Nothing recharges my creativity and general sense of wellbeing like forest bathing. Trekking into the woods grounds me, reminding me to breathe and take notice. It mutes the outside world for a moment, allowing me to reset when life gets too noisy.

Though I’ve been designing digitally for years, there has always been a clear distinction between this work and what I’ve considered my artwork.

For the past year, I’ve been swimming in ancient Greek myths and modern retellings. What started as casually listening to a children’s mythology podcast with my son on long car rides quickly became a revisiting of tales I hadn’t read since high school. Of these, the story that draws me in time and again is Persephone’s.

An unexpected adventure paved the way for the Eastward Idols Collection, which blends the beauty of nature with the echoes of creatives heroes and heroines whom I’ve long admired.

When my work is celebrated or recognized, I feel like I’m preparing for a performance. I cling to my mask, tamping down meltdowns, fighting back tears, and trying to ignore the negative self-talk. I obsess over the details, trying to make every aspect of my life look effortless. In short, it looks like I really have my shit together.

Follow the journey of artist, Mindy Wara, as she paints a five-foot-tall fiberglass dragon statue for the Village of DeForest’s public art exhibition. Part two of this series delves into the process of gathering inspiration, dealing with delays, and the overwhelming tasks of actually getting started.

Follow the journey of artist, Mindy Wara, and her participation in a public art project in Wisconsin’s Yahara River watershed. In this post, discover the inspiration behind the work and how this dragon statue connects to the Yahara River clean water conservation efforts. This is part 1 of a series of posts on the Dragons of DeForest public art exhibition.

Like our sense of smell, music holds memories and emotions that nothing else seems to reach. Want to hear what my studio usually sounds like?

I found myself painting most days throughout June and stumbled upon the World Watercolor Month challenge. Somewhere to focus my energy at a time when the world was on lockdown and I had time on my hands. I invested in professional quality supplies and dove headfirst into the challenge, not coming up for air until August.

As you already know, our family bought and moved to our first home last November. After we settled in, the sellers commissioned a portrait of the house. Knowing this was their first home and how much love they filled it with, I wanted to make sure to captured the warm, sunny essence that made us fall in love with it in the first place.

Since the move, I have been a lot more intentional with my painting practice and screen time. Most days after work, our family heads to the studio instead of the living room.

Our family recently moved from a small townhouse in Madison to our new house in Sun Prairie. Leaving our home of five years – where we brought Oliver home from after he was born, where he took his first steps, where we became a family – has been bittersweet, but we have been ready for a change for a long time. What better time than when we are spending so much time at home?