I was at a family reunion last August and a cousin of mine was chatting to me about how it’s good to keep your goals front and centre, and to always be thinking about what’s next. While I’m sure this talk was intended to inspire me, I had just completed several months of home renovations, while also navigating health complications from a miscarriage I’d had, so I was feeling quite burnt out and the pep talk from my cousin was not well received.

A little later that afternoon, I was complaining to my mum’s brother about wanting to rid myself of my life’s goals, and he said “You know you’re allowed to just exist without goals. At a certain point you say fuck it, I’m just going to enjoy my life.” 

This really struck a chord with me, and I said to him “You’ve got a point, maybe I’ll take a break from things and focus on enjoyment.” To this he replied, “Good! You should get into that state of enjoying things and then stay there as long as possible and just keep going with it. You are allowed to enjoy your life.”

I was so inspired by this conversation that I jotted down what he’d said and decided then and there to capture this moment in a little painting. My niece had also recently painted a very cool portrait of our uncle, and I decided I wanted to have a go at it as well. 

Of course after the reunion it took me a little while to actually get into enjoyment mode, to untangle myself from an overly crammed schedule, and to find time in the studio to paint this portrait.

While I had immediately created the outline using a photo I’d snapped at the reunion, the actual painting was picked up and put down many times, until earlier this week when I finally completed it. I also included my favourite quote from our conversation, reminding me to enjoy my life.

I wanted to share the back story and some close up photos of this big painting I worked on throughout 2025 and finally finished this past autumn. Right before the start of 2025, we moved into (and started renovating) an early 1900s house that has been in my family for a very long time. Over the course of the year I didn’t have much time for creating artwork, but I knew I wanted a large painting to hang in the kitchen and so I slowly worked away on this piece whenever I was fed up with working on the house.  

Throughout the home renovations (and many other life events) we had quite a few guests stay with us, and all of the hosting inspired me to paint a little inn. I was hoping to capture and have our house embody the hospitality of a cosy and comfortable abode, even in the chaos of our whirlwind year. Now when I look at this piece, it reminds me to slow down and create that sense of warmth and comfort which I longed for during that very chaotic time. 

While I was adding the finishing touches, I really wanted to paint a little river otter on the inn’s sign but it was a very small area and turned out looking more like a squiggle than an otter. By that time I was just ready to have the piece up on the wall and decided to leave it as is. I might attempt to repaint it at some point in the future, but for now my little inn by the sea is complete.    

The week before Christmas, a card came in the mail from my sister’s family. My niece, who always hand makes the cards, had done a linocut print of a partridge in a pear tree for this year’s card.

I took one look at it and immediately shirked everything I had planned for the afternoon. I texted my niece relentlessly (she was in the middle of her school day) and ran to the art supply shop to purchase everything I would need to make linocut prints of my own. My sweet niece was kind enough to phone me when she was walking home from school to arrange the soonest possible time she had available to give me a lesson in print making. I was so delighted! Since Christmas 2026 is so far away, we decided to make thank you and birthday cards. 

I am happy with my first attempt at this impulsive new hobby, though it turned out nothing like the image I’d had planned. I’m very proud that I got the letters facing the right way around.

One of my absolute favourite things about this type of print is that each one comes out slightly different from the others. While some may see these irregularities as flaws, to me they are perfect evidence that the art was made by human hands.

Happy New Year!! I can’t believe it’s the final day of 2025. It has been an intense year! I worked on some renovations to our home, I was pregnant and went through a painful pregnancy loss, and I got married to a very amazing person. It’s been a lot and I am proud of how far we’ve come. 

I have definitely missed my art practice, but in this final month of the year space has opened up in my life for me to get back into my art studio. I enter 2026 with one resolution: to spend as much time as possible at my easel and to live life with a paint brush in my hand. 

If you also had an intense 2025, I wish you a peaceful start to 2026 and fingers crossed for a more relaxing year ahead. And I wanted to say a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who still follows me and my artwork. I haven’t had as much time to pour into my art practice this year, but I’m very grateful to everyone who still supports me and my art. And I’m excited to spend more time painting in the year ahead! 

Earlier this year I dusted off this blog and in the process came across some holiday illustrations from almost a decade ago! It was so cool to look back and see artwork from such a different time in my life.

I was just starting to develop my style as an illustrator and had endless inspiration from my two young nieces. I also had no problem staying up late into the night at my drawing table (a habit I have long since dropped). I’m hoping to glean some magic art dust from these long forgotten illustrations and get inspired by the younger, more energetic version of myself for going into 2026.

In the meantime, I hope you have a very cosy Christmas eve and a merry Christmas!

Happy winter solstice! Here’s to a very cosy winter ahead 🙂

I’ve been working on a new winter design and am excited to finally share it! Growing up, Santa was never part of our family’s Christmas celebration, but I’ve always been fascinated by Father Christmas, the old-timey, more traditional personification of the season’s spirit. 

I wanted to paint him on foot, because there is something very sweet about hand delivered gifts. Perhaps it’s slower than taking a sleigh (apparently traditional Father Christmas doesn’t travel by sleigh), but it’s an excellent way to enjoy a midwinter walk and take in the season at a slower pace.

I had a very lovely paint night with my friend, Liv, who is also an artist. We painted castles, drank tea, and chatted by her cosy fireplace.

I have always wanted to paint a night sky inspired by van Gogh’s Starry Night. I went for it with this painting, thinking it would be fairly easy, and let’s just say I was humbled!! It was such a fun night though 🙂

Happy first day of December! I can’t believe we are already in the final month of 2025. 

Several people have reached asking if I have holiday cards available this year. Sadly, I am taking the year off as I have been on a bit of a hiatus this year and haven’t restocked shops that carry my cards. I’m hoping to release some new designs in 2026 and will eventually have everything restocked. In the meantime, I hope you have a very cosy start of December.