Just so you know, I am entering 2026 tired, exhausted and bewildered by 2025. 

Life lessons learned in 2025:
1. Everything is honestly, just stupid.
2. Being a human being, miraculous as it is, makes no sense whatsoever.
3. I actually don't "have" to make art if I don't want to make art.
4. Perfectionism and Anxiety are just trying to help me feel like I have some control of life. 
5. It's ok to take medicine if you need it. 
6. Life is ridiculous and I'm here to experience it.
7. I actually am getting old, and someday I'll be very old - if I don't die before then.
8. My body is my best friend. 
9. I won't be here forever. 
10. It's ok for me to say "I don't want to do that."
11. I CAN paint a good abstract painting.

There's probably some deep meaning of a theme running through all this, but I'm too tired to figure it out right now. 
What are some of your 2025 lessons learned, if you want to share? 

p.s. You can buy the above painting "What HAVE You Done?!" $200 Contact me to purchase. 

Dear 2025,
My mom says you are on your way out. I think that's a good thing, because I am a creature of compassion and empathy and for many times this year I have felt my mom feel not so happy about things that have happened during this time. I feel her sad, her mad, her confusion, her disbelief, her fear... Also her joy, silly, happy, funny and loving, but something about 2025 has been very upsetting to her. I don't like to feel her upset, so dear 2025, goodbye. 

Dear Next Year,
I hope you will nicer to my mom and all the other moms (and dads and other human beings, dogs, cats, crows and other creatures.)

Wishing you all the food, water, walks, snuggles and playtime and I hope that all the mean will disappear and be replaced by happy dogs and crunchy bones. 

With lots of love and licks, 
Dash #dashtheadorabledog

This is my first blog in three years. 
I decided to write a blog entry today because the world is so effed up in so many ways. I just want to be put out goodness to help counter-balance the badness. 

I'm tired of all the BS of complexity and the stories we make up. I've wanted to be an abstract painter forever, but I didn't think I knew how to do it. I kept this dream a secret in my heart. Eight weeks ago I confided my desire to paint abstracts to an artist friend and she said, "I think you should just paint an abstract every day..." So I started, and I have found a re-birth of my love for painting. As I've reflected on it, I looked back and realized that I have always painted abstracts but I always 'turned" them into images and stories because first of all, It's fun to do and it seemed important to do show people what I was seeing in the colors and marks. Secondly, I didn't give the abstracts or myself enough credit to let them stand alone. 

I woke up one morning recently and I heard a voice say, "No more stories." So, no more stories - I'm painting the movement and energy in my body, the emotions and colors I'm feeling and seeing. I am in the moment with the process and materials. It's the most playful  painting I've ever done consistently. 

I painted this painting in 2021 for my January 2022 show at Guardino Gallery, which was themed "Life, Death, Dogs". When the show came down I took the remaining paintings down and a few months later, I re-did them. Below you can see the makeover.

 At that time, I thought "Oh, this is how our puppy, Jake (who died when he was just 7 months old in 2020) came into our life: Tossed into my arms by the dog gods. After having to re-home our dog Ram, because of his reactivity toward Dash, I wasn't actively looking for another dog, but I told myself and my husband that if the Universe dropped a little, female  "Jake" dog in my lap, I would take her. And then, this happened...

Juli Bean came into this reality. The key words to take away from this story of manifestation: "... DO YOU DREAM DOGS?"

I'm fully immersed in stitching now, returning to my painting wall intermittently when I feel the need to make bigger arm movements, and my eyes and mind need to look outward. 
I'm finding inspiration in new textile artists I discover via Instagram and recommendations from other friends and artists. 

I'm finding my way by trying out different ideas to see what feels right for me, asking myself "What story do I want to tell and how can I use a needle and thread to tell it? Do I even want to tell a story?" I'm finding this kind of art to be a great way to explore and combine my love of texture, color, text and storytelling. I like that it doesn't make acrylic paint garbage that I have to deal with. 

I've gotten positive feedback on what I've been sharing via social media and even sold a couple of pieces through my studio. 

Right now, my days are largely filled with helping our new little rescue dog get settled, so one of the things I like about stitching is that I can do it in the evening while I watch TV with a cute little dog snuggled up on either side of me. It's great way to unwind and relax. I'm working on a piece now that is sort of a reflection on being the last of my family of origin, because my oldest brother died recently. Here's a detail of the piece below...

I'm starting to mend and darn now too, something that I haven't done for a long time. Here's a pic of some jeans I'm working on. Sort of feels like a denim canvas... I've also got a stack of woolen socks that need some darning attention... I think my evenings are full for the winter months.

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Follow me on Instagram @samyakyamauchi to see more stitchery!

Just finished having a big Studio Sale last weekend. Since I'm not a Portland Open Studios artist this year, I didn't know how it would go without the marketing and advertising support from that event. I worried, "Will anybody come? Will I sell anything?"  I have to say everything about it was perfect. Good attendance, lots of sales, nice people and the weather was exceptional!
Dash was his friendly, chill self - greeting guests appropriately and then lying down to enjoy the day. 

 From now on, I'm keeping all my paintings in the studio, so people can come to visit, enjoy and shop. Let me know if you want to come by.

I haven't spent much time in the studio this summer because I've mostly been stitching in my house. Now the studio is set up to be supportive of me taking the next step in my creative/art life: a new journey into mixed-media making with painting, dyeing, stitching, and text. I am ready for something new to take shape. WIP below...

Stay tuned for updates!