How do I wrap up in words what the past eight years have meant to me, my creativity, the confirmation that what I can dream up I can walk out, the impact on our family, our hearts, our business, the relationships, the laughter, the tears, the collaborations, the hard work, and the building of something beautiful together as a family? I could name a thousand ways our life has been changed by gathering and creating with you at this home, land and studio.
Eight years ago we bought this property specifically to gather YOU. We knew with our whole heart that gathering and creating with you was where the Lord was clearly directing us. Before pink sidewalks were replaced, crooked front porches were ripped out, landscaping was installed or rooms were updated…we built a studio. We closed on the house in January and almost immediately after that we opened registration for our first workshop that would be in June. Then we got busy taking a garage/workshop and creating what would become our studio. It truly was the studio that love built. Over the years we kept adding to it and making it a place that we would gather and also a place that I would film and create new work. It became one of my favorite places in the world.
A little over seven years ago Kelly went from working full time with the government and came home to work full time with me. After our first workshop he said (with tears in his eyes) that in all of his years working for the government he never felt like he was able to impact and serve people like he had at the workshop. I know our whole family feels like that. Our children have grown up loving on strangers that became friends, so many that we had the joy of gathering again and again and many that we created with once but will always remember. Our family learned how to prepare, serve and love well…together.
As we toasted our family after the last workshop this past weekend our children also added to the toasts. They shared many thoughts that we don’t always have the joy of hearing. The last eight years had taught them what family can create, the love they have felt from this community, to dream outside the box, that they love our marriage and how Kelly and I complement each other, that they believe that they can also create differently than those around them, that using your gifts can truly make a difference in the lives of others (and yourself) and a few comments that I will hold as true treasures forever.
I guess I just want to encourage you to do the things without waiting for everything to be perfect. Whatever pink sidewalks and crooked front porches are in your own life, don’t let them stop you from moving ahead. You will get to them in time and the reward that comes back to you and to others just may create a ripple effect you could not even imagine.
Thank you for the past eight years of gathering you with live art, business and lifestyle workshops and I can’t wait to create and gather with you in new ways as we move forward.
You and Kelly and your beautiful family are truly such an inspiring example of what people can accomplish when working together towards your dreams. I’m so excited to follow you, along with so many others, onto this new chapter of your journey. I know it will be something amazing that further serves others.
I’m also so honored to have visited and participated in your last live workshop of your current home. It’s is a gift I will never forget. You are a treasure to me, my friend. Xo
I sure love you! What a gift to have you at the last one here at the house!
Dear jeanne, there has been not one part of you that you have not shared, your art, creativity, family life, love life, travel & your beautiful home. I feel so privileged to have been part of that, a mother, a wife, an artist & entrepreneur. Your community are an extension of your faith in one Big Love & we all will carry you forward to the next exciting chapter of your life.
Follow Curiosity dear friend x
You made me tear up with your precious words! Thank you!!!
Jeanne, I never had the opportunity to gather with you in your beautiful space. I have always wanted to and envied those that made it there. What a beautiful gift you’ve given. I hope your next chapter brings as many blessings🩷
I hope you will gather with me at another location!
This was so precious to read. I will lovingly & endlessly thank you for not only holding my heart and dreams these past years as a sweet friend, but also including me in life changing workshops and having the honor & privilege to work behind the scenes with you. It all has been soul altering in more ways than I can mention (and I know I am not alone in that!). God has big things ahead for you and the family and I couldn’t be more excited and prayerful with you. XXOO
You are pure light! Anyone that gets to call you friend is truly the luckiest! What a gift you are in my life.
I’m sad that I was never able to join one of your amazing workshops. I wish you and your family all the best in your future journeys. I look forward to hearing what is next for you and I’m hoping to be able to join you in creating at some time in the future.
I hope for that too! Thank you!
❤️🌹❤️🌹❤️🌹
I love that you stepped out of faith and built a place to gather ❤️ my hope is that one day I can meet and gather with you and create.
Me too!
My sentiments exactly!
Thank you!
Jeanne, congratulations on such a beautiful life lived with Kelly and your children. I’m so glad they were there to witness the end of this chapter for all of you.
I consider it an honor to have taken a workshop at the studio a few years ago. It was so inspiring to me, both the workshop itself and your gracious hospitality. It’s an important memory for me. Thank you.
And thanks for the soulful, heartfelt content you still produce. It’s always insightful and inspiring.
I’m wishing nothing but the best to you, Kelly and your beautiful children on this next adventure.
CeCe Sullivan
Thank you for all of your kind words!
So beautiful, Jeanne. Thank you for opening your home and your hearts. Thank you for inspiring and blessing so many and all of us. Praying for you all in this time of transition. Sending you and your family our love and gratitude.
Love you beautiful Meredith! Will you be at Round Top next month?
You’ve made a house a “home” and so much more. I love hearing your story! Thank you for sharing your heart and your talent! ♥️
Wishing you all the very best as you move forward! ♥️
Thank you so much!
