I had such a lovely weekend adventuring out in the rain to see lots of art studios as part of the Eastside Culture Crawl. It is a pretty incredible event where 400+ artists open up their studios for folks to come visit.
A piano concert, pottery, puppet shows, bluegrass, photography, installations and on and on. Every kind of art you could imagine.
It was especially lovely to get to see the spaces where people create. Paint splatters on the floor, works in progress, drawers of their supplies, the smell of woodworking studios (love that).
Its also a pretty incredible opportunity to chat with folks about art and I love the ‘open door’ energy of it. Both as a participant in it last year and someone exploring it this year, I had some really amazing chats with people about art and photography. Something I experienced last year was that almost everyone who came over to see my work had their own creative story to tell. Everyone had something creative in their life that drew them to this studio tour be it knitting, painting or a love of their iphone camera. Everyone was an artist (whether they showed their work or called themselves one). It was a beautiful chance to hear people’s stories of creativity.
Usually I find these kinds of events wildly overhwelming as there are crowds of people, but I’m so thrilled this year to have gone ‘crawling’ each of the 3 days of the event and seem to have found a way to experience it that was energizing rather than draining. It was a mighty social weekend too as I went ‘crawling’ with different friends each day. So good!
Plus, I got to try out my new ‘brelli. I’ve been coveting one of these umbrellas for 4 years now but oh my…they are an investment. So when I came across a super good deal on one during my last trip to Portland I absolutely squealed with joy to finally have one in my hands. Its beautiful to see the trees above through my umbrella and it makes an almost drum like sound when really big rain drops fall on it. Art exploring and a purdy new umbrella are definitely helping me get through the grey this November!