Jill.nahrstedt

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United States
Chicago, IL
Jill.nahrstedt

Artist • Muralist

04/21/2026

Is the sun out where you are? It is here and the warm breeze is blowing. The dog is sleeping on the new daybed next to me and I’ve gotten a little drawing done. Oh and I love you.

04/20/2026

Lately. I drew this … i dont know but maybe last week? I’m changing the function of my home studio (the spare bedroom on our first floor) to accommodate guests who dont want to do basement stairs. But also I love my studio downtown so much that I think I’ll keep it! So I want to whittle the home space down to just water based paint and drawing. Well, wouldn’t you know, the timing of begging Peter to make this awesome daybed that pulls into a king was perfect because our entire basement flooded. Right before the grandparents come for a birthday visit. Sheesh! Did I mention Peter fell within minutes of discovering the water and is laid out with a back injury? Luckily, we got the room in working condition in time, aaaaand we were gifted a drum set from one of our Peerspace video shoots. The week balanced out to be pretty good.
Now… this week back to it. At my pace. We’ll see. It’s fine.

04/12/2026

Friends, I’m having a real moment over here. Existential crisis type stuff. Is it because my brother died? Because I’m just getting rejection after rejection? Because my body is refusing to listen to my hopes and dreams in favor of my age? Well, at least the blooms are blooming and the zombie apocalypse movies are streaming and the goodwill has larger sizes than are currently in my closet. I’m almost reveling in my moment? I’m going to use this grief thing for myself. I’m going to wander and wander and wander and look and look. And kind of not think. Wandering Expo felt gross. We’ll wait and see if that was just my moment or if it was actually off-putting. Wandering the lakefront with my pup was EVERYTHING. Making some stuff instead of the no-stuff that was threatening, was doable. And now, even though I usually think this kind of sharing is not my thing (tho i love when you all do) I’m doing it. I’m reveling in it. And I will slowly, so slowly take this time to do things that i want that will bring in no money or acclaim but will extend peace. But like, it’ll be even more peace when Peter gets back from Philly and hangs the rest of the shelves in my home studio so they dont slope down. Geez.

04/07/2026

I’m sitting here away from my studio, again, sadly this time not for a tropical vacation or snowy residency, and I thought it might be fun to share this picture of my two test canvases back in the chi. I take pictures every day when I pack up so that I can check in on my work at home. I love looking back at what I’ve done, even if I don’t like the work. Usually tho, I like the work, ha. These two are where I’ve been test out adding marks with oil pastels, and seeing what washes look muddy and which look moody. I love the stripes, duh, but Peter just really is put off by them. Finally, I’ve been thinking about the details that make something recognizable, real, or whatever. Aren’t we all thinking about that right now? I’m looking forward to getting back to my babies (paintings and drawings and prints) next week and darn it, I’ll be sharing some finished work with you at some point in 2026. So far it is bringing me so much comfort and joy, I want to give you that too! If you’ve read this far I’ll also share what’s happened. I lost my twin brother this week. His body gave out after such a long struggle with addiction. I have a mix of emotions, the top of which is relief. I’m happy to chat if you feel inclined, and won’t be offended if you don’t. And you know I’ll always accept hugs. The biggest take away so far is that I’m beyond grateful for all of the people and beauty in my life, and for the people who remember what a great person he was when he was able. It’s such a good life and I have a lot of happy catching up to do once my family and I are done saying good-bye. Oh, and seriously, I love you.

03/26/2026

I got to visit my friends the cacti at koko crater botanical garden. They did not disappoint.

03/04/2026

Ive been having a lot of fun with photography lately. It’ll be incorporated into printmaking and painting eventually. Which ive also been having a lot of fun with lately. I hope you’re having a little fun lately…

02/27/2026

A couple more little drawings of magnolia blossoms from my home sick studio. But also today I went into the city studio and stayed until the sun set! It is so different to be able to settle in for that long. I am excited to share a new body of work so soon. And I wish you could’ve been there with me today to see the sunset from my window. It was such a hot pink I gasped and threw open my door to tell anyone who was still at to come check it out. Magnificent. Dont mind the dust on the blinds 🫣

02/25/2026

Friends, I’ve been homebound after all of that pining for my Chicago studio at while in Michigan at the residency. Taken down by a simple cold, ha. But, as I sit here and type in the morning sun shining through my home studio window, I can tell you about the silver lining. I’ve pulled out my gouache paints and pens and I’ve just been diving into the first blooms of spring-they are around the corner, I swear, the hellebores, magnolia blossoms, and even peonies. And I’ve all but finished the plan to turn my studio back into a multi purpose guest bedroom but also a dedicated small works on paper studio. Lots of these little guys are going to come out of this space simply because I’ve realized I need to remove everything else. Another lesson from the residency, the magic that happens when you strip away the noise. Oh and I love you.

02/14/2026

Happy Valentine’s Day loves. I’m nearing the end of my residency and it’s funny, I thought I’d take some of this time to hone my ‘sharing’ skills (online) and I haven’t at all. I usually love writing about my work and telling little stories about my life and i can even take a nice little process video here and there, as long as it’s sped up. Well, my new to me phone doesn’t have the speed up feature and I haven’t felt like writing much, maybe my set up for writing? I’ve tried this morning to take a couple pics of me with my WIP and you can see how that went. I have loved documenting the way the beach changes every day. It’s been so cold and sometimes so sunny that I just have to take the pictures and hope they turn out. I guess I caught one of myself accidentally, ha. Finally a funny story about the life I’ll return to on Monday, as told in a screen shot. Today I plan to continue to dive into painting the flowers shown here and will take a final trip to the cute coffee shop with my new residency bestie and it is going to be perfection. Will your day be perfection? Is it up to you? Oh, and I love you!

02/12/2026

End of my residency creeping up.. 10/10 recommend

12/08/2025

I was told this weekend that I was cooking. But also I’ve been baking. I’m welcoming my first official guests to my studio this week so I’m stocked with tea and have been perfecting my pumpkin banana bread recipe.

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Chicago, IL

Website

http://www.jillnahrstedt.com/

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