Making Connections by Making Art

My mom’s father was a minister of a small church located on the north side of Spencer and their family lived in the parsonage next door. Spencer, is the town where my parents grew up. They met in junior high and were friends through high school. When my dad died two and a half years [...]

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Is there a ghost in your past keeping you from expressing your inner artist?

There was once a little boy whose parents loved to have parties. Almost every weekend they would invite their friends over for food and fun. And during these parties, the little boy was told to stay in his room. His parents told him that when they had their friends over, children were to not be [...]

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If Winston Churchill could start painting later in life, so can you

I’m reading a little book by Winston Churchill called Painting as a Pastime. In it, Churchill writes that the purpose of the book is not to teach people how to paint, but rather to teach people how to enjoy painting. I really like that distinction because painting for many seems like a daunting under-taking.
Many people [...]

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How is your life like a piece of fine jewelry?

My friend Erin makes custom jewelry from unusual items.  She uses keys, subway tokens, watch parts, semi-precious stones and all kinds of different materials. She calls the variety of materials in her art treasures.
She approaches her art in a very unique way. She’s not interested in mass-producing the same piece of jewelry over and over [...]

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Three years ago, they had no experience. Now their art is displayed in our gallery.

Friday night was the third annual Arts Walk here in our lovely downtown. Over the past three years, I’ve seen it grow and I believe it’s going to continue to be one of the favorite events of the year. There was a great energy, even as it rained. It was nice to see everyone out [...]

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What did a little girl teach me about pursuing my dreams?

A couple weeks ago a little girl came in for the first time to Art Village to do some painting. Usually a first time visitor will want to paint pottery, but this little girl decided she was going to do a painting on one of our prepared painting boards. I gave her the paints and [...]

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How to remove worry and fear by making art

I was talking with a friend of mine recently who was experiencing severe stress overload. While she was talking about her situation, I could feel the heaviness she felt. We’ve all been there. Our current situation seems to make the air so thick that it’s hard to breathe.
When we are in that state, it is [...]

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Can Art-Making create abundance in our lives?

Someone once asked me if being in the art business is difficult because art is not a basic human need. May answer was that I’m not in the art business. I’m in the inspiration business, and I believe that inspiration is a basic human need. Art may not be a basic human need in the [...]

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Sometimes all we need is a visual spark

A month and a half ago was spring break. It’s a great week for us at Art Village because we always have a full house. Kids and families come in to spend time together and make art. It’s great to see. During this week we put on an art camp. It’s not restricted to just [...]

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