Next Saturday I'll be a featured artist at the Intersections: Arts & Faith Conference in Folsom. The theme for the day is Honest Art, and I'll be talking about many of the ideas and stories that fuel my vision and my work. In preparation, I've been trying to get some of those things down in a coherent way, and I'm even considering putting together a more formal presentation of it all. But that's a topic for another day.

On the subject of honesty, though, some days are just tough.

In my studio, you will find a lot of the same things you might find in any artist's studio. Paints, brushes, collage materials and adhesives, substrates like paper and wood panels, all the tools of the trade. I've also got a small photo soft box, essentially a white fabric cube that diffuses light, with a studio light overhead, for photographing my small still life images.

A lot of artists are introverts, thriving on deep thinking, self-motivation, and comfort in solitude. And while those are all strong traits of mine as well, I am really an extrovert, and I love a good party with a lot of people around. That’s one of the reasons that I am hosting another Open Studio & Garden Party and including three of my artist friends to join me for the day.

If you've known me for a while, you know I love plants and gardens. What you may not know is that I can be horribly neglectful when it comes to actually keeping them alive. So I need plants that not only look beautiful but can survive my particular brand of benevolent neglect.

That's exactly how we ended up tearing

I often talk about the things I find on the creek trails and neighborhood streets near my house. I like to call these "slow hikes." The term connects to the slow living movement, which prioritizes quality over quantity. It is not about doing things in the fastest way possible, but in the most fulfilling way.