As we move into Gemini season, I am finally coming up for air after one of the most consuming and energizing stretches I have had in a long time. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication, ideas, and movement, and the energy right now is buzzy and airy and fast in the best possible way. A lot of astrologers have been saying that this year of the fire horse would move quickly but that we would have an unusual capacity to pivot, evolve, and shift the way we think and learn. I feel that. After a year of the snake that brought full burnout and ultimately a year off, this year could not feel more different. I am taking on more, moving faster, and somehow feeling more grounded in the middle of all of it. You really cannot ignore the astrology of it all.

The Goddess Eris

It is fittingly named after the Greek goddess of discord and strife, given the debate its discovery sparked. Feel appropriate?

If you have been wondering where I have been, the honest answer is: on a job site. When I am in the middle of a big installation, I am fully in it. Every thought, every hour, every ounce of energy goes to that project until it is done. I am still figuring out how to balance that, how to stay present in all the other parts of my life while a space is coming together. I do not have the answer yet, but I am paying attention to it, and I think that counts for something.

The project that consumed me this spring was a behavioral health space, two waiting rooms and two therapy rooms, and I am so proud of how it turned out. These are spaces where people arrive scared, overwhelmed, sometimes in crisis, and making sure the project is executed exactly the way I envisioned it, the way I conjured it up from the very beginning, is something I take deeply seriously. The space came out beautifully and I am currently working with a photographer to capture it properly before I share the full reveal. But I had to give you a progress shot, because I just could not wait.

In between all of that, I made it to High Point Market, and honestly it was magic.

I did live portraits at Market, and the response was something I was not fully prepared for. But what surprised me even more was what happens to me personally in those moments, when I am sitting across from a stranger and looking into their eyes and sketching their face. Something shifts inside me that I can only describe as a dissolving of the usual distance between two people who do not know each other, and suddenly we are sharing this quiet and unexpectedly intimate moment together while I draw them. I have had the most beautiful unplanned conversations that way, and there is something about being drawn that makes people open up in a way I did not anticipate, and something about the act of drawing that makes me open up too. It is the opposite of everything digital and everything transactional, and it is as human as human connection gets. I am honestly still processing how much I love it, and I genuinely see myself leaning into live portraiture at future markets for the foreseeable future.

I have been following up with vendors ever since Market, and there are some really exciting conversations happening around getting my art line picked up through wholesale. My PR team has been incredible in pushing these activations forward, and it is starting to feel like all the pieces are genuinely connecting.

I also just completed a set of teacup drawings that will be sold at an upcoming event, with a portion of the proceeds going to St. Jude. That one is close to my heart.

Now, I have to tell you something that I have been wanting for a long time. I have wanted a high-end dermatology project for years, and I finally got my wish. I am officially working with Metrolina Dermatology in Charlotte, a gorgeous high-end practice with a beautifully refined aesthetic, and I am designing three waiting rooms within their space. I am also in the early stages of a couple of new med spa concepts on the commercial side of the business, and these projects feel really aligned with where I am headed creatively and professionally.

I have been working on some new color palette presentations for the Metrolina project, and the formatting I am developing is looking really beautiful. I will be sharing those visuals here and on Instagram soon, because the palette work alone tells a whole story.

And then there is the studio.

After everything that has been happening, I made a decision to prioritize myself for a moment and give my studio a refresh. I painted one wall black and the rest a deep, moody purple. It is not fully complete yet, but I already feel different in there. More intentional. More alive. More ready to make things.

I say this to my commercial design clients all the time, and I genuinely believe it with everything I have: the spaces we inhabit change the way we work. They change the way we feel about ourselves and what we are capable of creating. I see it in every project I take on, and yet somehow I had let my own studio sit without that same level of intentionality for too long. Walking in there now, even mid-progress, I already want to paint more. I already feel the shift. Here are a few progress shots.

More soon. Follow along on Instagram @blackwellandjennings for real-time updates as the Charlotte project unfolds, the studio comes together, and everything else that is coming.

Heather XO

The Studio Journal: Installations, Live Portraits & What's Coming Next

Slow Living