ARTworks Agency in Colorado Springs, CO hosts impromptu art exhibits that they call "pop-up" art events. They arrange the art for the event and a local business or private home hosts it. This Friday, Feb. 12, from 5-7 p.m., they will be at Coquette Creperie, 915 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs. For more information call 235-3082 or e-mail info@artworksagency.com

Anyone in the Colorado Springs, CO area can look forward to the grand opening of the Cottonwood Center for the Arts. Cottonwood has finally closed on and moved into their new home at 427 E. Colorado Ave. in downtown Colorado Springs. They have dramatically increased the size of their facility, added some new artists in their studio spaces, and have plans for some added programs. Their Grand Opening will be 24 - 25 April 2009. Further information can be found at www.cottonwoodcenterforthearts.com. (Hover over image to enlarge).

It's been a while...a long while. Interesting how life takes over for a short while and all of a sudden, months have passed. During that time, I have managed to keep up some drawing, but that was about it. The studio became a storage area and I had to turn to other things. One of those things was remodeling some bathrooms which led to cutting my tooling stone in half (I know it's a leap, but trust me...they're related). Since the stone was now cut, I needed a new bench for it. That required moving things around and adding some new organization system. After some time, I think I have it back together again. There's still some cleanup to do and organization to be built, but I can at least walk in it now. I can also use it again. That's a good thing. Here's the west wall. Mostly organization system with magazines on this wall. (Hover over image to enlarge)

The north wall has two good windows, file cabinets, tooling bench (standing or sitting) with bookcase underneath, and the all-purpose table for painting, drawing, sculpting, etc. There's also some organization on this wall, but mostly for leather tools.

The east wall is mostly organization system with assorted tools and a white-board (it's covered up with a plan drawing right now).

Not much on the south wall except for a bookcase, bulletin board (that needs to be cleaned up) and the closet (which has another bit of "cluttered organization" all its own).

What you really don't get to see is all the stuff (paper, mat-board, paper pads, sewing machine, cutting boards, easels, lights/stands, packs, etc) that's packed into the nooks and crannies anywhere I can find the room. In that sense, there's really not a lot of organization at all. But at least it's out of the way and I can find most things a little easier. I wonder how long it will stay that way.

Here's one that's been on a back burner for a while. I've worked on it a little here and a little there. I finally finished it up the other day. I took some weathered cedar fence and fashioned a frame out of it. Since cedar fence doesn't exactly have precision thickness, I fashioned some leather corners for it. The added benefit is that I don't have to be that precise on the miter cuts. When it was done, I even added a used screw-head and nail-head into the existing holes to make it a little more authentic. You likely won't find anything like it in a museum, but it is a good rustic-looking frame that doesn't cost a gallon of gas. (Hover over image to enlarge)