Tandem For Two Blog

A Year Worth Being Thankful For

As the end of the year gets closer, I've been reflecting back over this year, and I keep coming back to how much I have to be thankful for. Our...

My Favorite Ways to Gather

Gather is a word I use a lot, and it's the one that comes to mind most when I think about the people I love. For me it looks like...

Giving Art as a Gift

Art can be one of the most personal gifts you give, and it can also feel like one of the hardest to get right. Here's how I'd think about it,...

Gifts for People Who Love Where They Live

The best gifts I've ever received were the ones that showed someone had been paying attention. This year I've been thinking about the people on my list who love where...

What Other Creatives Teach Me

Some of the best things I've learned as an artist came from other people who make things, in the hallways at a trade show, in a studio in Maine, and...

Planning a Fall Getaway

I'm heading to the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula for a fall getaway. My plan is loose on purpose, with rolling hills, little towns, lake views, and plenty of...

What October Looks Like From My Front Porch

It finally feels like autumn along Lake Michigan. The air has cooled down, the reds and oranges are getting brighter, and I'm spending as much time as I can on...

What Scotland Taught Me About Loosening Up

We're home from Scotland, and I've had a few days to sit with what I actually made versus what I planned to make. I finished a full travel spread and...

Purple thistle flowers by the water, header image for the September Scotland blog post

Packing My Paints for a Trip to Scotland

I'm headed to Scotland for the first time next week, a family trip with our young adult kids, and I'm bringing my sketchbook and paints along for the ride. I'm...

Everything I Pack When My Studio Comes Along for the Ride

For a long time, when I traveled, my art kit was just my iPad. Simple, contained, nothing to forget. But last year I made the leap into analog, adding sketchbooks,...

The Upper Peninsula Through a Painter's Eyes

Some places you go to. Some places you go back to. The Upper Peninsula is the second kind. I've been making this trip since high school, my mother's family has...

Evenings I Look Forward To

We tend to remember the bigger moments, but it is the regular evenings that build the overall feeling of it. For me, that is what summer brings. Not a complete change,...