Well, this year has thrown everyone for a loop, hasn’t it? I know I’m not alone in saying that I had expected this year to be one of major personal, spiritual, and creative growth, but have been sorely disappointed. In the beginning of the year I was getting ready to leave for a trip to India, expecting to stay there at least two months to do volunteer work and, of course, much exploring. To do so, I had to leave my full time employment, but I thought of it as a small sacrifice to make considering the significance this trip would no doubt have on the rest of my life.

I did have many inspiring, eye-opening, heart-warming, and heart-wrenching experiences during my first few weeks in India. However, as the end of my first month was coming to a close it became evident that my plans were going to be turned upside down very quickly. Long story short, after spending a couple of weeks in complete lockdown (going outside was even more restricted in Mumbai than in the States) I had to take a repatriation flight to get back home. So not only did I come back sooner than expected, I had post travel depression, which tends to hit me pretty hard, I had no job, and self-quarantine meant I couldn’t leave my studio apartment POR NADA for two weeks. I had no solid plans for the near future and I was feeling pretty lost. 

I’m such an idealist though, and I felt compelled to use all these free hours to work on my creative business. After all, I’ve got a thousand things on my to-do list, so why not start with a few? My to do list looked like this:

• Get ‘dat 6 pack you’ve always wanted!

• Set up Patreon

• Create YouTube channel

• PAINT SO MUCH!

• Use self-initiated projects to fill illustration portfolio

Those are some novel goals, right? I might have given up already on a few, er, at least one of them… I’m talking about you, abs! However…

I thought I’d tackle Patreon first.

I’ve been interested in starting a Patreon page for a while, but I knew it would take a lot of time to get started and to keep up with. Buuut, since I was literally stuck inside all the dang time I had no excuse not to. I had an idea of what tiers and perks I wanted to create already, so after I drafted those I needed to make content.

Guys, I literally had no idea where to start and I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired to create anything. I couldn’t even find inspiration in things I experienced in India because I was so depressed not to be there, I couldn’t even thing about it. So, once my quarantine was over I was itching to get to the woods. For me, spending time in nature, and specifically forests, has always been a way to jolt my drained batteries. So I headed to the outdoors in my home region of Southeastern Ohio to seek solace, invigoration, and inspiration. And I found all of those things!

My first outing was to a trail in Wayne National Forest. I felt so at home there. The landscape felt so familiar to me and I instantly remembered days I spent foraging for Morel mushrooms in the woods around our house, wading in creeks, climbing trees, searching for cool bugs, snakes, and other critters, and wandering around wooded hillsides that were draped in vincas. Such fond memories were coming back to me and I felt the compulsion to paint everything I saw.

I started with a sketch of morel mushrooms, one of my favorite foods. I received such positive feedback from that little painting that I decided to make it part of a series of paintings that represent the budding optimism and beauty of springtime in Appalachia. In order to share those paintings with everyone I decided to turn them Into a zine that featured 7 paintings. The zine is currently available, as are some of the original paintings. Here is a glimpse of a few of them. I hope you enjoy them!

This painting is probably my favorite of the series! I know the vinca is not native to Ohio, but these little flowers grew everywhere on the hill behind our house in the woods. I love their little waxy, evergreen leaves, Many a kitten hid among those ground covers seeking shelter from my over playful sisters and I!

The presence of these little guys are evidence of a healthy forest. 

Botanical painting of a Jack in the Pulpit. This flower is equally as fascinating as it is respectfully avoided.