Sometimes when I let the busyness of days get the better of me, I’m tempted to rush them through conversations. The pitfall of always thinking of the next thing we need to do, the next place we need to be. When what my heart really wants to say is “tell me MORE!” In these days when you want to share your heart, when you care what I think, when you’re figuring out what matters to you… TELL ME MORE!
Over the years, I’ve embarked on various daily painting series to help me stay disciplined to practice my craft each day. That practice is so important to keeping my hand steady, connecting my thoughts with my heart, helping get ideas out of my head and onto paper, and really, just improving skills and staying at the top of my game. Still, I’ve been struggling lately to settle on a theme I’m excited about, much less find the motivation to make sure I include lettering and watercolor journaling into my day.
A series isn’t always easy. Like any habit, some days you just don’t want to do it! But in those times, the idea of having a theme ready to work within just makes starting easier. It makes it easier to get that first stroke on the paper or that first seed of an idea. And of course, after the first stroke, each one after comes more easily.
Two years ago, I began a series called “Letters to my Daughter.” Each day, I hand-lettered and painted a message I wanted to be sure to impart to Baby Girl. She was at a stage when her artistic ideas were really blossoming and she was SO inquisitive, and I found myself continually thinking of things I didn’t want to forget to tell her — things I believe about her, things I want her to know about herself, how I want her to see the world. Of course, the series expanded to be “Letters to my Children” at times as I found things I wanted my boys to hear as well. It actually because a fun experience to show the kids the paintings, and Baby Girl would come home from school asking what I painted for her that day.
This morning as I sat down to try and put brush strokes on my paper, I starting thinking through what series I enjoyed most, which one brought me the most satisfaction, which one I couldn’t wait to paint each day. “Letters to my Daughter” rose to the surface as one of the most inspiring. And that inspiration spiraled into one of the most fruitful times for me creatively in building my business and developing product ideas. But, beyond that, the series helped me connect my heart and my work with my favorite of life’s inspiration — these three remarkable and talented and creative human beings I have the privilege to raise. As we find ourselves squarely in the preteen/teen stages at our house, my heart, more than ever, wants to hold them close and grab every fleeting moment. So, I guess I decided to go with it! I’m rebooting the “Letters to my Daughter” daily painting series, which will certainly be letters for each of my children with equal measure of recapturing that crucial inspiration as well as pushing myself to leave nothing unsaid. I hope you’ll follow along on Facebook or Instagram to see my progress, and I hope to share some of the images here in some sort of weekly recap format as well.
In my last Frog Kisser post, I shared some photos and Southern memories from a Saturday morning spent wandering around Macon, Mississippi. There’s something fun and freeing about taking time to wander without worrying about time, and small Southern towns are some of my favorite wandering places. I always gravitate toward the letters, numbers, and art I find – murals, hand-painted signs, the curious placement of words on buildings, how the signs age, and how they’re used to decorate and give directions.
Like in this sign found a block off Jefferson Street, I love how Brenda’s Cutting Edge entices with that funky bouffant interrupted by a stern warning about parking. Creativity and necessity rolled into one surface! In this collection, there’s the Noxubee tiger on one of the school district offices, a smokestack branded with bricks, a mural commemorating the local arts festival, a curious use of quotation marks, and a few other interesting words. I hope you enjoy this latest glimpse of downtown Macon signage.
This year, we spent a long Easter weekend in Macon, Mississippi, where my parents live, and it was a nice opportunity for family time, rest, and enjoying holiday traditions. On Saturday morning, the kids slept late, and I had a hankering to get out of the house. So, I took some time to wander around town on my own. I have lots of memories of Saturdays in Macon. When I was a child, I spent weekends on the farm at Busy Bee, and often, on Saturdays, we would drive my grandmother into town for her 3-11 nursing shift at Noxubee General Hospital. When I was very young, before grandmother had a washer and dryer at the farm, those trips also involved taking laundry to the laundromat on Pearl Street to wash, and in later years, we would wander around the little shops downtown – “Mrs. Claire’s”, as I called the book store, TWL dollar store, Klaus’ dress shop. Sometimes we would pick up food at the Dairy Dream at one end of town or drive up to Burger Wheel at the other end.
I’m back in the studio today after a wonderful Easter holiday with my family. The long weekend also ushered in the start of April with some great spring weather! This month promises to be a busy one for us with school activities, a local conference on storytelling I’ll be attending, and fun community events. This weekend, I took a little time to set some priorities for new products I’ll be working on over the next few months, and make plans for refreshing a few of the ways I communicate with customers. Beginning a new month in celebration of the renewal and redemption of Easter has helped my heart embrace the hope and possibility of spring.
I took the old “April showers” adage as my inspiration for this month’s printable calendar, along with a childhood favorite song from Bambi. Rainy days have no end of inspiration when you hear every raindrop as the refrain of a beautiful tune. Click to download the calendar, and I hope you enjoy sharing the cut-away artwork when the month is over. This month, I’ve also included a free download of a larger version of the printable art. Enjoy!
Hello & welcome! I’m Haley Montgomery, and I’m the designer and owner of Small Pond Graphics. I sometimes fancy myself a frog kisser— a documentarian coaxing poignant moments from unexpected places. This blog has evolved from those moments.
The small Pond FIELD GUIDE is part diary, part sketchbook, and part wish list – an archive of ordinary wonders. For years, this space has housed my stories – creative ideas, vintage inspiration, our forays into curious places, and the simple artifacts of quiet of conscious living. Through watercolor, photography, and illustrated tales, these pages uncover the blessing of ordinary days and the wonder found in authentic places and pursuits.
I invite you to open the boxes.
Peek into the drawers.
Rustle through the pages.
I’m honored to have you here.
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Phone: 662.312.4001
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