I just came back from a fun (and foggy) trip to San Francisco.  It happened to be a weekend that local artists open their studio space to the public.  The old warehouse area along the Bay is home to many talented painters, sculptors –artists working in glass, metal and every other media you can imagine.  The goal of SF Open Studios is twofold:

1.  To allow local emerging and established artists the opportunity to open their studio doors and show their artwork in a democratic forum.

2. To provide the art-loving public with the opportunity to enjoy art at its origin and to start a dialogue with artists that may lead to the start of an art collection.

Lowertown in St. Paul has an ‘Art Crawl’ every year that is like the San Francisco event.  I would encourage everyone to check in their own community for similar opportunities.  The energy and inventiveness is exciting.  You sense the passion and commitment which is infectious.

One of the artists we met in SF Open Studios was Maria Burtis.  She is a painter working in acrylic and mixed media.  Not only was her work fabulous, she is also from Minnesota-our neck of the woods. We had a nice conversation and was intrigued with her workflow.  Each day, she starts out with doing a quick 5×7 painting to get her juices flowing.  Sometimes it relates to working out details for a major piece or to experiment, but often it is just for fun.  She then posts these on her blog and calls them ‘Dailies’.  She was up to 1863 last I checked.  Amazing.

It got me thinking.  Besides coffee, what do I do –or should I do to get my creative juices flowing everyday?  A quick sketch or jog around the block?  We all have the ability to be inspired but it usually is by happenstance.  Tomorrow, I will begin the day by pondering what gets my creativity moving…after my cup of coffee.

Written by Michael Huber AIA LEED AP
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