Cherries, lemons and oranges

making fruit patterns to soothe my mind

Hi Friend,

At the beginning of last year, I made a list of personal and professional accomplishments from 2023, and also a list of goals for the new year. Normally I avoid the whole new year resolution schtick because I find it way too stressful, but it was already later in January so the pressure was off, and I was pleasantly surprised to find how easy it was to fill the page with big and small wins. It felt extremely nice to focus on those, instead of assuming that I had not done ENOUGH (whatever the f*&% that means).

You may have noticed that my newsletters started to taper off in the latter part of 2024, and despite feeling guilty, remorseful, and occasionally defiant, I just couldn’t seem to do more. When I sat down with my lists from last year and reviewed my goals, “Start my Substack” was at the top. And I did that, so yay!

There were also other goals, some of which I accomplished and some of which I completely forgot about. (Apparently it’s common practice to periodically check back in on your goals and also create steps to help you reach them, along with some kind of accountability? Who knew?! Okay, I did, but let’s not dwell on the past.)

Anyway, I’m creating my new lists and sending out 32 newsletters in 2024 is something I’m very proud of! Maybe I’ll do it again this year, we’ll see.

Tanya Madoff, Cherries on Turquoise (2025)

Tanya Madoff, Lemons on Magenta (2025)

Tanya Madoff, Oranges on Aqua (2025)

I was born in Los Angeles and lived there off and on for many years. My heart and thoughts are with everyone there dealing with the devastating fires.

In between repeatedly checking the news (admittedly a bad idea), I painted watercolor fruits. There’s something soothing about repeating the same shapes over and over again. And who cares if I started out painting peaches that look a lot more like oranges? Photorealism has not made it on any of my lists.

Hope you’re having a lovely day.

xo
Tanya