Author Archives: saulsbee

The espresso machinefills the cupwith dark, warmnectar.It hums, it buzzes.And soon,so will I. Sooo…I’ve started writing poetry! It was something I had tried a bit last autumn on a whim. I literally have no memory of what compelled me to try to write that first poem. I know I had been reading a lot ofContinue reading “Early Days”

Hello May! I hope to reopen my Etsy shop as soon as possible, but more importantly, as soon as reasonable and safe. Unfortunately, I do not believe that is right now. But I appreciate everyone’s patience and support right now. In the meantime, I’ve been focusing on other business-y tasks that I usually don’t makeContinue reading “The Shallow End – May 2020”

I shaved my head. Correction — I made my husband shave my head. My hair has gone from shoulder length and permanently in a messy bun, to an undercut pixie thing ala Abby Wambach. So we’re handling stay at home pretty well. Obviously… I kid… not about my hair. That actually happened. But about itContinue reading “Normal”

Hello April! Where do I even begin? In case you missed it, I’ve decided to temporarily close my Etsy shop. I’m super disappointed, but I also believe it is the right decision for me right now. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to keep busy working. So a smidge of good news is that I’llContinue reading “The Shallow End – April 2020”

I thought I was struggling with making art because I wasn’t creative enough (or anymore). Or maybe I was too lazy. I knew I wanted to create, but I still found myself hesitating to make any mark. Normally the wisdom for “creative block” is to press on, to create anyway. And yes, this can absolutelyContinue reading “Creative Block”

Hello March! I didn’t do a lot of art this last month, admittedly. I spent a lot of time thinking about and figuring out what it takes to keep myself feeling inspired creatively. Some of the more successful approaches surprised me and I plan to talk about it more in depth in my next blogContinue reading “The Shallow End – March 2020”

Starting new art is intimidating. But I’ve found that there are two approaches that help me to get started on a new illustration. First, I start with the “next smallest step.” Fortunately, that rarely starts with a blank sheet of expensive paper. In fact, it usually starts with my sketchbook — testing out different layouts,Continue reading “Small Steps”

Hello February! This year I thought I would shake up the blog a little bit. I really like offering a second post for the month, but I don’t quite work fast enough to regularly post a sketchbook tour. When I do have a sketchbook or project to share, that will stay at the mid-month post.Continue reading “Introducing: The Shallow End”

Happy New Year! 2019 was a whirlwind. I quit my job to make art full-time, turned thirty, went to Italy, and had my first expo booth! It was all super exciting and incredible experiences! But a lot of the year was spent in the quiet normalcy of routines that I love — trips to theContinue reading “Forward”

Surprise! Another sketchbook! I’m really pleased with how this one turned out. I think watercolor landscapes might now be some of my favorite work. But I’m also exhausted! I’m working on a new sketchbook challenge currently and one of the prompts was “landscape painting” and I was like, “yeah, no thanks…” and improvised something elseContinue reading “Sketchbook Tour: Watercolor Landscapes”