The strawberries are doing what they do, blooming entirely on their own schedule, not paying attention to what we might expect or want. Right now there are small green berries forming on the plants in the pot by the stone wall, and a few blossoms still open, white and simple and perfect. I’ve always thought strawberry plants deserve more appreciation than they get: they bloom, they fruit, they send out cascading runners to make more of themselves, and come fall their leaves turn a warm bronzed red. And no thorns. Not a single one.
Getting there, no thorns required.
Let Go of the Past - Looking Back Without The Judgement
If you’ve been creating for any length of time - even a few weeks - you have older work behind you. And if you’re like most people, you look at it through the eyes of who you are now. That’s perfectionism doing what it always does: moving the goalpost backward in time so even finished work can never be quite enough.
Please don’t do that to your work, or to the creative self who made it. You were making what called to you then, with what you were able to do. That doesn’t make it lesser, it makes it real. It’s just as valuable now as the day you made it. Love it for what it is, not what you think it should be.
A Fond Look at a Berry Book from Almost Ten Years Back
Speaking of looking back: I was going through older work this week and came across the very first collage book I ever made, almost ten years ago now. It’s watercolor, a medium I love and am letting rest for a while, and it’s in a style I don’t work in much anymore. But looking at it now? It still calls to me. And with berries setting outside my window, it felt like exactly the right time to share it.
The Paper Play Book: Strawberry Edition is a book meant to be cut apart and played with. Inside: pages of original watercolor strawberry art — berries, blossoms, leaves — plus pattern pages, clip sheets, washi tape strips, and mandala coloring pages. All printed full size on matte paper, all ready for scissors and a glue stick and whatever you’re making next. It’s for you if you keep a journal, collage, love beautiful paper, or just want something real to cut up and use.
Find it on Amazon here - it’s about what a pad of fancy paper runs, and it comes with strawberries.
First one I ever made. Still full of berries.
What Else in the Studio: Unquiet Ground
The new series is starting to declare itself. I’m calling it Unquiet Ground: the pieces live in an uncanny space of plant/not plant, slightly creepy and very much alive. Four are finished now, with two more square panels and two rectangles still to come. I’ve started a Pinterest board just for this series where I’ll be documenting process photos and pieces as they finish, come take a look: Unquiet Ground on Pinterest
Four done. The series is finding itself.
Is there a piece of older work you’ve been looking at too harshly? I’d love to hear about it: what it was, what you actually made.
I read every one and I write back.
Shine On,
Monette
PS If berry season has you in a cutting-and-gluing mood, The Paper Play Book: Strawberry Edition is right here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1979794871
PPS Those little green berries outside don’t care if they’re supposed to wait for a better season or a more prepared gardener. They just set fruit and get on with it. Your work already knows the same thing, it was made exactly when it needed to be.