honor of Earth Day (4/22), I shared one way I try to do my part as a concerned inhabitant of this planet. I strapped on a funny harness thing to hold my camera and went to pick up trash from a small creek near my home. 

I filmed myself fishing old toy balls and other trash from the creek.

Ways and Means

No one asked, but I feel this is a valid (and necessary) PSA. I'm an artist. I sell my work online and locally. I also create content around my work. I take pictures and videos, I write and edit all of these forms of content myself.