Hey there! Remember me? Your friend who hasn’t written in about six months? Well grab your coffee and settle in, because I’m back and it’s a bit of a long one.

First, I owe you an apology for disappearing, but honestly, I was floundering with what to do here. The “subscriber perks” I originally promised weren’t exciting for me to create, so I wasn’t keeping up with them. And it made me feel pretty awful that I wasn’t delivering on my promises, especially to my paid subscribers. So, I put this Substack on a very far back burner to simmer until I could figure out a path forward that felt genuine and sustainable.

If you were a paid subscriber, you might have recently received a rudely abrupt automated email saying your subscription was canceled and downgraded. I am so sorry about that! I should have sent this explanation before turning off paid subscriptions and triggering that automatic email. Oopsie. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support; it truly meant the world to me.

Now let’s talk about what’s been cooking while I was away, shall we?

From Texas to France - Life Upended!

While this Substack was simmering, I was busy doing a deep dive into water-soluble oil painting and completed a series of floral and fruit still lifes. My plan was to show them at a summer group exhibition at a local library.

BUT just as my art plans were clicking into place, our life plans got beautifully upended.

My husband, Patrick, was caught in the recent wave of tech-industry downsizing, which made us reconsider our big move. Our timeline got drastically shortened, and we are officially moving to France this September!

Instead of participating in a group show, I’ll be hosting a virtual art show on my website soon. Here’s a sneaky peek of one of those paintings:

If you’re new here, let me catch you up. For the past few years, we’ve been prepping for a transition from Austin, Texas to Amboise, France, a charming town in the Loire Valley. We have a wacky, wonderful, 500-year-old townhouse in the historic quarter that was created by joining multiple small medieval houses. Yes, it’s as higgledy piggledy as it sounds, and full of surprises. We’re renovating it with the future dream of hosting art retreats in the salons and back garden.

We’re spending this summer in Austin, sorting through decades of stuff, selling our house, and saying our goodbyes. You can follow our chaotic renovations and French adventures over at our YouTube channel, Austin to Amboise!

Introducing: Fun Drawing Club!

Going through this whirlwind made me do some soul-searching, thinking about what I actually love most: teaching folks how to draw.

Back when I was a high school art teacher, drawing days were my absolute favorite. I love watching people realize that drawing isn’t a magical “talent” you’re born with; it’s a skill you can develop. I firmly believe that anyone can learn to draw, and I’ve watched it happen! I want to help you reclaim that simple, childlike joy of creating without the pressure of perfection.

Moving forward, this Substack is transforming into the Fun Drawing Club, and your inbox will now feature two distinct newsletters:

Studio Dispatches

A peek inside my persona art atelier - what I’m working on, my creative struggles, whims, wins, and original art sales.

Drawing Prompts

Totally chill, no-pressure drawing exercises delivered on Monday mornings, designed to build your art habit in a fun, easy way.

Note: If you only want one of these and not the other, you can easily tweak your preferences in your Substack account settings at any time!

Want more interaction? Join the clubhouse!

If you want to go beyond the weekly email prompts, we also have an interactive online clubhouse and virtual classroom, hosted on the Skool platform, which is free to join.

Inside our community headquarters, you can share your sketches, get helpful feedback, and join live drawing workshops, all within a supportive space designed to take you from frustrated to fluent in drawing. We skip the intimidating art theories and focus on simple contour drawing techniques that build immediate confidence. Whether you think you’re artistic or not, you will learn to look at the world differently, draw anything you desire, and finally experience the pure joy of making art.

What’s next?

Look out for your very first issue of Drawing Prompts in your inbox Monday morning and get ready to sketch!

Thank you for sticking by me through the radio silence, the pivots, and the big leaps. I’m so excited for this next chapter with you. Are you ready to enjoy drawing again?

Drop me a comment and let me know! I’d love to hear from you.

So glad you’re in the club,
Beth

Then we went to the Alamo Drafthouse to see the new Frankenstein adaptation by Guillermo del Toro. The classic gothic tragedy by Mary Shelley is one of my all-time favorite novels. I also love del Toro as a director and Oscar Isaac as an actor, so I knew I’d enjoy it. It did not disappoint! But we did have to make one little adjustment…

You know you’re celebrating your 49th when you bring your own lumbar pillow.

