Its taken five years to create a completely functional studio. Starting with the blank box of an attached garage, I enclosed the narrow ends with floor-to-ceiling storage. Then came the fun stuff, like these efficient design projects.

Easiest to Make: These picture ledges hold canvases and work in progress, and were made with 1x3s and 1x4s.   

​Most Trial-and-Error:  This large magnet board. Metal sheets were too small to hold much, and magnetic paint was too weak. But lots of recycled jar caps glued to a piece of free shower vinyl --and spray-painted white -- is both strong and cheap. Plus I'm really impressed with myself every time I look at it.

This month, my kid-inspired art was featured on the Community Gallery of Family Heirloom Arts.

What age does drawing start? I have always admired the art of young children, and consider age 5 the creative peak of life. This is when kids start drawing people with big alien eyes and stick arms coming out of their cheeks. But while watching my daughter grow up, I've found that creativity starts even earlier than I imagined. Since she tried painting at 18 months or started scribbling around age two, I have watched quietly as she learns and invents --without censor or fear. Her "loose" style of drawing gets harder to create the older and more experienced I get -- though Picasso and Seuss retained the ability. For myself, I am stealing lines from my daughter and turning her scribbles into large full-color paintings, which remind me of a child's reality-- abstracted, joyful, unbounded.

Please join us at this public art show! My adult students have been channeling modern artists like Picasso, Matisse, Kahlo, and Rothko to make their own renditions of portraits and still-lives. Enjoy art, activities, and snacks with fellow art lovers!

"HOORAY!" says Ramona. Beverly Cleary was born and raised in Oregon, and we are especially excited to celebrate her 100th birthday with lots of book-loving fun at the library. My art classes (listed at right) are inspired by Ramona, one of my favorite literary characters and a true creative. Since Ramona always made art and adventures from things she found around her house, we will make tin-can stilts, tambourines and shakers, ring-toss toys and more from completely recycled materials.There are many more free events at all the Multnomah County Libraries this spring, including a big party at Central Library on April 9th. Don't miss it!

Have you noticed anomalies popping up in the bike lanes of Portland? Some of these designs may be mine! This is collaborative public art at its best: artists create stencils for the transportation department, and city workers get to mix and match as they create new sharrows in the bike lanes.