Hello from Minnesota!
Hey there! I'm writing this on the other side of my move in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The past month has been a whirlwind of packing boxes upon boxes (last thing I took down were my color swatches, above), gathering with dear Bay Area friends, foggy beach visits, last strolls through Golden Gate Park, and eating my favorite San Francisco things (this and this and this). I was mostly ready to move, but phew it was bittersweet to say bye to the place that David and I called home for many years and most of all so hard to leave loved ones there.
After a lot of driving and a few stressful moving snafus (all turned out fine in the end), we made it to Minnesota and so did our stuff. First stop was hugs to a couple of our nieces (the namesakes of my Neela and Priya books)!
And here we are now in the state where I've lived most of my life, though it's been more than a decade and it feels new to me. It feels like real summer (no jackets! long warm evenings outside! fireflies! sweating! stone fruit!). The neighborhood we are in is filled with wildflower gardens and bunnies . . . so many bunnies (I call the one who lives in front of our home Idli – thank you to my friend Kirthana for your naming skills)! Family and dear old friends have warmly welcomed us back (thank you!). Dosa is finally feeling at home after a few weeks of confusion. And while I'm still not totally unpacked and not feeling quite at home (it always takes me a while), I'm on my way. You can see above the room where I'm setting up my studio. Neela and Priya helped me organize my art supplies, which was the best.
Looking forward to turning my focus to actually making art after many weeks of focusing heavily on the more business-y parts of having a business and moving. I'll be working away here on new projects . . . hopefully ones that I can tell you about soon! In the meantime, I'll leave you with this drawing that's inspired by the wildflower gardens in my new neighborhood.