Did you know, if you had fun you won?

 

“Having fun is not a diversion from a successful life; it is the pathway to it.”
— Martha N. Beck

 

Start the year with a splash of Wild Cherry Art. You’ve already won, because it’s fun!

 

Happy New Year! 2024 is looking brighter than ever. We are already heading out of the darkness and back into the light. Day by day, we get a few more minutes of sunshine. I hope your holidays were filled with love and laughter, and now you're all refreshed and revved up for a spectacular year!

 

Here I’m having brunch at Antoine’s, the oldest family-run business in the United States, nestled in the French Quarter. If you haven’t been, you need to eat here. Before you go to NOLA, hit me up and I’ll give you a list for everything!

 

I've got plans to head back to New Orleans in January. You know it's one of my all-time favorite cities. The magic of NOLA is palpable. Visiting the Big Easy always feels like a recharge. Meet me there, and we'll get oysters! I'll gather more inspo for paintings and new original music. It's effortless to be excited and inspired by the incredible southern hospitality mixed with decadent food, fantastic live music everywhere, steamy weather, go cups, European architecture, fascinating history, and bars that never close. It's SO fun!

 

Let’s have more fun this year! In 2023 I had lotsa fun at a wooden shoe factory in Holland.

 

That's my word for the year—FUN! If it doesn't feel a smidge fun, I have difficulty even getting started. I believe fun is the secret sauce that helps us accomplish more, with ease and joy. So maybe when you're feeling stuck this year, try a more playful approach to your challenges. A childlike perspective can restore wonder to your problems and hope for the outcome. Don't forget—"If you had fun, you won!"

If you need more ways to add fun to your life, visit me in the studio, and I'll help you get the party started!

Wishing you and yours an abundance of blissful blessings and loads of fun in 2024.

Love,
Leslie
xo

 

How to embrace life's delights while dealing with the challenges

 

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”
– Dr. Seuss

 

Day one of fun with my girl on our trip to the Pacific Northwest!

 

My cup is so full it's overflowing! Get this: I offered to take my daughter anywhere she wanted to go as a present for graduating high school, and she said, "Why would I want to go anywhere with you? That would be weird." When she graduated college this year, I courageously asked again, and she said yes! We went to Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle and had the best time! We walked over 100,000 steps, went to the aquarium, ate oysters, drank cocktails, visited museums, went to the Bumbershoot music festival, stayed in two hotels that the Beatles stayed in, saw dahlias bigger than our heads, ferried around the Pacific Northwest, swam, met with friends, made new friends, and had so much fun together. The morning we returned, she walked toward me, and I was uncertain, but she hugged me, thanked me, and went to bed. I nearly fell over from the weight of my heart, growing three sizes!

 

In Seattle we stayed at the Edgewater Hotel where the Beatles famously had a picture taken where they were fishing out their window. Edgewater doesn’t let you rent fishing equipment any longer but they do let you borrow a guitar!

 

I'm gratefully embracing a deeper connection with my daughter, but I am still preoccupied with my mother's health and care. Life's challenges can get us into a dark place so quickly. It is the nature of our mind in service to our survival instinct. Now, that tendency mostly gets in the way of our joy. I've learned to accept and deal with the challenges as best I can, focus on life's delights, and lean into the fun stuff! We get to choose.

Lean into the fun with me at my preview pARTy for the SOMA Artists Studio Tour! It's the Tour's 20th Anniversary, and it will be sensational. Save the dates and be part of the fun!

Wild Cherry pARTy
(Exclusive to my A-Listers)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
7pm — 11pm
I’ll be performing new songs with a live band, new artwork, new friends, yummy snacks, delicious drinks, a guaranteed good time! Costumes encouraged not required. There will be prizes!
RSVP now by clicking the cherry red button above to reserve your spot!

 
 

SOMA Artists Studio Tour
Saturday & Sunday 11am - 5pm
November 4th & 5th
Stop by my studio on Warren Court and see me first!
Then, see how the magic happens as more than 70 artists in two towns welcome visitors to their studios.




 

Take an amazing trip and gain the best experiences points

 
 

"You must go on adventures to find out where you belong."
—Sue Fitzmaurice

Sitting high on top of Buda overlooking the Danube in Budapest. I started traveling last year and I can’t wait to hit the road again.

