May Wrapped 2026 - Monthly Art Check-In

May Favourites

Welcome back to my monthly blog post, my May Wrapped! May was a stunning month where the days got longer, everything got greener, and everyone started to smile just a bit more. It's the month for driving with your windows down, learning new favourite songs, and getting ice cream on the way home from work. The fresh smell of lilac greets me as I walk up the steps into my house,

and I spend any free evening watching the sun go down. If you're just as excited for summer as I am, here are a few ideas to make the most of it!

• Bake Scones- I feel like scones are such a summer treat. The best mornings start with buttering a scone and eating outside in the sunshine. My favourites are blueberry or raspberry lemon, but I'm sure there are many other great flavours. Unfortunately, I don't have one specific recipe I love, but I'm looking!

• Have a picnic- The days are getting longer, meaning there are many more hours to be outside after school or work. To make the most of that, take your food outside to eat. It's up to you if you make it fancy with a blanket and sandwiches with a drink and dessert, or if you just order pizza and go sit on your lawn. Both ways accomplish the same thing. Getting you outside and shaking up your regular routine.

• Go to a body of water - I will repeat this as many times as necessary; June is the beginning of true summer (especially in Alberta), so find a pond, river, lake, or ocean if you're lucky. Just being around the water brings out the best in people and seems to slow life down.

• Start a summer playlist- I am a firm believer that every mood and every season deserves its own music. Take some time to pick some songs to set the vibe for summer drives, days on the water, and supper around the campfire. It always starts as just a few and grows as the season goes on, creating a musical time capsule for this year.

• Pick up a new hobby- There is no better time to start something new than summer. Longer days and warm weather seem to inspire creativity. So learn to fish, start reading again, run in the early morning, or take a cooking class. There are so many things to try, so why not push yourself out of your comfort zone or reconnect with something you loved as a kid?

  
  

Thank you for reading these little pieces of advice, and I hope you try one! Having a little sticky note above my desk with ideas like this really helps me remember to incorporate them into my days.

Now, a little about me. May was another busy month. The Instagram account has 398 followers as of today, and I had a few really fun videos this last month. I'm thinking I'm going to try to film a "day in the life video", we'll see how it turns out. During my weekly art class, I finished my large acrylic piece featuring the dramatic sunset over Lake Newell. It turned out stunning, and the piece just seemed to flow right from my mind. The colours are so deep and rich that the painting looks like a photograph. It's hanging in my mom's house right now, and it looks so lovely. I started a new piece for the last few art classes, and so far I've only worked on the sunset and mountains, but it's turning out beautifully. I also finished the painted record commission and love how it's turned out. It's a gift, so I won't spoil what it looks like until it's been given, but I promise it's super pretty. These types of commissions are an affordable way to purchase custom art from me and are great gifts. Lots of exciting things on the horizon and lots of beautiful paintings. I did some clay work as well, making a cute little vase for my mom to hold some dried flowers I had picked for her last summer. That was my mother's day gift <3 I also worked on the mini gouache pieces for both April and May's blogs this month. They are both so cute, and I am seriously thinking about creating a little calendar from them all. That is all from the art side of things this month.

In my personal life, May started with work starting up again. Lots to balance for both May and June. I spent a lot of time chasing sunsets this month. At work, during my drives, and with friends, my camera roll is full. The sheep were a huge part of May as well. Our show and sale was at the end of May, so we spent lots of time training them and had a shearing and bath day. The show was a great success! I got 3rd in both market and showmanship classes and sold my sheep for $9/pound. It was so much fun to spend the day with my family and friends. Those were the main points of May, just lots of time outside and with friends!

Thank you for tuning in if you've made it this far! I will try to post one of these at the end of each month to keep everyone updated. Let me know if you have any other ideas for what I should write about in these blogs (my dms and email are open!)