Boy, do I have an update for you!

I heard one of my songs on the radio, I started my website and Patreon, I beat breast cancer for the second time, and we were transferred to Kansas.

Spring is the time of new beginnings, and so it is fitting that our spring interview introduces you to Sculptor/Photographer/Multi-Media artist Sarah Thompson. When you find yourself lost in a creative desert, take an adventure to learn something new. It might just turn out to be your passion.

One of the great things about this opportunity is that it propelled me into creating more and got me back into the flow for the projects that I had planned at that time. I also decided to go back to work full time and my husband, and I recommitted to starting a family.

Jennifer Geletzke talks layers with us- layers of life, landscape, faith, and artistic media - blending, diverging, calling. If you've felt the call to create, even after a pause, Jennifer has inspiring work and words of wisdom to share.

For Army-spouse/photographer Chandra Pinger, her art unites her with other military families. After a PCS, photography can be a tether to connect with a new place and its people.

With all of these changes, I found it to be very difficult to begin my art again and I soon realized that maybe this time in my life wasn't about producing, but more about reflecting. I knew that I also needed to create to keep me grounded. 

In this guest anniversary post, I’m reflecting back on three bits of advice from last year’s interview: to give yourself grace, write your goals down, and don’t let comparison drag you down. The last year of the pandemic has felt hard to bear, as there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, and I have had to keep the above advice on the top of my mind daily.  

This month, meet Air Force spouse CJ Yeats whose interests involve both hemispheres of the brain: research, neuroscience, copy editing, graphic design, and writing. Catherine shares how they have been busy creating comic books that merge science and fantasy while celebrating the wonder of the unknown.

The same thing that happened to me and the rest of the world: COVID.  It would be easy to dwell on the negatives of COVID, but life is so much more enjoyable when reframed through prisms that look for positive outcomes even in the most unfortunate of experiences.  COVID did lead to some positive impacts. I was left with more time to reflect on technique and on the empty walls that my art would fill which I feel further developed by personal style.

Painter and Army spouse Krista Carlberg Litz of KCLStudio teaches us that including art in our daily lives not only maintains creativity, but also boosts the spirit.

Although these last nearly two years have provided little inspiration or motivation to create new poems, the not-writing has given me ample time for editing and organizing what I’d written before.

When life throws you a pandemic, a stage actor finds other ways to be creative. When Air Force spouse Nancy Stange found herself forced into a hiatus, she retained her humor and made sure she didn't lose that creative edge.

When the pandemic struck, my entire world turned upside down. At first, it was difficult to adjust to the "new normal.” I had to learn how to make the best of my current situation at home with my entire family—and master the challenge of homeschooling three children with very different needs.

Air Force Spouse Amra Graff goes with the flow in her military life and with her artwork. Amra creates organic, emotive art pieces that reflect the fluidity of the transformations we go through with each PCS and each new experience.

This past year brought with it both challenges and opportunities. Finding the creative thought to infuse my art with the faces of those around me has been more of a challenge. The isolation of COVID brought with it a lack of seeing the beautiful faces of the people in this world. I miss doing portraits, especially those portraying women of my culture given the recent unfolding of tragedy in Afghanistan. Women’s rights are under direct threat there now more than ever.

With dancer and Air Force spouse Julie Mulvihill's love of process, she resiliently 'choreographs' ways to work and create from anywhere in the world and during the pandemic. Plus, her love story is so adorable that I think it could be made into a movie.

Since my last interview, a lot of things have changed. COVID-19 completely shut the business down and my attempts to pivot our services via an online community was not widely accepted as anticipated. However, that time spent at home gave me the momentum needed to spring forward into a space I did not foresee for myself or my studio.

Writer and military spouse Kimberlee Bethany Bonura, Ph.D., MFA, E-RYT, CYT, knew at a young age that she was meant to write. She also learned from her mother that achieving goals in adulthood often requires going against the odds. We, too, can create and thrive in "the shadows of military service," with a whole heck of a lot of determination.

Did you find yourself creatively inspired or creatively stunted during lockdown? Since it was such a heavy time, I tried to funnel that energy into keeping my creative muscle flexed and toned!

Artist and Army spouse Victoria Page Miller finds adventure and inspiration in the unknown. Like the comic book characters she currently paints, Victoria bravely says, Unpredictable Future, show me what you got, and I'll meet you with a new creation.