This particular Alamo has two-seater sofas in the back row which are cute and fun to sit in, and they give you a lot more personal space, BUT they have no lower back support. Like, at all. We had already learned this from a previous visit, so I was going in prepared this time (this, my friends, is middle age). We unashamedly carried in a bag with the two lumbar pillows from our couch, and thoroughly enjoyed our comfort along with the movie. A pro tip for ya! You’re welcome.

The next night was Halloween, which we spent in our usual way by taking a (delightfully crisp and autumnal!) walk through our neighborhood to see which guys and ghouls were out, then handing out candy to trick-or-treaters at our house.

And then on Saturday, we had a lovely little Halloween do-over costume party at our house to celebrate my birthday. We went as a classic couple, Kermit & Miss Piggy!

These Muppet costumes are where most of my creative energy went last month, and you know what, I’m totally fine with that. It was really fun to sew again, especially since it was costume sewing with no real need for a great fit or durable construction. Over about two weeks, Kermie, I mean Patrick, and I worked together to devise these costumes, source the needed materials and construct them. I made the log pillow that Kermit is sitting on, his little legs, the banjo, and his pointy collar. I just had fun with it all and tried not to get too caught up in things being perfect, and I think it turned out pretty great!

Here’s some other fun stuff I made in October:

My friend Sam teaches awesome craft classes, if you’re in Austin and want a fun, low-stress creative hang! Check out Wilder Relics for upcoming class info.

I’ve also been painting quite a bit, but haven’t really been satisfied with it. Every painter probably feels that way at times, I’m sure. The creativity ebbs and flows and right now I’m in a somewhat low ebb, just riding it out. These are all acrylic gouache paintings that I made in October:

Part of my dissatisfaction is frustration with my materials. Acrylics dry really fast, which has it’s pros and cons, so I’ve decided to try my hand at oil painting again. Oils, as you may know, take forever to dry, so they also have their pros and cons. But I’m playing around with that and seeing what happens. I haven’t painted in oils since my art school days, back in 1997 or so. So. I’m also re-teaching myself with water-soluble oil paint this time, just to throw myself another unneeded curveball. So it’s going about as well as you can imagine!

I’m just not sure where I’m going with my art lately. I feel like my mind is all over the place, full of ideas and things I want to do, but having a hard time seeing the common thread that I can make an art collection out of. And also, getting excited about making new things, but also just wanting to rest and do nothing. I’m tired. Anyone else?

But you know what? Being creative is just that - creating things. Creating something that didn’t exist before. It doesn’t matter what, just keep going. Make stuff with your hands. Make a mess. If you’re enjoying it, you’re doing it right! Eventually a spark will fly that ignites something good. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.

Thanks for reading & happy fall, y’all!
Beth

The pic at top left shows the current state of this painting that I’ve been working on since February (though I did take a three-month hiatus while I was in France this summer). Changing my mind frequently, letting the painting develop over time, and repainting parts of it, means that it’s taking me a really long time to finish. I paint a bit, then step back and ask myself questions like: Is she too green? Is it coming across that she’s being overtaken by the creepy plants - that she’s actually being transformed? Should I add some more insects? Does she look too much like the bride of Frankenstein? Maybe so … but do I like that about her? And on and on it goes.

The other reason that painting this is going slowly is because it’s deeply personal work. This painted lady isn’t exactly a self-portrait, but she’s very autobiographical. Painting her is my attempt to articulate the surreal trajectory of events in my life, after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in 2021 {on my birthday, of all days!} and then undergoing four related major, and majorly transfiguring, surgeries. The creeping, invasive plants, some of which are poisonous, and the strange insect imagery in this painting are metaphorical. They respresent the insidious nature of health issues that have taken over my body over the past four years, leaving me with all kinds of BIG feelings. Painting this has mostly been a cathartic process, but sometimes feels a bit like reliving my trauma. I have to pace myself & work on other things sometimes.

