Lately

The Postcard Drawings, Anniversary Notes, and Current Museum Exhibitions

Hey guys!

Last you heard from me, I was roaming around the Pacific Northwest whale watching and chasing waterfalls for a full week.

To think, it was only a few short years ago that my therapist challenged me to take one day a week off, and I vehemently refused. After many gentle pushes, I eventually agreed to one afternoon per month. It felt completely radical.

Do you think I missed my studio while pedal-boating in a private lake, seeing rainbows in thousand-foot waterfalls, and making friends with a crow on my hotel balcony? Absolutely not! But it was pure bliss getting back to my family (and studio) after a reset this major.

My New Website

I was forced to hit the ground running once I got home, because that same week I finally launched my brand new website and shop! If you haven’t seen it yet, please go check it out → www.robynoneil.com

Finally, I have a website that makes my entire output feel clear and cohesive. I draw huge graphite landscape and figurative drawings that sometimes take years to complete, I have a literary podcast, I crochet home goods, I draw on vintage stationery, and I will happily make you a commissioned drawing of almost anything you could ever dream of. You’ll now be able to see how all these different parts of my practice relate to one another.

One of my Substack subscribers asked how I decided to categorize everything. Here’s what I told them:

I mulled over this for well over a year. I had drafted about five (very) different websites before I landed on this one. The organization of my work was definitely the most difficult decision.

There are many “holes” in the way I ended up organizing my work. In fact, there isn’t even a clear cut off date for what I considered my “Early Drawings” as opposed to “Current Drawings”.

In the end, I decided that I already had a clear instinct for how I wanted everything categorized, as opposed to how it “should be” categorized. I decided I was a very specialized curator of my work for this site. Only I know the best way to show the world what I’ve been building for the past thirty years.

At a certain point, I looked at the site and realized that nobody else would have arranged it this way, and that’s pretty much how I knew it finally worked.

Studio Life Update

I’ve been busy finishing the remaining postcard drawings for my Substack subscribers.

For anyone new here: Since late 2024, I’ve been sending every paid subscriber who shares their mailing address a one-of-a-kind drawing on the back of a vintage postcard. To date, I’ve made and mailed over three hundred of them.

As the orders grew, it eventually became too much — they were taking so much time that I had almost no time left for anything else. So I made the difficult decision to stop offering them to all paid subscribers.

Now, these special drawings are available only to Founding Members. To everyone who was part of this project — thank you. It was truly a joy making them just for you.

If you’re already on the list but haven’t received yours yet, feel free to reach out and ask where you are in the queue. My goal is to have them all completed and mailed by the end of August. 🤞🏼

My Podcast

Last week, I celebrated the 11th Anniversary of my podcast, ME READING STUFF. That means I’ve been reading to you through all the highs and lows –– mystery illnesses, artistic failures, divorce, breakdowns, estrangement, Covid, moves, near-death experiences, remarriage, heart surgeries, and even meetings with the ©️Kleenex company.

What listeners are saying:

“Robyn is a delight and her taste in literature is impeccable. She’s the draw though. A podcast where the chit chat is often more entertaining than the esteemed subject matter.” — E.F. Bartlam

“Once a week is not enough for me. I am digging through the archives and simultaneously trying to ration them! I wish there were more podcasts like this out there. I wish I knew more people like Robyn. Learning about her somehow helps me to learn more about myself. Thank you for making this podcast, Robyn. I hope you never ever stop.” — Lex Christie

“Makes other podcasts look lame.” — Thedaveisthis

“I listen to Robyn partly for her readings and partly for her personality. She is smart and cultured and so so funny. The podcast has no trace of pretension and has all traces of sincerity.” — Lmfjkjk

“Robyn’s podcast has helped me through some very challenging times the past two years. Her sense of humor and realness are so comforting.” — jsjreader

“This podcast is extinction level good.” — GemNasium

If you’ve never given it a listen, the anniversary episode is actually a really good place to start. I went back and read the very same poem I read in the first episode –– Wallace Stevens’ “The Man on the Dump”, answered listener questions, and remind everyone that they’re already doing more than enough.

You can listen to ME READING STUFF wherever you get podcasts (Apple Podcasts and Spotify are the most popular).

You can also stream the current week’s episode directly from my website.

I’ve also been making these fun little trailers for each episode. Who knew video editing would become one of my favorite relaxing hobbies?

Where to See My Work Right Now

If you’re in Texas, I’m thrilled to share that two of my drawings are currently on view.

At The Menil Collection in Houston, my large 2016 drawing Studies in Suffocation I is part of a focused exhibition from the museum’s permanent collection. It hangs alongside works by Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Louise Nevelson, Mark Rothko, and others.

At the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, my 2022 canvas drawing Right and Left (after Winslow Homer) is included in the exhibition Untitled: 20 Years of Collecting Contemporary Art.

Both of these exhibitions are on view through September 6, 2026.

Little Life Things

Besides work, I’ve been trying to stay consistent with weights at the gym, reading Sylvia Plath’s journals, listening to Shannon Lay, researching the envelope poems of Emily Dickinson, tending to my garden like it’s my full-time job, and being mildly annoyed that all of my clothes feel too tight right now.

I’d love to hear from you — what are you reading, watching, or listening to lately? What’s bringing you comfort or joy these days? What do you like or dislike about my podcast? How’s your energy level these days? What project are you working on that you’re most excited about?

Thank you for reading, for caring, and for being here with me. Be gentle with yourself.

*See more of my work on Instagram @robyn_oneil