I left my heart in San Francisco

 

Some six and half hours later, we landed in San Francisco around 1.30 pm PST. I picked up a hot sandwich at Peet’s Coffee, called my airport shuttle and settled at the lounge to eat my lunch. The lounge was very cool with vintage or at least vintage-looking swivel chairs geometric side tables. I enjoyed my first view of the sun in days! It was windy but I took a deep breath to smell the sunshine and warm breeze.

The ride to the hotel was not too long but I loved the view all around – stacked houses, bay windows as we drove uphill, downhill and uphill again. We passed by beautiful churches, gatherings of singing people and old, historical buildings. Then we drove into the courtyard of Stanford Court. I checked in and settled in.

A little later, I went out for a walk – sunny, chilly and the air smelled of freedom.

 

I had asked and charted my route to Market Street where Creativebug studio is located. I really wanted to take a cable car. I waited at the stop in front of Fairmont on California Street and when the cable car drove up Nob Hill with its bell dinging all the way, I grinned like a little girl! The ride wasn’t longer than 10 minutes but it was 10 minutes of pure fun and wonder.

However, I got a little lost. I realized that when my phone GPS kept showing that the distance between me and my destination was increasing! I walked into a Dick Blick store and they gave me directions. I was actually walking in the opposite direction! The cable car conductor wasn’t too familiar with my destination I guess. Pretty soon, I was in the right building, in the elevator and up on the 7th floor at the Ellation reception. Signed in, got a badge, and waited at the lounge – another very cool lounge in a very beautiful building, my heart full of anticipation and excitement! I still couldn’t believe that I was at Creativebug. This journey that had started for me back in September 2016 with participating in the draw-a-day challenge for a month and then becoming one of five finalists and eventually the winner of the Next Creativebug Instructor contest feels like a dream. A dream come true. But when I thought about that, I felt a little nervous. What if I mess up? I have not done this before. What if the people at Creativebug think that I was the wrong choice? OMG, what did I get myself into!!! Suddenly the room felt very warm, my legs a little wobbly, what was my name again….

Deep breaths, really deep breaths, think about all that could go right… that was when they came out, Courtney with a big smile and Devlin with a camera. He filmed me while Courtney introduced me to everyone. Suddenly and thankfully, I realized that even though I am a newbie, they are pros and while I have never done this , they do it everyday. I trusted that I was in good hands and I was calm. I enjoyed my excitement to be there and their excitement to meet me.

 

As I walked into their studio, I immediately fell in love! The colors, the textures, the natural light flooding in through the big glass windows took away the last bit of fear and uneasiness I had. I was here. I was grateful.

 

Courtney and Devlin made me feel at home. I was being filmed the whole time – sketching, chatting, making things. It was really cool! They paid attention to every detail. We ate lunch together. There’s something about breaking bread together. It has a way of pulling people closer.

 

Later in the afternoon, Devlin took me on a walk to the Ferry House by the Port of San Francisco. So many wonderful things to see along the way. I would have missed these parts of the city had I not had a tour guide. I enjoyed the fresh air and took photos of my own.

 

I even got a rare chance to draw on location. This seagull was very gracious to me. He waited there while made a quick sketch of him. Then we walked back to the studio and filmed some more.

On my way back, I bought a cable car pass for my time in the city. I wanted to take as many rides in the cable car as I could.

When I got back to the hotel, I ordered dinner from an Indian restaurant called Little Delhi. They delivered and I LOVED their savory Papdi Chat, Samosas and Chicken Biryani. At last, I was home!

 

We filmed my first class on Tuesday. I was done a little early so I took my favorite mode of transportation, the cable car down to the Fisherman’s Wharf. Lots of photos along the way, photos while walking, more photos till the phone battery died down.

 

Then I met this Sardarji. He was so jolly and posed for me happily when I wanted to take his photo. It’s always great to see another Indian in a foreign city.

And then there was Charlie. Here he is fast asleep in Courtney’s arms. Charlie is ADORABLE and was friendly to me – he sat next to me, didn’t make a peep during all of shoot and kept me very happy while I was away from my Brave.

 

We wrapped up shooting with a Creativebug Live session on Thursday. Then the whole team took me to the Samovar Lounge for delicious treats. I had a great time hanging out with these talented people who work so hard to make these great classes we get to watch on Creativebug. It was hard to say goodbye!

But it wasn’t over yet. Courtney was so generous to me! She took me to SFMoMA and I had an amazing time walking through this incredible building filled with art. I had to be quick but it was the cherry on top of this trip.

Friday after a few hours of flight delay, I made it back home around 10 pm EDT. The only feeling I had was of gratitude. For this opportunity, for the people I met, to be able to see them at work. This happiness and inspiration was an incredible reward and I am thankful to be on its receiving end.

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A Weekend In Boston

It was raining when I arrived in Boston Thursday evening. The plane ride was smooth and I arrived on time. But when I went to pick up my luggage, I couldn’t find it in the carousel. After waiting and seeing everyone leave, I went to check in baggage claim office. Thankfully, they had my bag! After that it was time to find the shuttle to the hotel. That was yet another half hour and boy oh boy, the van driver was hilarious and ridiculous at the same time. Several switcharoos later, I made it to the hotel after two more hours. Yeah! The rest of the night went eventlessly except for the room temperature that kept dropping no matter how much I tried to keep it at 72. Then at 3 am when I couldn’t feel my cold toes and fingers or my face, I wrapped myself in the blanket and decided that I will figure out the AC if it took me all night. Huh… I had to turn heat up to 82 to maintain a 70 and I was happy once again and my AC stayed at 70 for the rest of my stay and I did not touch a single button on that AC panel after that. I have to say I have a funny relationship with hotel ACs!

