dads travel slides

Long ago I was given slides of my fathers from his time overseas during Vietnam War.  Today, I went to the studio and looked and photographed them.  They are simply stunning.  You can really see the hope that resides in these photos.  I find my self compelled to do something with them.  I am stewing over the idea and playing with the images that  I took of them.  This is Manila, I am not sure of how long he stayed in each of these places but the images speak a story of inquiry, empathy and well composed images.

Fuller House take-over

TODAY I WATCHED THE ENTIRE SEASON OF FULLER HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


it felt good to get that off my chest.  

Art in the kitchen

At work this evening, my boss asked me to come back to the kitchen and look at our salad dressing.  This is what I found!  I love how alchemy, art and science all find their way into the kitchen.  Zoom into that image and a beautiful abstract painting will appear reminiscent of landscapes throughout the plains!  Thanks for sharing with me, Rebecca!

Collage of Collage

The gallery and hair salon upstairs from my studio and creative space has asked me to hang some work in their newly freshened in salon!  I chose to show my collages all 12"x12" and very simple basic imagery.  Minimal collage is what I life to reference them as.  I am currently framing each of them and will hang them later this week!  Excited to be a part of such an awesome creative family:)

Honey, I shrunk the kids

Wednesdays are my day off, and usually Wills too.  So, tonight we built a fire, watched Honey, I shrunk the kids and ate tuna melts!  All cozied in enjoying the evening.  That is a perfect night for me.  I find myself wanting the luxury of my home more than that of an expensive restaurant and movie theatre.  Cheers!

Plate forum reception

This evening I went to a reception for the artist in residency at Platte Forum, here in Denver.  The reception was held at Oz Architecture, where my aunt works, and was awesome to be a part of.  This is definitely something that I want to pursue in volunteering and/or working in residency with.  Their community influence is unbelievable and have  and still are making a huge difference in the art world in Colorado.  Plate forum is a wonderful group of people bridging. 5 artist for every 4-6 weeks.  Multiple different schools and have the ability to graduate at a 99% graduation rate.  They follow through with their students and  achieve awareness socially with

Manic Monday

Mondays are my day of regrouping my life for the week.  Sometimes there are a lot of things to organize and implement and sometimes there in nothing.  It is weird.  I used to be bothered by the lack and then I realized balance in life isn't always a day to day thing.  It's on a grand scale sometimes you work, sometimes you play!  Part of the excitement about this Monday ritual is my relationship with my planner.  My bible.  It holds the rhythm to my life and although all the information may be in my head, the act of writing and seeing is important in being mindful in my schedule.  Cheers to a great week, filled with work, art and good times with loved ones!

Sunday Funday

Today we celebrated and/or mourned the lack of snow in City Park!  It was a beautiful day of friends, games and good beer and food!   We were introduced to Polish horseshoes in which I believe I excelled at:)  Overall, a relaxing day celebrating amazing weather here in Denver.

confessions of a sketchbook

If my sketchbooks could talk, they would tell the story of my travels, trinkets, transportation and my OCD.  I love to be able to keep the small things of my travels and life and collage them into sketchbooks and then doodle/draw/design around the collage.   I started this when I traveled in 2014 through Germany, Greece and Italy.  It was an easy way to keep track of the tangible memory of my adventures.  I continue this and will go through about 2-4 sketchbooks a year (the one below is a calendar I bought in Berlin, that I turned into a sketchbook).  Below are a few of my 'sketches' out of many!  These are from my travels to Prague and Budapest this past summer.

Lower Level Creative Space Exhibition

The first ever formal exhibition of Lower Level Creative Space was tonight!  Excellent work by Julia Kinne!  It was a low attended event all around for the this First Friday's, but those days you get to really sit and talk to people about the work and art in general.  Which is fantastic!  We met some potential artists that will exhibit, which is thrilling and lots of awesome artists that passed through.  Santa Fe arts district really exudes artistic community which is the number one reason I wanted to be in this area.  Every month Lower Level CS will have new artists trying to achieve their dream in the arts.   It is gonna be awesome!

T'was the night before an opening...

I am excited to announce the opening of Lower Level Creative Space!  A space where people can exhibit their work in the Santa Fe Arts District in Denver, Colorado.   Seven weeks ago I had an urge to clean up, white wash and create a space to exhibit work adjacent to my studio space.   The first artist to show their work is Julia Kinne.  A friend and fellow Iowa alumna her work radiates color, pattern, passion and true ambition to find a better you.  Her paintings which include small installations into them compose a garden of visual delight and exude liveliness.   Her work will be up all month and exited to see it daily as I pass through the garden to get to my studio.  

Among Julia being the featured artist, Amy Good, Krystal Moore and myself will always have work exhibited.  The cohesive ability to find good and radiate good in all of our work is prevalent when you enter the space.  Lower level yes, but lofty and filled with passion creates a feeling all of its own.  

It is my hope to continue to build relationships with artists and network with people to create exhibitions that not only give opportunity to an artist, but to enhance the district with a free space that commits to community and artists.  

I am thankful for the ambition and drive to transform this space.  I see a future filled with lots of fun and great art!

LA