The title “What Have I Become?” hints at my own feeling of being some kind of monster created in a laboratory à la Dr. Frankenstein. Am I being a bit melodramatic? Maybe. There wasn’t an actual mad scientist performing any of my surgeries, nor a dark dungeon room with tubes of strange liquid bubbling in the corner. And of course the procedures were being done to save (or at least dramatically improve) my life, but that’s how the surgeries made me feel. Perhaps you know what I mean. If not, and you’re lucky enough to not have had any surgeries, imagine this:

You’re lying on a table in a cold room, hooked up to all kinds of tubes & wires. You keep hearing electronic beeps and blips that no one explains to you. There are spotlights shining in your face, and impressive but scary machines loom large all around you. Doctors & nurses are bustling to and fro, readying their equipment and instruments (which you wish you hadn’t seen). You count backwards from 10, and saying the word “eight” is the last thing you remember. Several hours pass that you can’t account for, then the next thing you know, you’re waking up in a completely different room, feeling strange and uncomfortable, and very unlike your old self.

I’ve gone through the surgery process so many times now (7 times, I think, if we’re counting), and it never gets any less weird. How can I not be dramatic about it? It is incredibly dramatic.

I’m currently in cancer remission (“cancer-free” as far as we know, though a lot of doctors refrain from labeling you that way, because they can never be 100% sure). I’m still navigating a web of other health issues, which can be frustrating and kind of overwhelming. Making art is my way of dealing with it, so I’ve been pretty prolific lately. Aside from the somewhat dark paintings like the one above for my Resections & Revisions series, I’ve also been doing a lot of light and easy-breezy stuff.

I’ve been doing daily drawings for a 30-day challenge from the folks at Make Art That Sells. Join me if you like! It’s free, everyone is welcome, and it’s really cool to see the variety that everyone is creating from the same prompts. And of course you don’t have to post a thing; only post your drawings if & when you feel like it! The sketchbook spread above is from the day 2 prompt, a candy bar from another country.

Another work in progress is this here Substack newsletter 'o’ mine, Artsy Fartsy in France. As I mentioned in my last letter, I’m simplifying things a bit going forward. I couldn’t keep up and don’t like making empty promises. Most of you probably won’t even notice the changes, but if you’re curious, the updated & detailed list of subscriber perks is at the bottom of my About page. There are still tons of fun things for those who subscribe, whether for free or paid. I love & appreciate you all, my VIP club!

The main changes to subscription tiers are:

1. I’ll only be sending one newsletter a month now, and it will go out to all subscribers, free & paid. Any bonus content for paid subscribers will be at the bottom of the same newsletter, behind a paywall.

2. No more coloring sheets, because they’re pretty time-consuming to make and I’d rather focus on creating more Mini Meditations. Also, I think my mom is the only one who actually wants the coloring sheets. Thanks, Mom! :)
   Correct me if I’m wrong and y’all actually want more coloring sheets - I’ll make more if there is a demand. In the meantime, there are several free ones here, and bonus ones in the archive for paid subscribers, if you want to download them.

3. Any artsy/craftsy/DIY tutorials I make will be behind a paywall as special paid-subscriber bonus content.

So cheers to figuring things out, no matter how long it takes - our work, ourselves, our health, our homes - all of it! Take care of yourselves, hang in there, and keep on keepin’ on.
<3
Beth

P.s.
If you like to see DIY WIP at the wacky, wonderful old house we’re renovating in France, check out our Austin to Amboise YouTube channel! The latest video shows the new shower we (meaning Patrick) built this summer:

That’s the newsletter I had intended to write from France, but never did. Now I’m back in Austin, after three whole months of thoroughly embracing la joie de vivre. It was glorious!

Yep. It’s been over three months since I last sent an update—and honestly, I kept putting it off. Why? Because I’ve been learning something new: how to relax.

Not the kind of relaxation where you schedule a massage and check your email while it’s happening. No. I mean real relaxation—like living life as if it’s a holiday. Being in France felt like a dream, and I recognize how much of a privilege it was to slow down and simply be. It’s been really difficult to unlearn that very American need to feel “productive.” But I’m getting there.

What I’ve Been Up To (Besides Avoiding My Substack)

I’ve been continuing my efforts to learn French and I’m slowly getting bolder with speaking—I even did some bargaining at the huge outdoor brocante (vintage market).
I snagged some beautiful finds at great deals. It turns out a little charm and mispronunciation go a long way.

