A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

the studio - up close and personal

Just a few more pictures of the studio, with some of my favorite details.

Crochet star flowers with ends still dangling; painted beads brought back by my bff from Hawaii; sewn together, spray-painted paper scraps; rejected, but still pretty, paint swatches; Prismacolor colored pencils my dad bought me in high school; painted cardboard--no great works of art, but still fun.

Remains of the Day journals; a painted tin bird from Mexico; and a postcard of one of my favorite Shepard Fairey designs.

Mailart from Mary Ann, Randi and other beautiful artist friends; sparkly yarn from a dear friend, too precious to use on any but the most special projects; exquisite watercolor ATC on an ingenius bent fork stand.

Shelf full of more glorious art journals.


Little treasures; amazing abstracts that, no matter how long I stare at them, continue to boggle my puny little mind; long-neglected Zumi camera case; gifted journal made for me by my bff.

Some of my favorite (and most recently purchased) art books; moleskine journals; can't-create-without brushes in a little hand-painted vase from Garcia's in Matamoros, Mexico; paint swatch for the last unpainted wall in the studio; headphones for listening to podcasts on my phone.

More cardboard cityscapes; calendar for planning my days; tin of treasured ATCs; view of all the projects we need to finish in the backyard.

Canvases in progress; painted wood to be hung in the yard; joyful paint splatters, evidence of good work and fun times.

Older, but still loved, painted fabric wall hanging and pillow-cover turned art quilt.

Linda Naiman said, "When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity." I have no idea who Linda Naiman is, I pulled her quote off the Internet, but she's a wise woman. My studio is - above all - a place to play, and there is for me no greater motivator or creative inspiration than having fun with art.

spring studio tour (moth free version)

Just when I was starting to get productive, John, both kids and I get stuck with the flu all at the same time. Ugh. As if that weren't terrible enough, I returned to my studio to find it overtaken with hundreds of miller moths. So all day Saturday was spent gleefully sucking up moths into my vacuum canister, deep cleaning, touching up paint and organizing. Now that (most) everything is clean and clutter-free, I thought I'd give you a little tour inside the studio, to go along with showing off the newly painted outside.

When we found this house the summer before last, it was the central location, the fact that it didn't need any updating and the studio out back that sold me at first sight. Since my studio is also our school room, there are always stacks of books, piles of papers, overflowing boxes of craft supplies and ongoing projects of mine and the kids spilling over and collecting dust. We have fun in this little room. We work and play, create and dream here. So, just know, on any given day it is never as neat and tidy as these pictures suggest. But that's ok, because where there is life, there is bound to be clutter.

My desk, with everything necessary and inspirational within easy reach. The most important objects on this desk: my journal, bag of pens and ipod/docking station. There is no creative spark apart from my music.

Inspiration boards, sewing machine, paints, brushes and journals waiting to be bound.

Shelves of my favorite artist books, journals and mailart. Pretty little things I can't imagine living without. Most frequently used object on this side of the desk: the heat gun. I haven't embossed anything in ages, but it dries my paint in a snap and keeps the creativity flowing without having to wait for paint to dry.

Paintings in progress, blank canvases waiting for their turn to shine, beautiful stacks of beloved fabrics; there are even some burlap coffee bags tucked snuggly in there. This past Christmas I treated myself to a brand new easel; the old one was so rickety I had to hold onto the canvas as I painted to keep it from crashing to the floor. Never again!

Rolls of oilcloth, extra bottles of paint, boxes of patterned papers and abandoned art projects. And on the table, piles of goodies for my newest obsession: lawn art. More on that soon!

And just so you know I wasn't blowing smoke about the messes we make in here on a daily basis: the school bookshelf with the kids's artwork and seedlings waiting patiently til after Mother's Day for their time in the sun.

The studio is by far my favorite part of our home. The color, the imagination, the life in this room rarely fails to pick me up out of whatever slump I find myself in and give me hope again. It is where I belong, where I can be myself; my refuge and my escape. I worked for years on a reclaimed kitchen table in the corner of my living room and then for another couple in a dirty and ventless laundry room I could finally call my own. I am beyond blessed to have a husband who supports me and my work enough to buy me a home that leaves him without so much as a garage or basement for his own things, but thrills me every day with a beautiful space to spread my wings and create to my heart's content. I've said it before and I'll say it again: whether it is a TV tray or a closet, if you are serious about your art, you need your own space. To collect and display beautiful things that inspire you, to feel free to make a mess and not have to clean it all up afterwards, to dream big and live artistically. Why not carve out your own little creative niche right now, today? It could just change everything.

new life in color

It's that time of year when I start feeling the urge for some spring decorating--the rebellious sister of spring cleaning. About twice a year I find my brain overflowing with crafty DIY ideas: in the fall approaching the holidays and then again when the air begins to warm in the spring. Spring craftiness begins innocently enough with, "I can't wait to get outside and start planting!" and usually spins out of control somewhere around, "I hate my house and everything in it needs to be thrown in the trash!"