I am truly grateful to have been able to attend a workshop in your beautiful studio on your incredible property. It was an amazing experience. Your entire family was warm, welcoming, and an integral part of the weekend. Each of you made all of the participants feel like we were part of your family. I had never before, nor have I since, had a workshop experience like it.
Thank you for what you do. I wish you absolutely all the best in this next phase of your lives. I look forward to following your journey.
Thank you for your beautiful words! I will share them with my family. Precious!
I believe you should write a book called, Pink Sidewalks & Crooked Front Porches. Just sayin’…
Excited to see where the Lord leads you! xo
Lots of good lessons within that title!
Hi Jeanne,
Thank you so much for sharing your home, life and creative practice. My mom and I have joined you for a few workshops over the past years. We always leave inspired and with new skills. At my first workshop, I recently had my second baby a few months prior and carried a mindset that I’m “just” a crafter and had “no time” for art. You lit a creative fire and I began art journaling nearly nonstop. After ten years of art classes, a workshop at your home gave me the confidence to make every day. Sketching while my baby napped, painting with my preschooler, binding little sketchbooks and making “potions” (according to the kids, really dye baths, haha), writing zines and finally making the leap to larger canvases and wood panels.
This month, my artwork is hanging for the first time in a gallery in Denver. My artwork will also be in other galleries and shows until the end of May. So wild. And all thanks to the encouragement that you offer in your workshops. Your home is a treasure because of the family inside. Seeing a creative life lived is a huge inspiration and I’ll remember your studio so fondly. Many, many thanks for unlocking my heart and helping me find the fearless creative person within!
This is absolutely incredible! I am so proud of you and excited for what is happening in your life and creativity! Bravo!
You have inspired me in so many ways for so many years! I’m sure this next chapter will keep me in awe as well. Blessings to you and your family. 💙🙏🏻
Thank you so much!
Hi Jane, I don’t know you for many times but you have brought me one more touch of dream, art and poetry. Love your universe and what you transmit with passion and love. I wish you the best for this new stage. Thank you for all you share and waiting for the next from you. From over the ocean I follow your shares and suggestions . God bless you and your family.
Thank you so much!
It’s been a few years since I took one of your seminars and enjoyed your beautiful studio and home.
but, I have never forgotten it and your lovely family.
Wherever you go and whatever you do I am sure it will be with purpose for a better world.
Thank you for your classes and for sharing online.
Thank you so much! The online courses are not going anywhere! So thankful for all of the ways we still get to connect in that way!
Jeanne, Kelly, Jack, Maddy, and Ben
It was truly my honor to meet all of you and be apart of your lives if even for just a few days. Your love for family and friends is a true inspiration in a world that can sometimes be cold. My husband and I and our children have a very similar love and connection with one another. It makes my heart so happy to know others that have this same bond. I so look forward to hearing about what the future holds for all of you and hope to be able to share in your lives once again. Thank you for lifting me up this past weekend. Hugs to all of you.
Family is everything isn’t it? Thank you for being here!
Thank you for your words of encouragement! I am going to take them to heart and walk towards my dreams with courage and commitment. Xoxo
You have everything you need! So excited for you!
Hi Jeanne. When will I see you again? I sang that to you when we the workshop wrapped on Saturday. I know our paths will cross. Until then I hold you in my heart. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. And the blessings have flowed through you to me and Emily and the 1,000 other people who have gathered in your studio. My gratitude list as a result of knowing you has grown long over three workshops in three years. Each one touched me differently. Each one changed me forever, forever as a better person and Christian, I pray. May God continue to bless you and Kelly, Jack, Maddie and Ben.
Sweet Phoebe! Your words are such a gift! Thank you!
The baptisms on your back porch will always be one of my favorite memories EVER in my life.
Excited to see what is ahead for you.
One of my favorite memories in this house too!
I never took one of your workshops (though I dreamt about it) but I stumbled upon you and one of your teaching videos through Karen Abend’s annual workshop. I enjoyed your video and checked out your webiste, and serendipitously discovered that you are a Christian, and that you had a podcast …so I started listening …and then you interviewed Daune Pittman, and I then discovered her cottage table experience…and now my husband and I will be joining her in Italy this May!! So glad I stumbled upon you, and what a treat to find other Christians who truly value creativity and God’s call on our lives to express and share it with others. Thank you for sharing your creativity and your connections with me! You have blessed me!
I love how we are all connected in this sweet, creative world!
I never took one of your workshops (though I dreamt about it) but I stumbled upon you and one of your teaching videos through Karen Abend’s annual workshop. I enjoyed your video and checked out your webiste, and serendipitously discovered that you are a Christian, and that you had a podcast …so I started listening …and then you interviewed Daune Pittman, and I then discovered her cottage table experience…and now my husband and I will be joining her in Italy this May!! So glad I stumbled upon you, and what a treat to find other Christians who truly value creativity and God’s call on our lives to express and share it with others. Thank you for sharing your creativity and your connections with me! You have blessed me!
