I'll be honest: it's been a while since I have felt so inspired, so alive with creativity. I experience inpiration in the little things in life...it is always there for me. But it has been a while since I have experienced goosebump-y, jumping-up-and-down, oh-my-gosh-I-can't-breathe inspiration. This has been a whirlwind week of sketching, envisioning and imagining...then painting, creating, gluing, stitching, nailing and building to bring these ideas to life.
Next on my wacky life agenda (as many of you know) is to be a partner in the Anam Cara Collective in Asheville, a consignment art shoppe (much like Veggie Art Girl!) paired with a performance space for intimate shows and performances. The marriage of the two concepts feels so natural to me, that I knew it was going to be a smashing success the minute that my partner Erinn starting talking about it over beer at the local pub a year (or two?) ago.
Now, everything is becoming an exciting reality. We've been transforming this olllld building on Haywood Ave. into a beautiful venue for our first show performance on Feb. 5th (
Nikki Talley!), which is going to be followed by two weekends of
Naked Girls Reading. Our art shoppe is going to open a couple of days prior. People have really been working together to help make this happen. Local press has been creating a buzz! It is all overwhelmingly amazingly inspiring and humbling to me.
And now (drumroll please!)...I will share with you some of our cool construction. First off: we needed to divide the space a bit for sound, seating and all that.
So we built a wall.
In trying to stay green (and save some moola!) we decided to use old doors and shutters. I brought some with me (in Janis!) from NH and we created this beautiful wall! (Dad, you should be proud- everything you taught me about framing out a wall, I used- it's all 24 on center! AND amazingly square and level!)
The best part? The wall is hinged to the wall so we can fold it flat to open up the space. I have to say that I have taken a lot of inspiration for this wall project from Melissa McCarthy at The Studio- whose wall on wheels I have been admiring for some time. :o) (And all of the funky architechtural pieces are taken from old shelving I dumpster dove for!) There are pieces and parts from all over the place, making this installation so rich in texture, but history. I love this wall!
And I love what I am doing here. I can't wait to share more pics of our progress, shop and shows. Awesome things are happening! Cheers to art! :o)
Weee! Paint!
Dark walls: check. Flowy handsewn red curtains (that once were my livingroom drapes): check. Clearance rack Christmas lights: check. Scallopy, flowy curtain topper sewn out of an old shower curtain I found at the Goodwill for $.50: check. $2.00 red windows for wall to add architechtural elements and pull the color scheme together: check. 
The look on people's faces when you tell them this entire stage was created on a $10.00 budget: priceless. :o) This is going to be amazing. (And the sign laying on the stage is a little sneak peak- will post pictures of the building and hung sign soon!) 
