Snippets of March:

A picture book dummy detail, some middle grade concept art and thumbnails. Green sugar-coated shamrock cookies are not required, but help nicely.
I’ve also been working on some patchwork (above). It’s a way to use up all the test swatches I’ve accumulated over the years from Spoonflower.
I’m trying to double down and finish The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I feel like an awful human being admitting this, but I am on the struggle bus with Tolkien. Objectively, I appreciate the talent, the world-building and the way that the book speaks to virtue. But for whatever reason, I’m not connecting. My nieces are horrified with me. I might as well have told them that kittens are a scourge to humanity and that Taylor Swift is a talentless hack. I don’t believe either of these things to be true, but that’s the most extreme example I can cook up to illustrate their reaction.
Since January, I’ve been getting back into these Atelier classes. I’m working on the Belvedere Torso right now and it’s pretty slow going. What Bargue has taught me is how little I observe of the world around me. Sometimes you just have to sit and stare at a shape to understand it, even when you’d rather be throwing down lines.
I planted pepper seedlings in February and they’ve doing nicely. It wasn’t until this past autumn that I realized that peppers can be overwintered inside, so that’s the plan this year. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t credit this terrific small-space French gardening Instagram account for the pro-tip.