Today's artist day in Crockett and Benicia

Today was an inspirational day from the start. I want to create a body of work to show for open studios which are May 1st, and 2nd in the arsenal. This morning Ben and I brainstormed about taking pictures as a tool for possible paintings and I have been wanting to check out Crockett, as it's so unique. The town of Crockett is only 20 miles away, and it's like stepping into a time machine, it's so different and quaint. The C&H sugar factory is it's mainstay and still runs to date. "The Plant is really quite impressive and like no other (surviving and operating) industry in Northern California, a classic multi-story brick edifice that would be more at home in the hills of Pennslyvania." I'd love to take a tour and see what it looks like inside, it is shockingly old fashioned in comparison to my town of Danville mere miles away.
After we took pictures of the factory we cruised around town and met William who lives on essentially a house boat right on top of some railroad tracks. He was a cool, mellow dude who happened to walk right by as I was taking pictures of his house. He likes living there even though trains go within feet of his walls every hour or so and tug boats drive right in front of his front door and splash his floorboards! So original, and he perfectly exemplifies this quirky little town.
After I got to the studio I had Fran and Mary come in, all full of life, and we all brainstormed more good ideas for this hip chick and her store. Thanks you two for your enthusiasm and support it always gets this hip chick fired up! I took some still life shots to keep my artistic juices flowing and then ended the day talking to Laura Ellington about her jewelry and how she needs to promote "make your own vintage necklaces". It was a creatively enriched day full of surprises and inspirations, what more could a girl ask for???!!!!

Making art books with Sharon Payne Bolton

Yesterday I got to play with Sharon in her studio and make this gorgeous art book. Sharon is an incredibly gorgeous, talented artist who warmly welcomed me to join her for an afternoon of creative play. I gladly accepted!!She has the best studio full of old papers, stamps, images, paint, wax, wire, clocks, and much more with which to play and create. She provided all the supplies graciously and guided me through how to create this fabulous art book. Step 1 was gluing paper directly onto the boards. Step 2 was sanding the edges and darkening them with black ink. Step 3 was layering them with anything that caught my eye, an antique lady, lace, stamps, sky was the limit here. Step 4 was playing with the encoustic which was my favorite, it's bascially melted wax and I was obseesed, I wanted to do it on every page! The last part was sewing it together with sticky twine and "Voila" a beautiful book of images I will treasure forever. The best part was spending time with a talented and lovely woman who inspires me to create more and more art. I get stuck in painting only and this helped to loosen up the possibilities for me. Thank you Sharon, it was a Joy Jar day!!!

Berkeley on a beautiful day

Today was like a beautiful spring day. I got to spend it with Linda in Berkeley and I went to many places I had never been. First stop was the Fanny Cafe which is owned by Alice Waters. It was my first time there and I will be returning as the food was out of this world. We shared a mozzarella sandwich with tapenade and a chicken stew couscous and it was heavenly. Then we got bread next door at Acme Bread which is simply charming. After the meal we bopped around different places and Linda took me up on the top of Grizzly Road where the view was breathtaking. The picture doesn't do it justice, it was amazing to see the whole bay, the Golden gate with a sliver of fog in the distance. It was a great day to be alive, outside, enjoying the beauty of our bay area with a good friend!