Nesting in France
Though it feels like a holiday, we’re also trying to build a life there. That means:

• Repairing our stained glass doors before they fall apart

• Taming the wild garden, little by little

• Finding secondhand furniture treasures

• Making the house feel like home

• Adding modern comforts like an updated shower

Spending Time with Friends
We had lots of fun get-togethers and outings with friends that we’ve met in France - visiting the Chartres Cathedral, boating underneath Chateau Chenonceau - truly magical summer days. And we also welcomed our biggest wave of guests yet to our wacky wonderful old house!

To see more of our silly summer adventures and the progress we’re making on the house, check out the latest video on our Austin to Amboise YouTube channel:

Slowing Down to Enjoy More

And now that I’m back in my art studio, I’m excited and inspired! I’m going to dive back in to Resections & Revisions, a series of paintings of women experiencing dramatic change to their bodies and their senses of self.

I also have a new obsession with vintage French enamel coffee pots and want to do some kitchen still life paintings featuring these cuties. My time in France has given me a lot of inspiration in the realm of creating comfort and joy in our homes by slowing down and truly relishing the simple things.

On that note, I]ve decided to greatly simplify my life and allow more time for making art by slimming down my subscription offerings here. I’m still working that out, so I’ll let you know more very soon, but basically I have overpromised and cannot deliver - which has probably become obvioius if you’re a subscriber who hasn’t heard from me in three months! I need to do less in order to have the bandwidth for the best things.

Thank you for reading and for staying connected. I truly appreciate you being here!

Until next time,
Beth

I’m heading back to france in less than a week! I’m looking forward to the change of scenery, fresh baguettes on the daily, enjoying croissants the way they’re supposed to be, walking JoJo past this amazing castle that’s just down the street from our house…

While I’m over there, I plan to get a portable easel box and draw outside more. I feel like I always say that and rarely do it though. Part of the hesitation I have with drawing outside is the inconvenience of it all. I’m hoping that having an easy way to carry my stuff and draw comfortably on a stable surface (rather than balancing a sketchbook on my knee) might make it more enticing for me. We’ll see if it happens.

My shop will be on hiatus soon!
Being in France also means that I’ll be closing up my shop for the 3 months that I’m away. So if you were thinking of buying some of my art, do it now! My shop will be closed from this Saturday 5/3 until early August.

Check out my art for sale

Currently on the easel:

Lately I’ve gotten back into my purple lady painting. Sometimes I just need to step away for a bit when I’m working on a large painting like this one, which is 18” x 24.”

I always have a lot of ideas going into it, themes and symbolic imagery I’m playing with, and they morph along the way, to the point where the final painting often looks quite a bit different from what I originally had in mind. My process isn’t completely linear. I typically don’t plan the whole painting out; I just have a rough idea. I like to leave my mind open to fleeting ideas and express whatever mood hits me. Whenever I try to completely sketch out my painting, it loses a lot of its energy.

Giving it some time also helps me see things I’ve painted that are distractingly “off” - in this case, the leaves in her hair on the left side of her face have veins that are growing in the wrong direction. They should originate from the stem end. Oops. I’ll go back and repaint those so they look more natural.

The lady isn’t quite as purple anymore; I’ve added areas of green to tone things down and also to make her skin more unified with the green background. And yes, that is a praying mantis on her forehead.

If you’re curious, here’s what this painting looked like in an earlier stage:

Not sure if I’ll finish it before I leave, but that might be a good thing. It would be interesting to see how the painting evolves if I take another long break from it.

That’s all for now - the next time I write to you will be from France! :D
Peace & joy,
Beth

P.s.
Be sure you’ve subscribed to Austin to Amboise on YouTube and hit the notifications bell so you see all of my dispatches from France. I can’t wait to share what I’m up to with you!

In case you missed it, here’s our latest video. This one’s got:

• our vision for a moody, “Dark Academia” style library in the Neo-Gothic room

• Patrick’s mysterious new find at the bottom of the secret stairwell

• the silliest idea we’ve had for our old French house yet - or is it?

What would you do with a painted alcove like this one? We’re looking for ideas!

