Writing on the fly!!!

Well, if there is one thing that will force my hand to write my blog it's sending out our newsletter to 500 people that says "don't forget to read our blog!" I really should do the blog first.....
It has been a great season for the arts, at least here in Naples at casa|art|studio. We have been so fortunate to have had lots of sales, custom commissions awarded to us, and a great gang of students who have kept us inspired with their works even though we're supposed to be the ones doing the teaching and inspiring. One day they'll catch on and realize I should be paying them!

The month of May finds things moving along at a slower pace and we are enjoying the moment to catch our breath, think about new business ideas for the coming year, and sneak out early and go to the pool. You can generally tell the people that live in Florida as they are the ones without a tan....and that would be us!

We will be making some changes to our studio this summer as most of you know Steve and I can't leave things looking the same for too long. We are losing square footage yearly with all of the coats of paint we have added along the way just because "Cynthia wants the accent wall brown instead of green", said in a slightly irritated fashion by Steve (he does all of the painting). And Steve will be taking a photoshop class and I'll be back to my writing class with the hopes that the combination of those two courses will improve our blogs, newsletters and all of the pretty pictures that go in them.

And I suppose we'll create some art along the way too! We always have so many ideas about what we want to paint that it is fun to just have the studio time without the show schedule so we can just get into the zone and ignore everything else. We're also planning to buzz over to the east coast a time or two for inspiration. It is such a vibrant art scene in Miami - a day there can fuel our creativity for months to come.

We'll be in touch!

It's about time...!

Being committed to blogging is not something I have upheld very well!  As much as I love to write and post pretty pictures of our art work the blogging portion seems to get shuffled down the to do list every time.  One day there will be some consistency and I ask you to hang in there!  Besides, what fun would it be to already be bored with what I write long before I achieve my maximum potential!  I'm really doing a favour for all of you although you may not recognize it.

We have had several busy months and continue to remain in a state of  "glass half full" which always feels so much better.  For all of the whining and complaining about what is going on in the economy I look around and see abundance!  Every friend and family member that I can think of has work, the restaurants and stores down here are packed, the weather is beautiful, people are buying art (a luxury item that often gets bypassed in a weak economy) ....and one phrase comes to mind in particular ...."Life is Good!"  I love that expression and it is a reminder that everyday, every moment, is what we make of it.  You can focus on the difficulties, or you can focus on the good stuff.  I will admit that is not an easy thing to do, especially when life hands you those difficult losses like we have experienced the past few months. 

In spite of those life transitions, everything great about this world is still there, just waiting for me to choose to see those things instead of the others.

So happy to be back!

We have held several workshops since I last wrote and had some wonderful students coming back for every session.  As it was in the faux world for Steve and me, our clients are quickly becoming close friends!  We have had waiting lists for all of our workshops for several months out which is exciting for me as I just took a chance on doing this last spring not knowing if it would be a good business decision or not.  It was!

Lots of art shows too.  The 5th Avenue national show in early January (my first!) was a great success and I will be exhibiting again March 24th and 25th.  This month will be all about producing new inventory and I am excited to get underway with new pieces.

Steve and I have both had several nice commissions awarded to us too.  Part of the fun of taking on those projects is getting to work with new clients on a personal project like that.  Fun fun!

OK, off to the studio I go.  There is work to be done (and beer in the fridge) so I must scoot!

Happy March everyone!

Cynthia

The featured painting at top center is one of Steve's, measuring approximately 8' x 5'.  One of my favourites!

You can find us at www.casaartstudio.com or on Facebook at casa art studio.  Keep up with events and classes by joining our Facebook page.

No Fear in the New Year!

For years now I have given myself a new motto to embrace at the beginning of each new year. 

It all started with "everyday's a holiday" when I was in my twenties.  That was a no brainer and an easy enough goal to meet pretty regularly.  The goals moved on from there to more sensible ones like "just do it", "just say no [when I found myself saying yes too much]", "it's good enough [to break my habit of micromanaging]" and many, many more.  I even brought back "everyday's a holiday" to see how it felt again after all those years.  It wasn't the same as everything was so much more expensive and I found I actually had to work hard to go on those holidays.  Bummer....
So this year I've been thinking about what is it I could chant inside my head on a regular basis that will help me grow and be all that I can be?  I didn't want to join the army (ha ha - get it?) so I decided that if I just plow head first into this year with a fearless attitude about everything new that comes my way I am bound to end up with some pretty spectacular results.  I've always loved the idea of "what could I achieve if I weren't afraid of anything" - this is the year to find out!
Happy 2012 to you all.  It's going to be a great year!

Yay for November!

There are a lot of great months in the year (12 of them actually) but there is one day in November that keeps this month at the top of my list - my birthday!

I remember when I was a kid we would always get a new yearly calendar in our stockings for Christmas. November was predictably a let down with the photo because it either had something to do with autmn leaves or chrysanthemums. To this day I don't like either! Autumn, for all its beauty, was an imminent reminder of winter just around the corner in Michigan (where I grew up). And chrysanthemums - boring! I wanted my birthday calendar month to have a picture of Hawaii and maybe hibiscus flowers, or frangipani.

