Creatively Thinking

   Featured image:  Pine Cones A quiet reflection for this moment Today is Christmas Eve—a pause in time where anticipation and presence meet. It’s a day that holds its own kind of stillness, inviting us to slow down and notice what’s already here. A chickadee’s call in the cold air. Snow resting softly on pine branches. The glow of evening lights as darkness settles in. These small moments carry a quiet grace. Art has taught me to linger in moments like this—to see how beauty often lives in the ordinary. Christmas Eve reminds us that meaning isn’t only found in celebration, but in attention. In the kindness we offer. In the calm we allow. In the wonder that waits when we stop rushing. As this evening unfolds, may we stay present with the beauty around us. May we honor the stillness, the reflection, and the joy held gently in this night. Here’s to savoring this moment. 🎄

  Featured image: Nuthatch II Hush hush Talking, babble, song Exclaiming urgent chants Hush, hush she is here

  Featured image: Dancing with the Wind and Trees Let your soul speak. Let your life speak. Sit quietly— let the call of the wild, the wilderness in yourself, emerge. It will tenderly speak to you as you sit quietly and listen.

  Featured image:  Silence The silence—how easily, how naturally, I slip myself into its sheer pleasure. The silence, for me, is like writing a love letter to myself, slipping the letter into an envelope, tying a ribbon around it. Every once in a while, I untie that ribbon, letting all those treasured things be felt again— like the silence. Wonderful.

  Featured image: We Are What We Wonder  once again when the sun glistens thru the woods my heart is pierced once again a moment of golden light returns my sense of  wonder a line a simple  line a sphere simple golden sphere returns my sense of wonder

  Featured image: Why Do We Have Art? “The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” -Robert Henri

Featured image: Hawk III “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness.”
— Thoreau For as long as I can remember, my work has circled around the importance of the real, the imagined, and freedom. These ideas have shaped my life, my art, and the way I move through the world. So I’m excited to share that on January 22nd, from 4–6 PM, we’ll be celebrating the opening reception of my new exhibition at the Campanile Center for the Arts, Campanile Gallery:
131 Milwaukee Street, Minocqua, WI 54548 And… it’s also a birthday party! 🎉
Both Steve Opfer (UP FUR) and I have birthdays right next to January 22nd, so we decided to make this opening a shared celebration. It’s going to be a fun, joyful evening, and we’d love for you to join us. The exhibition features my newest work, titled:
“The Real, the Imagined, and Freedom.” I’ll be showing brand-new 3D pieces—never seen before—created with repurposed found objects, along with a selection of my 2D work (some repurposed, som...

  Featured image: She Is A Creative “Let me help you,” he said. “How?” I should ask. How do we see? How do you see? Whose eyes do we see through? Do we see on our own? I would like to think so. Or do we see through another’s eyes? When I was teaching young adults, and they would do something outside of the classroom—something incredibly stupid (yes, stupid —sorry, I can’t think of a better name for driving on a slippery patch of ice on a curve, fast, as a challenge to see if you can defy all odds)—they also thought at the same time, “Oh, but it won’t happen to me.” Well, it happened to them—and it happens to them. Their “won’t happen to me’s” run out. All of my “won’t happen to me’s” have run out, too. I try not to do those things anymore, but, well, they still happen to me. For the most part, my magic wand still works for some reason—but the magic feels different now. I seem to be, I feel to be—at least lately—visualizing almost constantly the task that has been before me prett...

  Featured image: Earth's Energy Embracing Earth,  it's a perfect expression  of harmony and balance between chaos and quiet It's the life that embraces, teaches and inspires me guides my instinct ........it has.....  always been                    my story and my way and guide.

  I’m honored to share that my work Intersections has been accepted into the 36th Annual Midwest Seasons Exhibition at the Center for the Visual Arts. This show has long celebrated the artists and landscapes of the Midwest, capturing the rhythms, beauty, and character of our changing seasons. To have my work included alongside so many talented artists is truly meaningful to me. Center for the Visual Arts Caroline S. Mark Gallery January 7 – March 14, 2026 The Midwest Seasons Exhibit is the CVA’s premiere annual show, featuring artists whose pieces reflect the spirit of Midwestern life—its colors, traditions, stories, and sense of place. All selected artworks, including Intersections , will also appear in the Midwest Seasons 2026 Calendar , a beautiful keepsake publication celebrating the exhibition. I’m grateful to be part of this year’s lineup and deeply appreciative of the CVA for the opportunity. If you’re in the area during the exhibit run, I’d love for you to stop by an...

  Featured painting:  Kaleidoscope Of Raw Reality: We Are So Small – Northern Lights “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” -Leonardo da Vinci