Missing Juno the possibly historic storm.

You might have heard that the Northeast United States from NY to Maine is getting hammered by what is being built up as a "historic" storm. The Boston area is supposed to get the worst of it with up to three feet of snow. I lived in Boston for nearly twelve years and weathered many blizzards during those years. I lived in the Chicago area before that and       weathered storms there as well, but it was always harder in Boston because getting in your car and driving isn't a simple choice during good weather and it flat out is not a choice in bad weather. The infrastructure in the entire Boston area is so bad that storms are crippling in a way I did not experience in the equally snowy Midwest.  

The thing is I moved to the much more boring climate of the United Kingdom a little over two weeks ago. During the winter the temperature hovers around 40 degrees and it might rain. It's all rather boring. Grateful to be bored as I think of my friends back in the Northeast and hoping that none of them lose power and stay safe and warm. 

One of our many blizzards in Boston. This one is going to miss the rest of us not so much.  

Thank you 2014! Welcoming 2015 with much excitement.

Saying a fond and grateful goodbye to the year 2014 today. It was a year of finding a new artistic voice and growing my skills and confidence. It was a year of saying goodbye to a current life, city, friends and country and it was a year of me often unconsciously self-sabotaging myself. I am going to say goodbye and thank you to all the piles of good from 2014 and thank and learn from my very personal mistakes. I am ready to wrap up things here in Boston and start our adventure in Europe. Just thinking about the inspiration for my art that I am sure to discover has me super excited and ready to get started. 

Market Testing

I took about a dozen watercolors  to Open Studios and I sold about half of them. JP Open Studios was a market test for the watercolors to figure out if I should keep at them and how to price them and the answer was yes keep going! JP Open Studios was fabulous fun this weekend as I love connecting with my community. And I love sending original artwork out in the world. Thank you to all those that have supported my fresh start these past months by reading my blog, offering feedback and buying artwork. I will be putting watercolors up on my Etsy shop as soon as I can get new work made, scanned and listed.

The fantastic carousel on the Boston Greenway opened last year and is a delight for both children and adults. This little painting went to a very good home this weekend.

Get Out There and Bike

It's super cold out there. But it's also clear and sunny with no snow or ice on the roads. And I am very aware that a snow storm is always a possibility in this city until into May. So of course I am picking up my little one from preschool on my bike whenever possible! Life is good. She's already outside and in winter gear when I get her from school and it is easy to just stick her on the bike and go home. If I can bike a little bit in February then I can bike even more in March. I have been having to drive to the burbs for appointments a few times a week and the lunchtime walks and bike rides help heal me from the mental trauma those rush hour drives cause.

Coming Around to Winter

Despite living in cold and snowy climates my entire life enjoying or even accepting winter does not come naturally to me. Maybe it has something to do with growing up in the mid-west in an area with snow but no hills so no good sledding unless you can find another kid or a dog to pull you. Not the same kind of fun as sledding down a steep hill on a simple plastic sled. In Chicago we built a lot of snowmen and igloos in the winter and had many snowball fights. Out east the snow is less conductive to building things but hills are all over the place and we have a great one for sledding with the kids walking distance from our house. I have good boots, a good coat, wool socks and snow pants so I was ready to spend hours having fun in the snow with my six year old. And to my surprise I actually had fun and didn't complain about the weather once. If you live in New England and spend all winter pining for spring and summer like I have done in years past then you are bound to be miserable. No more pining for Summer or crossing my fingers and praying for a mild winter. Just acceptance and doing my best to enjoy the winter that we get. After all we only get so many of them to enjoy why waste the time year after year being miserable? Also, how can I possible be miserable when she is so happy? It just is not possible to be sulky around such pure joy.