It’s been almost a full year since I started this site. Obviously I’m not the best at keeping up with the blog part. And each time I finish a section of animals, I decide the paintings aren’t good enough and start over instead of moving on. The upside is that my art is improving. That too started only a year ago, and I have made real strides. In October, I applied and was admitted to my first juried art show. My paintings didn’t sell, but it’s still a worthwhile milestone to mark. In November, I took a class at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. They have a Natural History Illustration program that I was so thrilled to try. Being in the museum when it was closed was a real treat, and I look forward to taking more classes there sometime. There just aren’t a lot of options for that type of class, but in the meantime, I feel like I need just general artistic development. I’ll be starting a watercolor class at Katonah Art Center this month.

It’s been easy to get distracted and lose my focus. I’m recommitting this year to expanding the site and putting together a proposal to write the book version.

I’m still teaching some, both as a volunteer at Teatown and at a local Montessori preschool (my first paycheck in years–yay!). I’m joining my town’s Conservation Board and finding other ways to connect the dots.

Last January, I was beside myself with anticipation over a partnership with a non-profit to conduct an amphibian survey at a NY State Park up in Dutchess County. Writing a proposal was an interesting challenge but it was approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Unfortunately, the non-profit didn’t quite get its act together to implement the project last year. And we decided to move it to this year, but I’m not confident that’s going to happen either. I feel like I have a lot going on and I know of a few other opportunities to help out on some field work that don’t involve weekly trips an hour north, so I’ll be fine.