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Artspiration

Choose your Focus

Your hand concentrates for you. I don’t know why it should be so.~ Rebecca West I was recently reading about our Reticular Activating System (RAS). Apparently this network of neurons and neural fibers in our brain stem does a lot of rather important things – regulating our sleep/waking, breathing, heart beats, eating, walking… It also […]

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Artspiration

Tools for the Job

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe There’s something to be said for having the right […]

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Artspiration

Slow and Steady

Always do the very best you can. If you’ll just make a commitment to improving the quality of your work, incrementally, you’ll see enormous changes over the span of years.~ Tom Tischler I suspect you’ve heard the fable of the tortoise and the hare. They race and the hare gets such a large lead that […]

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Artspiration

The Definitions We Take Upon Ourselves

You’re an artist when you say you are. And you’re a good artist when you make somebody else experience or feel something deep or unexpected.~ Amanda Palmer It’s interesting to hear the question intros we receive at the store – “This is a random question…” or “I’m not sure exactly what I’m looking for…” or […]

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Artspiration

Are your tools decorated?

Art is inextricably tied to man’s survival – not to his physical survival, but to that on which his physical survival depends: to the preservation and survival of his consciousness.~ Ayn Rand It seems that every culture decorates its tools. Bowls have intricate patterns inscribed or painted on them. Hand tools have decorative, yet functional, […]

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Artspiration

The secret, so often, is “practice”

Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.~ Chuck Close In the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, he explains the “10,000 hour rule”. Roughly speaking – it takes approximately 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to become world-class at a skill. If you worked at something for 20 hours […]

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Artspiration

A Fair-ly Great Week

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.~ Pablo Picasso Last week/end was the La Plata County Fair. I (Matthew) was there all week, running the art gallery. It was great to see many of you enter your work and visit the exhibits. I was really impressed with the quality of the entries this […]

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Artspiration

Have You Met…

Relationships matter more than almost anything else. ~ Leo Babauta I love meeting people and hearing the story of their lives. Everyone is fascinating if you take the time to really listen and get to know them. That’s the highlight of working at the Art Supply House – getting to meet everyone who comes through […]

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Artspiration

Learning to See

I believe in the power of the arts. Visual, written, performing, you name it. Art is the means through which we inform, educate, entertain, and learn about the world around us. We take issues, triumphs, emotions, stories, and channel them into powerful works of art. Art heals. Art entertains. Art teaches. Art leads. It seems […]

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Artspiration

Drawn to Water

Water supports all our endeavors, from the simple task of making paint flow, to sustaining life. It is the common denominator that all humanity shares.~ Sharon Crosbie It’s only natural that water catches our attention. Of course, it’s one of those rule-of-three requirements for life. We’ll only live for 3 days without it (3 minutes […]