february favorites
things i loved that inspired me in february
Dear Reader,
If you live in a northern climate, at this time you may be feeling very sick of winter. It is technically the beginning of Spring now, but we’ll have another month or so in Michigan before it really ‘feels like spring’. I’ve been bouncing around from house sitting for a friend and then to North Carolina. I’ve been feeling excited about tapping into my own creativity again from the perspective of art for the sake of making art. This is actually very different from creativity for the sake of my business. Removing the parameters of crafting a product to sell feels very freeing. I am allowing myself to step out of imposter syndrome of devaluing my creative practice. It’s a beautiful thing. Here are some things that helped ground me and remember how good it feels to be inspired.
artist date days with friends
If you’ve ever read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, you’ll be familiar with the term artist date. This refers to an activity that fills your creative well and makes you feel inspired. It’s a way of nurturing yourself and allowing yourself delightful, creative, fun activities. Most of the time I feel like I’m “too busy”, but whenver I actually go to an artist talk, gallery opening, museum, etc it is so resorative and completely worth it. In February, I visited an art gallery opening at The Shepherd with my partner and two of our friends. Afterwards, we decided to visit the Belle Isle Conservatory. I hadn’t been since they closed it to replace the glass roof over the past two years. This place is absolute heaven, especially in the winter. The fresh air and textural delight of all the plants was really delightful. Nature is magic!!!
olio e osso balm
I redisovered this tinted balm that I have had for years after watching a video of someone talk about how much they love it. It feels fantastic to ‘shop my own stash’ if you will. It’s pricy if you compare it to another tinted balm ($28), but there’s a lot of product in this thing and it lasts forever. I use it both on my cheeks and my lips and it’s often the only makeup I wear. I’d love to get a second one but it’s hard to narrow down which color…
north carolina
In January, I was going through it and my aunt suggested I needed a change of scenery and invited me to come see her. She lives in the mountains there, just outside of Asheville. As a life-long Midwesterner, the mountains always leave me in awe. I never tire of gazing at the shades of blue of the Blue Ridge Mountains. One thing I love about this region is the way craft is really valued. It feels like people really support artisans, especially ceramics, and I love to see that. We did some hiking around and I visited Biltmore for the first time. Biltmore is the massive home of the Vanderbilt family built in the 1890s to resemble a combination of an English country estate and a French chateau. It’s filled with ornate details and priceless artwork and is surrounded by impeccibly maintained grounds and gardens. As someone who loves to read old English novels (and watch Downton Abbey), it felt like I could imagine the day to day life of the people who lived in the largest home in America. If you ever watched The Secret Garden as a child and imagined yourself running about a giant, old home, you will love this place.
reading
I read the book My Cousin Rachel in February and it was easily one of my favorite books. It was suspenseful, intriguing, and I wasn’t sure how it would end. A real page turner! Daphne du Maurier is a gifted gothic author who creates a very specific ambiance in her books that I find extremely compelling. I also read the book Rebecca by her and watched a few film adaptations (the Alfred Hitchcok version, the 2020 Netflix version and the PBS Masterpiece Theatre version) and enjoyed that story as well. I saw that they have a film adaptation of My Cousin Rachel on Kanopy and I cannot wait to watch it!
cameron winter album heavy metal
I have been listening to the album Heavy Metal by Cameron Winter nonstop since I first played it February 27th. My favorite songs are Drinking Age and Zero Dollar Man, but the entire album is fantastic. I’m in New York for a few days and am hoping to weasel my way into his sold out show tomorrow evening. I had never heard of his band Geese and then listened to their album 3D Country and loved that as well. I have listened to this album pretty much every day since I first heard it. Highly recommend!
sourdough
With some encouragement from my friend Erin, I am back on my sourdough journey. I first began in 2020, ikyk, and was pretty much universally unsuccessful. I made many gummy, floppy loaves that did not work out and then gave up. Somehow, five years later, I just get it this time. Between continuing to learn about baking and getting advice from Max, the baker extroadinaire of the bakery I sometimes work at, it’s been a completely different experience. I have been using this recipe by Claire Saffitz and it has not steered me wrong! It’s helpful that there is a step by step video as well. It helps to have the saftey net of knowing now that if the dough gets messed up, I can just turn it into a focaccia instead. I have now made three sets of loaves and I’m feeling confident in trying add ins like scallions and olives to my next round. The satisfaction of finally getting the hang of something you sucked at for a long time is sooooo good.
Inspiring as always. Thanks especially for the reminder of how great it can be to make art for the sake of creativity.
Omg is that the conservatory of flowers?