Well hello there, December!
How are all of you doing? Are you enjoying tasty Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches still? ‘Tis the time of frosty mornings and toasty hot cocoa-y evenings already. We’ve already had the first snow of the season a month ago, though you wouldn’t know it from the looks of the sunny view from my window just now.
November has really flown by in a blur of chaos, even now I’m struggling to remember where the time went and what exactly I did for the last few weeks. I was sick for the first week or so, but otherwise have kept busy working on both client work and personal work for Etsy (a bit more about that soon).
I spent a good deal of time outside when I could, often taking photos or collecting (many) leaves, all of which fated to be stashed in between the pages of a book to be discovered months later.
December finds me much busier, as deadlines approach and holiday gifts are needing to be made (every year I declare I’ll be making everything myself, every year I run out of time and spiral into a panic. Holiday-Taryn has no planning skills). Still, I’m making it my goal this month to find balance between all these and create moments of mindfulness. Something I struggle with as an artist is that bitter feeling of time wasted when I’m not working on art absolutely every minute of every day, thus becoming burnt out and uninspired. I’m learning just how important it is to let yourself be a person, to allow yourself to experience life outside of your work. Without these experiences, our inspiration might run dry and our will to create fades.
Top left is some herby mashed potatoes I made for Thanksgiving! Bottom right is spicy squash soup, I’ll link the recipe below in my monthly favorites.
Video: The Making of Squash Soup
Here’s something else I’ve been working on! This painting was inspired by my own soup-making adventures, I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of the process. Prints will be available in my Etsy shop soon, stay tuned!
Monthly Favorites
Spicy roasted squash soup, recipe by Twigg Studios (I had to substitute a Kabocha squash in place of butternut, it still worked well)
Thanksgiving - my mom and I cooked together all morning and I was able to see my sister again for the first time in a few months. I really love small and simple gatherings like these the most.
Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury
MUSHROOM NUGGETS! I had some Hen of the Woods mushies (not to be confused with Chicken of the Woods, which would be more ideal if you can get them!) and it turns out they still make for a pretty great nugget. I loosely followed a recipe by @alexisnikole on TikTok for the breading, I cOULD NOT possibly recommend it enough.
Animal Crossing on Switch! Especially after the update, it’s been a calming distraction and a regular part of my pre-bedtime ritual.
Thus concludes this month’s newsletter! I hope you all keep safe and warm this coming month, and take it easy when you can.
With love and gingerbread!
Taryn