REFRESH YOUR ARTISTIC SPIRIT

What a fun, inspiring extended weekend we had in Kentucky! It was wonderful, having been so busy these past few months, to take a break and refresh my creative spirit.  Our schedules today are pretty hectic and it is important that we all stop at some point in our lives and refresh ourselves, whether it is for our art or just our inner souls.  My favorite part of any little vacation is to go on a hunt to take in the local art.  This provides two things for me; one, that I can hopefully bring a piece of it back home to admire and remember the little adventure; and two, spark those creative juices in my soul to come back and work on my art with a renewed passion.  Seeing the art that others are doing, has a way of ‘pushing you’ to take more risks with your art.  It is always wonderful to admire all the hard work of these talented artists.  That is just what Nancy and I did.  

  

Outside art in Berea

Berea, KY was quite delightful.  We spent the day admiring all the wonderful work the artists in this darling city were up to.  We walked from one handmade shop to the next.  Between the college students and the local artists, there was inspiration wherever you looked.  Whether wood, metal, glass or fabric the pieces were beautiful and creative.  When I walked into these shops and studios, my mind wandered and my spirit lifted.  They put their little ‘twist’ on many common items from whisk brooms that had a little flare and a lot of color, to amazing inlaid art for your walls and everything in between.  The people of the town were very engaging and loved to share their passion for what they were doing.  We had fun little chats with store keepers and an impromptu tour of the Gastineau Studio workshop to see how he designs and forms his beautiful metal jewelry and pewter pieces.  

Because this town is also very focused on recycling as well, they had what was called poopoo paper!  What a hoot!  It is exactly what you are thinking.  They recycle it all!  It was a wonderful day filled with art, laughs and lots of fresh air!

 

Then onto Rocky Hill, KY to spend 2 days using our hands and refreshing our skills at paper crafting.

Within the countryside of Rocky Hill, KY is a beautiful B&B and art retreat called PK Glitz.  They specialize in glitter and embossing powders.  In our small, focused little group we refreshed our techniques and built upon them.  As is the tradition at PK Glitz, a few of us headed to the train tracks with our pennies to create a few of our own souvenirs from PK Glitz!  Our final project was this cute little recipe book.  Janelle gave us a few of the B&B recipes to start off the book with.  I may need to try these on a few family and friends.  What I love about Janelle’s classes is that we explore ideas and she allows us to add our own twist to the projects.  She provides the basics to get us started and we add our own little flare.  We all share ideas and it is fun to see where everyone takes it.

  

My wonderful little escape to Kentucky has come to an end, but the gracious spirit of Kentucky will be with me for some time.  The people we met could not have been nicer and more engaging and the art was very inspirational.  I come back to my studio ready to create!  Now it is your turn to refresh your spirit! ;-)