Downers Grove Public Library

If you have some time, take a trip to the Downers Grove Library to see the show. I am a member of this organization and happy to show my work with these fine artists.

To Be Inspired

As most of you know, we are living in a rental house with not an ounce of room to spare. It's been frustrating for me to not be able to spread out and work on my art. Lately I feel I'm loosing touch with my creative side and it's taken me years to find the time to fit it in. Yesterday I spent the day walking the beach in Hawaii. My family has taken a much needed trip to relax and unwind. Breathing in the ocean air and smelling the flowers has been an amazing way to charge my creative battery. Tomorrow we come home and I'm ready to start working on all the ideas in my head but for today, I'll just take another walk on the beach.

A New Blog

Since this is a place for me to track my art journey and follow fellow artists, I won't be posting much more about our new house. We decided to start a new blog as a family. I hope that you will follow along and watch our green building adventure. Check it out! http://www.HouseofLews.blogspot.com/

Be Thankful

Sunday we took a walk through the new house and it occurred to me how very blessed we are. We are so excited about selling our home, the prospect of a new project and being debt free (at least until construction starts) that we forgot HOW we got this house... a foreclosure. Walking around looking at the big cracks in the wall, peeling linoleum and dirty carpet it occurred to me how sad it must be for the previous owners. They weren't able to keep it up or to pay their mortgage. I don't know way happened to them or where they are but quietly, while I was standing in the kitchen, I wished them well.

Our New Project

Look what we bought today... OUR NEW HOME! Well, it will be our new home in about 7-8 months. Right now it's our project. We hope to tear most of it down and build a 2400 square foot environmentally friendly house. We've been space planning for weeks and I think we've decided on a layout we both like. My husband Tony (an architect) will be drafting the plans and sending them to the Village of La Grange for approval. If all goes well we can start the tear down process in late February or early March. We've renovated a few old homes but this is the 3rd new home we've designed and built from the ground up. We love level floors and square corners! We work well together and in the end we will have a great house that reflects our personality and fits how we live. We are both so excited!

Congratulations Mary!

My sister Mary and her business partner Andera launched their new business last night with a party in Mary's home. Their company, Salon Delivered, offers in home salon service. I'm so proud of her. She's always wanted to be her own boss. She imagined the possibilities and now she's going to soar! I made two pieces, one for her and the other for Andrea. I hope they like them.

If you would like to know more about her new business, check out http://www.salondelivered.com/ to see what it's a about.

A Little Art Retreat of Our Own

Last weekend I took a much needed break from packing up my house to go with my 4 art sisters on a little retreat of our own. We went to my summer home and hid away to work on our journals for the Make Your Mark Journal Project. We worked on our covers and each others pages. I usually spend most of my time in the studio alone so it was so good to get creative with the ladies! Part of me can't wait to pass my book along and watch it evolve but part of me wants to hang on to it and keep it all for myself. Each page of these books are a treasure. Let me know if you want to add to mine. I would love to send it to you!