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Hi dear friends,

It’s hard to believe we’re already well into August. Summer always seems so expansive when it begins, and then suddenly I look up and realize it’s almost over. Mine has been full in the best kind of way – travel, family, teaching, painting, experimenting, and quite a bit of dreaming about what comes next.

Of course, one of the biggest parts of my summer was France. I spent part of May painting and teaching in the French countryside, and I’m still thinking about it. There were old stone villages, gardens, fields, beautiful meals, lots and lots of walking, and more things I wanted to paint than I could possibly get to. I came home tired but completely inspired, with paintings, sketches, and approximately four *thousan*d photographs that I’m still sorting through.

I loved it so much that I’m going back!

My next French retreat with Perigord Retreats is already sold out! I’m so excited to return with a new group of artists. There’s something very different about experiencing a place this way. We aren’t racing through a checklist of sights or trying to see everything in a few days. We have time to settle in, wander, sketch, paint, eat together, and really pay attention to where we are. Some of my favorite memories from this year weren’t necessarily the “big” moments at all. They were quiet mornings, conversations around the table, a beautiful view we happened upon, or standing somewhere with my painting supplies thinking, how in the world do I choose what to paint? And “how in the world did I get so lucky?

I’ve realized how much I love combining travel and teaching this way, so France won’t be the last adventure. I have a few other retreats quietly taking shape for the coming years, including one that will look very different from the green French countryside. I’m not quite ready to share everything yet, but if painting in beautiful places with a sketchbook in your bag and good food waiting at the end of the day sounds like your idea of a wonderful trip, stay tuned. There is so much more coming.

Back home, I’ve also been painting outside more than I have in a long time. Plein air has become a pretty regular part of my weeks this summer, whether I’m heading out specifically to paint or throwing my supplies in the car because I might find something along the way.

Painting outside has always required a different part of my brain than studio painting. Everything changes while you’re standing there. The light moves, clouds appear and disappear, shadows shift, the wind blows things over, and occasionally Texas provides some other form of chaos just to keep you humble. There simply isn’t time to fuss over every decision. You have to decide what interested you in the first place and get on with it.

I’ve been working small and trying not to make every outing about producing a successful painting. Some days I come home with something I love, and other days I come home knowing a little more than I did when I left. Both count. Mostly, I’m enjoying the habit of going out and looking for something worth noticing. It’s amazing how much more interesting familiar places become when you start wondering how you would paint them.

There has been plenty of experimenting happening in the studio, too. I’ve been taking a weaving class, painting in watercolor, drawing in Procreate, trying some new materials, and even spending quite a bit of time with a medium I haven’t seriously explored before. More on that soon, because that particular experiment has turned into a whole little summer adventure of its own.

For a long time, so much of my creative life has had a purpose attached to it. Paintings are for shows or galleries; demonstrations are for classes; projects become content; and ideas tend to turn into something I should sell, teach, post, or finish. I’m trying to leave a little more room right now for making something simply because I’m curious about it.

The funny thing is that none of these experiments feel completely unrelated. Weaving makes me notice color relationships and repetition. Drawing patterns forces me to simplify shapes. Watercolor reminds me to leave things alone instead of endlessly fussing with them. Plein air painting makes me make decisions faster and trust my first impression. Eventually, all of those lessons seem to find their way back into everything else I make.

There has been plenty of regular life mixed in, too… time with my family, work at the studio, walks, projects around the house, and all the ordinary things that fill the spaces between the more exciting ones. After the last couple of years, I don’t take the ordinary parts for granted quite as much as I once did.

I don’t think this has been a summer of one big accomplishment. It has been more about getting curious again, going places, painting what’s in front of me, trying things I don’t quite know how to do yet, and making plans that give me something wonderful to look forward to.

There is still plenty of summer left here in Texas (and probably will be for quite some time if the thermometer has anything to say about it), but I can already feel myself looking toward fall. There are paintings I want to make, places I want to go, and some pretty exciting things beginning to take shape for the next couple of years.

I’ll tell you more soon. 🙂

xoxo,

B