Professional Development

(Remember, to get a closer view, click on the image!)

Taking myself more seriously as an artist has, wonderfully, allowed me the justification for taking art classes! Development is important for every professional, right? Last week, I attended a short evening class at the scrapbook store near where I live (an awesome shop called Capture, with tons of fun papers and a great workspace, owned and operated by two local women). The class was called Exploding Circle Album. I think I was the only non-scrapbooker there, but we had such fun! One of the store's owners, Suzanne, prepared the class for us, with all the papers selected and pieces cut out already. We folded, made a couple of cuts, glued, and embellished.

What a great idea this album is! While scrapbookers in particular might use this as a photo album (the prototype we followed had photos and words in it), I see huge potential for it as an art piece (not that albums can't be "art"). As I glued and embellished that evening, I saw collages in my mind, elaborate cards or letters, or a coffee table work of art! And I wondered, how could I get fabric into the mix here?

While I continue to ponder, this lovely thing decorates our home. It moves from table to table--an excellent conversation piece--and it makes me think and inspires me every day.

My next professional development opportunity will be March 21, a class on transfers at the Artist's Nook. Stay tuned!

And we have 13 people signed up for our card swap! Postmark deadline: April 14.