Tandem For Two

Tandem For Two Fun gifts that celebrate where you live & where life takes you. They include our favorite things to do, local foods we love, and places not to miss!

Locally designed bucket list gifts include all the fun things we love about our towns and our state! Pillows and home accessories, stationery, drinkware, and totes make lovely gifts.

June in Michigan has its own color palette, and I cannot seem to get enough of it. The farmers' market is full, the gard...
06/17/2026

June in Michigan has its own color palette, and I cannot seem to get enough of it. The farmers' market is full, the gardens are going, and summer is just getting started. This painting came out of all of that. The pinks and reds and blues that make June look like June. If you have spent a summer in a Michigan beach town, you already know what I mean. Share this one with someone who needs a smile!

We tend to remember the bigger moments, but it is the regular evenings that build the overall feeling of it. For me, tha...
06/17/2026

We tend to remember the bigger moments, but it is the regular evenings that build the overall feeling of it. For me, that is what summer brings.

Not a complete change, but a shift in how the everyday feels. And that is pretty wonderful.

Read for more evening ideas at
https://tandemfortwo.com/blogs/news/evenings-i-look-forward-to

06/16/2026

The cherry painting I posted this week started pretty simple. Pink canvas, rough shapes, and the usual amount of wondering if it was going to work out. It always reaches a point in the middle where I am not sure, and then something clicks and I cannot paint fast enough. That is the part I love most about the process, even when it does not feel great in the moment. Tell me in the comments: do you have a color combination you keep coming back to? Mine is obviously pink and red and blue right now!

I've always been the person who buys art for my walls. Then I painted something for my own home, and I haven't quite loo...
06/15/2026

I've always been the person who buys art for my walls. Then I painted something for my own home, and I haven't quite looked at my house the same way since.

I didn't know if it would work out. That was kind of the whole point.

There's something about making a thing and living with it every day, seeing your own wonky lines hanging on your own wall, that quietly changes what you think you're allowed to try next.

Swipe through and tell me in the comments: what's the thing you've been putting off trying?

06/12/2026

There’s a version of creativity that looks like waiting for inspiration to arrive before you start. That’s not how mine works. Most of the time I sit down at the worktable because it’s Tuesday and it’s what I do on Tuesday. The painting comes from the showing up, not the other way around. I don’t always know what I’m going to make before I start. I almost never feel ready. But somewhere between picking up the brush and whatever happens next, something usually clicks. That’s the whole practice. Show up. Figure it out. Show up again tomorrow. Save this for the next ordinary morning when you need a reason to start.

The analytical brain never went away when I became an artist. It just found different problems to solve. A fern, it turn...
06/11/2026

The analytical brain never went away when I became an artist. It just found different problems to solve. A fern, it turns out, is basically a math problem on canvas — same shape, scaled down, branching in a pattern that repeats with just enough variation to keep it interesting. I find that genuinely satisfying in the same way I used to find a solved equation satisfying. If you have a practical brain and keep telling yourself you're not the creative type, I'd push back on that pretty hard. Pull up a chair. Tell me in the comments — what kind of brain are you working with? Engineer, scientist, accountant, teacher? I want to know who else figured out they were also an artist, later than expected.

The lily pad painting started as a bunch of overlapping pencil circles on a piece of paper. That is usually how it goes....
06/10/2026

The lily pad painting started as a bunch of overlapping pencil circles on a piece of paper. That is usually how it goes. You rough out the shapes, do a small study to work out the color, then commit to the full thing. I always used to be scared of drawing - I could never get what I pictured in my head the right way on the paper. Then I (finally!) realized there is no right way! The pencil sketch is now one of my favorite parts of any painting because it looks messy enough that nothing has been wasted yet. Everything is still possible. Did you find the tiny pink lily bud just waiting to bloom?

Save this one for when you need a little summer peace on the pond!

Not every painting has a destination. Some of them are just for the joy of putting paint on paper and seeing what happen...
06/09/2026

Not every painting has a destination. Some of them are just for the joy of putting paint on paper and seeing what happens. This is one of those. Rose and mustard and olive. A lot of circles and I cannot explain why it works but it does. I love it. Now I need to painting on a bigger canvas and hang it in my home. Have you made something lately just because you wanted to? No plan, no product, no reason except that it sounded like fun?

06/08/2026

My backyard is doing something magical right now and I cannot stop going outside to look at it. The wisteria is blooming and the ferns are unfurling and the whole thing snuck up on me because this season started off is cold. This is the part of the year that makes me want to slow down and just pay attention. Not everything needs to be rushed or produced or turned into something. Sometimes it is enough to just go outside and soak it all in. I hope wherever you are, something is blooming too.

Save this for a slow morning!

06/05/2026

If you are waiting until you feel ready to start something creative, I want to let you know the feeling does not always come first. Sometimes you just start and readiness shows up somewhere in the middle. I started painting later than I thought I was allowed to in life. No formal training, no grand plan. Wonky lines and all. Just a persistent curiosity and a willingness to figure it out as I went. If there is something you keep meaning to try, this is your nudge. The worktable will be there whenever you decide to sit down at it.

Tell me in the comments: what are you figuring out right now?

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