Hi Reader,

Happy October! Let's wear a lot of Orange this month, a color symbolizing positivity, energy, playfulness, spirituality. The air is cooler this morning and it's in these early morning moments that it feels a little more like fall here. I have a giant jack-o-lantern guarding the front door with the biggest smile :) but it's so humid here the poor guy is rotting and it's not even October! I guess I'll need to have another pumpkin carving session. I think decorating our nest for holidays and special occasions is one of the most whimsical things we can do to generate joy for ourselves. Speaking of joy, if you haven't grabbed a copy of How to Find Joy in A Capitalist Hellscape written by Elsie Gilmore and illustrations by me grab one here. If you have a free moment leave a review to help other readers discover the book as well. I wish you a joy-filled pumpkin season!

IN THE STUDIO (whoa I have a studio!)

The Florida room I've been working to convert into a proper creative, colorful, messy space is finally set-up and ready to use! It's been getting foot traffic every single day and it's become my daughter's and my favorite place in the house. She's giving it rave reviews and calls it the "messy room" with a beaming smile. What kid doesn't want a messy room? I'm proud of this milestone in being able to have a dedicated place to store all my art supplies in a place with proper ventilation. That's something I became more conscious about once my kiddo started touching everything!

I wish we could all have a "messy" room where we could finally wind down after a long day of being human and let our inner child free.

Moments I Treasure this week:

• Gardening with my mom
​I love nature, drawing it, being in it (most of the time if snakes are not around), and painting it. Am I good at growing it? I'm average at the art of maintaining plants alive. My mom however, is a master gardener. I don't know how she knows all she knows about plants and nature, other than that she grew up running barefoot in the remote mountains of Honduras. It's more instinctual for her, it's like magic to me. Like someone having a special spark at the tip of their fingers that makes things grow and rescues the things I help wilt (I have an abandoned first draft picture book about this). We had a special Sunday afternoon as she passed down 2 of her favorite mango seeds from my grandfather's mango forest (he passed away 9 years ago) and now I have the honor of keeping my grandpa's and my mom's memory alive through mango trees in my backyard.

• Making a friend
​Who knew that observing my daughter make friendships would help me understand it better myself. I made a friend recently through our shared love of sketchbooks and finding tiny, paper thin pockets of time for art. We're participating in the 7-day Sketch Challenge, a free course designed by artist Susan Yeates. It's for all levels and you can join now.​
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• Making significant progress on my coloring book
​I've finished page 4 from my upcoming coloring book! Now I'm playing with different cover design ideas. Here's the progress so far, I'm using page 4 as the main cover "hero Image" at least for now. I have 14 more pages to draw! I really needed this project, I was feeling pretty low last year and the moment my daughter asked, "How come you don't make me a book!" my ears perked up and I learned that doing something for somebody else gave me a clear sense of purpose and ongoing motivation. Now it's definitely a project for me too. One where I can be as detailed as I want and express my love for the natural world through pen and ink. Follow process videos on the GRAM @yanuaryillustration if you're out there.