The Only Constant Is Change (and a New Website)

I am finding my way.

My way to where? I am not 100% sure. But I am finally smiling while I am doing it.

The last five years have been nothing short of a roller coaster. Using my fingers to count, let’s see:

1. Going through a divorce after a relationship of 20 years

2. Watching my son struggle

3. Working two full time jobs

4. Diving into a new industry selling travel, which I love

5. Wishing I had any time at all to get into the studio that sat collecting dust

6. Learning to give myself grace and accept that I cannot do or be everything 24/7

I am sure I have forgotten some things but that alone is a lot to unpack. I know.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been some great things that have happened in the last five years too. I found Ted Lasso. Haha! I kid, but actually, not really. I love that show.

I have made some amazing new friends along the way. I have helped the art program at the zoo, which I helped start years ago, continue to thrive. I have helped people when I could. I have painted a few murals, which were challenging and also a blast. I am working on getting Adventure Artists International back up and running with my business partner, with our first trip to Bali coming in April. And believe it or not, in the aftermath of a difficult divorce, there is a man in my life whom I love dearly.

With the ups come the downs, and vice versa, right? Without one, we would never truly understand the other.

I have learned so much about myself over these last five years, and yet I feel like I have only scratched the surface. Is this what our 50s are all about? All I truly know is that when you face adversity, you finally start learning who you really are.

I digress.

The title of this blog post reflects what I feel daily, both in my life and in my work. I think most people resist change, but I have slowly learned to embrace it and with that, I am finally getting back into the studio a little at a time, and realizing that I have changed in this space too. Although I am embracing change, honestly, I am also terrified of it.

But what do you do with that fear? You move through it…….The only constant is change.

So, I am playing around with sketching and painting at my own pace, with no agenda. It feels like returning to a familiar friend, but also one I still have so much to learn about. That is exciting!

Of course, I am still taking commissions when they come. I am currently finishing a doggie commission, and it feels so good to be creating again. Photos soon, I promise.

This new website is part of that change too. It is a fresh space for my art, my thoughts, and whatever comes next. I am still figuring out exactly what that will look like, but maybe that is the point.

I am finding my way.

And for the first time in a long time, I am beginning to enjoy the journey again.

~April