I love art.
I love being surrounded by art.
I also love creating art. I used to draw and paint all of the time. Through all of my school years I made it a point to take art classes throughout those years. These days I mainly create with my camera and computer but I do miss picking up a paint brush or a pencil and feeling inspired that way.
Below is a photo of one of the walls in my office, there are a couple of my paintings, a photograph by a talented friend (Allie Ellis's photo titled 'Half Price Hope'), a print I liked from 20x200, and a board with various items that make me smile pinned to it. I'm ready to add more to my walls - my own work and that of others - and I love seeing my family photos alongside paintings and prints (my family photos are hanging on the wall I face while I work).
It has been hard to make the time to paint more but I recently came across an event, I think it's a new fad, called Paint Nite. This is a social event with canvas and paint located at a bar! I am so excited to be going to two of these in a few weeks with friends! What a fun way to make time to paint (inspire me to do more of it even afterward) and get to socialize with some wonderful people.
I've also been thinking of trying to put together an art swap - a friend in NYC orchestrated a few of these when I lived there - where a group of artists each bring one or two pieces and through a lottery or some other exchange gets to leave with one or two pieces by someone else there. The art that was created by my friends are easily my favorite pieces!
Above is a photo by Sarah Ann Ward that hangs in my kitchen. It's such a beautiful, quiet photo that I really enjoy seeing daily.