Leave a comment

Notes to Self
A cabinet of curiosities inspired by antique book illustrations of the natural world & the collections of entomologists. Each insect specimen is a little reminder of a wondrous part of life that makes me happy to be alive.

Hey y’all!

My new painting collection is up! It’s a day later and several paintings shorter than originally intended, but here we are. You know how it goes - life gets in the way, things take longer than you expect, yadda yadda yadda. Anyhoo, these little paintings are finished now and ready to find new homes! There are only 11 of ‘em though, so don’t dawdle if you want one.

Shop the collection

As a member of my VIP club, you get first dibs!

You can shop my new paintings right now, before the collection goes public on my website on Monday. The page will be hidden until then, but you can visit this link to get to the goods:
https://www.bethhempton.com/category/notes-to-self-collection

Each insect specimen represents one of my own “wonders of the world,” concepts such as magic and mystery, emotions like joy - these are the dreamy things that I don’t want to forget when times are tough. I’ve painted each insect in a way that conjures the feeling of these things for me, and hand-stamped the word that inspired the painting onto it.

Shop the collection

And we have a winner! I put all VIP club members into the Wheel of Names (two entries for you VVIPs!), and Jennifer Ford, you have won the raffle. I’ll be emailing you to get your info so I can send you some art!

Thank you all for being subscribers - I appreciate you more than you know! Doing an art raffle each time I make a new collection is one way I like to give back to you.

I hope you enjoy my latest creations! Maybe one of them is the helpful little reminder that you needed today.

Have a wonderful rest of the week,
Beth

P.s.
In case you missed it, here’s our latest video from Austin to Amboise on YouTube. This one’s got:

• our vision for a moody, “Dark Academia” style library in the Neo-Gothic room

• Patrick’s mysterious new find at the bottom of the secret stairwell

• the silliest idea we’ve had for our old French house yet - or is it?

Inspired by antique book illustrations of the natural world & the collections of entomologists, I’ve imagined them sort of like my own cabinet of curiosities. This cabinet is modular though, and the pieces can be shared around the world with fellow collectors (like you!).

In my cabinet of curiosities, each specimen has been collected based on my own “wonders of the world,” both physical & emotional, things that make me happy to be alive. I’ve painted each insect in a way that conjures the feeling of these things for me. Some of the ideas I’m playing with are brilliance, mystery, and tranquility. There are also insects representing physical things like sunlight and shadows.

I’m calling this collection Notes to Self, because these are the dreamy things about our world that I don’t want to forget when times are tough. Each painting has the word that inspired the painting stamped onto it. I guess you could say this is my version of grattitude journaling.

This limited collection will launch mid-April. There will only be 18-20 pieces, each one a unique, hand-painted original. As a VIP Club member, you’ll get a secret password to shop the collection a few days earlier than the general public. Be on the lookout for next month’s newsletter, Wednesday April 16. That one will have your super special secret shop link. My past two collections have sold rather quickly (humble brag), so set an alarm on your phone or something if you want one of these one-of-a-kind works of art!

Until then, here’s another coloring sheet for you. Take a moment to slow down and just color like we used to do as kids. It’s a great way to focus inward, a remedy for times that feel overwhelming or chaotic. I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Fungifroggy

1.04MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Take care and enjoy the day friends,
Beth

P.s. In case you missed it, here’s what we shared in our latest Austin to Amboise YouTube video:

• getting injured doing DIY (don't worry; everyone's fine now)
• visiting Tours, France - I especially loved the medieval quarter!
• upcoming renovation projects at our very old house in France

I’ve gotten used to the weird prickly sensations in my fingertips and have been able to paint again. Now that I know the issue is carpal tunnel syndrome, my anxiety has subsided, along with much of the physical pain. For the past week I’ve been working on a large panel painting of a woman with a ghostly purple glow. In the video above, I’m painting poisonous poke berries growing towards her.

What’s this all about, you may be wondering. Well… I’m not going to tell you just yet, mainly because I’m not sure yet how to articulate my ideas and put them into words. I have a general theme and several concepts floating around my brain, starting to form a cohesive idea for a a series of these lady paintings. It’s all still developing, but the vibe is slightly sinister, with powerful feminine energy and a touch of art nouveau style. It all started with these sketches:

That’s all I’m going to share for now, but expect an off-kilter intermingling of the female form with natural elements like interesting plants and beautiful insects in these upcoming art pieces.

