A Quick Personal Update and Creating in the In-Between
September 14, 2026
After weeks in California with my daughter following an unexpected medical emergency, I flew back to Padre Island to check on home, Evoke, and all the things that have been patiently waiting for me here.
It will be good to walk through the doors of Evoke again, to see familiar faces and be surrounded by the artwork and little things I’ve collected there.
But this isn't quite a “I'm back for good” announcement.
There are still unknowns with my daughter’s situation, and I may be on a plane back to California. For now, I'm opening Evoke while I'm here and taking things a day at a time. I’ll keep everyone updated if that changes.
It’s a strange place to be—here, but not quite settled back into home. Returning to the familiar while still waiting to see what comes next.
A few things have naturally been put on hold.
I haven't written lately.
For someone who normally writes every week, I've noticed the absence. I haven't written my newspaper column, and I haven't written here. I haven't tried to force either one.
Writing comes from a more emotional place for me. It requires me to go inward—to think about what I'm feeling, make sense of it, and find the words to put around it. It takes something from me. Right now, I don't have much of that part of myself to spare.
Drawing is different.
I can get lost in the simple act of making something. Straighten a line. Add a little shading. Change a shape. Move something over. Erase it and draw it again.
It's busy work for my hands and just enough focus for my mind without asking me to think too much.
So while the words haven't been coming, the drawings have.
During some very long days in California, that gave me somewhere to go for a little while.
A Little Taste of Fall
And, California certainly gave me plenty of inspiration.
I left the Island and found myself waking up to 40-degree mornings, which I was completely unprepared for. Suddenly I was digging for warmer clothes, running out to buy sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes.
It felt like fall.
For someone who loves the season but doesn't get nearly enough of it back home on the Island, I enjoyed that little change more than I expected.
That little taste of the season inspired the first of two new collections I created while I was away from Evoke: Gathering Fall—pumpkins, autumn leaves, a cozy latte, and a loaded old pickup.
One drawing led to another. Then the individual illustrations began finding their way into repeating patterns and onto blankets, tea towels, notebooks, clothing and socks.
Before long, I had created an entire collection without really setting out to create one.
That's one of the things I love about surface design. A drawing doesn't necessarily stay a drawing.
An pumpkin spice latte drawn on an iPad during a long afternoon can become part of a pattern. That pattern can become fabric. An old pickup filled with pumpkins can eventually become a woven blanket you can actually hold.
There's still something a little magical about that to me.
Then my drawings took a slightly different turn.
Spooked came next.
My daughter's favorite time of year is what she calls “Spooky Season,” so this one is for her.
Nothing particularly frightening seems to be happening in this collection, yet everyone appears mildly alarmed.
In real life, there were moments when I was much more than mildly alarmed. There were days I was genuinely frightened, and even now, the uncertainty hasn't completely gone away.
Maybe that's part of why these funny little characters appealed to me. They gave some of that nervous energy somewhere harmless to go—a startled ghost, a worried spider and an overly dramatic black cat.
Nothing truly scary. Just a little world where everyone could be alarmed and everything would still be okay.
There’s even a little “Hey Boo” Mommy & Me set with coordinating pajamas for Mom and a matching baby bodysuit. The nervous little spider has his own baby beanie.
Once I start drawing, I shouldn't be left unsupervised.
Creating Without a Plan
Looking back at everything I've made recently, I think the fact that none of it was planned is part of what means the most to me.
I wasn't trying to be productive.
I wasn't sitting in California thinking about launching collections or expanding inventory. There wasn't a marketing calendar behind any of it.
I simply needed something positive to put my attention toward for a while.
Creating gave me that.
Sometimes creativity is about making something beautiful. Sometimes it's about building a business or developing an idea. And sometimes it's simply a place for your mind to go when it needs somewhere gentle to land for a little while.
This time, I think it was a little of all three.
A Little More Evoke Online
In those weeks, the creating spilled over into Evoke too.
Since I already had my laptop with me, I began working on the website during some of the downtime. One update led to another, and I finally tackled something I'd wanted to do for quite a while: expand Evoke's online Gift Shop into more of a shopping experience of its own.
The physical gallery will always be at the heart of Evoke. I love watching someone walk through the doors, discover the work of one of our artists and find something they weren't necessarily looking for when they came in.
I don't want the website simply to duplicate that experience.
Instead, I'm beginning to build an online shop with a broader selection of seasonal gifts, stationery, artist-designed merchandise and Online Exclusives that you won't necessarily find inside the gallery.
Both Gathering Fall and Spooked are now part of that shop, along with quite a few other additions.
And there will be more.
Just perhaps not all at once.
For now, I'm home. Evoke will be open while I'm here, beginning Tuesday, September 15th. I'm checking on my business, catching up on home chores, spending time with people I've missed, and waiting to see what the next few weeks bring.
I'm still not writing my regular column. I'm not quite ready for that yet.
But in the meantime, there are pumpkins, cozy lattes, an old pickup, one startled ghost, and a very nervous spee-ider to keep me company.
Creating doesn't wait for life to settle down.
Sometimes it simply meets us in the in-between.
If you'd like to see what I've been creating during these weeks away, I'd love for you to take a peek. Gathering Fall, Spooked, and quite a few other new finds are waiting for you in the newly expanded Evoke Gift Shop.
TAKE A PEEK AT WHAT'S NEW AT EVOKE
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