I’m giving away a 2012 calendar to a lucky reader this week! The calendar features 12 watercolor paintings of wild edible plants, it measures 4-1/2″ x 11″, spiral bound and ready to hang. {They are available to purchase here, there’s as printable version, too!}

Entries are open through Monday January 9 at 12 noon EST (entries are closed). Just leave a comment on this post to be entered & tell me your favorite thing about 2011 and what you’re most looking forward to in 2012.

For me, my favorite favorite most amazing thing in 2011 was beginning to have conversations with my little one. For reals, she’s a PERSON with THOUGHTS and feelings and dreams and joys and hurts and questions questions questions. It’s so amazing to finally be able to hear all about them. She’s still working on her sentence structure (”does I have a sister?” was the best question yesterday. My answer? “no, you don’t have a sister” and her reply was “no, I don’t. She’s at work.” Hah! I guess “work” is where people are when you can’t see them? Pretty good).

And what are we looking forward to in 2012? All sorts of big things. Growing my business in ways I have only dreamed of. Making real plans, accountability, scheming and ACTING on these plans! Yes, so I suppose what I’m looking forward to in 2012 is action! Last year was a looking-inward hibernating sort of year, just reveling in our little family life and developing a rhythm to that. This year we’re adding to that rhythm and it already feels really good. Yay 2012!

**update: the winner is Samantha! Congrats and thanks to all of you for playing along!**

New originals have been unearthed! These were painted earlier in the year; prints coming soon, as well as more originals from prints already in the shop. Click the images or here to buy.

Another new painting, plus a set of postcards now in the shop.

New painting! Available as a print in the shop, and the original watercolor painting on bristol board is available, too.

My new favorite book is a cookbook. What’s happening to the non-fiction and self-help books that are piled by my bedside? I tend to fall asleep whenever I think about reading one of those these days. And, well, I’m a mama, trying to make healthy food for me and my family, that is also delicious and easy to prepare. Is that so much to ask?

Enter “Super Natural Everyday“. Thank you, Heidi Swanson, for making the book I didn’t know I was looking for. Gorgeous photos of yummy food, easy to follow recipes with a mix of my standby ingredients and a few new things I’m nervous to try. Everything (really, every single thing) I have made from this book is delicious. And seriously easy to make, entering our weekly and monthly meal roatation.

I’ve already made the Miso-Curry Delicata Squash (my photo of it above) twice already, and I just got the book from the library a few weeks ago, finally purchasing my own copy this week. YUM.

I am so thrilled and flattered to be Maeg Yosef’s (aka Edison Rex) Art Crush of the week! Check out the interview I did with her here!

good morning afternoon. Do I look tired? I think I perpetually do these days, but I’m working today (yay!) and getting things done! (and drinking lots of this green superfood drink to rev up my energy!)

Today I did an interview on a friend’s blog that will post soon. Then I uploaded a bunch of old (and some new-ish) images to flickr so there’s a current collection of my work there. It was getting pretty stale. And worked on my lessons from the online course From the Fishbowl to the Sea — so great! This course has me taking stock of where I am, where I have come from and where I am going in this big ol’ fishbowl of being an artist online (and off!). Being in business for myself has been so fun, but I definitely don’t think I’m running a profitable business and I am certainly running on the hamster wheel of survival and making it work but not “really” working. :::sigh::::

But really… where have I been? Sometimes I don’t feel like I’ve come very far since starting this business, but when I really look at it, I have! If anything, I have gained confidence in talking about it — saying “I am an artist” and “I am a business owner”!

I also think despite not making much work this past year (been otherwise occupied, it seems!), my style has evolved and I feel much more professional. Is that weird that I’m not doing as much work but I feel more professional? Hah. I guess I’m just not approaching it in such a carefree and casual way, it’s more important to spend time efficiently when I do get to work. I get stuck in this, too, though — I don’t want to “waste” my time, so I just end up doing little bits of things here and there, not really getting anything done most days. So here is my recent commitment, saying it to you might make it real: I want to paint more, make more, sell more! I am going to turn this into a thriving, profitable business one way or another. It might have to change completely, but that’s ok! Change is good. And sometimes welcome.

Starting with…. changing my business name? Just toying with the idea of dropping the “Designs” part…from the website anyway…. what do you think? I don’t even know how to do it on Etsy… I don’t think I can change the name there, but I could just change the banner and make it say “Laurie Coyle” with some kind of catchy tagline? Thoughts?

Featuring twelve of my original veggie watercolors, it’s now available in my Etsy shop, as well as at Emporium and Berkshire Organics in Pittsfield, MA! They will also be available at the Plum Gallery during the Williamstown Holiday Walk December 4 & 5, and at the Spencertown Academy Handmade Holiday Show December 4 to 22nd.

Also available in the Etsy shop are prints of each veggie, as well as notecards featuring the tasty green (and red and orange and yellow!) things.

I painted this red-bellied woodpecker for the birdie calendar for the month of February:

And then last week (during the first week of February) this guy appeared at my bird feeder for the first time all winter:

Pretty cool.

But please excuse the image quality! The photo was taken through my (very dirty) glass door, while trying not to make too much of a scene and scare him off. Also my camera, while pretty awesome, doesn’t have much of a zoom lens. But you get the idea. A month-appropriate visitor.

Next month is the chickadee, but if your feeder is anything like mine it has been covered with chickadees all winter long. One of my favorite things about winter, actually — they are definitely my favorite bird (sorry red-belly, you’re cute, too!).

From now through January 1, 2010 I’m offering FREE shipping on everything (everything! well, excluding custom orders) in my Etsy shop. I’ve also put my 2010 Birdie calendar on sale for HALF PRICE. It’s only $10 now, was $20.

Wicked good!