Every April we head into the Grand Canyon to visit the many natural wonders near the Native American village of Supai. The campground between Havasupai Falls and Mooney Falls is surrounded by red canyon walls, clear blue rivers, and lush greenery. April is the time for fields of blooms in every color and the sound of croaking frogs in the afternoon. CC and I brought our supplies and painted every day.

In our campsite we found a book that had been ruined by the rain and left behind by a previous camper. CC took this opportunity to craft one afternoon as she filled her journal with inspirations from our trip.

I was inspired by the sheer cliff walls and the colors around me. These stripes represent the rocks, water, trees, flowers, and dusty soil underfoot as I sat at the picnic table and observed.

My last mark on this painting is reference to one of the many holes the squirrels left as they chewed their way through our camp looking for nuts and other edibles. They made off with 9 Kind bars, 5 separate bags of nuts, a giant bag of peanut M&Ms, and what we estimated to be 4 pounds of cooked quinoa. Not one of us could have consumed all that in one whole day. They were in and out in just a few hours as we took a hike down river.

One of my greatest joys was to set up camp near a field of blooming Mallows. I saw dozens of other specimens growing in their native habitats. Springtime in the Grand Canyon can not be beat!

 

This week I completed Brene Brown’s fantastic e-course Gifts of Imperfection. I have already purchased my next journal and signed up for Part 2 that starts in April. Looking forward to continuing this great work with my circle of friends and Brene. If you are ready for a transformative experience in creativity I highly recommend this course!

Recently I started playing a Naughty By Nature Pandora Station and rediscovered all the great Hip Hop music from 20 years ago. These artists are some of the most creative and talented wordsmiths in modern times, and in fact are influencing my work at the moment.

I am continually charmed by the book Understanding Rap Lyrics: Explanations of Confusing Rap Lyrics You & Your Grandma Can Understand. My paintings of late have been of words in opaque watercolor, and I love these lyrics! Plus, William Buckholtz’s commentary makes me giggle. So true!

For the Take the Lead event, I was hired to create the centerpieces. The design took on a conceptual angle when I selected tulips and submerged them in water. As the day progressed the tulips grew out of the water (as tulips are the only flower that grows after cutting), representing the TTL logo (see below). Gloria was thrilled.

 

Few retail environments inspire me like anthropologie. Of course, I am not the only one, and in fact anthro has undoubtedly inspired more designers than any other. This pic is one of my favorites from my files. The juxtapositions of color and texture are influencing my work this spring.