Hello, fellow creatives! As you probably already know, the creative life can be filled with many surprises. If you have curiosity and an adventurous spirit, there will be many twists and turns — including thrills, spills, detours, and even happy accidents. My own creative journey has taken me down many fun “side streets” over the past 40 years.
The path that led to my artwork appearing on the 2023 Women Create tote bag took me down a series of side streets leading to several unexpected destinations.
The story actually begins in 2006, when a feral kitten was born under my house. I took her in and named her Buttonwillow and she happily became my studio assistant for the next 16 years. Her duties included Chief Paperweight (she never met a piece of paper that didn’t need to be sat upon) and Gravity Monitor (she randomly knocked objects to the floor to make sure the laws of physics were still working properly).
When Buttonwillow passed away in the summer of 2022, I was bereft. As any pet lover knows, any pet loss is heartbreaking, but there are certain furry soulmates that absolutely steal your heart and won’t let go. I was surprised by the level of grief I was feeling and decided that making a shrine in Buttonwillow’s honor would help me work through the loss. Perhaps a little assemblage for the garden, or something in fused glass. But my efforts in those directions just didn’t seem to work out.
Then in early 2023, I spotted a fun art challenge on the Instagram account TheyDrawAndGarden called “Cats in the Garden.” What if I were to draw a shrine for Buttonwillow? The first prompt was “Cats and Wildflowers.” Perfect! Having been born a feral cat, Buttonwillow had plenty of “wild” in her. I searched my photos and found a wild iris in bloom for reference.
I love Mexican folk art “nichos” (small shrines for the wall) and looked at many for inspiration. I had also just watched a tutorial on how to use the symmetry tool on Procreate and was eager to try it out. It draws two identical opposite sides at the same time. I started with a line drawing and fell in love with this newfound skill.
I added Buttonwillow to the center of the shrine, then added color. I did shed a few tears in the process, but I also felt so happy. It was the perfect tribute to my sweet little studio assistant! I became obsessed. Could I complete all seven of the prompts? It was worth a try…
DAY 2: Cats and Potted Plants (She had a tendency to gnaw on houseplants within her reach.)
DAY 3: Cats and Cactus (I envisioned her in a cactus garden as a predator with her favorite Snazzy Rat catnip toy that I had designed for her.)
DAY 4: Cats and Tulips (She loved birdwatching, so what about a birdhouse in our tulip garden?)
DAY 5: Cats and Roses (Bathing in sunbeams was another favorite pastime, and what better place than a rose garden?)
DAY 6: Cats and Topiaries (She was obsessed with baked goods, so I pictured her with her own bakery, complete with topiaries out front.)
DAY 7: Cats in the Garden (This one was the hardest. I gave her wings and a halo in a beautiful garden inside my heart.)
I did it! Completing the series was totally healing for me and I loved each and every one of my shrines.
It wasn’t long before I wandered down a new side street, wondering if I could somehow make a paper sculpture wall shrine using the artwork I had already created, then make a DIY kit to offer in my online shop. I modified my artwork and engineered a box to fit on the back. A bit of trial and error and lots of glue later … success!
Soon I was exploring another side street: During this time, I was participating in a Make Art That Sells online class, and our first assignment was to design journal covers. I played around with some of my shrine designs, removing the cat image and replacing it with an inspirational saying. My favorite was the heart design.
Then one more side street unexpectedly appeared: In mid-March, I saw a Women Create Instagram post reminding readers about their Design-A-Bag contest, but the deadline was just a week away (I had missed the original announcement). I wondered if I could come up with a design in that short of a time. It was worth a try!
The requirements were specific. The design could be one color only, must fit certain dimensions and should be a unique design “that captures all that Women Create means to you.” I looked over my recent designs and was drawn to the heart artwork and went back to my original line drawing that was a single color.
I thought about all of my fellow readers of the Women Create magazines. What is the one thing that we all have in common? Each one of us possesses seeds of creativity within our heart and soul and we are yearning to find a path to make those seeds grow into something meaningful and fulfilling. That’s when the design’s saying came to me: “May Your Creative Soul Take Flight.”
I sent off my entry with just a few days to spare, knowing there would be a multitude of beautiful entries for the judges to choose from — but it doesn’t hurt to try, right? So, imagine my complete surprise when I received an email saying I was the first-place winner. After convincing myself that this wasn’t some kind of mistake, I did a wild happy dance and may have cried, just a little bit.
Thank you, Buttonwillow. I know you were up there in the clouds the whole time, cheering me on as any faithful studio assistant would. And thank you, Women Create, for this honor and for inspiring my creative soul to take flight!!
See the second- and third-place winners of the Women Create Design-A-Bag contest here.
