My Watercolor Year

...a year of painting with YOU, plus DIY ice luminaries and Hanukkah party scenes

Hi friends,

As I look back on the year, I’m grateful to have shared my love of watercolor with so many people. This is my 6th book tour and somehow when writing the book I didn’t think about how I’d get to paint in person with so many people while sharing it! My events sold out and I was amazed by how many of you were willing to try watercolor. Thank you to everyone who joined me across the country and thank you to everyone who has bought and shared The Watercolor Feast!

One of my painting class attendees commented that she felt ‘to make art was to be brave’, and I couldn’t agree more. It feels vulnerable to try something new, especially in front of other people. But making time for creativity in our busy, sometimes heavy and overwhelming world creates breathing space.

This week I was excited to be part of the 2026 By Design Summit where I was interviewed on the topic of creativity. Click here to watch the interview and hear a little of my story. We often don’t prioritize creativity, but I argue it’s time well-spent and can positively inform other areas of your life in ways you might not expect.

Here are a few of my favorite painting moments from 2025:

The morning of this watercolor class at the JCC in Palo Alto, I wasn’t sure how painting live with 100 people would go. But while on stage, I experienced my most moving moment of the book tour. As I looked out at this huge room FULL of people quietly painting together, I was reminded of how art can be pretty powerful! Especially when experienced in community.

I also enjoyed more intimate events where I could connect in person with individuals and small groups. This beautiful gathering was a brunch hosted by Gamble Garden in Palo Alto.

I got to paint with about 80 of you in the garden at the historic Filoli estate in Woodside, CA

This event at Harvey House in Madison, WI had the most beautiful touches of late summer produce, as well as delicious food and wine pairings.

I loved sharing my new book (and old books!) at my friend Dylah’s bookshop, Petals and Pages, in Denver

My favorite classes are the ones where we get to pick items on location to paint. That was the case at this dreamy class held at the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens.

Fun to paint with many of you during launch week in NYC, at Google HQ, in Central Park and at Flower Shop's storefront on the LES.

There were so many more events — thank you to everyone who hosted me, painted with me and those who even drove hours to join me! Thank you for being brave enough to try watercolor and for sharing my book. Keep painting!!

Hanukkah Highlights

This week we hosted a Hanukkah party and invited friends to bring their menorahs over to light together. We quickly realized there was not enough space for all of them on our windowsills so we moved to the front porch. This Hanukkah got off to a dark start, so the idea of spreading our light beyond the windows and out toward the street felt impactful.

Since it warmed up to a whopping 37°F, we could also more easily be outside. We made a fire pit with a round bench out of snow so we could warm up and enjoy s’mores.

Fun to use my Red Dahlia Tablecloth

We’ve had some very cold days here recently so Ezra and I decided to make some ice luminaries to line our walkway. They are surprisingly simple to make!

Ice Luminary How-To

1. Fill a 2-gallon pail with water. We found this to be a perfect size, but I think you could go bigger or smaller! We also made a few in my Le Creuset Dutch oven which has a seamless interior (hot tip: pots with little screw knobs on the inside where the handle is attached will block your ice from coming out easily.)

2. Set the pail outside overnight (temps must be below freezing). It was often below 10°F here, and ours took about 12 hours.

3. The water freezes around the perimeter of the pail first, and the top layer of water freezes faster than the bottom. So after 12+ hours, flip the pail upside down, crack the thin bottom layer if necessary, dump the water out and place a candle inside! See a video of me doing this here:

Ice luminary magic! Next year maybe I’ll add dried flowers and leaves to the ice.

Congrats to FF Supper Club member Laurie for winning the book giveaway! She’ll receive her signed copy soon. Click here to find a copy of The Watercolor Feast at a local bookstore near you to gift this holiday season.

One last note to say thank you to everyone who has become a paid subscriber. Your support makes this newsletter possible! Please feel free to reply to this email with any feedback or ideas for future content...things you want to see more of, etc. Thank you ALL for following along!

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I’ll be taking next week off for the winter break, so I look forward to connecting in January. Wishing all of you very Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!

xx

Erin

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