 

After ten years of raising my children alone it was time to hit the road. My daughter started college in the fall of 2019, and my son headed out to California at the beginning of March 2020. A week later, I was going on a bucket list trip starting in Iceland that Covid squashed. Three years later I'm thrilled to be planning this exciting expedition again! First stop Iceland, where I'll make a date with a guide named Thor, who'll take me into the wilderness during the new moon in search of the Aurora Borealis. Then a week in Spain, driving from Barcelona to Valencia, and then to Holland in time for the tulips. I'm so excited. I've waited decades for this experience. If you have any tips please share with me!

 

My artist friend, Andi, and I took the train from Paris to Chartres to walk the Labyrinth. Ask me about my surprising mystical experience next time we’re together!

 

Traveling is magical. It expands our perspective and introduces us to new cultures, customs, people, architecture, languages, climates, land formations, and food. We can't help but grow into greater versions of ourselves. We gain compassion and connectedness for and with people we would never have known. I take thousands of pictures to use as reference. All the spectacular scenery inspires my artwork.

I had the most amazing trip last year, spending a week visiting friends in Paris, then five days visiting my daughter in Prague, then traveling through Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest. I learned a lot by planning that trip, and I nailed it! My friend Freya helped me plan and joined me in Prague through the end of the excursion. Since it was so successful, I'm sharing some wisdom with you for designing one of your bucket list trips. Do the research. Lots of research and collect a list of great restaurants, nightclubs, music venues, cocktail bars, places to get great oysters, cool boutique hotels, museums, hot neighborhoods, good shopping, hikes, day trips, natural wonders, etc. Freya and I used an app called TripMaster, an excellent tool for planning a multi-destination adventure. Ask all your friends for recommendations. Do this in advance to protect your valuable vacation time from having to look things up on your phone.

Here are SEVEN tips for booking a fantastic vacation:

  1. Roll with the punches. Not everything will go as planned; sometimes, that's where the most remarkable magic happens.

  2. Make reservations for transportation and lodging as soon as it becomes available. Trip Master is great for this, allowing detailed views of every available hotel in any location.

  3. Plan one thing a day; a boat ride to orient yourself when you first arrive, a class, a museum visit, or a garden visit, and a dinner reservation for most evenings. 

  4. Learn the local greetings and simple phrases like; thank you, where's the bathroom, how much is this, do you have it in pink, and check, please.

  5. Find the best season or time of year to go to your destination. I prefer off-peak most of the time. Places are less crowded so it's more pleasant, and you can get reservations and tickets more easily. 

  6. Pack comfortable shoes. You can get cool ones from Sorel or get insoles. You are going to walk a lot! Wearing comfortable shoes can make the entire experience more enjoyable or miserable. You get to choose!

  7. Make sure to splurge on a few things like seat upgrades on airlines or trains, one or two nights in a luxury hotel, a Michelin-star restaurant, etc. There's a reason they get the star. You want to experience it. You only live once, and you can't take it with you. 

 

Freya and I sipping a Kir Royal and enjoying a scrumptious dinner in Salzburg, Austria after a hectic day of traveling.

 

Be present, be curious, have fun, relax, and enjoy the ride. It's a beautiful world out there. So gain some amazing experience points and have an adventure!

Travel safe, happy trails,
Love,
Leslie

 

Life's amazing adventures have me inspired to be back in the studio

“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
― Oprah Winfrey

 
 
Pretty woman with long blonde curly hair standing in front of a marina and a brilliant blue sky.

Standing in front of The Lake House in Canandiagua in August. Waiting for the wedding to begin

 

What a whirlwind summer I had. And all of a sudden, it's Autumn! My adventures give me loads of fodder for paintings. I'm sure your adventures would make beautiful paintings too. The best news is my mother has settled back into her home after a lengthy hospital stay. It's been a long road, and she still has far to go, but things look very hopeful. She has been steadily improving. I greatly appreciate the outpouring of love and support.

 

I couldn’t resist the big chair in downtown Canandaigua.

 

I spent several days in August on Lake Canandaigua attending the wedding of a dear friend's son: Friday night–French food and cocktails, Saturday –wedding, Sunday–brunch, and a day on the lake with friends. It was gorgeous, and the weather was spectacular. It was an honor to celebrate this beautiful couple. One of the biggest joys in life is celebrating milestones with friends and family. So I'm inspired to create paintings of the centerpieces from the weddings I attended this year. A personalized painting of the wedding flowers allows the couple and family to maintain a deep visual cord to one of the most joyful days in their lives. How special is that?

Any of these pictures I took, will make a meaningful and beautiful painting when I personalize it with loving words specific specific to the happy couple.

