A calendar grid for April is filled with little sketches for each day. There are scenes of mountains, pets, plants and people, whatever seemed best to represent what happened that day.

April 2026 calendar doodles. So much crazy bad out in the world it’s hard to breathe. Really trying to see and appreciate what I have here and now. #artbeco #gratitudejournal #uplift

A person wearing a woolly sweater looks down at a black cat on her lap. The cat is looking at us with a rather smug side-eye.

I wonder when, if ever, she’s been on a lap before. Our wild little rescue kitty (was going to be put down as unhandle-able) came onto my lap today, purring and very happy to be petted, for over an hour. It’s been about 3 weeks since we adopted her. #artbeco #rescuecat #purring

I’m wearing a dark red knitted hat, holding up a blue and yellow cloth flag that says ‘choose love’, with various no kings protesters in the background.

We went to 2 ‘No Kings’ protest gatherings today: a street gathering in Snohomish, and Everett’s much more formal one, with speakers and such. So many awesome signs and people. Lots of honking and support. #artbeco #nokingsprotest #penzeys

Socialization of our rescue kitty Rogue is going well. She couldn’t be handled at all by the shelter and was ‘unadoptable’. She’s settled in well so far and we’re slowly socializing her to the other pets as well as us. #artbeco #rescuecat #uplift

A woman with glasses looks at a black cat on her lap, who is looking up at her. Both are smiling slightly, though you can’t tell the cat is because her head is facing away from you. Trust me, she is smiling.

A lovely little bit of time with Mai, our oldest and most dignified Empress cat. She saw my knitting on my lap and hurried over for some uninterrupted lap time and petting. I feel honored; she doesn’t do that often. #artbeco #blackcats #uplift

A black cat lays on her back on a rug, looking at us. She has a white spot on her chest.

Well, the Cat Distribution System can be quite insistent. This little nugget is back with us, after a week in the shelter. Labeled unadoptable, we took her back. We’ll be socializing her gradually. Previous owner was unreachable by vet or shelter, so she is now ours. Goes by Rogue. #artbeco #rescue

A colander grid for January is filled with colorful little drawings for each day- events, pets, plants, etc.

January has flown. It’s been filled with good news for our family, along with lots of protesting the horrific news in the country. Here’s hoping February brings better news nationally. #artbeco #gratitude #uplift

We look at river water and a trestle bridge above. Through the underside of the bridge, we can see mountains and trees on the far bank. It’s cloudy and winter colors everything.

The river has gone back to more normal levels a few weeks after all the flooding here. There’s lots of debris stuck in high branches of the trees from where the flood waters were; where we are standing here was under water by at least 15 feet at the height of flooding. #artbeco #snohomish

Nine years ago I drew this in my sketchbook. I thought it was bad then… How much more frightening and awful things would become in this timeline is hard to believe, but we are in it. I keep hoping we can pull up out of this nightmare. #artbeco #resist #protest

A dark night sky shows Orion above some dark trees and a white fence lit with warm light.

If you look closely you can see Orion’s Belt above the trees. My favorite constellation. If I can see the night sky, I can find some peace and stability in my heart even in crazy times like these. #artbeco #uplift

Sunday’s Anti-Ice protest in front of the Everett Home Depot, in WA. The protesters went down the street for about a quarter mile. We talked to police officers there; they said they couldn’t take sides but were there to protect the protesters. #artbeco #antiiceprotest #resist

A man wearing a knitted frog hat holds 2 signs: “Dystopian fiction is not a how-to guide” and “We must stop this lying murderous corrupt regime. It’s up to us”. He’s on a street corner and other protesters are in the background.

We went to the regular Friday protest yesterday, going to another impromptu protest tomorrow. I made some new signs. It all seems woefully inadequate, but it’s something. #artbeco #protests

A white sketchbook page has rough pencil sketches of a short legged black and white corgi, and a black cat in various positions, drawn from life quickly.

Watched CBS news for the first time in awhile and it really made me mad, it was so biased, and not in a good way. Turned it off and started just drawing the pets to get some mental balance. It helped. #artbeco #sketchbook #pencildrawing

2025; a year's worth of tiny calendar doodles, one for each day with tiny drawings and images of fun and mundane things that marked my days. Pets, people, events, places.

I made a year's group of my monthly calendar doodles. There's lots of ink doodles, some washi tape, some pencil etc. in there. I started doing these a few years ago as a way to see something good in each day. Seems to work for me. #artbeco #calendardoodles #gratitudejournal #uplift

Gratitude journal calendar sketches for December 2025. A calendar grid has little color drawings in each day, with things like people, food, places, pets, etc. to mark something for each day that makes life a bit better.

December 2025. Last gratitude calendar of this past year. I’ll try to make a collection of all 12 together just to see what they look like together. It’s been… quite a year, hasn’t it? #artbeco #gratitudejournal #uplift

A green field in front of a farm, snowy mountains are in the background.

The mountains have more snow and some of the floodwaters are receding. The sun was out briefly! It’s raining again now, but sun was a nice break. #artbeco #snohomish

An ink and colored pencil drawing of candles is surrounded by a handwritten journal entry describing local flooding in our area.

Last Thursday we were about the last people to drive on Marsh road (most other roads already flooded.) We drove through maybe a foot of water. Hours later the whole valley was flooded and the road vanished. The first fatality of all the WA flooding was found there this morning. #artbeco #snohomish

The trestle bridge tonight with the Snohomish River at high flood levels: only a foot below the all-time high water ever measured. The water level is almost all the way up to the bridge itself.

