The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.
~ Linus Pauling
There’s a story I love about a pottery teacher who split their class in two. One half was told to make the single best pot they could. The other half? Their only goal was to make as many pots as possible—no pressure on perfection, just volume.
At the end of the term, something unexpected happened: the students who focused on quantity also produced the highest quality work.
Why? Because repetition became its own kind of teacher. Each attempt taught them something—what worked, what didn’t, what felt right in their hands. The sheer act of doing gave them confidence with the tools, a feel for the clay, and eventually, mastery.
🎨 Featured Artist: Sebas Velasco
- This week’s spotlight is on – Sebas Velasco – a Spanish artist who creates these oil paintings that seem more like snapshots than conventional portraiture, still life, or landscape.See even more on his website and instagram!
🧠 Creative & Curious Links
- Elsa Gramcko would have been 100 on Friday!
- If you want to paint your way around the world, Strathmore is sharing a series of 5-part watercolor landscape lessons by Elina Zhelyazkova.
- This is a guide to the best papers for calligraphy and art.
- Scientists claim to have created a color no one has seen before.
- On the other end of the spectrum – how ancient colors are made – tyrian purple and indigo blue.
- Why was ancient Roman concrete so durable? (eg: the Parthenon)
- Want to know how to make your own telescope?
- In case you ever wondered how to get a haircut aboard the International Space Station – here you go.
- Here’s an interactive visualization of the shared DNA of music (by The Pudding) – i.e. how “borrowed beats, loaned lyrics, and multipurpose melodies” are passed down through generations of music, from Edvard Grieg (1876) to Tupac.
- Just for fun, Friday is “International Amigurumi Day“. Knitting and crocheting tiny, charming creatures brings joy, unleashing creativity and providing a delightful escape into handmade whimsical worlds. (And we’ve got some kits available if you want a jump-start.)
Fun Fact: Georgia O’Keeffe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, exchanged over 25,000 letters throughout their relationship, many of which discussed art, love, and nature.
📍What’s Happening Around Town
Here are a few ways to get inspired outside the studio this week:
- There’s an art fundraiser happening for Ray. Both online and in the Smiley Building ArtRoom #10.
- The 16th Annual Durango Devo Bike Swap is this weekend. Sell, buy, donate, and volunteer at this epic community event featuring hundreds of pre-owned and new bicycles, bike parts, and accessories. Event is at Chapman Hill Ice Rink. Drop off gear to sell or donate: Fri, April 25 9am-7pm. Swap, swap swap: Sat, April 26 9am-7pm. Unsold merch pickup: Sun, April 27 9am-1pm
- Yarn Meetup is this Saturday at the Durango Library, from 1-3. They’re calling knitters, crocheters, and fiber artists of all ages and levels! Go work on your current project in an informal group setting!
- Also Saturday is the D&D club meeting at the Sunnyside Library from 12-3. No prior experience or materials necessary. Open to both beginners and experienced players.
- There are lots of live music events, open mics, live jam sessions, etc, scattered about the area throughout the week. There are too many to list here, so if you’re looking for such things, head over to WhatsHappeningDurango.com.
- There are classes/workshops/projects available at the 4 Corners Gem and Mineral Club, the Bayfield Library, Create Art and Tea, the Dancing Spirit Center for the Arts, the Durango Library, Durango Sustainable Goods, Let’s Letter Together, the MakerLab, Picasso & Vino, the Scrapbook Nook, Seed Studio, and the Durango Arts Center. There are a lot more things happening that I don’t include – so if you’re ever looking for something to do, start at WhatsHappeningDurango.com.
🖌️ Featured Art Supply:
- Whether your little artist is just beginning to explore or already loves getting creative, these kits offer something special. The undercover art sets bring a little magic to coloring—hidden patterns appear with each marker stroke! And the scenic hues sets are watercolor postcards that let kids turn their art into happy mail, combining painting with the joy of sharing. Both are perfect for sparking imagination, building confidence, and making creativity part of everyday play. Swing by to pick up a little magic for your mini artist!
The pottery story reminds me of Picasso—yes, that Picasso. He made somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 works in his lifetime (some estimates go even higher). But how many do we really talk about? A handful, maybe. The masterpieces, the icons. And yet those wouldn’t exist without the mountain of sketches, experiments, and flops that came before them.
I doubt he walked into the studio thinking, “This will be the one.” More likely, he just showed up and created. Over and over again.
So if you’re feeling stuck, paralyzed by the pressure to make something “good” or “right”—release it. Don’t aim for greatness. Aim for volume. Make a lot of art. Share it. Let go of the idea that you get to decide which piece is the piece. That’s not your job.
Your job is to keep showing up.
And trust that somewhere in the pile, something will shine.
Because the world needs your art—and honestly, the more the better.
Matthew & the Art Supply House crew
💌 PS – It’s Spring Clean Art Supply Drive!
Got unused art supplies gathering dust? We’ll gladly take them off your hands and pass them along to nonprofits and organizations who can use them to spark creativity in someone else’s life.
Drop-off anytime this month at the store. (One more week!)