A new beginning, Lifting the spirit

My long-term position in the Art Department of a local newspaper ended abruptly in 2008. The east coast building trade was compromised as well and Nick’s opportunities were dwindling. Our savings and our livelihoods were seriously threatened.

The truth is, we bottomed out. We had held on as long as we could, but the future did not look good.

growth and challenge

When faced with challenges and disappointment, what do you do? Above all, you hold your loved ones close, and dig deeper into your inner resources. Over time, we felt the lift of momentum, a blush of something new.

When my work opportunities dimmed, I crammed and studied web design. I transferred my print-based skills into web applications. As we looked for a new creative direction, Nick and I brainstormed an integration of our skills. The idea of a website emerged. This site would offer a combination of practical home design ideas, holistic philosophy, and lots of imagery, maybe poetry… who knew where this might lead?

Suddenly, Nick’s pen flew across the page in his flowing, handwritten style. I typed the first drafts and we edited. We dove deeply into our treasures trove of photographs, sifting, and sorting to hone a new concept. As Nick wrote essays, I created visuals to illustrate the ideas.

My first venture into the world of WordPress was a website called TheHealingHome.me. While this site was retired in 2021, there are many rich articles and ideas that will be republished again in a new format.

A few years later as our work evolved, I built a second variation called HealingHomeDESIGNS.me. In this new template, I went deeper into a visual format with fewer words to portray the concepts.

infuse it with light

Across all disciplines, the foundations of home design are based on balance, proportion, color, and utility. Discovering the optimal blend of these characteristics creates a harmonic that is tangible, an ephemeral and sought-after ‘value-added’ essence. These ideas apply to web design as well. I always aim to take a design project one step beyond – to infuse it with light.

Throughout rough times, we, as a family, have always managed to carve out time for rest and reconnection. The banner image captures one of those times, our children hold hands walking a path on Block Island.