Reflecting on 2024, New Collections, and Creative Growth
December 2024 | Notes From The Studio | Issue 18
As the year comes to a close, I want to take a moment to reflect on 2024 and express my gratitude for your support. Your interest in my art, your kind messages, and the connections we’ve built mean the world to me.
This year has been full of exciting changes and creative growth:
• I traveled to France, immersing myself in breathtaking landscapes and rich culture. This experience continues to inspire my work in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
• I moved into a new studio space in Seattle, which has been a creative sanctuary for me. Having this place to focus on painting outside of my home has really helped me divide my time between painting and business.
• I produced three painting collections, each inspired by Paris and the French Riviera.
The Monochromatic Collection – A collaboration with Casa di LaValle in Seattle. While Cassandra and I determined the color palette before my trip to France, my time there sharpened my eye for these shades. I created six geometric paintings in hues of green, blue, yellow, and white. Casa Blue No. 1 and Casa White No. 1 are available.
Summer Collection – Debuting at Capers in West Seattle, this body of work allowed me to expand on the colors and moods of France, blending my love for the country with atmospheric abstraction. Available work from this collection can be found in my online gallery.
Sorelle Collection – A continuation of my French inspiration, this six-piece collection is currently featured at Sorelle Gallery in Westport, Connecticut. Four paintings are available and you can find them here.
The biggest area of growth for me this year was truly accepting the duality in my work and learning to see it as a strength rather than a weakness.
Artists are often taught to stick to “one style,” and that mantra has always nagged at my brain whenever I switched directions. This year, I especially noticed it after focusing on geometric works. When I felt drawn back to my softer abstract landscapes, I caught myself thinking that I wasn’t “allowed” to paint that way anymore. It was a weight I carried—but I realized that no one was imposing this on me.
Finally, after many years of thinking about this and occasionally discussing it with other artists and friends, I had another conversation about it that just ended up being the final push that my brain needed to be able to see it:
I shouldn’t “get over” the duality in my work. I should be PROUD of it.
WHAT’S NEXT
Right now, I’m deep into a very big project: building a new website! As part of the process, I’ve sifted through 16 years (!) of blog posts, tracing the evolution of my creative life. While this has kept me busier than I would have liked this month, it’s been interesting to reflect on my journey and craft a new space that truly represents my work today.
Painting is still very much on my mind even though studio time as of late has been nearly nonexistent with all of the website prep. In September I started working on a new collection of 36x36-inch and 30x40-inch paintings. Three are already complete and at least three more are on the way. This collection feels especially meaningful because it celebrates the duality in my artistic style—the very thing I’ve come to embrace as a unique and valuable part of who I am as an artist.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you might already know about what I call my Vibe Stories —a nighttime ritual that feels like a mini art direction exercise. I love curating inspiring images of travel, architecture, home, and fashion to create a mood. It’s a creative outlet for me, a way to unwind, and a small reflection of the inspirations that fuel my art. Occasionally, I’ll do something similar in the mornings, called Morning Inspiration. It doesn’t happen as often, but there’s one there now if you’d like to take a look. You can find me here.
I can’t wait to share more with you in the new year—updates on the collection, the website launch, and everything else on the horizon. Thank you for being part of this journey. Here’s to a 2025 filled with beauty, inspiration, and meaningful connection.
Happy Holidays!
xo,
Melanie
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You truly are an evolving artist Melanie, and so very inspiring. Thank you for sharing your journey.