Happy June, My Lovelies!!!!
As I'm writing this, I'm finding myself a bit fatigued (Physically and mentally). I have a habit of putting too much on my plate. I've talked about this before. I've been trying to give myself fewer to-dos, so I feel more accomplished as a whole. It's a strategy that definitely works, but sometimes makes me feel like I'm cheating the system. The thought that "I'm not doing enough" often eats away at me. But I'm tired lately, so I try to offer myself grace. Sometimes I accept it, and sometimes I toss it aside. But this month I have been feeling a little blah, and writing down what all I did last month has made me realize how much I actually have done, even if it's been at a little bit of a slower pace. And now, I shake my head, wondering why I feel like it's not enough. So, in order to boost my morale a little, I'm going to walk through all the things I've worked on in May!
Okay, so May started with 2 different chalk jobs for weddings! Wedding-related work was something I did, almost exclusively, when I first started my career. While I loved it, I really wanted to pivot to illustrative work. So, I started to only take on select jobs for weddings to free up my time. One of those jobs is chalk art for two restaurants in Houston that have beautifully massive chalkboards! They host events, such as weddings, and I get to work with the clients, drawing fun pieces to act as a cool backdrop for their evening. I would classify them in the "mural" category of my work. I had two events back-to-back the first two weekends of May. I pictured both below, along with the corresponding sketches. I typically pull inspiration from the stationery, florals, and decor for the event, so it's nice and cohesive. I also get to work on the chalkboards while the restaurants are setting up, which is fun to experience all of that happy but stress-filled, organized chaos!
I've slowly been chipping away at the calendar illustrations. So far, I've been able to illustrate one design each week. I'm currently painting the design for September. This has been a lovely, relaxing activity this month. I throw on an audiobook and paint away for an hour here or there throughout each week. This past month, I listened to "Tom Lake" and "The Art Thief" audiobooks. After finishing the Harry Potter series, these were a fun change of pace but still super calming while working.
May saw a good amount of client and licensing work. I've been working on a set of 4 commissioned paintings for a doctor's office. These will have a whimsical foliage design paired with the four different anatomical pieces that the office operates on. The idea is to give the patients in the waiting room a lighter feeling, almost taking their mind off the "blood" of it all. I have pictured below my sketches for these pieces. They will be 16x20. I have them all penciled in on watercolor paper (no small task) and will start painting them this coming month.
A local Houston stationery company commissions me to create custom illustrations. The designs vary widely from pets, maps, houses, and so on. This month, they asked me to illustrate a client's cat in a line drawing style.
I also worked on some holiday designs for my wholesale licensing agent. This is just a smidgen early for holiday work. Usually, it's closer to July when these requests start to come through, but every company is different. They were asking for a couple of different styles, one of them being "folk," and it got my creative juices flowing.
May saw lots of fun Etsy orders. I always enjoy it when new designs are trending. This month, stickers, cards, and some of my silly art prints were the bells of the ball. So far, the designs below are taking the cake!
Speaking of birthdays, May was Ricky's birthday month, which always brings about the fun challenge of creating a hand-drawn card for Ricky. This year, I made him banana bread as a yummy sweet treat to enjoy, so I made a banana-themed card to go with it!
Going back through the month, I can now see how much I accomplished. But "OOF," my friends, it's a challenge to accept that I'm doing enough sometimes, especially when I'm in a month of feeling a little more tired.
So here's to keeping on and offering yourself grace. Your best will look different each day. So, when your best is only 50% of your normal capacity, but you're giving that full 50%, then you're giving 100%!
Cheers to June, ya'll!
See you in July!
xoxo
Rachel
- May 1
April Showers bring May Moon Flowers!!!
Happy May My Moon Joy Lovelies!!! Can you believe it?!? We went to the Moon!!! I'm still in awe at this marvelous feat and the amazing four astronauts who were a part of this mission.
I have been living in Moon mode for the past several years. My husband, Ricky, works at NASA and worked on both Artemis I and Artemis II. So, we have been talking about the moon for the past several years.
