The Studio Right Now: Paper Everywhere
Stuff is all over! I’ve got new print and pattern experiments pinned up around the walls and my work table is covered in deconstructed tea boxes and carbonated water cartons. This is what it actually looks like when you're making real work - messy, exploratory, and absolutely not Instagram-ready (not that I’m using IG anyway).
I'm in the beginning phase of a new series (more on that soon) while also making the sample journal for this Sunday's Open Studio. It's all beautiful disorder, and that feels good right now.
Not Instagram-ready. Just ready.
Permission to Start Small and Messy
January has a bad habit of bringing on the pressure to have grand plans and fresh starts. That’s not helpful.
If you believe what you see online, you’d think that creativity begins with lovely vision boards and just-so conditions and the exact technique at hand to "real" work. But, no, that’s not how it works! Your wild creativity actually starts with permission to just make a mess. To just begin, not plan. To let the mess show you what you already know about your own creative nature.
Open Studio: Making Journals from Beautiful Trash
Speaking of small starts - our first Open Studio gathering of 2026 is this Sunday, January 4 at 2pm Eastern.
We're making journals from product packaging that's too pretty and well-designed to throw away. Tea boxes, drink cartons, things with interesting graphics and good paper weight. I collect these because someone put real thought into making them visually compelling, and they deserve a second life beyond the recycling bin.
I'll use simple construction methods (no special tools needed), and fill it with studio ephemera that’s on hand.
Here's something new and fun: I'm doing a giveaway during the session, you have to attend to win the sample journal I made.
So far it's just me and my mess - which means if you register, you get the full intimate experience of making alongside me without crowd energy. Sometimes the smallest gatherings are the wildest.
Register here: Open Studio, Sunday, Jan 4, 2 PM EST
Winter Forest Series: An Ending in the Midst of Beginnings
I’ve posted a video showing the final stages of my Winter Forest series - those quiet, somber paintings that don't match seasonal expectations but feel true to the slanting afternoon light near my mountain studio.
What small thing are you making this week?
I’m seriously asking -click reply and tell me about it. I read and reply to every message.
Burn Bright!
Monette
PS: My studio currently looks like a paper explosion met a print experiment. This is what January actually looks like when you're making real work. Want to see the chaos in action? Register for Open Studio - I'll show you everything, mess and all.
PPS: This is the sample journal I’ll be giving away during the session:
