Wandering the Art Supply Store in 1979.

When I was small, my mom used to take me to art supply stores for what seemed to be hours on end. She was always looking for custom framing, so she spent a lot of time getting helped by the framer while I wondered around every aisle of the art supply store. Of all of the errands I was forced to come along on, I LOVED this one the most.

Armed with a dollar or two and the promise, “If you shut up and be good, you can get a prize”, I was a very good student of the inventory. I spent all of the time imagining what I could buy and memorizing every product and price. I was captivated by the large displays of a la cart crayons and markers, especially if they came with a small test pad to sample each color. The ceramic aisle also was intriguing, I studied what I needed for each type of clay and so forth.

Around the time that I got my driver’s license, a couple of large craft stores came to town to replace my beloved mom and pop art stores. My friends and I started making things and all of that information I had stored away became my super power. Every time we started a new craft project, I knew how much it was going to cost as well as what supplies were needed.

It’s hard to describe it, but I have a strong desire to know stuff. I ask questions a lot. Inquisitive, I guess. I test things and I experiment. I would have never thought that all those years ago, the information I was learning would transfer into my career as an artist. (I had no idea back then I would even be an artist!)

I remember feeling disappointed when I would read magazine articles on specific projects. When mediums and supplies were mentioned, the magazine would certainly almost always gloss over the information that I thought was most important. When I started writing online abstract art workshops, I made the supply list and supply discussion as important as the process informaton. I hope that students would get more out of their purchases by knowing the informatkon I wanted to share. After all, why buy a trunk load of expensive art supplies, when one or three key supplies could handle all of hte same processes?

The artist standing with her mother in 1974, Escondido, CA.

I have recently been thinking about my trips with my mom a lot while painting and writing my Card Club monthly envelopes. When I first started writing Card Club, I was a little overwhelmed with the thought of simplifying one of my process techniques into a one page art lesson. However, as I gained the experience writing and painting hundreds of cards, the process has become something that I look forward to with a lot of excitement. I have a couple of Card Club envelops ready to ship at all times because I enjoy the process so much.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming Card Club editions. The issue shipping Feb 1 is all about color and the following issue is an 8 layer super card with something I thought I would never be able to pull off. I keep pushing myself so that the subscribers get a really great value. I was told that these envelopes are just like private art lessons!

Card Club is delivered right to your mailbox. International subscribers are welcome too. If you would like to become a member, please click this link to learn more. Don’t wait too long, Each edition is limited, and most do sell out.