Beauty Refresher: Lucy Farmer, Jewelry and Home Designer, Artist, Curator, Encourager

Beauty Refreshers features those who inspire and give me and others hope. 

Lucy Farmer amazes me as one of the most fearless of artists, free to try many forms from HGTV home flips to her own line of jewlery (Lucy's Inspired). She's an entrepreneur, a curator of beauty, a resource to artists, and a role model of living a beautiful, adventurous life. We're privileged to have her as chairman of the board of InSpero.

She is a "savorer" of life and beauty.  I asked what her secret was to continually being inspired.

"Life can be fast-paced, full of responsibilities and tasks that keep us moving from one moment to the next. But in the rush, we often overlook the simple beauty that surrounds us every day. Whether it's the golden light filtering through your window in the morning, the quiet rhythm of your breath, or the smile of a stranger, there is beauty in the smallest details.

Slowing down just enough to notice these moments can transform your day. It doesn’t have to be grand or elaborate; it can be as simple as savoring your morning coffee, feeling the cool breeze on your skin, or appreciating the colors in a blooming flower. These small pauses invite us to reconnect with ourselves and the world around us.

When we make time to see and appreciate the beauty in our everyday lives, we find joy and presence even in the midst of chaos. The world offers these moments of wonder all the time—we just have to remember to look for them."

A little about Lucy from her website:

"Discover beauty in life through art, travel, and design.  From hand-made journals to hats to jewelry, I am an avid crafter and maker. I’m excited to share my journey of being an artist and making my own path. You’ll enjoy learning how to tap into new creative activities, as well as make them a part of your life and home."

Check out Lucy's many creative passions at her instagram/facebook/youtube/tiktok/pinterest 

Beauty Refreshers: Author and Spiritual Director Charlotte Donlon

 Beauty Refreshers features those who inspire me and give me and others hope. Charlotte, who is based in Birmingham, is a writer, spiritual director, and gatherer who cultivates sanctuaries of exploration, acceptance, and connection. 

I asked her, "What do you want to give the world?"

Charlotte answers, "Because so many people feel alone and on the periphery, one thing I desire to give the world is a greater understanding of belonging. 

All of my writing and spiritual direction work are ultimately concerned with the ways art and other good things help us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. 

When I meet with my spiritual direction clients, some common topics of conversation include how to honor the impulse to write and make art, how to discern if there’s an overall movement towards freedom and away from oppression, and how to establish practices for spiritual growth and healing."

Her first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other, was published by Broadleaf Books in 2020. She is currently writing a book about Spiritual Direction for Writers® which will be published by Eerdmans in 2025. Charlotte's essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and a certificate in spiritual direction.

To learn more about Charlotte and her writing and work, visit charlottedonlon.com.

Beauty Refreshers: Photographer and Noticer Mary Jo Hoffman

Mary Jo Hoffman inspires me. Her book STILL: The Art of Noticing is now out. Look at some of the images here.

It's been more than 12 years since Mary Jo committed to a daily art project where she finds something in nature that inspires her. She photographs it (often in a collage) and posts it on her blog and Instagram. That is more than 4,500 days. She says "the art of dailiness" has changed her so she is often in a state of creative noticing or deep play. She made it simple enough to fit around family life. She found through this practice that the process is sacred, not the results.

Image by Monicelli / Phaidon

She graciously answered my question, What do you want to give the world?

"I would say the most important things I want to give the world are the following:

1) I believe that art is an energy transference from the artist to the viewer. When I share my art, I hope to pass on my wonder and awe at our natural world;

2) I created STILL with an implicit promise that it would be a quiet corner of the internet that my viewers could visit when they felt a need for simplicity and beauty.

3) Finally, I hope to inspire my viewers to see their own environments with new eyes. Nothing makes me happier than finding a new way to present the most ordinary of subjects, so that it catches people by surprise and reminds them how much beauty they are surrounded by every day, wherever they happen to be."

Image by Monicelli / Phaidon

She shares her idea of radical incrementalism and how we can tap into our creativity by doing a little bit every day in a podcast with Julie Berman of Woman with Cool Jobs. Watch a short video from six years ago (when she was only at 3,000 photos) to catch a vision of her vision (and how she shared it with her family).  

Image by Monicelli / Phaidon

Beauty Refreshers: Writer, Photographer, Gardener, "Noticer" Erin Nolen

Erin Nolen s one of the most intentional women I know. She's a wonderful photographer, writer, gardener, and "namer."  But she is also a wife, mother, and friend who's done lots of internal work to be present with and see and advocate for her kids and others. I asked Erin this question: 

What good do you want to bring to the world? 

I want to accompany people on the paradoxical path that going toward our stories of pain is actually the way to experiencing wholeness as beloved humans. I want to teach, show, and embody what it means, in the words of Dr. Hillary McBride, to “go toward what hurts.” In a culture that shouts at us to do more, produce more, experience more, I want to foster a community where we are safe to embrace our limits as fragile but intentionally complex image bearers of the living, moving, playful God. I believe our basic needs of safety, sleep, nourishment, play, time in nature, service, and connection are necessary foundations of what it means to live a beautiful and full life. Simply put, embracing our limitations and needs is the way toward expansiveness. I believe in the power of story work, that a good, kind, creative God pursues God’s people (all of them) and calls them (all of them) toward goodness and wholeness, and that we can know God more fully by honoring the brokenness and beauty in our one-of-a-kind stories. God calls forth goodness in me to offer to others through the means of writing, photography, gardening, and friendship. 

You can read Erin's essays here and follow her on Instagram and if you want family photos, she's your person.