You have been an inspiration to the amazing creative community you and your family have built over the last 8 years! My only regret is that I never could make one of your in-person events even though I am just down the road in Colorado Springs. Never fear though, one day I hope to show up in your next chapter. We know it will continue to be a blessing and a light to spark our creative journeys. Wishing you all the best as you move on, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. Blessings to you and yours!
I look forward to our paths crossing in real life! We are so close!
Jeanne,
I will always cherish the first workshop I attended. I was so tired from being in a place of giving and serving and was so blessed to experience the beautiful hospitality lavished upon us all. It truly filled my soul. My cup runnith over.
While we are not in the home of our heart (live in a basement) and this past year God has allowed me to begin to gather again – with starting a little group called Soul Sisters -every other week we explore creativity and are reading through Matt Toomey’s newest book. There are just 7 of us in this little space but it is such a joy.
I know God will continue to bring joy, hope and healing to others through you and your family wherever he leads.
So many have all the space in the world and still can make excuses for not using their gifts. You are in a basement while you wait and you use your gifts lavishly. You always have. I love you so much!
Jeanne, your talk at The Gathering at Round Top will live rent free in my brain for all of eternity! What a beautiful story you have, and what a beautiful life you have given your family. I nearly teared up reading this thinking about my (almost) 2 year old and the dreams I have for our family. I hope to gather with you in person someday, and I wish you all the best in this new chapter! What an impact you have had and an inspiration you have been (and will continue to be)!
Beautiful Bailey! Your sweet baby will grow up knowing you use your gifts and how to use their own. You are pure joy!
Thank you for sharing your lives, your hearts and your talents. You were one of my biggest inspirations for getting back into the art world after many set backs. Your inspiration showed me that we can be well rounded and enjoy many areas of art. I’m sorry I never got to visit your home and studio. God is good! May He continue to bless you abundantly.
I am smiling so big knowing you are back creating!
I am SO blessed and Honor to know you and your incredible family!!!! You have helped me find myself and where I trully belong in this world…. The woman that I have met through the years from your teachings in Italy and art in your house I will cherish forever and still be friends with them and I Thank you for that !!!!! Thank you for opening up your heart and soul and your house for everyone…. Love you Jean!!!!!
You
We love you! I love watching all that you pursue with your whole heart!
Thank you to the OLIVER family! I found your online classes during the pandemic and so many of your classes were FREE and truly a God send during a difficult time for all of the world! You and your artist community opened your hearts and shared your faith and talents for FREE! After taking a few other classes from you, I knew I had to take one in person and meet you and see this beautiful homestead. When you posted in your blog about selling your home I knew I needed to get there. I went on your website and ALL the workshops were SOLD OUT! OH NO! I missed my opportunity. I sent an email to get on the waitlist and that afternoon I found out someone couldn’t make it and I was IN! YIPPEE! I was able to tie a visit with my two daughters in Denver AND go to the Castlerock ranch! It did NOT disappoint. I loved it all! EVERYTHING was MAGICAL! I know our paths with cross again with another in-person workshop with you. Thank you for all that you do for the WORLD! What a blessing you and your family are to the WORLD! Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you for your beautiful words!!! Our paths will cross again for sure!
i’m so very sorry to see you go, you have such a beautiful spirit that shines in every sentence you write. i thank you so very much for your service to us and the beautiful art you have made available to us. i pray the Lords abundant blessings on you as you follow His leading.
I will still be teaching, sharing online etc. We are just selling our current home and no longer offering live workshops at our home studio.
Thank you, Jeanne! I continue to pray for you and your beautiful family every day. Your classes and community have been such an encouragement to me. It was like a dream when my sister in law, Heather, and I could attend your workshop a couple of March’s ago. That experience and you and your family truly touched our lives! We thank you and love you and continue to pray for you. I look forward to what your move will bring.❤️
Thank you!
Jeanne it has been an honor and a pleasure to share in your creative journey. I feel so blessed to have attended a workshop in your beautiful studio and to have joined you and your beautiful daughter on the Prague riverboat cruise. Both were truly life changing for me. I have learned so much from your many class offerings and continue to be inspired. Blessings and prayers for you and your family as you move forward.🙏❤️🥂
I remember our time together on the Danube trip. Many wonderful dinner conversations!
Hi Jeanne,
I am in awe of what you have accomplished. And both inspired and envious (in a nice way) of the life you have created. I don’t know if you have written about it yet and I have missed it…but why are you moving?
Best of luck with you new adventure,
Vicki Fischetti
What a life, right? We do not take it for granted but it also makes us really excited to walk out new dreams and ideas.
It was hard to read these wonderful goodbye notes without tearing up. You deserve all the love and affection that’s being showered on you. You made a huge difference and opened up possibilities people never imagined.
May I ask which state you were in and now live in?
Nina ,
Waving from Toronto
It was hard to read these wonderful goodbye notes without tearing up. You deserve all the love and affection that’s being showered on you. You made a huge difference and opened up possibilities people never imagined.
May I ask which state you were in and now live in?
Nina ,
Waving from Toronto