Seascapes at the Train Depot Washington, MO!

Swimmin with the Jellies, watercolor on paper, 2026

I’m in a show! Come to Washington, MO to the Art Gallery in the Train Depot. I recently joined the Mid-Missouri Fine Arts Society who frequently sponsors exhibitions in this gallery. The theme of the show is Seascapes. “Swimmin with the Jellies” is on exhibit until August 7th, 2026. Should I make it a print?

This year features a people’s choice award, so come on by to vote for your favorite! There is a lot of good work made by lovely artists. I would appreciate it if you would stop by and enjoy all our hard work!

 

Rohe Nichols Art Studio LLC

Ahem, you may have noticed I have the LLC behind the logo now! Yes, I have registered myself as an official art business. HOORAY!! 🥳🎉🎊

I have a few more things to do for official registration, but I do have that now. This is like business model number 5? I think? I have done previous iterations of my business idea. I had Floral Brushstrokes which focused on a tole painting method developed by Donna Dewberry called One Stroke Painting. I still use some of the methods. I painted on wooden storage boxes, mailboxes, folders, walls, and faces. It didn’t make it past high school.

Next was Valhalla Art Studios LLC started after college. That one did make it to an LLC but was flagshipped off another company and I didn’t like that in the end. That was a photography specific business. Never get into business with someone that controls more of the company than you do, it’s a trap.

I had a couple other ideas called Earth Fire Arts that focused on bookbinding and fire performance. Another idea was Dragon’s Gaze Fire Troupe. This was a fire performance group that did a few shows in St. Louis, MO for about 6 months before the infighting imploded it. Don’t get into business with friends before being sure all your goals align. That one hurt the most.😢

Fyrebyrd Flow Arts was an idea at the time that only made it to the business cards. I was going to do a flow arts dance studio. Ya’ll I don’t know the first thing about a dance based company. I wanted to bring the joy of dancing with poi, staff, and fans to other people.

So, a lot of learning my way forward. This time it’s just me in charge. I’m going to be focusing on creating works of art, teaching the Paint from Your Soul method to groups of women for empowerment, and leaning into creating more connection. We need more connection in a world growing more disconnected. I want to grow that.

Keep a watch out for my classes! I will be choosing times for the 8 week courses soon and booking them to Eventbrite. I look forward to meeting you soon! 😊

So Much happening!

Photo op!

Hello friends!

I am writing to you on a Windstar bus coming back from a company trip to Bentonville, AR for Associates Week at, you guessed it, Walmart! I was selected from my home store in Washington, MO to represent the store along with 3,000 other associates from around the globe 19 countries in all. Wow, ya’ll. It was a very busy week that included so much smiling, clapping, Wal~Mart Cheers, and so many free drinks! Ya’ll I could float home on the amount of drinks vendors insisted we absolutely needed. The kindness, the welcomeness, and the immersion into Wal-Mart culture was truly an experience I will remember. The challenge was to bring that culture back home, that energy, and the ethos behind the founding of the company. I’m not a loud person, but I will give it my best shot. :)

I have a family history in Wal-Mart. My aunt started when they were still doing accounting onsite, doing the books everyday. My mom celebrated the community’s birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, holidays, and special occasions with the required cake, cupcakes, or cookie cake. She wished everyone well for 32 years slinging icing with her team in the bakery before retiring. She is still infamous today with her work ethic, tenacity, craft, and customer first approach to every order for a beautiful, delicious cake.

My job with WalMart is as an Optician. Optical Technician is what it’s short for. I fit people for glasses, interpret prescriptions, assist the doctor in paperwork, pretesting, and triage. My job is to help people feel better about their primary method of seeing the world through education, kindness, and prices that won’t feel like I’m selling them a new car. For some, I introduce them to their first set of glasses and teach new contact wearers how to put them in and take them out. I never thought I would fall into optical until my future boss came to me one day and asked if I would be open to learning a craft. Here I am 7 years later still learning and working miracles.