The trestle bridge over the Snohomish River at more normal levels.

Whelp. Flooding is definitely happening in Snohomish; multiple roads closed in and out of town, fields flooded, Our house is on a high ridge so we are fine, but so many others are not. #artbeco #snohomishflooding

A calendar grid for November is filled with tiny images mostly drawn with colored inks, some washi tapes. Each day has an image for something special on that day, like fog in trees, leaves, pets, people.

Well that’s crazy. November is gone. Whipped by in a blur, marked by doing things with family, prepping for winter, all that. Hope your month was good too, and the coming one is even better! #artbeco #novembergratitude #uplift

Raindrops on a windshield are between us and a blurry view of an old train trestle bridge going over a river on this cold wet rainy day.

Today calls for a warm dry sweater, a good book or some knitting, and a hot mug of something- your choice. #artbeco #snohomishriver #rainyday #uplift

A pastel landscape with brown field in foreground, white bird shapes on the ground. Trees in the mid ground are green and orange, in fall colors. Blue mountains are in the background. Several white birds fly in the cloudy sky.

A messy pastel drawing from a bit ago; it’s to catch a memory moment, just a quick rough. The trumpeter swans and snow geese are here and passing through. I love seeing them. #artbeco #pastelsketch #uplift

A pencil drawing I did based on a photo of my dad, Jim Gladney, taken shortly after he got home from WWII. He has dark hair and eyes, is wearing a suit and tie, and is looking off to his left.

My dad in a photo taken by me around 1990, I think. He looks kind of craggy, maybe grumpy, with white hair and a mustache, wearing a tan blazer and a blue shirt.

A black and white phot taken during WWII in the Pacific, from the deck of the baby flattop my dad served on (the USS Kitkun Bay). It shows a kamikaze fighter diving in flames towards the deck of a nearby flattop ship. You can see airplanes with folded wings on the deck of the ship we are standing on in the foreground., and smoke is in the air nearby. I found this photo in my dad's papers that he kept through the years in his briefcase, and also saw the same photo later posted in a display at the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

Today is Veteran's Day. I'm choosing to remember my dad, who served in the Pacific during WWII. He survived action in Leyte Gulf, among other places, and came back to the states missing part of his lung, a rib, and with other damage as well. (cont. in comments.) #artbeco #veteransday

Driving down a 2 lane highway with big trees on either side, and huge puffy clouds in the sky ahead of us.

Looking down at the river, with a line of orange-leafed trees lining the far bank, and the reflection of the trees in the water.

Driving down a two lane road, with yellow leafed trees glowing on the side of the road.

The sun was out today! It was beautiful driving around. The leaves won’t last much longer but for right now the colors are pretty glorious. #artbeco #uplift #snohomish

Railroad trestle bridge crosses over the Snohomish River. The water is high but calm and the trees are showing golden colors.

The Cascades are blue, with some snow on their spiky peaks, as we drive by a fallow field.

Water levels at the rivers are high with all the recent rain. The snow geese have appeared, landing in nearby open fields. I’m not sure if they’ll winter here are continue south, but they’ll be here a few weeks at least. #artbeco #snohomish #uplift

A forest path leads us into the woods with bright yellow leaves in the foreground.

A black and white corgi mix dog looks back at us reproachfully. She’s wearing a rainbow colored harness with a pink leash that says ‘aren’t you a little short for stormtrooper?’ on it.

Rainy day walk in the woods with Amalthea the dog. She wasn’t a big fan of the rain and tried to turn back three times along our walk. After the third try I gave in, after all I had boots and a raincoat, she didn’t. #artbeco #uplift

A calendar grid for the month of October is filled with tiny drawings for each day, celebrating small things like pets, a costume, a pumpkin, swimming, plants.

The month of October has gone by. The leaves turned, and with storms most of them are already gone- might be a harsher winter coming. Small good things help keep me sane despite the state of the country. #artbeco #gratitudejournal #uplift

Pencil sketch of Elizabeth Warren. She’s looking thoughtfully off to the right side, her hand held slightly in front of her face.

Quick sketch/study of Elizabeth Warren. I’m choosing to focus on positives, and to me, she’s a force for good. She keeps trying, speaking up, trying to protect regular folks. Plain old pencil on paper. #artbeco #persist #elizabethwarren #sketchbook #resist

A brown ink wash portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt. She has a big toothy grin and is looking off to the right, wearing understated pearls on a dark top.

The heartbreaking destruction of the East Wing of the White House made me find my portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, a smart, gracious person who made the East Wing where First Ladies had their offices. May we rise beyond these monsters trying to destroy everything. #artbeco #artsky #uplift #resist

A calendar page for September 2025 with small drawings filling the days- flowers, animals, things to be grateful for and enjoyed.

September. What a crazy month. I swam just under 15 miles this month, raised over $300 for the American Cancer Society.
Reached out to the local art community and went to a life drawing session, went on art studios walkabout and met a bunch of cool local artists. #artbeco #gratitudejournal #uplift

Ink sketches in a sketchbook of brown bears in streams, hunting for salmon. Or just sitting around, looking bear-ish.

Sketchbook sketches from the live cams of the bears hunting salmon in Katmai National Park. It's Fat Bear Week! I watched one fellow catch a salmon, eat it, catch another and eat it very casually in the span of less than 5 minutes. He made it look easy. #artbeco #fatbearweek #sketchbook #ink #uplift