It's fascinating to hear about. Just last night, we were talking about all of the different viewpoints that went into this mission. For example, you have the engineers who build the rocket and vehicle, the flight controllers who operate and fly the capsule, and the scientists who gather data and study the moon itself. So many people created this mission, and it was amazing to see everyone work together and get to experience all types of "Moon Joy" from their respective fields.
The main thing that has interested me about space is the adventure behind it! The wanderlust and the exploration! This is what I love about travel and hiking, and I would argue that space is the ultimate form of exploration!
I have been creating space art since 2018 (holy moly!!). My very first piece was a tiny little astronaut holding onto a Moon Balloon.
I liked it, so I decided to sell it. It did pretty well, so I made some more space prints, and then some more, until suddenly I realized I had a Collection that people seemed to respond to.
A turning point for me in the series was when I painted these blooming moons! They brought me so much joy and happiness, and I was tickled pink that everyone else responded to them, too.
I've let the collection sit for a while, focusing on other work, but this past mission has definitely inspired me to create some new pieces. I made a small batch of prints last year, pictured below.
But over the past few weeks, I have been tinkering with some more pieces. I thought it would be fun to share what I've been working on (even if it's still in sketch form).
Per usual, I started with small loose and very rough thumbnail sketches in my IPad. I like to use the Procreate app for sketches. It helps me move more quickly before I paint or draw on paper.
To refine my sketches, I enlarge the thumbnail and sketch out finer lines.
I was inspired by the photos of the crescent Earth behind the Moon and I was inspired by how these astronauts talked about and lived in this mission.
They are explorers and climbers!
They are road-trippers!
They spoke of the Moon like authors and poets!
They admired the Moon, and they admired our home, Earth!
And ultimately, they spoke of Moon Joy!
Not only for themselves but for all of us watching back on Earth!
Hopefully, I will be sharing the finished pieces with all of you soon. I will keep tinkering away, and I hope you keep basking in the sunshine that Moon Joy has brought to the world!
I'll leave you with this clip from the mission!
If you want to check out my current space collection, you can find everything at the link below.
Cheers and see you in June,
Rachel
Hello, My Beautiful Butterflies!
It's so wonderful to be writing to you in April, which is officially my birthday month! I was always so cautious and hidey about my birthday. I didn't want the attention, or hot take, I was afraid to ask for the attention and have no one come to the party....but after having Leonora, I am all about the birthday! I want to set an example for her, and I want her to celebrate her birthday without fear!!! So, I've been trying to emulate that for her.
In honor of my birthday month, I'm sharing something I've been tinkering away at....a 2027 calendar!!! You read that right! I will be doing another calendar for next year. I LOVED making the 2025 calendar. So many lovely people reached out to ask if I was doing a 2026 calendar, but unfortunately, I couldn't find the time to put one together. I didn't want that to happen again this year, so I decided to start early! I've been sketching to my heart's content, and I just started painting the January illustration.
The theme this year is cozy animals enjoying yummy treats that I associate with each month. As an example, my favorite cake is Carrot Cake, so April features two little critters enjoying a beautiful carrot cake.
November is Leonora's birthday month, and my girl LOVES that Nutella, so November will have a croissant and Nutella moment.
March is my momma's birthday month, and she loves lemon...so I threw in some Lemon macarons. You get the gist, right?!
On months that don't have a special someone's birthday, I thought of the snackies and treats I like to enjoy. I also tried to mix it up with salty and sweet, even though my immediate inclination was to go full sweet.
I wanted this calendar to be a celebration of each month. I want to be excited to turn the page each month to see the next illustration (even when we hit the months that seem to drag on). To celebrate and be grateful for all the things that only that month can bring!
Whoa, am I putting a lot of weight on a mere calendar or what?!? But it's these ideas that get me excited to work on a project!
In order to give you some more sneak peeks. Here is the sketch for January. We're thinking critters in sweaters dipping a cookie (pistachio biscotti in this case) into a warm beverage!
I'm onto the painting process now, so I transferred the sketch to watercolor paper.
And now the painting begins!!!
Eeek! I'm so excited for these. Stay tuned!
Hope you all have a great April!
I will see you all in May!
xoxo
Rachel
