For March, we say hello to spring and to painter/Army-spouse Vanessa Osmon. Mil-spouses are no strangers to change, and that change can sometimes make us reluctant to start new projects, but Vanessa found a way to embrace that change and upheaval and turn it into an artistic project.

When asked to give an update on my past year, the word reminisce comes to mind - and all of the past years seemed to gather into this one.

Wow, I can't believe it is time for my anniversary interview with the MilspoFAN blog, and so much has happened in just a year! Since my last post, I have landed an art teaching gig as a guest artist for the Anne Arundel Public Schools Art Magnet program- Apex Arts. But it was totally by accident …

Sometimes location and life situation determines the medium along with the inspiration. Artist/mil-spouse Devon Wigle teaches us that when your usual resources and/or conveniences aren't available, you can still make art, just in a different way.

This year, like every year, has been incredibly busy but in a different way. I have reached a different level in my art business. I have established my name and my reputation; I have a steady base of collectors that garner my time.  I’ve been invited by the British school here at SHAPE to teach art lessons.  I’m the SHAPE Performing Art Center resident artist.  Painting theater stages is new to me. Trust me, painting wood to look like wood is more challenging than one would think.

I am navigating my new job as a guest artist/social media person for the Anne Arundel Public School System arts magnet program. I'm still learning all the ins and outs of this job, but I finally feel I have found my ideal position! I'm also riding high after landing an art show through Annapolis Arts Alliance and Art in Public Places in Annapolis.

Called by nature, love, and art,  nature and wildlife artist Brittany Montour exemplifies bravely following your own heart. Where does it lead? To joy, beauty, and adventure, of course!

Army spouse and mixed-media artist Beth Robson celebrates inspiring women in her art and takes us on a journey of the pitfalls and friendships of overseas duty in her interview.

Jennifer Geletzke talks layers with us- layers of life, landscape, faith, and artistic media - blending, diverging, calling. If you've felt the call to create, even after a pause, Jennifer has inspiring work and words of wisdom to share.

With all of these changes, I found it to be very difficult to begin my art again and I soon realized that maybe this time in my life wasn't about producing, but more about reflecting. I knew that I also needed to create to keep me grounded. 

When the pandemic struck, my entire world turned upside down. At first, it was difficult to adjust to the "new normal.” I had to learn how to make the best of my current situation at home with my entire family—and master the challenge of homeschooling three children with very different needs.

Artist/Coast Guard spouse Erica Hunter's take-your-dreams-by-the-reins-and-enjoy-the-ride attitude is exactly what we all need right now as we go into the summer. If there's an art genre you've been anxious to try, toss aside those hesitations and go for it.

"When COVID-19 abruptly upended our lives last year, it separated us from the routine and events that usually root our lives in time — work, school, dates, social outings, sports events, ceremonies, travel, the things we plan for and look forward to. Life tends to be a blur without those anchors," Ruth Ogden concluded after studying people's perceptions of time during lockdown. I can totally relate to those findings, yet despite all of the blurred lines, I've had a few tangible successes in my art career this year.

I mentioned that I started my career as an artist just as Covid-19 shut everything down. I was pretty optimistic despite the uncertainty, but shortly after the article was published, it was like someone hit the pause button. I found out a museum exhibition I’d been accepted into was put on hold. Opportunities were slim and I felt like I was sort of coasting along in limbo. For a short time, I did consider setting aside my work. I’m not even sure what triggered it, but one day, I made the conscious decision to go all in and made a plan.

I left you last January, with talk of hopes and dreams, of new art ventures to come and experiences with travel inspirations, that I looked forward to during our stay in South Korea, at Camp Humphreys. Little did I know that right around the corner, was a storm approaching that would change my plans tremendously!

German poet Christian Morgenstern’s poem “The Seagulls” begins “seagulls look as though their name were Emma.” It makes our world sound so simple, everything in nature is as it is, in place and together. The artist, however, dissects her world, sees patterns, colors, sometimes multiple colors in a single moss-covered rock in the forest. Which leads to the question, are all forests the same? And is nature really that simple?

Like many of us, Army spouse and painter Melissa Hedges is finding her new normal in a time with closed galleries. She not letting the restricted access to showings stop her from creating, though. Melissa is setting goals and keeping positive.

Hello from Camp Humphreys, South Korea!!Last year, at this time, I was planning my "Coastal" art show, from MacDill AFB, in Tampa, Florida. The show took place last March and was a huge success! The paintings were inspired by the tropical beach environment of the gulf coast. It was a wonderful opportunity to gather one last time, to say goodbye to my friends in Florida, before our PCS to Korea, and to share my love of art.I arrived in Korea this past summer with my husband, two teen daughters and our chocolate lab.

Painter and Air Force spouse Atalante Shay discusses art's therapeutic nature as she looks forward to exploring new mediums. Here at MislpoFAN, we're cheering her on as she ventures into children's literature.

Army spouse Christy Tremblay’s mixed-media art is the perfect metaphor for a multi-textured, multi-layered military life. As mil-spouses, we often don’t know where life is taking us next as we evolve with each new place and experience, and all of those unexpected places and experiences become layers that shape us into the people we never knew we could be. There is beauty in all that layering and evolution, in the unforeseen and in adaptation. Christy Tremblay’s unexpected journeys leads us to magical gardens and dream-like landscapes; they are places that celebrate.