Hello, fellow creatives! As you probably already know, the creative life can be filled with many surprises. If you have curiosity and an adventurous spirit, there will be many twists and turns — including thrills, spills, detours, and even happy accidents. My own creative journey has taken me down many fun “side streets” over the past 40 years.
The path that led to my artwork appearing on the 2023 Women Create tote bag took me down a series of side streets leading to several unexpected destinations.
The story actually begins in 2006, when a feral kitten was born under my house. I took her in and named her Buttonwillow and she happily became my studio assistant for the next 16 years. Her duties included Chief Paperweight (she never met a piece of paper that didn’t need to be sat upon) and Gravity Monitor (she randomly knocked objects to the floor to make sure the laws of physics were still working properly).
When Buttonwillow passed away in the summer of 2022, I was bereft. As any pet lover knows, any pet loss is heartbreaking, but there are certain furry soulmates that absolutely steal your heart and won’t let go. I was surprised by the level of grief I was feeling and decided that making a shrine in Buttonwillow’s honor would help me work through the loss. Perhaps a little assemblage for the garden, or something in fused glass. But my efforts in those directions just didn’t seem to work out.
Then in early 2023, I spotted a fun art challenge on the Instagram account TheyDrawAndGarden called “Cats in the Garden.” What if I were to draw a shrine for Buttonwillow? The first prompt was “Cats and Wildflowers.” Perfect! Having been born a feral cat, Buttonwillow had plenty of “wild” in her. I searched my photos and found a wild iris in bloom for reference.
I love Mexican folk art “nichos” (small shrines for the wall) and looked at many for inspiration. I had also just watched a tutorial on how to use the symmetry tool on Procreate and was eager to try it out. It draws two identical opposite sides at the same time. I started with a line drawing and fell in love with this newfound skill.
I added Buttonwillow to the center of the shrine, then added color. I did shed a few tears in the process, but I also felt so happy. It was the perfect tribute to my sweet little studio assistant! I became obsessed. Could I complete all seven of the prompts? It was worth a try…
DAY 2: Cats and Potted Plants (She had a tendency to gnaw on houseplants within her reach.)
DAY 3: Cats and Cactus (I envisioned her in a cactus garden as a predator with her favorite Snazzy Rat catnip toy that I had designed for her.)
DAY 4: Cats and Tulips (She loved birdwatching, so what about a birdhouse in our tulip garden?)
DAY 5: Cats and Roses (Bathing in sunbeams was another favorite pastime, and what better place than a rose garden?)
DAY 6: Cats and Topiaries (She was obsessed with baked goods, so I pictured her with her own bakery, complete with topiaries out front.)
DAY 7: Cats in the Garden (This one was the hardest. I gave her wings and a halo in a beautiful garden inside my heart.)
I did it! Completing the series was totally healing for me and I loved each and every one of my shrines.
It wasn’t long before I wandered down a new side street, wondering if I could somehow make a paper sculpture wall shrine using the artwork I had already created, then make a DIY kit to offer in my online shop. I modified my artwork and engineered a box to fit on the back. A bit of trial and error and lots of glue later … success!
Soon I was exploring another side street: During this time, I was participating in a Make Art That Sells online class, and our first assignment was to design journal covers. I played around with some of my shrine designs, removing the cat image and replacing it with an inspirational saying. My favorite was the heart design.
Then one more side street unexpectedly appeared: In mid-March, I saw a Women Create Instagram post reminding readers about their Design-A-Bag contest, but the deadline was just a week away (I had missed the original announcement). I wondered if I could come up with a design in that short of a time. It was worth a try!
The requirements were specific. The design could be one color only, must fit certain dimensions and should be a unique design “that captures all that Women Create means to you.” I looked over my recent designs and was drawn to the heart artwork and went back to my original line drawing that was a single color.
I thought about all of my fellow readers of the Women Create magazines. What is the one thing that we all have in common? Each one of us possesses seeds of creativity within our heart and soul and we are yearning to find a path to make those seeds grow into something meaningful and fulfilling. That’s when the design’s saying came to me: “May Your Creative Soul Take Flight.”
I sent off my entry with just a few days to spare, knowing there would be a multitude of beautiful entries for the judges to choose from — but it doesn’t hurt to try, right? So, imagine my complete surprise when I received an email saying I was the first-place winner. After convincing myself that this wasn’t some kind of mistake, I did a wild happy dance and may have cried, just a little bit.
Thank you, Buttonwillow. I know you were up there in the clouds the whole time, cheering me on as any faithful studio assistant would. And thank you, Women Create, for this honor and for inspiring my creative soul to take flight!!
See the second- and third-place winners of the Women Create Design-A-Bag contest here.
