Yesterday, I experienced my first hurricane (ish – it ended up being a bad storm instead). Jesse and I walked down to the docks and stood in the rain, feeling the wind lashing at our clothing. We got absolutely soaking wet, and cooled off for the first time in weeks.

I absolutely love the rain. I love the smell, I love the feeling of it on my face, I love splashing in puddles. You can probably blame it on my being English. And as I stood there in the rain, I let go of some of the stress and tension that’s been riding  on my back for the last few weeks. It washed out of my hair and dribbled down my back to puddle around my feet and stream away.

This morning, I feel like my life has begun again in a way. I got up, wrote in my journal, did some yoga, meditated. It feels good to be back in a routine again, something I haven’t had in months. While I did the nude show, and then even once we’d moved, I essentially stopped taking care of myself. All of my normal self nurturing routines fell to the wayside, and once you fall off that horse, it can be difficult to get back on.

But now that I am, I feel ten million times better. I feel centered and calm, ready to move gracefully through the day. And as soon as I had some breakfast, I got right into the studio.

Ooooh, it feels so good.

I’m starting a new commission today and I’m super excited. I’ve been given creative free reign (thanks, Ward!), which is so much fun. I love it when clients let me do this.

I knew that he loved my landscapes, especially with water, and that’s really what I’m in the mood for doing, so I took out all of my water reference pictures (there’s probably close to a 150) and sorted through them. I forgot how many gorgeous paintings-in-waiting I had. I’ve got about 40-50 images now that are going to be paintings. This winter is going to be fun.

Fortunately for Ward, I did manage to pick one image and it’s going to look awesome. I’m so stoked, because I’m lame and get excited about these kinds of things. Plus I’m trying some new techniques which could put my art on steroids. Steroids!

First though, I had to spend 15 minutes cleaning the mold out of my palette. No, it wasn’t as gross as you’re probably envisioning, although there’s a kind of musty, soil-ey smell hanging around now. It’s a Stay-Wet palette, which is the greatest invention in the world because I can close it and my paint stays wet over night. But before I moved, I cleaned it out, packed it up and without thinking, left one of my painting rags inside it.

That painting rag? It had a colony on it. Yum.

But now everything is cleaned out and my studio is super cozy and well lit, and once I’m done hanging all of my art and other stuff up, I’m going to want to be in there alllll the time. It feels so good to finally have a space of my own to create in, that I can make into my own little creative cocoon, where I can give birth to the millions of ideas running through my head.

I finally have the space to experiment, trying new ideas and techniques. I’ve been feeling stifled lately, and I need some time to just play, and create work solely for me.

I wish I could show you guys the work – unfortunately right now, I don’t have a camera and I don’t know when I’m going to be able to afford one. But it’s going to be the first thing I save up for so I can start sharing everything with you guys.

Oh! And I almost forgot – I’m offering fifteen 8″x10″ custom paintings on canvas paper for $50 USD (+ $10 shipping) as like a house warming celebration. I’ve got a few left, so if you’re interested in one, go here, read up on it, see if you’re interested. It’s a really great way to get some original custom artwork at a ridiculously low price, but I feel like celebrating. So shoot me. Besides, even when times are rough, I still believe that people need art in the lives, so I’m doing what I can to follow through with that.

For now, I’m going to head back to the studio, and thoroughly enjoy the rest of my day.