Making art, making space, making time

͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­

	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Gayle Kabaker is a painter, writer, teacher and visual storyteller A Look at the First Week of 2026 Making art, making space, making time Gayle Kabaker Jan 8   READ IN APP   Happy New Year everyone! Well, the flu got pretty much everyone in my family except me and as a result our Christmas was after Dec. 26 when our kids were able to come to visit. Since my husband was pretty sick, I had a very quiet Christmas where I spent a lot of time alone and painting. Could have been depressing, but I crave tons of alone time at this stage in my (creative) life and I just tried to embrace it. I mostly did a good job of this. I painted a series from photos taken at my grand daughters dance recital where is all ALL about the costumes way more than the dancing! Paint What You Love is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid It’s been a really interesting first week of 2026. I realized I didn’t want to do a 2025 recap just because so many others WERE doing it! So I’m doing a first week recap instead. But before I do this I want to remind you that we have a few spots still open for our second week in Morocco September 25 - October 2, 2026. It’s going to be an incredible week and you get the added benefit of Jennifer Orkin Lewis and I being EXTRA warmed up after already teaching for a week and having two days to rest up before week two. These trips are for any level from beginner to advanced and we already have some of each signed up. Between time spent painting and drawing we have wonderful food, and are treated like queens by the staff. The onsite spa with a Hammam and massages, daily morning yoga ( all optional of course) and making amazing new friendships make it a week to seriously nurture your soul. I know it’s a big decision so if you’d like to ask me any questions, please write me! I’m also happy to get on a quick phone call if you’d like. Some retreat hosts do ‘vibe check’ calls before people sign up for a retreat. I think this can really help some people decide if a retreat is the right fit for them. Morocco Week one of 2026, began with a call back on a mammogram. I know this happens all the time, but never to me. And since my mom died of breast cancer at 48, this was a tad loaded for me. I handled it by not telling hardly anyone and not thinking about it. (looking for ‘breasts’ to go with this, I found this drawing, reminding me that I love painting on colored paper!) I am fine, thankfully. But after a tense 30 minutes of the mammogram and ultra sound, as I walked out of the building I was so aware that my life could easily have changed in a flash. WHEW. I had a wonderful conversation with Hallie Bateman this week! We had such a good long chat and realized that we are two artists 30 years apart with experiences and wisdom that could be so beneficial to young mom/artists especially, so… stay tuned! Hopefully more to come from us! I’ve really been focusing on painting for my show next summer. It’s in Leland, MI August 7th, but I need to have all the work finished before leaving to teach in Portugal in May. Pushing myself to paint bigger is hard, but I am doing it! I was happy that when my kids were here and they came into my studio and loved what they saw on my walls. My family are tough critics. No one will ever say they like something if they don’t. Taking my studio back this year after renting it as a one bedroom apartment for 12 years has been so amazing for me creatively. I am so happy every day I walk into this space. And while I have a mini split, I’ve even embraced using the wood stove. ( It’s SO cozy!) Although I refuse to chop kindling. Too afraid I will cut my hand off. My daughter, grandkids and Charlie were excellent sleepy models. The process of larger paintings is way ‘scarier’ than small paintings. I think because it looks ‘bad’ for longer? Taking a break from bed paintings and turning my obsession with stripes into other ideas, like these women. A friend wanted a wall of water painting prints for a bedroom in her home. We had lots of fun deciding which ones! She ended up with prints of five water paintings and the bed painting will go someplace on it’s own. If you’d like to curate your wall with me I am so happy to do this! One client bought about fifteen water painting prints for one wall! I met a friend for a movie at 1pm a few days ago! ( Song Sung Blue - loved it:) I never do this. I try to ‘pretend’ that I have a job and paint or work from 9-5 ish. But this winter I find myself painting late at night and sometimes watching TV as I paint. My last show was - Heated Rivalry. So good and STEAMY - do not watch with kids around!! I also liked the series- The Bold Type. So fun to find a show I’ve never heard of then see that it has three seasons! So, I am letting myself play a bit more during the day. With all the terrible things happening in the world, I need to find joy where I can, and making time to see more of my friends just feels good. I’m also a huge reader. This week I finished A Fall of Marigolds and loved it. Looking for a tribe of like minded people? Join me and Jennifer Orkin Lewis on Patreon. We have two monthly zoom hangouts and we post weekly. We have a lot of fun! Plus you get to hear about special things first. Patreon Whew. If you made it this far - thanks! As always, I love hearing from you. Stay healthy! Gayle Paint What You Love is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid You're currently a free subscriber to Paint What You Love. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2026 Gayle Kabaker 13 NORMAN RD, Ashfield MA 01330 Unsubscribe