The Little House That Could

This could very well be the studio of my dreams. A Victorian not so sweet that it's syrupy, just enough to be charming...with a touch of elegance, not so much that it's stuffy. A girl's place. An artist's place. An anything-is-possible-place. A place where amazing things could happen.


For the past few months I have had the wonderful opportunity to interact everyday with the incredibly talented and generous people at my Collage Camp workshop and my Mixed Media Mania workshop. Over 150 open hearts and minds from 7 different countries. A blessing, I tell you. We covered all the ins and outs of making fabric collage art based on my techniques with amazing results from the "Campers." If you don't believe me go to Collage Camp and check out the Photos section where many have posted their work.

Back in June I started getting e-mails asking if I ever taught in-person workshops...which I never really have. If you saw how much stuff I rely on to make my work you would laugh at the thought of my schlepping that around the country. But what I could do...maybe...just maybe...is teach right here in the lovely little town I have called home for 6 years, Longmont, Colorado. But where would I do that? My studio now barely accommodates me and my dog. So I started rolling it around in my head.

One day, I was walking Fiona along the creek near our house and very clearly I saw a backyard with a group of women sitting around a table. It was so vivid, I could almost make out their faces. I literally spoke out loud to my dog-daughter..."What I need is a house!" There I said it. Threw it right out there. And the God that I know and love snatched it up and began to move things around like He tends to do.

A couple of days later I am driving down Main Street and I see a sign in a store window..."Coming Soon Cayenne Kitchen." Didn't think much of it. A couple of days later, seeing there was way too much traffic on Main Street, I headed one block over to a quieter street that would get me where I was going. A street lined with lovely Victorian bungalows that were mostly small businesses. This gorgeous little red and cream house caught my eye and I glanced over at it as I drove by. The sign in the front yard said Cayenne Kitchen. I got all of two houses past it when it hit me. If the sign on Main said Cayenne Kitchen was coming soon, then Cayenne Kitchen was moving out of that house. Could it be? Naaahhhh.

Nonetheless, I parked my car and walked back to the house. The couple who owned the business was there and they said the house wasn't for rent yet, but it would be soon. They gave me the name of the couple who owned it. Wendell and Eula. I liked them already. I went back to my car and called them right away. They said they were just around the corner and could I wait? Could I? You bet. And that was that. We worked things out over the next few weeks and right around the time of birthday number 53, I was given the keys to a house whose number is 530. Could it be? I think so. I prayed everyday about this fabulous little place. I told God to slam the doors right in my face if this wasn't the place he wanted me to be.

Instead he opened them one by one and told me all this could be.

Two of the beautiful rooms could be a great spread-out-you-stuff-and create-all day-long studio.

The two main rooms could be a Gallery for my work and other artists I love and admire.

The empty kitchen with it's very cool linoleum could be a paint studio in the cold months.

The 400 sq. ft. Carriage House out back could be a paint studio in the warm months.

The Sunroom could be filled with geraniums (my favorite flower) and say welcome to all who walked in the front door.

The front yard could be filled with flowers and the backyard could be filled with those women I envisioned that day.

Best of all this house could join me in hosting workshops that would bring me face to face with the wonderful artists and soon-to-be artists that I have met through cyberspace these past months.

I am so excited about teaching here...sharing here...inspiring here...making friends here. Thinking about joining me and hanging out in this little house filled with art. You wanna come?

You could.

xxoo