What can I say? This past year has been an emotional roller coaster. Challenging doesn’t even begin to describe it. Starting out with a pandemic, then came the summer riots, back to pandemic, adding more civil and political unrest to the mix on top of our house remodel. To say the very least, this has made for a year filled to the brim with emotional and physical stress.

Through all the highs and lows, it was YOU, my clients, that put the biggest smile on my face. I want to make sure I give a huge THANK YOU and SHOUT OUT to all my clients that made this year especially wonderful. It was all of your smiling faces that made my days brighter.

Starting in the spring of 2020, many of you signed up to do the “Front Steps Project” and helped raise over $3,000 for The Sheridan Story here in Minneapolis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your donations!! I was and am still blown away by everyones generosity. It was such a wonderful experience seeing all of your faces and meeting new ones! I hope it brought you some joy as well.

THANK YOU to all of my return clients that support me each and every year…even if this year we were not able to see each other. YOU helped me more than you’ll ever know. I could not have made it through the beginning of this pandemic, the riots, the challenge of distance learning and a remodel without you.

Knowing we are all in this together gives me strength to take on whatever comes this next year. Looking forward to a brighter 2021 and to seeing all of your smiling faces soon.

-Gray Duck Studios

2020 summed up in 17 photos

We couldn’t go anywhere! What should we do? Drink Corona of course.

We also learned to shave.

We decorated our windows.

My daughters 5th grade teacher. She masterfully guided all the students through distance learning last year with such remarkable grace and positivity, even while navigating the challenge of having her own children home distance learning. All Teachers are #heros in my book.

I started doing the Front Steps Project.

Our remodel was designed by this lovely lady Megan. Here she is hanging with her family for a Front Steps Session on their newly finished addition.

For the past 7 months or so we have basically lived at Menards. Prices of lumber tripled and were often out-of-stock.

Birthdays looked a little different.

Decorating a friends sidewalk for his Birthday.

But we got outdoors and made time to go camping. Here we are with friends in Iowa’s Backbone State Park.

Then the death of George Floyd close to home brought riots to Lake Street.

Businesses were burnt to the ground and many were boarded up. This is a Mural in Uptown.

George Floyd Memorial on Chicago Ave.

Family portrait session in July.

Senior Portrait Session at the Stone arch Bridge when the water level was down to inspect the dam.

No State Fair this year.

Skating on frozen Lake Nokomis before it snowed.