4 Days in Colorado

In what is probably the most foolhardy travel turnaround I've ever done, I stepped off the plane from Germany on a Tuesday and onto a plane to Colorado on Wednesday.  With just about twenty-four hours at home I had time to unpack my suitcases, repack my suitcases, say hello to my husband, get sick, and sleep like the dead.  And then I was off!

The first few days of my visit were all about this:

I filmed two DVDs, two promos, and an e-mag video tutorial for Cloth Paper Scissors, all of which will be released in 2012.  And I managed to only cough between takes!  Of course, I had the power of Hugh Jackman to help me...

That's a photo of Hugh looking at me to remind me to look right into that camera and not at any of the others.

I love filming stuff, but I hate the supply nightmare.  I hate packing the supplies, organizing the supplies, shuttling the supplies around.  I wish the filming studio could be like a real studio and have absolutely everything right at hand.  Wouldn't that be awesome?  Or maybe an assistant?  Speaking of which, my Mom came along to help out:

Thank goodness she was there.  I was so sick and jet lagged it was pathetic.  I wouldn't have made it out of the aiport without her, nevermind all the way to Loveland.

Cloth Paper Scissors Editor Jenn Mason was also there...

...to keep everything running smoothly and do the promo interviews.  I also got to spend some time with Sue Pelletier and Joanne Sharpe, who were both there to film DVDs as well.  There was lots of good chatter.  It always feels good to be in the company of other artists, you know?  They just "get it."

After the filming was over, I met up with two of my favorite Colorado residents: Emily Pitts and Ronda Palazzari:

I suggested that we go to the Denver Art Museum.  Ronda had never been and Emily had been once a while ago, so it was pretty new to all of us.  And as luck would have it we happened upon the once-a-month free admission day!  Lucky, lucky!

There was lots to see:

The museum is very visitor friendly.  Sitting on that little table is paper and pencils for you to draw with.  What a super cool idea!  There were lots of interactive exhibits, places to make art, and places to...well, ham it up:

My favorite interactive bit was a series of videos that Emily discovered.  They were interviews with artists who were asked questions like, "What does it feel like to be an artist?"  "How do you start a painting?"  "What do you do when you get stuck?"  And so on.  And the answers were inspiring.  Especially to the questions of getting stuck.  All of the artists said something that I think is so very true: Getting stuck is good.  Because the really awesome stuff is only discovered in the getting unstuck.  They also emphasized the need to be disciplined about making art.  You have to show up every day whether you feel like it or not.  I wholeheartedly agree.

This might have been my favorite piece from the entire museum because it sparked an idea in me.  Robert Motherwell took this book and illustrated it.  I love that idea!

We didn't manage to make it around the whole museum, so there's a good excuse for me to head back to Denver!  We did, of course, manage to make some time for the museum gift shop.  My Mom bought me this necklace and earring set by local artist Julie Powell (you may have spied me wearing it in the photo from the day, I couldn't help myself).

A wonderful keepsake of my time in Denver. 

And now that I'm home I'm sleeping and drinking tea and hoping to kick this cold to the curb.  It's way past the ten days a cold is supposed to last, so I'm hoping this coughing will stop soon.  I hate being sick when there's so much art to make!

Thanks for stopping by!