I’ve wanted to illustrate a set of postcards from Wisconsin to highlight the beautiful outdoors and seasons we have. This set of four showcases the summer season. I used watercolor paper, watercolor paints and colored pencils for the details.
I started with our fabulous waterways and woods.
Hiking and kayaking are two of my favorite things to do.
We get a full four seasons here so I’ll have to paint another set highlighting fall and winter. Happy summer all!
I made so much art this year that I adore! I created the art I want to see out there, and then had it printed on stickers, coasters, tote bags, mugs and so much more. And I self published my own picture book! Cheers 2024!
Best of all, I opened a print-on-demand shop and started printing my illustrations on products!
I am so grateful I got to travel to Naples, Florida earlier this year for some rest and relaxation and one of my favorite things – beach time. I also got to spend time at the lake house on Lake Michigan in Door County.
I spent a week galavanting around Los Angeles with my sister and nieces.
I finally got to go to the ICON Illustration Conference, ICON12 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve been wanting to attend that conference for ten years! It was so fun to be immersed in a crowd of illustrators talking about art.
Many local micro adventures brought me great joy!
Cheers to more art and adventure in 2025!
I started a new collection in my online shop called Wild Things, which is filling up with more fun products with my illustrations printed on them, such as ornaments and postcards, new tote bags, stickers and coasters!
I adore doing these nature-inspired wreath illustrations with some of my favorite sayings in my sketchbook with watercolor and colored pencils, and then turning them into fun products!
A few screenshots from my online shop of new products:
I’m always drawing, practicing and filling up sketchbook pages with nature-inspired illustrations so check back for more fun projects!
I went through my photo library from 2023 and found the good moments that I want to capture here.
I filled up a lot of sketchbook pages and made a lot of art. Looking back through my sketchbook art, I always wish I made more art but I am excited to finally be drawing people! Here are few of my favorites:
More personal favorite painting projects:
I am so grateful I got to travel to Naples, Florida earlier this year for some rest and relaxation and one of my favorite things – beach time. I also got to spend time at the lake house on Lake Michigan in Door County and go on a few adventures close to home. Here are a few fun photos to remember those travels:
I had some anxiety and depression issues in summer so I’m grateful to my life coach for helping me get through that and learn how to navigate through life.
I went on a lot of micro adventures which brought me great joy!
My word for 2024 is Joy, to live life to the fullest, and to not let anyone or anything take away my joy for life.
Cheers to a joyful 2024!
I looked at my camera roll for the past couple months and realized I managed to go hiking every week/weekend for over 10 weeks. So many wonderful micro adventures really makes me happy!
I went to Owen Conservation Park a couple times, which is only a few minutes from my office, making it very convenient to go for a quick hike on a lunch break. It sits on top of a hill overlooking part of the city, with prairies full of coneflowers and goldenrods in summer and fall and oak savannas and woodlands. I like to take the most outer, longest trail which goes through both prairie and woodland terrain and is about one mile. What a wonderful mid-day reprieve from sitting in front of a computer!
We hiked the trail close to our house which goes for miles and miles through the city and to the next few towns. It’s an old railroad track that was converted to a trail, used by many hikers, runners, bikers and cross-country skiers and snowmobilers in winter.
I also hiked a few times in the woods at my parent’s lake house in northern Wisconsin, which is always a treat. These trails are so off-the-beaten-path that we rarely run into others.
On another beautiful weekend day, we hiked in the Arboretum, on trails through the Lost City Forest, which was a thick woods and narrow winding footpath trails and a couple boardwalks crossing creeks. It was quite magical with all the cool lichen and mushrooms we noticed throughout the woods.
We hiked one of our favorite places, Indian Lake County Park, again taking the longest trail winding all the way around the park, mostly through hilly woods. Always magical there!
We were lucky to go hiking twice in the same weekend on trails close to our house. One was new to us, Madison School Forest, an old oak forest open to the public and used for school programming. There were so many oak and maple leaves on the trail that we couldn’t see the trail for awhile. We had the place all to ourselves so it was very peaceful and tranquil.
I don’t travel much so love going out on these local micro adventures which are like mini vacations. It’s especially a treat to be able to get out there during the work week. So good for my mental health and my adventurous spirit. I’m hoping for lots of winter hiking in the next few months.
I went through my photo library from 2022 to find the good moments, and there were a lot considering it was a weird year.
I filled up a lot of sketchbooks and made a lot of art. Looking back through my sketchbook art, I always wish I made more art but I am excited to finally be drawing people! Here’s my top nine according to Instagram:
Here’s some of my own personal favorites, some duplicates with my Instagram friends:
I am so grateful I got to travel to Naples, Florida early in the year for some rest and relaxation and one of my favorite things – beach time. I also got to spend time at the lake house on Lake Michigan in Door County and go on a few adventures close to home. If I had to pick some of my favorite adventures from this past year, I would choose these top nine, and some fun nature photos below that:
My dad unexpectedly passed away this year which was tough so I’m happy to have found some good moments that made me happy. Cheers to 2023!
I went through my photo library from 2021 to find the good moments, and there were a lot considering it was another tough year.
My first illustrated children’s picture book was published! It was a lot of fun work, drawing and painting the scenes, designing the layout, ordering the books, designing stickers and fun marketing materials and promoting it. I’m already halfway through illustrating our second book.
I filled up a lot of sketchbooks and made a lot of art. If I had to pick just a few of my favorite illustrations from this past year, I would choose these top nine:
Looking back through my sketchbook art, I always wish I made more art!
I am so grateful I got to travel to Naples, Florida before the world shutdown. I also got to spend time at my parents’ lake house on Lake Michigan in Door County and go on a few adventures close to home. If I had to pick some of my favorite adventures from this past year, I would choose these top nine:
The year 2021 was another tough year so I’m happy to have found so many good moments that made me happy. Cheers to 2022!
Weekends are never long enough, especially in summer.
Spending a long holiday weekend at my parents’ house on Lake Michigan is always full of adventures, from kayaking to hiking. This time we also hiked The Ridges and the Mink River Trail.
Exploring the variety of flora is a fun treasure hunt throughout the seasons.
Noticing the wildlife is an exciting outdoor activity too, finding birds, wildlife and insects.
Some critters are hard to capture with the camera, like this pileated woodpecker, and other critters are fun to watch their shenanigans, like these cute little red squirrels chomping on cones right outside our kitchen door.
And of course, there are many varieties of butterflies and dragonflies to follow. I’ve never seen this particular 12-Spotted skimmer dragonfly before. I had fun following a tiger swallowtail and a few monarchs too.
I always cherish these weekend getaways and wish I could stay longer. I’m already looking forward to the next one! Cheers to more summer weekend adventures!
One of my favorite things in life is water, so I love spending time at my parents’ lake house.
Their house sits in between the water and wooded bluffs so it’s quiet and peaceful, perfect to take a nap in the hammock or just watch the wind blow over the water.
Or go for a hike to explore the flora and fauna in the woods.
Last weekend we had the bluest sky I’ve ever seen!
Fun to end each evening with a beach bonfire at sunset!
Cheers to summer!