On the way home from Upstate New York, I stopped in Ithaca for a few days to visit my beautiful daughter, who is starting her senior year at Ithaca College. She has had one of the strangest college experiences ever. Covid started during her freshmen year. I'm so grateful that she still got to go abroad for her junior year. And I was so fortunate to visit her in Prague. Next Summer, she'll complete her major requirements in Los Angeles. She has thrived during this unprecedented time, and I'm so proud of the resourceful, resilient, ethical, inspiring, and beautiful person she has become.

 

Adison and I had a lovely dinner and drinks in downtown Ithaca.

 

I spent a week in Montauk with my dear friend Lucille. We lay on the beach while sipping cocktails and watching whales frolic in the sea. We ate lobster at Duryea's and Ice cream at John's Drive-In. It was just the magical week I needed to connect me to the beauty of nature. While I lounged under the umbrella, I finished reading "The Big Leap" by Gay Hendricks. Read it!

 

There is no better way to finish a day in Montauk than enjoying oysters and a Lobster dinner at Duryeas’s as the sun sets on “The End” of Long Island.

 

In the last week of summer, I traveled back to Provincetown. I visited last year with the same group of friends, and we had such a wonderful time we repeated it! Our days were spent exploring shops and galleries and eating some of the best and freshest oysters anywhere.

 

I’m having so much fun collecting images of oysters for an upcoming series of paintings. These particular mollusks are from Cape Cod and they were exquisite.

 

Life is for living, and I try to do that fully every day. My adventures provide lots of meaningful imagery for me to paint. I'm sure your adventures do the same for you and your friends and family. I would love to turn your favorite experience into a beautiful painting that celebrates that moment forever. I'm accepting commissions for the holidays now. I want to have plenty of time to give it the attention it deserves, so let's do a 15-minute complimentary discovery call right away and get this party started!






 

How do you turn Chaos into a blessing? I'll show you.

 
 

“If chaos is a necessary step in the organization of one's universe, then I was well on my way.”
― Wendelin Van Draanen

 
 
Acrylic painting of a landscape. A dramatic row of trees in green and purple.

This is a row of trees in Château de Villandry, just outside of Paris. I took a thousand photos of the picturesque gardens a few years ago. Many of the photos will become paintings like this one.

The house is under renovation. Three bathrooms were leaking simultaneously, so I just went for it. The job should be finished by now, and it isn't. I am grateful for such a wonderful "problem." Mom is still in rehab, but she's beginning to improve. She is getting the best care. So I count that as a blessing too.

Next week my son, Coltrane, and my friend, John, will be running things at home because I'll be waking up on the Left Bank, getting ready to spend the day with my artist pals in Paris. I've been planning this trip for a while. My Google sheet is chock full of outings and restaurant reservations. The first stop will be at the Sennelier shop to pick up some art supplies. Then, I'll dine at the Eiffel Tower, sniff Monet's waterlilies, drink wine, and eat oysters. It'll be a heavenly week in the city of light.

A young pretty blonde punky woman with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

I spent my 21st birthday in Paris. I believe this photo was taken after I insisted that my friend, Raffaele, and I walk up the steps of the Arc de Triumphe to avoid the line. She refuse to walk the steps of the Eiffel Tower!

After a week in Paris, I'll visit my daughter, Adison, in Prague. She's living her best life while studying abroad this semester. She's looking forward to showing me around, which has me more excited than anything! After Prague, I have another gal pal joining me as we venture to the land with the Sound of Music, Salzburg, then to beautiful Vienna, and finally Budapest. Nineteen days of adventure will produce loads of pictures to inspire future works of art.

Lovely young woman sitting on a stone ledge with a beautiful Italian landscape in the background

Adison is enjoying her time, traveling and studying abroad. I'm so excited to hear about her adventures.

Starting next Tuesday you can follow my travel adventures on FaceBook and Instagram, by clicking the icons above. Follow my artist pals by clicking on their names and get their perspectives:

Marina Bosetti @bosetti_art_tile
Andi Ipaktchi @andiipaktchi
Louisa MacCabe @louisamccabeart

The week I get back, I'll be co-organizing and participating in the Warren Court Art Walk. Come by and hear about my European whirlwind and see what's been brewing in the studio. It will be a fantastic weekend of art, music, and community.

I am so grateful to live this miraculous life and be able to do work that I love. I can renovate bathrooms, take vacations, explore my creativity and celebrate with loved ones. I have my health. I have so much. I have you.

Thanks for being on the journey with me—the ups and downs, the pits, stems and sweet delicious fruit. Life is a bowl of cherries!

Love you,
Leslie
xo