Getting Ready for Spring

My studio mannequin--Edith Head
dons her March outfit 

Spring cleaning studio. Baseboards, books and bottles - everything cleaned and reorganized. Putting away the last leftover boxes from the Knotts Berry Farm gig, class project palettes, paints. How does all this stuff accumulate so quickly?

Had a great conversation with Diane at Whimzy about "letting go". It is difficult to say goodbye to a stack of charger plates, paper mache boxes, wooden garden shapes --all initially sparked creative ideas that simply haven't come to fruition. At a certain point, keeping all these "idea" items (some for years) seems selfish and counterproductive. My storage space needs to be relatively clutterfree - climbing over "schtuff" or moving boxes to get to the "schtuff" beneath is time consuming and frustrating. So I cleared out the excess.

Took left over items to class and offered them as a "Thank You for Painting with Me" to my students. They were thrilled. It was extremely rewarding to watch my old, unused items find new homes. Ideas flew around the room. My students came up with great project ideas and immediately scheduled class time to launch their creativity into reality.

Returned to my studio inspired. Ready to create. Ready for Spring.

CHA

I never tire of beautiful objects. At CHA, I tarried over picture perfect displays swirling with bouquets of velvet roses delicately sprinkled with crystalina. There were birdcages and vintage dress forms adorned with paper ruffles, baby chicks and feathers along with ice resined journals in magenta, lime green and azure blue palettes...the day was a moveable feast of delicious eye candy.

Saturday evening, the Water Grill provided the perfect ambience to reunite with dear friends Sue Scheewe, Stan Brown, Camille and Kimberly.  We lingered over delectable food and delightful conversation - Stan and Mike told stories that left everyone's cheeks aching from laughter. Alas, the night was over too soon. Synchronicities were in play - Sunday morning I turned on PBS to find Sue painting away on her watercolor show. What an icon!

I toured Plaid's booth with engaging designer Angela Anderson. New products and fresh ideas abounded. I met Angela in 2005, when I first picked up a paintbrush. She's been a source of inspiration as I've watched her talent and career blossom.

Cupcakes, steampunkery and glitter were the order of the day. Picked up Lisa Kettell's amazing Altered Art Circus, the latest by Creative Tonic's Christi Friesen and Cyththia Thornton's Enchanted Adornments. Favorite artists Pam Carriker, Rita Rae, Traci Bautista were also in attendance.

I left the show inspired and seeped in artistic possibilities. I hope the pics below capture some of that for you.

Plaid's Angela Anderson