Recently, a very generous friend gave me a huge storage container full of house paint, and blues, greens, lavender and yellow have been on my mind ever since. But now I've finally gotten around to putting these wonderful colors to use in my backyard. We live on a busy city street so our narrow, but peaceful, backyard is both our retreat and my canvas. It is also the home of my now more colorful art studio.

It still has a ways to go. I am imagining yard art covering the outside studio walls and lining the old fence. Maybe even a little welcoming studio sign, too. See my blue flowers on the red doors? Last year they were part of an inexpensive garland I picked up at Hobby Lobby, but after braving the elements through the winter, the ribbon was in shreds. So I cut off the flowers, attached magnets to the back and, voila! Interactive decor for my metal doors!

I'm having a hard time keeping my brush off of everything not nailed down and then some things that are. Like this window box my bff thrifted for me quite a while back. But then again, isn't that what spring is all about--a new (colorful) life for old things?

sitting, staring and sipping

Sorry for my absence, but at this time of year with so much gingerbread to bake, spiced tea to sip on, twinkling lights to stare into, heating vents to huddle by (damn a house with no fire place!), and Christmas books to read, its hard to find the time for concentrating on a screen and making your numbly cold fingers dance across its lettered keys. It's my favorite time of year and it is going to be over before we know it. So, I think a little holiday crafting is in order, don't you? (I had planned on getting at least a few of these into my Etsy shop, but as the days whiz by me the outlook's not so good.)

Something tells me, like my Valentine's Day danglies, these ornaments may be staying up year round.

what i did on my summer vacation

I can't show you pictures of all the movies we've watched or the naps I've taken, but here's a few other things keeping me busy this summer.

Quick trips to the bookstore for vacation knitting projects...

 

And then over to the yarn shop for his and her yarns. Oh, look! It's right next to the new favorite cafe, might as well stop in...

 

Decadent lunch dates with freshly made macaroons and vanilla lemonade...

 

 

New wrap bracelets made from this fabulous tutorial...

 

 

School supplies popping up here and there = new notebooks & journals to fill with summer memories and dreams...

 

Throw in late night games of bananagrams, having my sweetie at home instead of at work, late afternoon rain showers, a little gardening and a lot of journaling and you have one amazing summer vacation.

happy friday = art night

Happy Friday! Today is especially happy because it's a 3-day holiday weekend with cook outs, early morning fishing trips, conversations with friends over good food and good wine, something new we're calling 'wine slushies', watering the new grass and walking over its dewy softness in our bare feet.... ah, so many things to make the heart glad. (Speaking of happiness, I just picked up The Happiness Project and predict that it'll be a life changer; I've only read the first chapter but I'm hooked. More on that later.)

Tonight it will be grilled steak, charro beans, yummy guacamole and wine slushies but every other Friday we're still enjoying the most fabulous art nights. I wanted to give you a little update and a peek into the fun we've been having to inspire your weekend plans.

 

Meet cousins Melissa & Ashley. On this night--Melissa's first--they decided on a collaborative painting. So many beautiful things to gaze upon.

 

 

On art night, you will find plenty of...lovely blended backgrounds,

 

...happy landscapes,

 

...striking florals,

 

...and mysterious visitors.

 

Lydia and I met at our favorite local brew pub. She wowed us with 2 amazing canvases and a stack of spray painted papers all in the same night!

 

 

 

 

 

I showed her a few things with stencils and spray cans and she took off on her own. I hope she framed some of these--so gorgeous!

 

 

 

Whatever plans you have for this holiday weekend, I hope it includes lots of art, good friends, and big belly laughter. If you're now dying to make your own spray painted masterpieces, its not to late to join me in Playing With Pattern over at 21 Secrets. You can have your very own art night adventure too so, check it out here and I guarantee you a whirlwind artful weekend!

inspiration

 

We're back from visiting family in Texas and even though we had a great time catching up, celebrating my birthday and seeing my husband finish his first half-marathon, it feels good to be back into our normal routine. And my waistline is thanking me daily for not continuing to subject it to Southern homecooking, mucho Tex-Mex, and fast food on the road--but it was wonderful while it lasted! One of my favorite things about going home is the food!

It is always good to be home and I have so many plans for our little house! For my birthday, my bff bought me a gallon of paint for my dining room--now that's a good friend! We finally got around to painting the living room and I'll have some photos of that soon. But first I want to show you my newest creation for the house!

