Why I Love Creating Seasonal Art
Finding Inspiration in the Seasons
I’ve always loved living in a place with four distinct seasons. There’s something so beautiful about transitioning to a different “new” multiple times a year, marking time by the cues of the natural world. Right now, I’ve moved from the sweltering heat of summer into cool winds and early autumn rains that carry the first drifting leaves.
I often say that whatever season I’m in is my favourite — though truthfully, fall and winter hold a special place in my heart. There’s a nostalgia to the –ember months that I can’t quite explain, except to say that I feel it deeply. Through my art, I get to capture and express that nostalgia, the quiet beauty and provision of each season, and the way God so faithfully turns winter into spring, summer into autumn, year after year.
Once, I used to feel stressed by the changing of seasons, as though time was running out and I hadn’t accomplished enough. But over time, my perspective has shifted from fear to faith.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
The seasons remind me not only of time passing, but of God’s perfect timing. My dreams, like the seasons, will unfold exactly when they’re meant to.
The Beauty of Paying Attention
Creating seasonal art has helped me notice the small, sacred details. One of my favourite gifts to myself was a year-long challenge of filling 12 sketchbooks — one for each month. When I flip through them now, I see when the first flowers bloomed, when the mallard ducklings appeared, when the leaves began to shift from green to ochre to crimson. Those pages are more than sketches; they’re a record of paying attention, of slowing down and marking time through beauty instead of through to-do lists.
Telling Stories Through the Seasons
Each piece of seasonal art tells a story. A bird on a bare branch isn’t just a bird — it’s the memory of resilient chickadees in winter, of scattering seed, of the first snowfall and the anticipation of Christmas. A blooming branch carries with it the joy of spring hillsides bursting into life, the promise of warmer days, and the invitation to breathe a little deeper. Seasonal art captures not just an image, but a feeling — the lived memory of a moment in time.
The Comfort of Nature’s Cycles
There’s deep comfort in the rhythm of nature. Each season arrives with its own reflection, renewal, and hope. To create with the seasons is to stay connected — to the earth, to time, and to God’s hand in all things. His promises are as steady as the turning of the year, and they anchor my work.
A Hint of What’s Next
While all of my art is rooted in creation and the Creator, I’m working on a project that leans especially into these seasonal themes — a love letter to the small moments that help us feel grounded where we are, and hopeful for what’s ahead. (More soon!)
An Invitation to Pause
Today, I invite you to pause and notice one small seasonal detail around you. Rejoice in it. Rejoice in all the parts in motion that brought that moment to you. Rejoice in the God who created this world for you. And as you move through the seasons of your own life, may you find beauty, faith, and hope waiting at every turn.
If you’d like to be the first to see my upcoming seasonal project, you can join my mailing list here.