I finished my January to-dos today (so obviously right on track 😉) which means that I also finally updated the website to include murals and commissions! If you’d like to take a look, I’d love to have you over. While you’re there, make sure to take a look at the art I have available-like this blue stunner. (Still not sure how she’s still here because she’s one of my very favorites- how that touch of yellow-green flows into the ultramarine before pooling into navy...gah 😍)
Courtney Khail featured in Shoutout ATL “Rising Star” article
I just spent a solid thirty minutes trying to research the history behind the phrase “rising star” after asking myself the question “do stars actually rise or do they just appear to rise based on our orientation?” (Both can be true if you’re curious, but I like the idea that perspective plays a huge part because that relates to life as well.) All that research took me on a deep dive into constellations, a place in Texas, the movie A Star Is Born, and finally to the Rising Star cave system in Africa where the largest collection of fossils from a single species of ancient humans were discovered.
I still have absolutely no clue where the phrase “rising star” originated, but thats okay 😂
A big thank you to Shoutout Atlanta for including me in their piece on “rising stars.” Honored to have gotten a chance to talk with y’all and share some knowledge I’ve learned along the way. If you’d like to see the piece, click here and right here.
15% off Commissions ends SUNDAY 1/31
You know what the very best thing about a commission is? You get EXACTLY what you want.
So let’s do this. Sunday is the last day to receive 15% off a 2021 commission, so don’t wait to reserve your spot!
📷 of a commission for the Rosewood Baha Mar resort in Nassau
Technical Difficulties (kind of)
Well the exciting news is that I got a new computer! The less exciting news is that I am now going through a decade of files, photos (22k down to 7000 and more to go!) and more. It was one of those “end of year” things I always meant to do, that I’m finally getting to. Not sure better late than never counts after ten years, but I refuse to transfer over anything that isn’t 100% necessary.
So point of this long story is, I may be a little quieter on here these next few days. Thank you for your patience! (OH!! And before I forget- remember that THIS Sunday is the last day to get 15% off a commission so don’t procrastinate!)
Our dog doesn’t like thunder.
Apparently thunderstorms rolled through Atlanta last night. Normally I would have slept right through them, but this morning-at some very early, God forsaken hour between midnight and 4am-I woke up to a scared pup slowly crawling onto our bed before plopping down right on my chest. As we’ve recently learned, Bear does not like thunder- at all. And even though we have a strict “no dogs in bed” rule, we’re not monsters with hearts made of stone so we let her stay. Four hours of shifting, spinning, burrowing, and sneak kiss attacks later, she finally found the perfect spot equally situated between both my knees and my husband’s and let us get some sleep.
Pretty sure it wasn’t even two hours later before our alarm went off 😂 Good thing she’s so cute.
So if you need me, I’ll be over here moving just a bit slower and wishing I drank coffee 😉
You’re exactly where you were always meant to be
Do you ever look back and feel amazed at just how interconnected everything is? How one seemingly small decision can create a domino effect of sorts for your entire life? I think about that a lot. (For example, how I met my husband. We didn’t share social circles, we weren’t in the same major-or even the same graduating class- but we both decided to take a very difficult elective “just because.” And THEN we only met because I was running late to the lab for that class and ended up sitting at the same table as him. If I’d decided to wait another year to take the class, or had actually made it to lab on time, our paths may have never crossed. Crazy, right?
Maybe it’s because hindsight is 20/20, but I am constantly amazed (and grateful) for how everything works out- and how it all works out exactly how it is supposed to. Reminds me of a quote from John Muir- “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”
What about you? Have you ever looked back and looked at how your entire path brought you to exactly where you were meant to be?
Midnight Gardenia
A closeup photo of “Midnight Gardenia”- one of the larger pieces available in the studio sale. I painted this one after seeing how our own gardenia blooms glowed in the moonlight. They had such an ethereal quality to them! (I’ve kept this one tucked away in my studio because I love it so much, but thought she deserved to be seen.)
Have you picked a favorite yet?
This is 35
This is 35. Excited for another trip around the sun.
The CONFETTI SALE is LIVE!
THE 2021 CONFETTI SALE IS OPEN!
The (virtual) doors will only be open until Sunday at midnight so don’t dawdle. (Yep, I said dawdle 😂)
There’s a little bit of everything (black and whites, full color florals, abstracts) in all sizes- and all marked down (most around 30%!)
So go check it out before they’re all claimed and you have to wait another three years for me to have a studio sale.
You need to PLAY
Taking some time today to brainstorm, experiment, and play. It’s so easy to get into the routine of “all work, no play” but I’m telling you- YOU NEED TO PLAY. You need the joy that comes with play, the ability to create without judgement or expectation. It’s so important. So if you need it, here’s your permission. Put the seriousness aside for a minute and go play.
Painting and experimenting
Full disclosure- this isn’t what this painting looks like anymore. I’m not 100% sure I like where it’s gone, but I’m not 100% sure I don’t. I just keep reminding myself that it’s just paper and not to take it too seriously. It’s all about playing and experimenting this month