  

Back in March, I ran across this amazing DIY scrap paper lantern on Design Sponge, one of my favorite design sites. I immediately knew I would make it but was waiting for the right time to start a new project. In other words, I needed to finish a few lingering projects first. I love the original lantern in all white but knew I had to put my own spin on it by using my painted papers as scraps. I love, love, love, love those all white houses--you know the ones with white walls, white furniture and white floors...swoon!--but in my home, I need color. And lots of it. For me, color is one area where more will always be more. Thankfully, I had a big old stack of painted papers sitting around from my 21 Secrets class demos and a few too many  paper lanterns, so the whole thing didn't cost me a penny. You gotta love that!

   

So what do you think?? It'll look even better once I get my green walls painted (Thanks, Shannon!). My husband told me very kindly that it wasn't his favorite creation of mine. But then I hung it over the dining room table anyway.

 

Some other things that are inspiring me now:

-Seeing the man I've known and loved since I was 16 (the same one who hates to run) accomplish his dream of finishing a half-marathon after training for it for months. And he looked amazing doing it!!

-Watching this life changing documentary on PBS: Waste Land (from the website: "Brazilian artist Vik Muniz creates portraits of people using found materials from the places where they live and work. His Sugar Children series portrays the deprived children of Caribbean plantation workers using the sugar their parents harvest. We meet Muniz as he embarks on his next project, inspired by the trash pickers at the largest landfill on earth.") Watch it.

-21 Secrets: An Art Journal Playground. Another reason to be glad for home is that I can get back to enjoying the amazing classes over at 21 Secrets! Registration is open through May so it's not too late to join in the fun. And I have to tell you, I've barely gotten my feet wet and am having a blast!! See the right hand sidebar for more info. I'll have more on my adventures with the workshops coming soon!

drawing spring

 

I've been on the computer way too much lately, but I'm still behind in showing you all the things I've been up to. Despite the usual busyness, I've been quite productive lately.  Rope belts/necklaces, lots of journal pages, 2 new paintings and even a collaborative canvas are just waiting for me to photograph and show them off. But today I have jeans and a new shirt to hem and a ton of laundry to catch up on because of all my creative productivity. Hey, I'm only one person. I can't do everything.

 

Spring is on my mind and keeping me going. I've already brought out the sandals and put away the socks. So what if we are still due for a few snowstorms before real Spring sets in? I'll stay indoors and draw my own Spring. In my new sandals and tank top.

 

 

 

 

 

art night

 

How does a night with friends new and old, chocolate and wine, inspiration and laughter, a night full of art sound to you? Then come on over!

 

That's exactly what we've been serving up at my house on Friday nights. A completely casual, non-threatening, fun and encouraging environment with ladies (Guys are always welcome--but no kids!) of all skill and experience levels together, oohhing and aahhing over each others work, playing with paint and canvas.

 

 

I supply the paint, canvas, chocolate and wine and everyone else brings only an open mind and a heart willing to experience all of the joy--not to get too gushy, but there is real joy--healing and whatever else they need from the creative process. We have experienced artists and novices who've haven't touched a canvas in years or ever all working together and loving it. Like I said, this is a completely non-competitive and non-threatening environment. And the goal for the night is not to create an amazing work of art (although you will see it's happening!) but to discover the joy in the creative process. Seriously, I've never been so excited about anything in my life.

 

Since my little studio can't hold more than a couple of people at a time and we've been looking forward to some big groups, I've turned our living room into a working studio with color and inspiration everywhere you look.

 

 

So what do my realtor, a waitress at our favorite brew pub, neighbors and friends have in common? They are all having a blast at art night! And--even though it's not the point--just take a look at the amazing art coming out of it.

 

 

 

This is proof that when creative human beings--whether they believe they are creative or not--find themselves in a encouraging, enthusiastic, artistic environment where they can feel free to create, explore and experiment, beautiful things can happen and art is born.

 

 

 

(We were undecided if we liked Tina's painting better right side up or upside down with flowers dangling.)

 

 

 

 

For fun we even started putting a blank canvas on an easel at one end of the room as a collaborative effort. Whenever anyone feels stuck with their own painting, needs a break, or has extra paint on their pallet, they can go over to the easel and add their unique touch to our progressive work. It is everyone's favorite painting by the end of the night!

 

 

 

 

I'm already starting to recognize each person's unique contribution to our collaborative paintings. And I'm so excited to see how our art develops and everyone grows, in relationship to each other and as individuals as we continue our journey together. Originally, I imagined we would get together once a month, but everyone has begged to keep having it so we're getting together every week as long as people are willing. If you happen to be local or close to Pueblo and want to join us, shoot me an email (sidebar, top right). And if you think this is a fabulous idea that you want to see in your own neighborhood, I can't shout it loud enough: do it!! It may change someone's life. I'll keep you posted on how things develop and give you more tips for setting up your own art night!

weekend crafting

 

Tif's tutorial came at the perfect time to distract me from the things I should have been doing this weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's harder to get a good photo of your kitchen window than you might think.