and a little art for mama

This week, I started my first on-line art class: Pages & Paint by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare. I am loving it! I think it has seriously had an impact on my day - I am happier, have more energy, go around smiling randomly...and I think about colors and images all the time! Jason doesn't really get it, but that's ok - he has a rather bubbly wife this week! This first week, our assignment is to create a "studio" work space at home - a surface to work on, to gather materials, and to put together an inspiration board or wall (some place to gather things that inspire us or make us happy - things that will hopefully inspire paintings and other art work in the weeks to come!). And so, this is what I've been doing this week when the kids take a nap, or at night after they have gone to bed... My inspiration board:

My materials box (oh and Collin's materials box, of course!):

My indoor work space (i.e. our bright and cheery yellow dining room for now):

My outdoor work space (i.e. our balcony):

Collin also has his own inspiration board (or "art board" as we call it, since he does not quite understand the word "inspiration" yet). It just has one thing on it right now, hehe. It's so cute. I love that even putting these things together has let me see our house in a different light - what was once a corner is now a new space to create! What's even better is that I've had to purchase almost NOTHING for this class - except for some new gesso boards to work on. All the paints, boxes, jars, etc. are things that I've had in the house for years. They are just now being freshly used. We will see what comes out of all this in the next several weeks!