coffee

color inspiration: coffee, parchment, and velvet

in

pencil sharpener photograph via Jen Causey's blog Simply Photo, typewriter keys via peonies and polaroids,the pinwheels photo has been on my desktop for forever, but I've never been able to find where it's from. Could one of you please help me so I can give credit where it's due?

Unlike most people I know, I really loved school. (And I actually mean the school part of it.) Of course, my education was definitely unique so that may be why I have such fond memories of it. I spent 5th through 12th grade at a fine arts magnet school where at any time during the day you could wander around and hear the jazz band, watch dancers practice choreographed routines, see kids painting or throwing pots, etc. Once I got to college, I studied scientific illustration and even though I did have science classes (which was actually where I met my husband), most of my days (and many a week day nights) were spent in the studio joking around with my friends.

Those uncomfortable metal stools with the wooden top?  Always reminds me of critiques (and never being able to get comfortable.) Pencil sharpeners? I can already smell the graphite and wood shavings. And no whenever I see a can of white paint, I'm always reminded of the final days of a show when you've taken all the work down and are repainting and repairing the walls for the next one.

While most people I know tried everything to get out of school, I always felt like it was part of me and that I was part of a long line of artists who studied there before me. So when I found Jen Causey's photograph of an old pencil sharpener, I was immediately reminded of studio days in college and knew I wanted to do a board around it. This one in particular reminds me of old wooden floors that creak as you walk across them, parchment and tracing paper scattered across tables, natural light streaming through old glass panes, and the smell of coffee (and quite possibly whiskey from the night before) that was forever lingering in the air. (If you'd like to see our old building, you can view it here.)

And for anyone wondering where the velvet comes in- blame it on elementary school. Anytime I think of velvet I think of a deep green and am reminded of the super heavy stage curtains that framed the little stage in our cafeteria. (Of course those were red I think, so who knows why green comes to mind....)