1. Hello and Happy March! Has it come in like a lion or a lamb where you are? Whatever the case may be, March is known for changeable weather, so why not welcome it with a bit of beauty in anticipation of spring?
Oregon artist Katie Daisy — one of our faves — always brings the sunshine, joys of nature, and upbeat inspiration. Think wildflowers, songbirds, meadows, wide open prairie skies, magic and enchantment. Can’t get enough of her vibrant colors and vintage hand lettering (so many great quotes!).
Whenever I’m feeling down, I pop over to her Etsy Shop to see what’s new. This time around, the designs that caught my eye were her stamp collection, prairie dresses, happy home, sweet as pie, and the adorable morning glory brunch club (yum!). 🙂
Just so many lovely designs! Besides prints, she sells t-shirts, notebooks, greeting cards, mugs, tote bags, etc., and she’s recently added fabrics and gift wrap. Something for everyone. For much more, visit her Official Website,The Wheatfield, her Facebook and Instagram.
Happy Friday! Here’s a spot of beauty just for you.
“Golden Meadow” by Molly Sims (oil on panel).
WHY I SMILE AT STRANGERS by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
In difficult times, carry something beautiful in your heart. ~ Blaise Pascal
And so today, I walk the streets with vermillion maple leaves inside me, and the deep purple of late-blooming larkspur and the lilting praise of meadowlark. I carry with me thin creeks with clear water and the three-quarters moon and the spice-warm scent of nasturtiums. And honey in the sunlight. And words from Neruda and slow melodies by Erik Satie. It is easy sometimes to believe that everything is wrong. That people are cruel and the world is destroyed and the end of it all imminent. But there is yet goodness beyond imagining — the creamy white flesh of ripe pears and the velvety purr of a cat in my lap and the white smear of milky way — I carry these things in my heart, more certain than ever that one way to counteract evil is to ceaselessy honor what’s good and share it, share it until we break the choke hold of fear and at least for a few linked moments, we believe completely in beauty, growing beauty, yes, beauty.
Did you find comfort, solace and hope in Trommer’s lovely images?
I like her references not only to nature, but to poetry and music, and to the tangible things in our everyday lives, like fruit and pets.
art by Youqing (Eugene) Wang(oil on hardboard).
The title of the poem is key. Internalized imaginings are all the more beautiful (and powerful) when shared, if only through a simple smile. A split-second connection, warm positive energy, a flash of humanity — can truly make someone’s day.
When I first saw UK artist Gertie Young’s “Tea with Nana,” I thought: beautiful, enchanting, lyrical, joyful.
Sometimes you stumble upon a painting and you just know. Here is something different, distinctive. You can’t stop looking at it, you feel connected to it, and somehow it feels like coming home.
Gertie Young in her South London studio.
Born in Nottingham, England, Young (b. 1950) has been painting since childhood. She invented comics, pretend photos, imaginary maps and dream paintings. At the age of 18, she moved to South London to study at Hornsey School of Art. She fell in love with the city and has lived there ever since, continuing to paint while working at various jobs until her retirement in 2016, when she began to paint full time.
Her art is a unique visual language based on a mixture of observation, emotional memory and imagination. She’s inspired by holiday travel, household objects, walking and gardening.
I’ve always been fascinated by volcanoes. When you grow up in Hawaiʻi, it’s a point of pride being able to claim that your home state has the largest active volcano on Earth (Mauna Loa), and it’s also the only state situated entirely on an archipelago. Kīlauea’s most recent (and ongoing) eruption on the Big Island started in December 2024, while Mauna Loa last spouted off in 2022.
The breathtaking spectacle of molten lava slowly making its way to the ocean and thereafter creating new land is both humbling and awe-inspiring. When I read Joan Bransfield Graham and Tania García’s brand new poetry picture book, Awesome Earth: Concrete Poems Celebrate Caves, Canyons and Other Fascinating Landforms (Clarion Books, 2025), I was reminded of how our home planet is an ever evolving, dynamic entity full of beauty and wonder.
FANTASTIC FORCES
The earth is unsettled, it would seem, for here and about it lets off steam. Lava flows, geysers gush, canyons are carved by a river's push. The Earth's old crust cracks and creaks, shakes and shoves up mountain peaks. Ice caps recede, glaciers advance, ever in motion -- a global dance. Will it ever stand still? Not a chance!
Fun to read and loaded with fascinating information, Awesome Earth is Graham’s valentine to the planet and a budding geologist’s dream. Her use of concrete poetry to describe a variety of landforms is the perfect way to celebrate their physical attributes, whether Continent or Island, Hill or Valley, Plain or Plateau. After all, landforms are all about size, shape, and structure; they themselves are a kind of topographical poetry.
Kids will find the 20+ poems delightfully accessible as Graham strikes a friendly tone via (mostly) first person point of view and personification to establish a sense of immediacy and direct engagement. Who could resist an amiable Island explaining the difference between his continental and oceanic ilk, or smaller “mini-me” versions of himself? He even invites readers to visit sometime — so charming!
We also get a sense of Mountain’s pride and majesty, as he seeks the sky, “enrobed with snow,” piercing the clouds, and I’m only too willing to forgive Peninsula’s boast: “I’ve got miles and miles of rocky or sandy, dandy coast!”
Come along — let’s enter UK artist Gemma Koomen’s peaceful, gentle miniature world. It’s an enchanting place where fairies, gnomes, birds, bees, and busy little people co-exist, a place where you’re invited to linger, look around, and appreciate nature’s small wonders. Such a welcome balm from stressful, noisy, oftentimes chaotic modern times!
Author-illustrator Gemma Koomen in her studio(photo by Eva Nemeth/91 Magazine).
Having grown up in the Scottish countryside, Gemma has always felt a deep connection with the natural world. Both her parents were artists, and she’s loved drawing since childhood. She distinctly remembers getting lost in imaginative narratives of her own making (many with fairytale motifs), that made her aware of the power of art. She was especially fond of Richard Scarry’s Busy Town books and avidly studied the small worlds and characters in those stories.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 