This week, we're doing Moleskine Monday on a Tuesday night.

Finding a work/life balance has been a bit tricky for me - my body hasn't worked retail in about 8 years, so suddenly being on my feet and moving around for 6-8 hours at a time had me sleeping 10 hours a night! Which means there was very little time for art making, unless you count me coloring a little bit in an adult coloring book art!

It seriously bummed me out to see my paint still in boxes, so I took my day off yesterday to set everything up to make sitting down to paint easier.

I happily spent the morning reading and painting before coming in to work; my iPhone makes it easy to blog from the break room!

This week's spread was inspired by, well, life! I sat down yesterday to write in my journal and felt such clarity of purpose - more on that tomorrow! - and I was able to see that I'm just starting on this fresh start...I've been in my little cocoon, growing and shifting, and only recently broke free. It still will take a bit to unfurl my wings (it takes butterflies a bit of time, did you know that?) but they're here and I'm ready to get started.

The lyrics are from 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield. Seems appropriate, right?

Thank you for all the lovely birthday messages yesterday! I spent it doing normal things, but joyous throughout for all I've accomplished in the past two months. I now have a stable address & am thankful every day for all those friends who have helped me get here. There's still work to be done, though!

If I could explain what I do, as an artist, I'd say I'm a lifelong student of colors. All my work for the past year and a half has been focused on playing with color...seeing which work together and which don't. And through this period of exploration, I found I can naturally gravitate towards harmonious combinations.

It really does take hard work & passion to develop your skills!

It's hugely rewarding to help others find their colors. For years, I've had this nudge to create something along those lines...an article, blog posts, or even a class. I want to help others find their colors so they can get back to being artists. Discovering your colors is more than just developing a palette -- your whole life changes. Your wardrobe shifts, your jewelry changes, & you can decorate your home really easily!

I recently finished this piece -- I've been paying attention to contrast and balance, making sure to have black and white (or a dark and light color), which helps a lot. I even grabbed glitter and blew it across the surface.

You can purchase this painting in my Etsy shop!