Opening the doors to my downtown art studio/shop

Embracing a summer of IRL goodness 🌞

Summer is in full bloom—can you feel it? This week, giggles and squeals have found their way through our open windows from the neighborhood park as summer camps celebrate their kickoff week. The other night, the town had to open the fire hydrants to flush out the water system and I took a walk to drink in the delight of toddlers and pups splashing in the gushing streams. I’m heading to the river for a quick dip and a picnic of strawberries and sugar snap peas right after I send this newsletter.

It can be tough to carve out moments of rest and laziness in the midst of the busy summer season, but we all deserve to feel the warmth on our skin and tickly coolness of grass between our toes and the perfect sourness of fresh citrus on our lips. I hope you’re able to make time for some of those small joys this month, too.

Today, I wanted to share some updates from my neck of the woods.

My little storefront is ready for visitors!

I’m having a small ribbon cutting and studio open house this coming Sunday from 12-4pm. Feel free to stop by for macarons from the bakery down the street and a tour of my new space! The ribbon cutting will be held at 1pm, if you’d like to join for that special moment and squeeze into the group picture. The address is 212 Davis Ave. Elkins, WV.

This past month, I’ve spent my days preparing to open by spackling, cleaning windows, replacing lightbulbs, painting murals, meeting fellow downtown shopkeepers, framing, price-tagging, decorating, planting flowers, and so much more. Although it’s been a lot of work, it’s been refreshing to step away from my desk and feel more embodied throughout my day. Instead of feeling like I desperately need to stretch and go for a jog after sitting for a full workday, I now come home and collapse on the couch after having been on my feet all day. I’m grateful for this season of thinking and working in a new way.

And I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on with all of you! Since this is my primary working studio now, Meander will be open by appointment and while I’m there working on projects. Feel free to email me (3+ days in advance) if you are traveling to Elkins and would like to set up a time to see the studio. Otherwise, I’ll have my big ART→ sign out on the street to let folks know when they can meander on in.

Left: Mural in progress! Right: The homemade doughnut shop on my street brought me free doughnuts 🥲

RECOMPOSITION opens tonight

Our 4-person show RECOMPOSITION opens on Friday, June 13th from 5-7pm at the Randolph County Arts Center in Elkins. We’ve been busy installing the show this week and it’s been delightful to see all our upcycled creations come together. Note that the dress code highly encourages ABC fashion (Anything But Clothes), which means that if you’ve been itching to make a dress out of a plastic tablecloth or a headband out of newspapers, this is your time to shine.

The fabulous RECOMPOSITION COLLECTIVE: Wilhelmina McWhorter, Nevada Tribble, Domenica Queen, and me.

Good times in Asheville

At the end of May, I headed down to Asheville for the opening of my Tiny Worlds show at the North Carolina Arboretum. We had such a lovely crowd for my talk and I enjoyed chatting with old and new Southern Appalachian friends about our shared fondness for treasures like pink lady’s slippers and trillium. The show will be on display through September 7th and most of the original paintings are for sale. You can view the catalog of available original works here. Please note that all purchased art will need to remain in the show until it closes in September. If you’re in the West Virginia area, I’d be happy to coordinate a local pickup at my storefront in Elkins this fall so you can avoid shipping costs.

Mountain laurels in all their glory while hiking in Montreat, NC

The NC Arboretum is the third stop for this traveling exhibition. Pittsburgh Botanic Garden in 2026 is the fourth and final destination.

Left: I was so excited to see this cool sign for my exhibit as you enter the Arboretum! Right: The book talk crowd—thanks for all your lovely questions :)

Introducing the Market Tote

New product alert! Meet my Appalachian Wildflowers Market Tote, perfect for farmer's market Saturdays, trips to the library, and coffee shop adventures with art supplies in tow. The bag is printed on durable organic cotton with my original watercolor art that features 8 spring ephemeral wildflowers found in the Appalachian Mountains.

My first time printing my artwork on fabric! I love how vividly the watercolor details showed up on this surface.

Thanks for sticking around, friends. I’ll be in touch next month!

-Rosalie