Have you ever had moments in life that felt synchronous? Like everything is coming together simultaneously in a way that just makes sense, or feels meaningful? I had one of those moments a few weeks ago.

In the same week that I released my first ever collection of paintings to the world, I also officially left my previous job, got my first dose of the vaccine, and my husband Erik started a new dream job. Each of those things hold so much personal significance, and to have all happen at once felt BIG.

My mini abstract collection felt like a declaration saying “I am an artist!”

Leaving my previous job felt like “I'm finally stepping out on my own!”

Getting the vaccine felt like “this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic!”

All those things combined feel like a new beginning, and like a door finally closing on the last few years of my life, which were permeated by a lack of trust in myself. A year ago I didn't think I was capable of creating a cohesive collection, let alone offering anything for sale. But slowly, and without realizing it, I was progressing by doing small things consistently.

The origin of celadon the color begins with Céladon the character, created in the 1600s as the protagonist in a series of 60 novels (yes, 60) and play, by Honoré d'Urfé. Céladon was known for wearing a particular shade of green, and as the story gained popularity throughout Europe, people began referring to the color itself as celadon.

Coincidentally, ceramics in similar shades of green, usually with a finely crackled surface texture, were being brought to Europe from China around the same time and adopted the same celadon name. The ceramic style was centuries-old and highly sought-after, some say because it resembled jade. Xu Yin, a tenth-century poet, describes the celadon glaze as “carving light from the moon to dye the mountain stream.”

Information sourced from The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair.

Images: Van Gogh paint strokes from View of Auvers, 1890 via the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam | Quilt by Jillian Carson at GoldenHourColor | Matte Celadon Bowls from Pigment | Hand painting by Claudia Keep, ‘Cool and Chlorinated’ 2021

Suzanne Valadon was a self-taught painter who lived a wild, colorful life in Paris.

Born to a single, working class mother, Valadon wasn't burdened with the formality of upper class life, and her paintings reflect that. They exude a casual, natural, un-self conscious air. She paints other women as themselves, real and honest, unlike the norm of the time, which either sought to make the model more attractive than she was, treated her as a pretty object to look at, or as a metaphor for love, sensuality, or fertility. In other words, they weren't seen for who they really were, but the painting below does the opposite. The subject isn't posing sensually, she's just relaxing in her striped pajama pants, staring off into space with a cigarette on her lips; a thoroughly modern woman with agency. Valadon herself said:

Although Valadon's opportunities were limited by her working class status, it also afforded her a level of freedom that aristocratic women could never experience. Before taking up painting, Valadon was an acrobat in the circus, a dancer, and a model - in fact, she became one of the most sought-after models in Paris. You can see her likeness in works by Toulouse-Lautrec and Renoir. Degas was a close friend and one of her biggest supporters - he gave her tips on drawing. It was through this close-knit social network that she was able to observe her artist friends at work and teach herself how to paint.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast episode if you want all the juicy details of her life: Jennifer Higgie on Suzanne Valadon. Apparently there are stories of her sliding down banisters naked and arriving to bars riding a donkey!

I sincerely hope you enjoyed this email! If you have any thoughts to share or questions, please reach out on Instagram or reply to this email. I'd love to know if anything in particular captured your fascination.