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

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