But, Jo, this is an art page. Right!? I am doing both like a crazy person. I’ve been putting art off, but also keeping it with me my whole life. I came into Optical with a tremendous amount of social anxiety. Like, I had to go breathe after doing a 7 minute pretest or ordering someone’s glasses. I am fortunate enough to have a team that has built my security over the years, gave me a support system, had my back, and grew my confidence so I could overcome most of that anxiety. I feel comfortable stepping into an entrepreneurial role and re-exploring the possibility of where my art can take me. Creativity is at the heart of everything I do. I need it to live and breathe. I need it to protect my mental health. It is part of me as my fingers and toes.

I’m a recovering perfectionist ya’ll. I hear it is a product of reaching my 40s. The further into them you get, the less give a damn you have about things like letting other’s filtered perceptions of you concern yourself. I have my code of conduct and it works just fine, thank you. I have worked hard for my operating protocol and it is a finely tuned thing.

I’m off track ya’ll, I get to talking. I am excited for life. A year ago I was not. I was in a bad place. It took a lot of pulling for myself to get out of it. I expanded my worldview, the way I think about myself and what I want from this life, and listening to Mel Robbins because she has a way of speaking that I can hear because she sounds so real and genuine. I relate to her in an easy way. She doesn’t sound like she is speaking off a script or out of a text book. I know I want to help people. Specifically women, because we need each other. We need each other. Women need connection. We need community. We may have a harder time with that because of how things are, but we can form groups again. We can talk to each other and connect with one another in meaningful ways. We don’t have to carry it all. Start dropping stuff. It doesn’t all have to be you.

Reading and Growing

Over the past year, I have done a lot of self-awareness work. Both my father-in-law and my father passed away a year ago, only two weeks apart. My marriage was on difficult ground after my husband’s accident, and a long recovery meant staying away from home for months. A hobby I was coming to enjoy with new friendships experienced interpersonal issues and died away. I didn’t feel like myself for a long time. The whole first half of the year was full of pain, grief, anguish, betrayal, loneliness, resentment, depression, anxiety, and a loss for who I was anymore. It was a field of grey. My experience was grey. Eating was grey. Nothing made me smile. Joy was difficult to perceive.

I started listening to audiobooks on Audible concerning personal development.

The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga
We Need Your Art by Amie McNee
The High Five Habit by Mel Robbins
Steal Like an Artist Trilogy by Austin Kleon

I also listened to fantasy series such as

The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
The Founding of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

I crocheted. I listened. I played Animal Crossing, Fae Farm, and Dreamlight Valley on the Nintendo Switch. Something I could do repetitive things like gathering resources, filling quest logs, or growing gardens. I suppose it is still a to-do list, but there is the dopamine reward thing as I earn virtual rewards.
I also began with Finch app with my family. It is a self care app where you raise a little bird, go on adventures, check off tasks as you do them like drinking more water, going for a walk, or scooping the cat litter. Use the rewards for virtual costumes, furniture, or flights to Prague. My daughter had the best streak out of all of us. Every single day for almost a year. Then her tablet broke, and kids’ profiles don’t transfer app progress to a new device.

As I spend time rewiring my brain, healing, and learning about leaning in, I am beginning to understand things. I think there is really something about getting to 40 that crystallizes understanding about the world. I feel that wisdom that only comes with time, attention, and contemplation.

I am coming to understand perfectionism. What it means to be Human. When Mel Robbins talks about some behaviors “just being human” I was stunned. Some kind of tightness in my chest let go of this perfectionism. I could breathe because these things I had been feeling were just part of being a human being. And that’s ok.

It was such a profound realization for me.

Just human.

I felt like I had permission to make mistakes. To feel my feelings. That there wasn’t something flawed in me, I was simply a person with an imperfect brain and emotions that run around, or run the show if I let them.

Feelings + Thoughts = Actions

Change one or all, and you change your life.

I used the phrase, “I’m not thinking about that.” Anytime I started to marinate in my past mistakes and situations I wish I could have shown up differently for, I would say those words, “I’m not thinking about that.” It faded. I was able to move on instead of getting caught in that rut.