And now I’m off to paint a bit more while I still can! I’m having carpal tunnel release surgery in the morning, on both wrists, so I’m not sure when I’ll be back at it. Positive thoughts and healing vibes sent my way will be most appreciated!

Thanks, my friends. Take care. I appreciate you being here and supporting my art.

But now I’ve got something new to worry about (just what I need). In case you missed this note, I’ve been dealing with constant numbness and tingling in my fingers for about two weeks now, very uncomfortable sensations that get even worse when I grasp or hold things in my hands… things like a paintbrush, for example.

I’ve been trying to take it easy, not overwork my hands, and not overstress my brain that’s having a hard time focusing right now. So I haven’t edited my most recent footage from France, or made the artsy craftsy tutorials I’ve been wanting to make. If you’re new here, welcome! You’re probably wondering what I’m babbling about. You can check out this tour of our very old French house to get a sense of what my husband, Patrick, and I are up to. We’re transforming an amazing townhouse in the Loire Valley into a creative workshop space, where we’ll be able to bring people together for unique art experiences - and of course, delicious French food & wine!

So anyway, I’m currently a maker whose hands aren’t working. The painting on the left was done as my hands were just starting to be constantly plagued with the pricklies. I was still able to make controlled lines and delicate details without my hands screaming at me. By the next day, those kinds of fine motor skills had become intensely painful. Drawing larger, simpler shapes and very loose lines, while taking frequent breaks to rest my fingers, was all I could manage. The other two paintings above are the result, which look strange to me, unrecognizable as my own work.

As an artist who loves capturing details and drawing with a fine tipped pen, it has been incredibly frustrating and sad for me. I’ve not been able to make the kind of art I want to make. I had been gaining momentum and hitting my stride with a comfortable ease, creating like this painting I made in November of last year:

After seeing my GP, who referred me to an orthopedic hand specialist, the unofficial non-diagnosis was “maybe it’s carpal tunnel syndrome, or maybe it’s nerve damage, which could be permanent.” YIKES. Not a fun thing to hear for someone who is constantly making things with their hands, and who also has a lot of anxiety. I typically draw and paint pretty much daily as my work, but I also rely on art making as my mediation and a therapeutic activity for said anxiety, so it’s been rough to not have that outlet.

Thankfully, just this morning, I got a real diagnosis - hallelujah! I had a Nerve Conduction Study done on my hands and arms that revealed carpal tunnel syndrome as the problem. Luckily there are no muscular issues, only the nerve sensations are being affected. This means that I can have a fairly simple surgery with a quick recovery and a very low likelihood of the nerve issues recurring. So hopefully it will only be a bit more waiting before I can have the surgery done, and then hopefully only a tiny bit more waiting after that until I have pain-free, working hands again!

I feel strongly that making art, including doodling and coloring, is a very comforting activity that can promote peace of mind for everyone, even those who don’t consider themselves to be artists. To this end, I offer my subscribers free coloring sheets based on my art. In my last newsletter, I shared my peony bouquet as a free page to color with tips for more mindful coloring. You can grab that if you missed it, and level up your coloring game while enjoying some restful quiet time for yourself. Free subscribers will be able to snag a new coloring sheet each month. I’m also planning to do lots of Mini Meditations with simple art techniques that anyone can do, so be on the lookout for those.

Thank you for being here! If you liked this post, giving it a heart, sharing it or leaving me a comment will show your appreciation and make my newsletter easier for fellow Francophiles and art lovers to find. Merci beaucoup!

Paid subscribers enjoy a new coloring sheet each week, and this week’s page is based on that sweet grumpy cat I shared above. So if you’re currently a free subscriber and you’d like the download of that lovably grouchy little guy, along with all the other perks of being a paid subscriber, please upgrade for access to the coloring file below.

Read more

Remember blogging? That was fun. Let’s do that again.