Woke up Friday morning to another cloudy and rainy day but I had mixed media on my mind, so there was no shortage of colors for me. Every time I go into teaching a workshop, I pray that I do a good job and that my students walk away happy and excited to try the techniques they just learned. My goal is to be contagiously enthusiastic for the love of art and colors. I was very happy with my group of students this morning. They came fresh and ready to play with things that are new to them. They were brave and I loved seeing all the different takes of my one project – that ALWAYS inspires me!

Here are some of my lovely ladies busy at work! It’s great that we could all leave our worries behind for a few hours and just focus on colors.

This is Cheiron. She’s been following my Instagram for a little while now. It’s fun to meet people in real life that we have met on some online forum.

And I met someone who lives near me!!! Not only that she also owns Paper Anthology, a scrapbooking, crafting & mixed media store not too far from me. Since the move from Florida, I have missed Whim So Doodle so much.

And this was my second class of the day.

All the colors that happened during this class was truly out of this world!

Here’s one of the finished projects.

More colors…..

While we couldn’t get everyone from the class in this photo, we did get a look at some of the vibrant takes in this shot. I wish I thought of that for the morning class too.

And here we are set up for the make and take Saturday evening. We met some newbies who were excited to try Gelatos colors for the first time.

The night went peacefully oh except for the fire alarm that went off and we had to evacuate. There was a bride in the crowd too. But all was okay and we were allowed back in. Then around midnight when I was peacefully asleep ready to take the shuttle at 5 am to the airport, the fire alarm went off again. I didn’t wake up but when there were blasting announcements waking you up and telling you not to panic and that things are alright again… SERIOUSLY!!! Twice in one night.

It was still dark out when I started out for the airport, not for home but for a week in San Francisco at Creativebug. The flight is delayed two hours as I’m sitting at the Virgin America terminal, blogging and hoping for a sunny week in the west coast.

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Flipping through old journals

I started out planning to do some spring cleaning in the studio, sort of in an attempt to clear my mind. Then I found a pile of journals I had meant to put away and forgotten. And then I started flipping through the pages and saw this one. It made me smile! If I didn’t have art and crafts in my life, I’d be a perpetually frazzled person. ART SAVES SANITY.

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My Coloring Book On TV

Earlier this year, I traveled to Cleveland to shoot a few segments for the upcoming brand new Make It Artsy TV show. In the video above, host Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and I explore the magic of light and shadow using watercolors on a page from my coloring book, “No Place Like Home”.

There’s more. Lots of cool projects from various artists like Dina Wakely, Seth Apter and more coming this September to PBS!

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Behind the Scenes: Collage Painting

There’s something absolutely magical about squeezing paints out, mixing them and slathering them on a surface. It helps clear your mind. Sets you free to be a kid again. It is soul balm. If only for a second you could drop your inhibitions, perfectionism and complexes, you could feel the joy that is painting!

I have been painting for as long as I can remember. With chalks, with pencils, with crayons. Then with poster paints, finger paints, acrylics, watercolors. Sometimes I sketch first and sometimes I paint first.

As a natural progression to that, I have started pairing my painting with my magpie tendencies. I collect lots of stuff that are radically insignificant to most people. And the only thing that keeps me from becoming a legendary hoarder are my collage paintings. Scraps of papers, fabric, laces and found objects happily find their ways into my paintings and art journals.

This summer, I worked on a whole collection of collage paintings that were inspired by my two daughters. Some of the simple things that they love to do became translated to the joyful movements the girls in my paintings made.

I set these paintings in simple scenes, painted each one of them in bright and cheerful colors. Like my two girls, these paintings make me and those who visit our home, smile!

The originals currently grace my daughters’ rooms. Maybe I’ll have some prints of these collage paintings in the Color Happy Shop too.

See you next week. Until then, make time to paint!

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When you are getting ready to be on TV

Earlier this year, I was asked by KS Productions to be on a TV Show called Make It Artsy. The show will air on PBS stations nationwide as well as online at makeitartsy.com starting this September. I have been on TV before on a different show called Scrapbook Soup. Every member of the KS Production team have been most helpful for preparing novices like myself for the show. So, there’s been a lot of shopping (of course!!!) and preparing projects, step-outs, instructions and talking points.

Here are some jewel tone and pastel dress shirts. I needed at most 2, but I bought 8. Please don’t judge!

Now, clothes aren’t the only thing I bought. I bought some props too. What can I say, I love how chefs use little dishes and utensils and they inspire me as much as the food they cook. So, I took this opportunity to buy some TV props of my own!

Shopping, however, is NOT the only thing I’ve been doing. I have been working very hard and many late hours to create my projects, editing my write-ups and planning my presentation.

I’ll be shooting three Technique segments and one Tip segment. And guess what? I GET TO SHOW OFF MY OWN COLORING BOOK ON TV!!!

Here’s the page from my coloring book No Place Like Home that I’ll show how to watercolor following the principles of chiaroscuro (the technical term for understanding light and shadows).

This is my project for the book episode. I will be showing how to alter a book to create an art journal.

In the stamping episode, I’ll show how to create this mixed media canvas with stamps I designed and cut myself. In this episode, I’ll also present a fun stamping tip you can easily recreate.

Okie doke, time to get back to work!

Happy creating y’all!

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