COLOR MAD CLASSES

Well, I did it! I actually signed up for an on-line art class! I found one on art journaling (perfect, no?) by mixed-media artist Christy Tomlinson, called She Had Three Hearts, which refers to the fact that we women have three hearts when it comes to sharing ourselves -- there is the heart we share with the world, the heart which we only share with those who are very close to us, and then there's the heart that is so raw and soul-baring that we need to keep it just between our journals and ourselves.

I had no idea how an on-line art class would work, and I'm sure they vary from teacher to teacher. What Christy does is give you the log-in and password to access the class site, which you keep for a full year, so you can work your way through all the tutorials, videos and projects at your own speed. They are pretty inexpensive too, compared to the live classes I have taken.  This one happened to be on special for half-price the day I signed up, so it was only about $30, and as a bonus she threw in a mini 5-lesson-workshop on color inspiration. I'm still on lesson two of that. It's mostly about how you can find color inspiration almost anywhere -- in books, magazines, shops, the internet, etc. -- that can help you to break out of your color comfort zone so that your work won't be so repetitive. She then shows you how to take these inspiration pieces, like that cactus picture I found online, paste them to one of her downloadable sheets, dab on similar colors from your paint stash and label them, then add bits of paper, lace, buttons, wire, sketches, stamps, notes, or whatever, and either stick it in a protective sleeve in a 3-ring binder, or glue it into an 8x10 journal with heavy paper. Eventually you have a whole notebook full of inspiration for future projects.

There's just one problem I can see with all this. That supply list is three pages long, and most people who do this kind of stuff started out in scrapbooking (which I've never done) and have drawers and cabinets overflowing with all sorts of special papers and craft paints and brushes and stamps and inks and polymer clay and pens and markers and, well, all kinds of stuff! While I, on the other hand, have spent the last five years or so trying to divest myself of just that kind of stuff, since there is absolutely no space for it in this little house. That's the wonderful thing about writing. It's the first passion I've ever had that didn't spur a compulsion to accumulate stuff! If I get passionate about art, I'm afraid I might let my defenses down -- cave in to John's plan for converting our garage into a guest house, only, instead of the sleeping loft for the grandkids that he has in mind, I'm wonderin' if maybe that hay-loft-like storage area above the car bays could be converted into a neat little studio space, with the addition of some dormers or skylights in that nicely peaked roof. What do ya' think?