New Collaborations

A few months ago, I met a few friends for coffee. One old friend and one new friend, sat around the table with me as we talked non stop about life and our mutual connection, art. Our minds collided with ideas and thoughts and dreams.Our mutual friend, Chrissie, is on a new journey with her family as they have moved to Germany for a few years with her husband`s work.  She wanted her two "art friends" to meet, before she left, knowing we could encourage each other through our love of art.This story of collaboration began there, that morning, around the table at the coffee shop.  We all three planned another get together before Chrissie moved, at my house. It was to be a painting day, where we could create and learn from each other.When the day arrived, they came early and we set up our supplies in my art room. They both enjoy finger painting, so that day, I tried finger painting too. I actually liked the feeling of spreading the paint around the canvas with my fingers but oh what a mess afterward to clean those hands. (They both use  the top of their hand for pallets to squeeze the paint onto but I haven`t gone there yet!!)We painted, we snacked and we laughed. We all got to know each other a bit better that day.Soon, we wished our friend, Chrissie, safe travels and good luck as she moved to Germany. My new friend, Elise, and I started our journey of creating together soon afterward. Our styles are different but alike.  Our first project was a doozy.I mentioned to Elise that I was trying to figure out what to do with the freshly painted white walls in my art room. We thought out loud about how cool it would be to do a mural on one of the walls. No turning back at that point. The mural idea was birthed and we both shared a sparkle of delight in our eyes at the thought!! I remember that first day when color was drawn on that white wall, in the corner. It was exciting to see each new mark going up on the walls. It started with sketches of a huge tree trunk in the corner, with branches overflowing upward and on both walls. We spoke of fairies and unicorns, mermaids and warriors, whimsical animals and butterflies.  One by one, each of these came to life. We call it, "The Magic of Creation".  The unveiling of the mural is still being planned.With the mural on its way to completion, the time spent working on it has given us the opportunity to talk and collaborate on other things.Our minds are no different than other creatives. They move in many different directions with dreams and ideas. So as not to get bored, there are different projects in different stages spread around in the art room upstairs. These projects have been named our "Dream Big" series.This series is connected and pulled together with rich, bright and bold colors. It includes magical wooden ornaments and colorful nativities.There are original paintings on large canvas as well as prints and notecards in the series.These new items will be for sale with "Fine art", as J & E art. It will be available at  Innova Coffee  this October 26, Sweet Peas Art in the Garden, Homewood, Al October, 28, Indian Springs Christmas Shop, Dec. 5..We have been working on a brand new, original acrylic painting that we will be teaching November 5 at Genesis Art Studio in Bluff Park.We don`t know what is next for our collaboration but we are both excited as we wait, expectantly, to see the path that He has chosen for us.I love this quote by Andy Stanley, "when God births a burden in our heart, lean on it".That is what we are doing, "Leaning on it"DREAM BIG!!Happy Fall!!Love,