Ariel Harder Art

Ariel Harder Art Fine Art

Do you ever just feel a little bit of imposter syndrome?!I’ve been a professional artist for six years. I’ve joined gall...
08/14/2026

Do you ever just feel a little bit of imposter syndrome?!

I’ve been a professional artist for six years. I’ve joined galleries, left galleries, sold a lot of paintings, and figured some things out along the way… but most days, I still feel like I’m barely scratching the surface of the possibilities around me.

And maybe that’s a good thing.

I’m really thankful things have happened at the pace they have, because if they had happened any faster, I’m not sure I could have kept up. 😂

Having five kids is WILD. Adoption is finally around the corner, and soon we’ll get to love our girl without the fostering component woven into our daily life. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, I get a few hours here and there in my studio.

Those hours are life-giving. Soul-reviving.

There is something incredibly restful about working with my hands, mixing paint, and making something where there was nothing before.

I want to start applying to new things but there is such a peace I have in knowing I am happy right where I’m at.

But I’m really thankful God has let it grow alongside me instead of ahead of me.

God bless these kids. God bless this wild life. And God bless the few quiet hours I get to spend with a paintbrush in my hand. 🤍

And now for my shameless plug: A few of these are still available at Well + Wonder !!

Never in my life did I think I’d have a 12-seat vehicle OR be the lady at Costco pushing a flatbed cart that barely hold...
08/13/2026

Never in my life did I think I’d have a 12-seat vehicle OR be the lady at Costco pushing a flatbed cart that barely holds all the groceries. 😂 And trust me, you don’t want to see the grocery bill.

My trip to Jerry’s was also highly successful, 40% off birchwood panels means my husband doesn’t have to spend hours outside cutting wood for me. A win for everyone. 😂

Now I can’t wait to get into the studio and play with some fun new sizes!

08/08/2026

My husband told me from day one, “We are NOT going to be those superhero foster parents.”

We weren’t going to get in over our heads trying to save everyone. And yes, he knew me well enough to know I was probably going to want to say yes more often than I should. 😂

If we were going to do this, we needed to do it successfully and sustainably. That meant being honest about what we could handle, not taking on more than we could chew, and remembering that our forever children needed to be considered in every yes, too.

I think a lot of people say no to becoming foster parents because they think they have to be superheroes.

You really don’t.

Yes, foster care is hard. But you don’t have to take every placement. You don’t have to say yes to every need. And you don’t have to completely overwhelm your family in order to make a difference.

Part of doing this well is knowing your boundaries — and then asking as many questions as you can before saying yes.

The reality is, when a child comes into care, they often need to be placed as quickly as possible. In that rush, information can be incomplete, missed, or even presented inaccurately. Unfortunately, that can sometimes contribute to placement disruptions later.

You’re never going to have every answer before saying yes.

Sometimes you get a lot of information. Sometimes you get almost nothing. And sometimes the answers simply don’t exist yet.

But you can do your best to ask the right questions, gather as much information as possible, and make the most informed decision you can for both the child coming into your home and the family already living there.

Again, you don’t have to be a superhero to foster.

You just have to know what your family can realistically say yes to — and then do your best with that yes. ❤️

08/07/2026

My boundaries as a first-time foster parent:

• In our county
• Younger than our forever children — we wanted to be extra conservative with birth order
• One child at a time

One thing I’ve learned is that your “placement boundaries” are really only the beginning.

There are so many other things to consider when deciding whether your family can say yes:

• Their story and known needs
• Whether they’ve been in care before
• Keeping the placement honest… what is the actual birthday/age?
• Why is the stipend higher, and what additional needs come with that?
• What will this placement realistically require from our family?

Boundaries aren’t about deciding which children are “easier.” They’re about knowing what your family can realistically and sustainably say yes to. The reality is you’re always going to be stretching.

And foster care being foster care, the information you receive isn’t always complete—or even accurate. Most of the time nobody knows the full story yet. You simply make the best decision you can with the information you have and what you know your family can manage.

I’ll come back when I have a quiet minute while my kids are napping 😂 and do another video on the questions I think you should ask before saying yes to a placement.

But I’d love to hear from other foster parents: What were your boundaries when you started? Did they change with experience? And what’s one question you now ALWAYS ask before saying yes?

And if you’re considering fostering or waiting on your first placement, drop your questions below too. There are a lot of experienced foster parents here who might be able to help. 🤍

08/07/2026

Not art-related, but definitely passion-related content for your scrolling.

Is foster care worth it? Yes. My kids still want us to keep fostering even after arguing about sharing a room. They’ve seen the hard parts, lived the goodbyes, shared their home and their parents, and they still believe it’s worth it.

But is it hard? Also yes. It is, without question, one of the hardest things I have ever done.

About 25% of new foster homes close within the first four months. And over time, the system increasingly relies on a relatively small group of families who continue saying yes. One federal study found that roughly 20% of foster parents provided 60–80% of all foster care.

Those numbers don’t surprise me anymore.

Foster care will expose you to brokenness you wish didn’t exist. It will ask you to love children you may have to let go. It will frustrate you, stretch your family, break your heart, and sometimes leave you wondering how you could possibly say yes again.

And yet, children still need someone to say yes.

We don’t need people who are naive about the reality of foster care. We need people who can see the reality clearly and are still willing to step into the brokenness and simply be love there.

You don’t have to fix everything. You won’t be able to.

Sometimes you just have to be a safe place in someone’s story for however long you’re given the privilege of being there.

Address

Jacksonville, FL

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 2:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 2:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 2:30pm
Thursday 9am - 2:30pm
Friday 9am - 2:30pm

Telephone

+18503775855

Website

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