Finding Peace in the Garden: A Summer of Growth and Resilience

This summer, while the world seems to swirl in chaos, I found refuge in my garden. There’s something profoundly grounding about working with the earth, feeling the quiet pulse of life beneath your fingers, and witnessing the gentle rhythms of nature.

The songs of birds, the earthy scent of wet soil, and the intoxicating aroma of tomato plants brought a deep calm to my days. Even in the face of relentless heat—abnormally strong this year—there was beauty to be found. Many plants succumbed to the sun’s intensity, as if a magnifying glass had focused its power on my garden.

Yet, resilience prevailed. By transplanting my garden under the shade of a large tree, I was able to save many of my plants. This act of care and adaptation became a metaphor for life itself: even in extreme conditions, nurturing attention and thoughtful adjustments can bring survival, growth, and even beauty.

These moments of quiet observation and care inspired my new painting series. Each piece reflects the harmony, fragility, and resilience of life, capturing the way plants—and the human spirit—bend, adapt, and thrive amidst challenges. My summer in the garden reminded me that peace can always be cultivated, even when the world around us feels uncertain.

The Black Lipstick Army: Not a Label, But a Legacy

By Carolyn Wolf

The Black Lipstick Army represents a wide range of women. Some are full-figured. Some are wrinkled, their skin telling stories that only time can write. Some are young, others carry generations in their gaze. They come from different cultures and regions, each bringing their own voice, their own background, their own truth.

What they share is a presence that makes people nervous—because they defy expectations. They don’t fit into neat categories. And that, too, is something to embrace.

The world wants to look away from what it doesn’t understand. But I challenge you to look closer.

Take the time to really see these women. Read their stories. Let yourself feel something. Find your compassion, your connection, your common ground—because whether you recognize it yet or not: They are YOU.

My Black Lipstick Army tells the stories of women who walk through the world unapologetically. Women who’ve been misunderstood, mislabeled, and underestimated—but who keep showing up. Who raise children, survive trauma, create beauty, and hold it down for their communities every single day.

Whether she comes from a neighborhood where the streets speak louder than textbooks, or from a place where designer dogs and handbags are the norm—every woman is product of her environment. That doesn’t make one better than the other. It just means their stories are different. And every story deserves respect.

This series is my way of saying: You are not alone. You are not a label. You are not here to fit into someone else’s box. You are here to be seen—as you are, where you are, in all your fierce, complicated, and beautiful truth.

The Black Lipstick Army isn’t a trend. It’s a tribute.

To the women who walk into a room and don’t shrink. To the girls who were taught to tone it down and decided not to. To the mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends who carry generations of strength in their bones.

YOU are the army. And you are not here to be explained—you are here to be honored.

Cinematic Muses: How Movies About Artists Inspire My Work

As artists, we often search for sparks of inspiration—from the colors of a New Mexico sunset to the quiet resilience in someone’s eyes. But one of my favorite and most personal sources of creative fuel (besides music) comes from movies—specifically films about artists.

There’s something powerful about watching the artistic process unfold onscreen. These stories, whether based on real artists or fictionalized ones, offer a glimpse into the emotional highs and lows of creative life. They remind us of our shared struggles: self-doubt, passion, conflict, vision. They connect us across generations and mediums.

While I paint, I often stream biographical or art-centered films—ones I’ve watched so many times, I don’t need to look up from my canvas to know what’s happening. Their dialogue, pacing, and emotional arcs play in the background like a familiar rhythm, keeping me grounded in the creative zone.

Here are some of the films I return to again and again, each offering something different, whether it's visual beauty, emotional depth, or artistic defiance:

• Frida – A powerful, visually stunning portrayal of Frida Kahlo’s fierce spirit, pain, and passion.

• Modigliani – (one of my favorites) A film that captures the chaos and brilliance of a tortured soul obsessed with love and art.

• Surviving Picasso – A complicated look at genius and ego, told through the eyes of the women around Picasso.

• Basquiat – Raw, poetic, and full of heart. This film pulls no punches in portraying the rise and fall of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

• Girl with a Pearl Earring – Quiet and painterly, this film is almost like watching a canvas come to life in light and shadow.

• Big Eyes – A haunting reminder of artistic voice and ownership, wrapped in 1960s kitsch and truth.

• Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy’s wild, layered documentary that questions what art even is anymore.

• Great Expectations – While not directly about art, the lush visuals and strong character designs always fuel my creativity.

• Slaves of New York – A quirky, cult-classic view of NYC's 1980s art scene and the struggle to be taken seriously as a woman artist.

• Goya's Ghosts – A darker, historical exploration of power, censorship, and the artist’s role in times of upheaval.

• Heartbreakers (1984) – Not to be confused with more recent films, this one with Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso is hard to find, but worth the effort. It’s moody, romantic, and captures that raw, existential search for meaning that’s so familiar to many artists.

If you haven’t seen some of these, I recommend watching them once with full attention—let them sink in. Later, they can become companions in your studio, feeding your process without distraction.

There’s a unique comfort in creating while these stories play in the background. It’s like working alongside a lineage of artists who’ve faced the same questions you might be facing now. Why do we keep painting? Who are we painting for? What does it mean to create something real in a world full of noise?

Art, like film, is about storytelling—and when the two collide, the results can be deeply inspiring. Whether you’re sketching in silence or dancing your brush across the canvas, these films remind us that we’re never alone in the creative struggle.

What movies inspire you while you work?