Inspiration Strikes Again

I’ve been away for too long! My job has kept me way too busy and stressed out to have the energy to write anything. But I’m on vacation now, so I’m rested and ready to get back to business!

I went to the Loveland Art Show last Sunday with Roman, Steph & Greg. It was an arts and crafts show, and a lot of artists from The Loveland Art Studios on Main were exhibitors. There were lots of painters, photographers, jewelry makers, and fine artists. It was about 99 degrees outside (yes, in September), so walking around around wasn’t so fun.

Steph actually has a studio at the Loveland Art Studios. She recently left her corporate job to become a freelance designer & illustrator.

My main arts and crafts interests are glass, beads and photography. I usually find myself hating all the other photographers’ works because there’s that voice in my head that says, “I could do that.” And there’s that other voice that says, “So why aren’t you doing that?” That voice usually comes from Roman. But I digress.

There were a few artists inparticular that inspired me. The first was was a woman who made amazing jewelry. Her company is called Danglez, and her work looks a lot like the Silpada and Sundance jewelry. Which I LOVE. It took me about 20 minutes to decide which piece I wanted, and I ended up paying around $30 for an amazing necklace (right). The woman who designs this line is an inspiration. I love beads, and I wish I had the energy and patience to make pieces as nice as those.

Another artist, Lauren Buchan (who won first place in the bead category), does lampwork, and she also works extensively with seed beeds, and she actually teaches classes. She’s going to teach me peyote stich and freeform peyote stitch. I’ve tried to teach myself peyote stitch from a book, but I’m not a great book learner. Lauren is another artist at the Loveland Studios on Main.

I was inspired for the day by looking at everybody else’s art. Now it’s time to get back to creating my own!