Like so many others, I’m finally leaving Facebook behind. Probably Instagram too, but that one’s a bit harder to leave, as someone who loves looking at pretty pictures and all those funny reels. Let me know your tips for quitting ‘em, if you’ve got any.

Anyway, I’ve found a happy new place to call my online home: Substack. It reminds me of blogging circa 2010, and I’m totally here for it.

Tired of the weird anti-social, un-fact-checked, angry, AI-ridden wasteland that “social” media has become? Wishing you could see the things you want to see, from the people you actually follow, rather than random stuff and ADS ADS ADS LOOK AT ME ADS that a schmalgorithm shoves in your face? Psssst… come over to Substack with me. Find inspiration, creative ideas, thoughtful writing, funny people - nice people - hope for humanity. It’s pretty glorious over here.

Introducing “Artsy Fartsy in France” on Substack

I’m building an all-in-one creative hub over here on Substack for the sorts of things that I used to post on social media (FB & Insta), and to hopefully make it easier to foster conversations. I love chatting with fellow Artsy Fartsies! And those who are unsure about their attraction to art… but are art-curious. I’ll convert you.

I’ll keep my art website for showcasing and selling my paintings, and our “Austin to Amboise” YouTube channel about making the move from Texas to a wacky wonderful old French house as is; those won’t be changing. But I can use Substack for little notes, photos, short videos, sharing sketches, art process videos, crafty tutorials, travel diaries, etc. - the possibilites are endless! And I can also publish & archive my newsletter, all in the same place! It’s exciting to be able to build this hybrid sorta thang, a blog-vlog-sketchbook-newsletter, if you will, on a platform that I believe in and feel good about using.

Here’s how it works, if you’re not familiar. You can follow me on Substack to see my posts in your feed, or you can subscribe to get my posts in your inbox. I’ll be doing a combo of short snippets and a longer-form newsletter, which I’m calling “Artsy Fartsy in France.”

If you’re already in my VIP club as a current subscriber to my newsletter, merci beaucoup! <3 You don’t have to do anything at all; you’ll continue to receive my newsletters (they’ll just look a bit different now, coming from Substack instead of my personal website).

But here’s where it gets even better: there are also paid subscriptions, which allow me to earn money for my creative work here. And of course that means there are tons of wonderful writers and creators that you can support on Substack! It’s similar to Patreon in that way, but the community building possibilities seem a bit better, and overall the platform feels easier to use, for the way my brain is wired. YMMV.

As a VIP member with a free subscription, you’ll receive all of this:

free subscription - VIP club:

• all of my public posts delivered directly to your inbox, so you don’t miss any

• a new coloring sheet each month featuring my art - a fun & relaxing way to de-stress & get your creative juices flowing!

• early access to shop my original paintings before each limited collection launch

• a raffle entry for each painting giveaway (a chance to win every time I release one of my limited collections of art)!

Or you can upgrade to a paid subscription & get fun bonus content, while helping us build our event space for creative community, learning & artistic expression!

paid subscription ($5/month or $50/year) - Very VIP club:

• all of my public posts delivered directly to your inbox, so you don’t miss any

• additional subscriber-only posts & artsy tutorials (+ access to the full archive)

• a unique new coloring sheet made from my art every week!

• early access to shop my original paintings before each limited collection launch

• TWO raffle entries for each painting giveaway!

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Your paid subscription will help fund the restoration & renovation of this amazing old house in France, ensuring that her unique details and historical elements are not lost to time. My husband, Patrick, and I purchased this beautiful maison bourgeoise in the Loire Valley town of Amboise in early 2024. She’s a grande dame of the 18th century, created by joining multiple small medieval houses into one large house. She’s higgledy piggledy and full of surprises!

Your support will allow us to transform the ground floor level into an artsy event space. We’ll hold workshops on drawing, painting, writing - any creative topics we dream up - with a variety of guest artists and experts. We’ll be able to provide wonderful arts-focused experiences in an amazing historic French town, as well as payment for the creatives who teach our workshops and other local partners.

So let’s do this, y’all! Help spread the word about our creative project by liking, commenting, sharing, subscribing - you know the drill. Let’s gooooo!

Got questions, advice, or fabulous ideas you think we should hear?
Know an artist or someone else we should talk to about hosting art workshops?