The past few weeks have been a whirlwind! I’m thrilled about Fodder School 5 and the Fodder Challenge 2025 as I step into my role as a teacher for both—an exciting mix of celebration and new beginnings. On the home front, my daughter is back in the UK for university, and my son will be leaving soon, too. These transitions make our shared moments—meals, chats, and quiet time—feel extra precious. Amid Shanghai’s relentless heat, I’ve been finding small pockets for painting and collaging to stay grounded. It’s been a rich, challenging summer—how’s yours going? Keep an eye on your inbox, because our newsletter is going out soon with a little…
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My last post was on December 12; somehow, time just blurred—it’s already early May! I had many things I hoped to share, but life got busy, and priorities had to shift. Sadly, this blog ended up near the bottom of the list. The first few months of the year—January, February, and March—were packed. Most weekends, I doubled down on spending time at home recording and editing lessons for an upcoming class. More on that soon! It was an intense process, but once everything was completed, I felt a massive sense of relief—and excitement. I poured my heart into those lessons and can’t wait to see how students respond. Before I…
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Re-kindle. Re-start. Refresh. These words have been echoing in my mind for the past few months – a surreal tally of spinning, sometimes blurry days that amounted to what feels like an eternity. I needed to write a post that might delve into emotions or feel uncomfortably raw. The challenges of 2023 left me wandering, feeling lost in almost every aspect of my life. In November, I decided to step back from art challenges and classes, focusing instead on tying up loose ends and cherishing the last year before my kids left for university. I started saying “no” to many things. If you’ve followed my journey on Instagram, you may…
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My frend, Tõnis (@vanishing.shanghai), calls our mini “group” the “Five o’clock Club” because we used to get up early to go out sketching. In a previous post, I posted about our early morning sketches, which is how we enjoyed these crazy morning hours. However, we can’t do it as often now because of our busy schedules. I have to feed the cats and kids before I leave for work, and Tõnis is busy organizing his exhibits. But we still try to grab any pockets of time we can to go out and sketch, and we call them “mini adventures.” Adventure 1: Anren Street One morning, we had an impromptu sketching…
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The 2024 ARTIST ALMANAC: ONE (1) part calendar + ONE (1) part inspiration = a whole LOT of collage material. 18 talented artists bring you 365 days of collageable artsy bits of paper.
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Lots going on all around between my tweens going off to uni next year, still grieving for my mum’s passing, treading water through this economic downturn, to finding enough time in between to make art. Through all these, I’m reminding myself my OLW (one little word) for 2023… Breathe. Life is an adventure.
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A lot has happened in the last few weeks since the previous post (more on that later…). One of the significant pieces of news I’ve wanted to share is the upcoming Virtual Art Summit 2023!!! Let’s Play! Are you ready to have fun and let your creativity flow? The Summit is open to everyone, regardless of skill level or artistic ability. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist, this year’s Summit is so worth attending. You’ll receive valuable tips, inspiration, and techniques from the lineup of guest artists that will help you relax and spark your creative spirit. I am thrilled to announce that I have been invited to participate…
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One (1) part calendar + one (1) part inspiration = a whole LOT of collage material. Nineteen (19) talented artists bring you 365 daily collage-able artsy bits of paper, an entire year’s worth! You can tear each day’s calendar page to reveal an artwork from one of 19 artists. Use it in your daily planner as a date indicator or daily inspiration. Each page would also work great as collage material in your art journal. It can’t get any cooler and more awesome than that! The calendar can be used beyond 2023! Checks off a lot of possible uses like: The pure definition of WIN WIN! Check out the other…
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The last time I posted an “Around here…” series was back in May. I cannot believe it has been that long, really! The flurry of activities that came about as we came out of lockdown was just overwhelming. A bit of warning, this post of photo-heavy. June: First order of business after lockdown was doing the round of hospital/doctor visits. Then came the search for apartments since we needed space for a family of 7; that includes our 4 rescue/adopted cats. With the exodus of expats, there is more option but of course I had to ask the neighbours for their experiences during lockdown because I need to be prepared…
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The team of Teachers for Wanderlust 2023 has been announced, and I am thrilled to tell you that I am one of the guest teachers!!! Having been a Wanderlust student myself, the year-long courses are truly nourishing for the soul and help me get unstuck with my creative practice. The teacher line up for 2023 is as amazing as the past years. They each bring a unique technique, idea, approach and process to art journaling. These are just some of my art journal pages from 2021 and 2022 Wanderlust classes. It’s literally an adventure! If you have not done Wanderlust before, Wanderlust 2023 is 55 mixed-media lessons, all downloadable and…
