(I accidentally posted this at the end of May. If you’re interested in reading more about this painting, you can get Friday’s post (and other Friday posts) by subscribing for $5 a month:)

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Had a craving for a big, circular canvas. 16x16. Settled on 12x12, but I’m content. Don’t want the walls being overtaken too quickly.

I was inspired by this painting I did in 2024 (2023?). Months before I would move to Chicago to live with my then boyfriend now husband. Intended to recreate that painting. When this smaller canvas was painted, I remember thinking that, even in the midst of difficult situations, the good and light can break through, even thinly. And that is enough.

Pictured here: Baby painting. I love the colors up close.

Been spending a lot more time being quiet. No podcasts or music or audiobooks. Not as much Animal Crossing: New Horizons (I FINALLY remembered to buy turnips this Sunday!). I’m finding it easier (?) to experience, process and move through my feelings when I actually know what I’m thinking, and that’s easier to decipher in the quiet. Also, it’s rarely perfectly quiet. The air conditioning, the dryer. Right now there’s a bird chirping.

Pictured: the ceiling view of a light, the “They see my heart, they keep away” painting, and the beginnings of my closet.

Couldn’t bring myself to recreate that smaller painting. I still believe that a little light breaking through matters. That concept is just not what is sustaining me these days.

Pictured here: My “threaded” painting.

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I got back into reading so as to avoid staring at a screen. It worked, but I then had to admit that I also need to express myself beyond writing in my journal. As of late May 2026, I am rereading The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Today’s painting is waiting to be hung up. A couple weeks ago, I ordered a pink curtain and want to make sure they go well with each other. Thankfully I had saved some rods and hooks from previous curtains we had up, so that’s one less purchase to make. Hopefully by the end of this month they’ll both be put up.

Originally my plan was to paint this canvas shades of pink and that’s it. But then I enforced the budget I’d placed on myself and had to wait the following week to buy a new canvas. So to curb my impatience, I made a new rule that for one week I would work on a single painting, and wow has that been great for my mental health. Now instead of a few quick moves of a brush, I am thinking about my experiences and feelings, then translating them into different colors and patterns. My love for this exercise has been revived.

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This series (for as long as I have the will) showcases my paintings. My office is and has been pretty bare for the past two years. I cannot afford the furniture I want, but I can afford canvases from Michaels. (Could I instead save that money and eventually get the furniture I want? Not without self-control :)

Here is a picture of Rosewood & Suede candle I got from Bath and Body Works.

I came home from work crying and also determined not to stare at a screen (before deciding to write this post). So after I showered and made tea, I started working on a painting. Today I’m gonna write about a different painting.

It is of the lyrics from Kye Kye’s song People:

They see my heart,

They keep away

I love Kye Kye and I love how the second line is difficult to see, just like when a person who “keep(s) away” from you is difficult to see. I assumed the paints I mixed together would be dark enough to slightly obscure the second line but light enough to allow the first line to be visible. Thankfully that risk paid off!

If you want to hear more about why I painted this piece, you can subscribe for $5 a month and get that post on Friday. Whether or not you do, I look forward to sharing another painting with you next week!

Picture of my painting “They see my heart, they keep away”.

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