Dancing with the Madness: Creating What You Love in the Chaos
Some days, life feels like its own elaborate painting — splashes of joy, blotches of doubt, strokes of hope, and sometimes color running where you didn’t expect it. In the middle of all this madness — work deadlines, daily routines, the noise outside and inside my own head — there’s one thing that keeps me grounded: making art.
There’s something powerful about choosing to work hard at what you love when everything else is clamoring for your attention.
When I sit down at my paints, or sketch, or prepare a custom print, it’s a decision to keep pushing forward. It’s a declaration: yes, the world is loud, but I will make something beautiful anyway. Maybe that’s small. Maybe it doesn’t immediately solve anything. But it changes me. It softens the corners of the chaos.
Eyes on the Prize: The 20-Dollar Art Show
And speaking of putting energy into what I love, I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be part of the 20-Dollar Art Show at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon!
Here’s what I’m up to:
- I’m submitting 100 pieces of art — a mix of originals and custom prints. Yes, one-zero-zero. It’s ambitious and a lot of work, and I’m both terrified and excited.
- Some are small, intimate pieces (those ones that crept up in quiet mornings) and some are more statement-works.
- There are also works inspired by the high desert, by camping, by quiet snow fields, by emotional sunsets — because those are the things I keep coming back to, even when nothing else feels steady.
Why It Matters — Even When It’s Hard
Putting in the hours — blending paint, trimming prints, making sure everything ships cleanly, photographing the work, putting up posts, emailing, organizing — it’s a lot.
Often it feels like I’m pushing through resistances: fatigue, distraction, doubt, the urge to procrastinate. But every time I do it, I win a tiny battle. Every brushstroke becomes proof that I can do hard things. That I can create meaning even when there’s no guarantee of reward.
Also: the joy. That moment when I look at a finished painting or a print that turned out better than I hoped, and I think, yes. That moment makes the messy middle worth it.
What I’m Most Excited For:
- Seeing the collection of work I’ve been building come together for the first time.
- Meeting other artists, seeing what everyone else is doing, being inspired.
- Getting to share work with people who might take something home, who might be touched or moved or simply pleased by the colors, the textures, the mood.
- Knowing that each time I push through the chaos to make art, it builds momentum: for me, for BlissBrush, for whatever grows out of this.
If you’re around Bend during the show, I’d love it if you stopped by.
If you follow along on Instagram or through BlissBrush Studio, keep an eye — I’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes of prep, sneak peeks of pieces, and maybe a few surprises along the way.
Thanks for being part of this journey, whether you draw, or paint, or just love supporting art. Here’s to making beauty in spite of it all.
— BlissBrushStudioArt