Lifely Designs

06/19/2026

Last night, we had an excellent showing at the women's art show! I was blessed to share some of my work, including some mixed media, photography, and the painted portrait of St. Rita I teased a few days ago.

I'll be returning to my regularly scheduled iconography soon, but it certainly has a gift to focus on these other projects recently.

06/15/2026

Sneak peak at one of the pieces I'll have included in the upcoming Bakhita Arts show, Thursday, 6/18! Any guesses who she is?

06/08/2026

I'm thrilled to have work included in the upcoming Bakhita Arts art show at Saint Mary Catholic Church —

No Boundaries: Women and Their Art

Women’s art show featuring paintings and pottery by Magda Braun, Katrin Breitkreutz, Julie Ann Cook, Harriet Goode, Susannah Hayes, Heather Johnson, Mary Sanders Lazenby, Sandy Mills, Marie McDow, Connie McKeown, Betty Plumb, Ann Reynolds, Betsy Rock, Stephanie Simpson and Marilynne Speed.

6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18

06/07/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/julieanncook/p/communion-of-mothers-milk

A reflection on the Eucharist for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi

06/04/2026

True story. Me too.

I had a toddler on my hip, and a tug at my heart. Logic warned that the little guy would make it difficult to veil. My introversion warned that people might be distracted by my veil because maybe one other woman regularly veiled at the Mass I attended.

But another voice told me to humble myself and just do it. I did it as a devotion in union with the Blessed Mother for the month of May 2017. And I didn't stop.

And what a gift it has been! By veiling, a door was opened for me to receive unexpected graces. It is a tactile reminder to myself that I am in the presence of God. And more than once it has been a silent act of witness that I learned later inspired deeper devotion in other women.

THIS is exactly why I began to veil, after having an ‘experience’ last August before the tabernacle…

One Sunday morning I finally swallowed my pride to just ‘do it’.

I can barely explain what happened in human terms, but this imagery is the best I can provide.

Everything changed.

Everything…

06/04/2026

It might be VBS season if you are commissioned to build a 6-foot-tall monstrance.

Doorway for scale. 😆

05/27/2026

Multitask win.... painted St Philip Neri while listening to a "why your house is trashed" webinar. 😆

I mean, I can tell her why. I just thought she could tell me how to untrash it. Spoiler: Procrastinate less.

I think St. Philip, humorist he us known to be, is laughing with me. 😉

05/25/2026

Yesterday, our family had the blessing of celebrating the confirmation of our "Bernadette," my niece and goddaughter whom I was honored to sponsor. May St. Bernadette be a friend and guide in holiness and humility all of her life, and may the Holy Spirit always find a welcome home in her heart and the hearts of all of this season's newly confirmed!

About the art:
"St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes," watercolor on watercolor board (with gold acrylic halos), by Julie Ann Cook, 2026.