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Artspiration

Feed your work

Imagination is the eye of the soul. ~ Joseph Joubert It’s easy to get distracted by daily life. To let the chores, meetings, errands, and other tasks (no matter how important) take over your days and forget to pause. We have to be intentional about building margin into our lives – to schedule extra time […]

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Artspiration

It’s a busy week

If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. Not that it’s ever slow in Durango, but spring fever seems to have hit. There’s a lot that went on last week and even more coming up in the next few days! Whew! We’re still catching our breath from the remodel and certainly missed seeing you last […]

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Artspiration

The Spice of Life

With the new day comes new strengths and new thoughts. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt This week’s missive will be abbreviated – we’re still in the middle of our remodel, though the end is in sight. New look, new products, new categories – and most of the good old stuff as well! The photo above is part […]

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Artspiration

Sharing Your Message

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default. ~ JK Rowling Communication is hard. No matter if you’re a writer who draws, a drawer who writes, a photographer, a speaker, or […]

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Artspiration

Miracles of Nature

Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat. ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder It’s an interesting time of year. Summer almost seems to have arrived in Durango and it’s still winter higher up in the mountains. In-between the two extremes are varying piles of snow and blooming flowers. No matter what kind […]

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Artspiration

Keep on keeping on

Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. ~ Kurt Vonnegut I couldn’t sleep last night so I got up and read Austin Kleon’s new book, Keep Going. It’s a quick read and one that I will definitely be working through again. I […]

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Artspiration

Document Your Life

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. ~ Pablo Picasso A lot of my sketchbooks are filled with doodles from daily life: coffee shops and the people in them, parks and riverbanks, nearby buildings and far-off vistas. They are records of my day, of the days that fill my weeks. Those rough sketches […]

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Artspiration

Life as Inspiration

Life was meant to be lived and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt I recently read this passage and just wanted to share it: One of the benefits of being an artist is that everything that happens to you—no matter how traumatic […]

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Artspiration

The terror of sharing your work

You are only entitled to the action, never to its fruits. ~ Bhagavad Gita It can be terrifying to share your work as an artist. Something that you create seems to represent who and what you are to others. And whether it is accepted or rejected then seems to reflect directly on you. But does […]

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Artspiration

It’s Spring!

Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again. ~ Gustav Mahler At least for the last few days, it’s even felt like it! (We’ll ignore the forecast for the next few days for right now.) I’ve been digging out my watercolors and sketchbook […]