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

Inspired by music!

Our studio has a nice vibe going on in it today. Steve and I are painting with an occasional dance step thrown in as we sashay to and from our work tables. The music du jour is a mix of India.Arie (Voyage to India), Khadja Nin (from the Central African Republic) and Mary Mary (a Christian rock/urban group). For those of you who know us your're probably saying "Well, two out of three of those make sense...not sure where they came up with that third one though!"

The first time I heard Mary Mary I was in a little beach shack on the island of Totola in the BVI's. Everyone was dancing while they were shopping and it was the greatest music. Kind of hip, urban and funky, along with a great message. I've liked that group ever since! If you have a chance go to Google and type in Mary Mary Shackles (praise you). Turn up the volume and listen/watch the video. Maybe you'll feel like painting too. At a minimum you may just start dancing!

Today's picture is a follow-up to my last blog about creative picture hanging. On either side of the pictures are Rhythm Pounders of the Senufo tribe from the Ivory Coast, West Africa. On the bench is a Kuba cloth from the Democratic Republic of Congo, given to me by my friend Sabine DeMott who lived in central Africa for years.

My studio is filled with great music, gifts from dear friends, and beautiful paintings underway. It's a great day!!!

Cynthia

...best laid plans of mice and men!

I don't know why we signed up for this painting a day concept. Currently we are averaging a painting a week with the 'painting a month' program lurking in the background! Oh well, it gets us into the studio, we are having fun and we are getting things done. Just so happens it's not always painting (on canvas anyway).

This weekend has been spent totally dismantling the studio, starting with our clean-up room / kitchenette. Steve has repainted the walls and is now repainting the floor. It is forcing us to go through cabinets and shelves and really do some mid-summer cleaning (we weren't paying attention when the spring cleaning season was upon us!). It is such a great energizer to get rid of all the old stuff that is just taking up space rent free.

Out with the old, in with the new! Sometimes Steve's name even appears on that short list, but this weekend he is secure.

The small painting featured today has brilliant colours with dimensional metallic gold free form lines applied on top to create depth. Great little piece to brighten up a small space!

Tomorrow I will post a photo of a unique way to hang these small paintings when you get to the point that you own so many that you don't know what to do with them! We would consider that a great problem to have!

Cynthia

For pricing or additional information on this piece or others from
casa art studio please click on the link below.

http://www.casaartstudio.com/tofeapada7.html

Back in the studio!

After a few weeks away from the studio thanks to a nice faux finishing job that came available for us we are now back in the thick of things, getting ready to create again and release all that pent up energy onto some canvas!

Although faux finishing is very creative it uses a different type of artistic energy and for me personally it does not mix well with the energy that I tap into when working on my paintings. So, as you may have noticed, production at casa art studio came to a screeching halt while we were busy at our other jobsite.

Today, July 1st, seems like a good day to start anew with some paintings. As our friends Eric & Jessica Crabtree (http://www.jcrabtreefineart.com/) have said, there hasn't been a studio large enough so far to let them produce all of the ideas they have! I kind of feel the same - so many great things out there waiting to be created into this dimension. Steve is testing his limits with reverse painting on lucite (you have to paint the final part of your painting first and then work backwards!) and I am going to dive into some other realms of mixed media working with oil pastels, collage, inks and acrylics. Can't wait!

Today's featured painting is very textural and organic. Bamboo and stone are wired on to the canvas which started with a background of rich earthy colours, chunky gold mica flakes, acrylic washes and raised gold acrylic 'beads'. Tribal, organic, earthy and unique! Artist - Steve Adams!

Here's to the beginning of a great month!

Cynthia

For more information or pricing on this painting or other works by our artists Cynthia and Steve Adams at casa art studio please click on the link below.

http://www.casaartstudio.com/today.html

I miss you Steve!!!

Well, here I am, without a husband or a tech support rep in the house and it looks like the blog is up to me for the next few days. When Steve goes out of town in only takes me a few hours to realize that one, I have a great husband and two, I don't know &%$*@ about this technical stuff. I fall into the category of knowing just enough to make a small problem bigger.

So today I will probably post a photo of one of our cats. You will know this when you read the blog and see a photo of a cat.

Steve is off to Birmingham for a few days to spend some time with his sister. He is a great brother to her and I really admire that in him. It is a huge responsibility that he has taken on becoming her guardian, but as he says in his positive way of looking at things " I don't have to do it, I get to do it". Sure makes life easier when we look at the things we do as being choices :-)

Well, I'm going to go rummage around the photo archives and see what I can come up with for today's post.

Stay tuned for more of the same tomorrow (Steve is not back until late Wednesday!!).

Cynthia

Hey! Just in case you want to see our website, here it is! I do know how to type that address!

www.casaartstudio.com

Getting ready for our show this weekend

While I was at the job site today Steve spent the entire time rearranging our studio and rehanging paintings, plus clean-up and organization. The place looks great and we are almost ready for our Saturday show as part of the Shirley Street 16 organization. If you are in the neighbourhood come see us between 11 am and 4 pm. There are another 10 to 12 studios within walking distance that will be open too. It's always interesting to see what all of these artists are working on and to observe them in their native habitat. It's like being part of a National Geographic special on wild artists in the field!!!

Today's painting was created around the same time as yesterday's painting so there are some similarities in colour and mood and they make a nice pair should you want to consider buying both (highly recommended!)

Have a nice evening and we'll be back at it tomorrow!

Cynthia

For pricing or more information on this painting or others at casa art studio please click on the link below.

http://www.casaartstudio.com/tofeapada6.html