Darin and I are finally feeling settled in our new apartment in Seattle and I’m finding my routine of working in the new environment. Moving was a bigger project than I expected- I suppose it always is! It was compounded by helping my parents move simultaneously home from Washington D.C. (we had been care-taking for them for two years). 

With the move and new year, I’ve been cleaning my office and studio and re-establishing my productive patterns and routines that I depend on to complete my projects. I want to share a few of my favorite resources and tools that I find particularly helpful. Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit, helps me reflect on my creative process and the importance of practice. Getting things Done, by David Allen, has inspired me to organize my studio and office and think about the flow of task and ideas from my inbox to realization and completion. Complementing that, is the new “Things” task management program. Finally, some specific routines that I love are waking up early (ideally before 6am), exercising daily (helps me sleep), and having a creative moment first thing in the morning. For me, these are currently my “bird of the day” cards which give me the opportunity to learn some thing new and play with my paints. I’ve included a couple of my latest below.