I started to show up differently at work. It wasn’t my job to control another person’s emotions. I can control mine. Their emotions tell me more about them than they do about me. When I could take that step back, it was revealing. I could control my emotions better because I had let them have their feelings.

I worked on how I responded. I worked on my own feelings.

I started looking into somatic breathing techniques. Activation like putting your hand over your heart to help slow down the nervous system overload. It triggers a hug response from the parasympathetic nervous system. I pulled myself out of panic attacks doing this.

I found The Platinum Giraffe on Instagram and her videos are very funny, and filled with how to slow down that anxiety train. Watching her really helped me understand the nervous system’s effect on anxiety.

I breathed. Simple thing, right? But pay attention. 4 7 8
Breathe In 2, 3, 4
Hold 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Breathe Out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Calm that big Vagus Nerve
(The Ohio State Medical Center)

Another technique: Double In and Flush
Double Inhale 1, 2 through the nose
Long Exhale out the mouth
1 minute longm overwhelm
(Dr. Russel Kennedy)
We do this already whenever we are really upset and crying.

I am building a tool box. Sometimes when I am really upset, it is hard to remember. I have to calm my nervous system first, and it has to be simple. I think that’s why these techniques work so well.

I will continue to listen to these amazing people who write to inspire others. Their dedication to bringing a voice to things I never quite understood or considered has helped me grow. I look forward to learning more.

Thank you for your service

Today I am posting about my thoughts from yesterday’s experience. One of the interesting things about working with the public is I have no idea what I’m going to get that day. I work as an optician which is basically like a pharmacist for glasses. I fix them, diagnose what is wrong, and translate eyeglass refractions into lens options that serve the patient in their daily life. The community I have grown up in has a large concentration of retirees and veterans. Most of the help the rural communities need is in the town I work in. I had an unexpected interaction with a gentleman looking for AR night driving glasses. We had a good conversation about how they work, what the options were, and general plans for the day. I noticed his hat that read “Vietnam Veteran” with the logo. I said, “Thank you for your service” which is something I do for all our veterans when I get a chance to help them with their eyewear. This gentleman stopped and looked at me like he’d not heard that much in his life.

He told me about his experience as a veteran during the time of the Vietnam war. He wasn’t treated as someone worth anything for many years. Not over there or here when he got back. His experience coming home was Americans waiting to throw feces at him as he disembarked the plane. They called him “baby killer” and worse. He told me about having to make the impossible decision to choose between himself and a child with C4 and a metal plate strapped to their back, delirious with heroin in their systems. There is not an easy choice. War crimes are impossible to fathom much less live through witnessing.

Nightmares plagued him for years. Agent Orange gives him unsteady hands. American citizens treating him like dirt for serving. Only recently did he get full disability from the VA. He is now the last man in his unit alive today.

I didn’t live during the time of the Vietnam war. My father was in the military at the time, but could not go because he had flat feet. He was sad about that because he wanted to serve. This veteran reckons he was blessed not to have gone. I would have to agree.

There was silence in the room as he spoke. There were others there who didn’t know they would be witnesses to our history in real time. Their expressions were horrified. I hugged him and held his hand as he expressed thanks for being honored for his service. He said it melts his heart to be told that now when he was shunned before.

There are so many complex emotions wrapped up around service members, wars, deployments, and conflict. If you choose to serve, I thank you for being brave enough to put your life out there. I cannot comprehend the full weight of that decision because I have never had to make it. I do understand I am lucky to not have to make it.

So, as we go into Veteran’s Day and remember those who have served and are serving, thank you. I hope you have a blessed day. And if you are eligible for services at the VA, I can tell you it has gotten better. Please consider their programs and resources that you have earned.

Pour painting: So relaxing!

There are several neat factors to acrylic pour painting. Picking out the colors that harmonize so well, watching the paint move around the canvas, heating the bubbles with the heat gun, and waiting for the paint to dry. Did it all work out? Was my table uneven?