2026 Intentions

As we enter the new year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what intentions I want to cultivate in 2026.

My favorite paintings from the last year have come directly from my lived experiences — the sunrises I got out of bed for, the walks I took by the water and the places I visited. Art and life are intertwined.

In 2026, I want to create space for my creativity to thrive and for my imagination to run wild! So my goals are to keep a regular sketchbook practice and paint more from life, which means more painting en plein air!

I keep an art journal where I write my ideas and sketch thumbnails for paintings — I have filled up several notebooks at this point. But when I pull out my paints, I’m usually working towards creating a finished painting. Partly, I think I’ve felt the need to be productive and not wasteful of my materials, but I’m learning more and more the value in play, experimentation and observation.

So I’ve been restocking my art supplies and reorganizing my studio to make it super easy to grab my materials of choice for the day and get to creating! I’ve already been on several natural walks in the last week and worked in my sketchbook, both outdoors and in the studio.

I’ll share my sketchbook and plein air painting progress on the blog throughout the year, so you can see how it’s going! What goals or intentions do you have for 2026?