Spring Goals and Snap Peas
March is a better time to set goals than January
That’s one reason for waiting this long to share an update. Finally, the snow is melting, the first flowers are sprouting, there’s warm weather in the forecast, and we can start looking at the calendar and making plans for how to enjoy it all.
Things have been busy in Greenbelt — Baby Rideout is 6 months old, and of course that fills a lot of my time. So, what else? This year we are making our first serious foray into veggie gardening, I have joined a new writing and critique group, and just before my 29th birthday, I finally got my driver’s license. Anything is possible now!
Celebrate Spring
Updates
Winter 2025-2026
Certificate in Botanical Illustration
On March 1, I completed a Certificate in Botanical Illustration from the Horticulture Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University. For the final course, I put together a portfolio of my work.
Spring 2026
Artwork on Display
I am participating in a few different galleries as part of the Hyattsville Community Arts Alliance and the Montgomery Art Association. If you’re in the neighborhood, I hope you’ll check them out!
You can find my work at…
Franklin’s Restaurant & Brewery, Hyattsville, MD
Oasis Art Gallery, Bethesda, MD (until 4/23)
Spring Art Festival, Windridge Vineyard, Darnestown, MD (4/17-19)
December 2026
Sparkle Mart 2026
Planning way ahead here — I’m excited to share that I will be a vendor at Sparkle Mart, Greenbelt’s holiday season Juried Art and Craft Fair! Mark your calendars and come say hi!
What I’m working on now…
In November, I started a project that I’m simply calling “a year in the garden.”
It began when I saw these strawberry leaves turning red and brown after we transplanted them to the raised garden bed. Strawberry leaves were one of my first subjects when I began the certificate in botanical illustration, so they were a fitting way to start this new project.
Each month, I plan to pick one thing from the garden and create a watercolor portrait.
In December, I chose a rose hip from the large rose bush at the entrance to our yard.
I want to do this because I want to keep myself accountable to continue painting now that I finished my illustration classes.
I haven’t attempted an ongoing art project like this before, so this is a way to challenge myself. Hopefully I will learn how the garden changes over time, and my skills will improve with each month.
I also want to be more intentional about how I spend my attention.
It is easy, so easy, to get lost in doomscrolling. This project is one strategy to reclaim some of my brain space and turn my attention hyper-local.
Illustration and gardening, together, require close attention. To detail, to change, to time, to color and shape and composition. If all goes well, it will also create space for community-building and opportunities for gift-giving.
These wild indigo pods were an exciting subject for January, with a variety of colors, textures, and shapes.
I have my February subject, a sprig of yarrow, on my desk, and I completed an initial study in pen and ink. And I’d better start painting because I’m already thinking about March!