Into the Woods - February 2026

After Jennifer Nichols’ Free Beginners Class I talked about a couple of posts back, I spent a bit of time experimenting. I fell in love with the wide edge that mimicked the same look you would get from taping off your art space to create a white edge. Everyone loves a good tape pull, am I right?  I always feel like it makes a clean edge, but also adds a bold statement of completion to a piece.  

Into the Woods - February 2026

Into the Woods is a compilation of several stamps from various brush sets I have.  I started with the largest elements, placing the focal pieces of the wood slices first.  Then I began adding the smaller elements.  Mushrooms and pine branches.  To complete the piece I pulled in the dried flowers and moths.  I used muted earthy tones to convey the warmth of the woods.  

Creating this piece made me nostalgic for the many moments I’ve indulged in walking through the woods, from Wyoming and Colorado to New Mexico and Alaska.  Stolen moments of quiet with only the crunch of the pine needles below your feet and the birds in song tucked in the trees.  I could almost smell the dirt and pine and I worked on this. I feel like there are more of these in the future, but only time will tell.

In sharing this piece I wanted to illustrate how taking a free class can lead to other ideas and other art experiments.  How even a basic entry level class can lead you to experiment and make new things.  Without that free course the idea for this piece would have never been born in this way.  Learning often inspires more creativity, even if it’s a bit of a refresher to the basics.