But November manages to redeem itself every year by granting me the opportunity to celebrate another year on this beautiful planet, chrysanthemums notwithstanding. Birthdays are a rejuvenation of sorts, just like the beginning of a new year, or the first day of spring (which is not noticeable in south Florida, but I always welcome it anyway.) For that reason I start to get revved up at the beginning of this month. It is a chance to reflect on the past year, make plans for the upcoming year, and start afresh trying to lose those 5 (or maybe it is 10 now) pounds!

Oh yeah, and be more diligent with my painting discipline too! I have been busy making my goals list of artistic challenges I want to accomplish in the coming year. Starting off is continued education, and Steve and I are taking a three day workshhop (right now in fact) with a fantastic artist, Shirley Wilson Blake, through the Art League of Bonita Springs. I have learned so much already and we still have one more day of class. It is so inspiring to be around other artists - they really motivate me to keep on painting. I can't wait for Monday so I can be back in my studio!!!

Ciao!

Cynthia

Words on paper are like colour on canvas!

Having not written my blog for sometime now I feel like I am starting from scratch! Staring at a blank word file is not unlike staring at a blank canvas. You just sit there, thinking that inspiration is going to strike, all along hoping that someone might buy an all white canvas and you can go home and take a nap!

Eventually the ideas rise to the surface and the colours go down on the canvas and the words tumble on to the page. It is so nice being an artist - for all of the things I'm not actually able to write I can usually paint that emotion and find a way to deliver my message in colour.

So, summer is coming to a close and my beautiful thunderstorms that I love so much are slowly disappearinng until next spring. They are my primary inspiration June through October - something about the thunder, lighting, the sound of the rain on the metal roof of our studio and the electric charge in the air keeps me in my happy, creative place.

During some of the storms early in the season I started experimenting on paper using pastels, inks, acrylics, some papers, liquid gold leaf (a given!) and a whole new way of expressing myself with lines, scribbles and scraffito. This is the most fun I've had in a while and once we get set up for our show this week I'm going to dive back in to this process. It's great to try something different and realize how many untapped things reside inside us, waiting to manifest themselves in some sort of physical form.

If you are in the Naples area come see us this Wednesday evening from 6-9 pm for our open house. Wine and appetizers will be served, and keep in mind that the more paintings you buy the better the wine and apps will be at the next show! It's up to you, people! :-)

Cynthia

Rainy days and Wednesdays always make me happy!

Hanging out in the studio this afternoon, listening to a driving rain with rumbles of thunder in the distance. I love the summer storms in Florida and am one of the few odd birds who doesn't care as much for the sunny, cooler weather of the winter. Give me a wild storm and hurricane conditions anytime over something calm and mundane (except when I have to get on a plane). There is something about the charge of the positive ions from the lightning that really kicks the creative energy into high gear. It's almost a bit eupohoric, and it's great to be at the studio during a storm and capitalize on that electrical charge to the atmosphere (I was a meteorologist in a previous life it appears!)

Steve's abstract painting today looks like it could have been created during a storm as it has such a great energy to it! He has a companion piece too (both are 8x10) and is currently at work on a larger one in this series which may just have to go live at our house for a while. A little bit Miro, a little bit Jackson Pollock - maybe the storms carried their energy to him so he could tap into their long ago creative genius.

For more information on this abstract painting or others at casa art studio please click on the link below.
http://www.casaartstudio.com/tospapada.html

Workshops and auction coming up!

Howdy doody!

Steve has been working on our next newsletter which will be emailed out later today. He came up with a great name for it and you will just have to read it to find out! If you are not on our regular (non-facebook) email blast Steve will be sharing it on FB so you'll have the chance to read it and better yet sign up for it and join the masses! It is quite the trendy group to belong to these days. Just sayin.....

Assuming, however, that most of you won't follow my above request, we are offering a few two-day workshops in August in case you want to come paint and hopefully learn something too. The first one will be Aug 9 and 10 (Tue/Wed)and the next one will be the following week, Aug 16 and 17 (also Tue/Wed). Hours are 10-3 pm the first day and 10-1 pm the second day. Cost is $125 and we supply most of the materials. Maximum of 4 students, so hurry and sign up!

And also in the newsletter is our second community painting, available now to bid on auction style through noon next Friday, August 5, 2011. It is the featured painting above, titled 'Garden of Life' and the measurements are 62" L x 42" H. The sides are finished so it does not need framing - ready to hang! The proceeds will be donated to two organizations - The Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled and also Destiny Diaper Bank. The opening bid is starting at $750 (the last one sold for $2000 at the fundraising event)and we hope that those of you who can participate will consider doing so as the organizations this will benefit are really fantastic.

Contact us at casaartstudio@yahoo.com to place a bid or get further information.

The website for Foundation For the Developmentally Disabled is http://www.ffddnaples.org
Destiny Diaper Bank is http://www.destinydiaperbank.com