Art is Everything: Designing Women

Yesterday we hosted our second Art is Everything event, that featured Designing Women; Jodie Hansen, Chris Bennett, and Melissa Lloyd! During the month of August on Thursdays from noon-2:30pm we're having fun events with local creatives who are sharing their ideas and processes about art with you. For more info on the Art is Everything series you can check out our Exhibits & Events tab above, or by clicking HERE.

We had a great time with Jodie, Chris and Melissa, and each of them brought a unique and insightful perspective to having your own creative outlets while balancing a career in design, where you have to tailor your creativity to meet the needs of a client.

The energy in the gallery was great, the conversations were engaging and the laughter was infectious. Each of our guests had thoughtful ideas and experiences to share.

Melissa talked about making the time for your creative outlet to reduce stress. Through her company Doodle Lovely she's developed resources to help you do just that, and maybe even unearth some hidden talents as well. You can see more from Melissa on her website, Doodle Lovely.

Melissa Lloyd - Doodle Lovely

Jodie reminded us to stay on the silly side and not take everything we make so seriously. If you've been in the gallery you may have noticed a good chunk of our cards and other stationary items are made by Jodie. We can always tell when someone's found them by the laughter in our card section. You can follow Jodie's brain as she comes up with fun new pieces on her Instagram page.

Jodie Hansen - Design Corner

Chris talked about the joy in making art for yourself and figuring out what makes you happy, and then sharing it with the world in magical ways, like she does through her My Happy Place Project, which you can find on her Instagram page or by using the #myhappyplaceproject hashtag.

Chris Bennett - My Happy Place Project

Make sure to join us next Thursday, August 17th, from noon-2:30pm for our next Art is Everything event, Re-Purposing with Purpose. This event will feature creative folk who take odds and ends and turn them into art. It will feature Kim Danio, who makes amazing sculptural pieces out of shoes; Ed Beals, who can take a few metal bits and bobs and turn them into a ray gun, a robot, or whatever his imagination is set on; William Rudolph, who turns old bike parts into functional pieces of art, from candle holders, to belts and lamps; and Angela Doak, who creates collages out of paper scraps, like candy wrappers, and has just released a kids alphabet book about Atlantic animals with Nimbus publishing! We are so looking forward to you meeting these creative and economic artists and builders!

Melissa Lloyd, Chris Bennett and Jodie Hansen

Thank you again to Jodie, Chris and Melissa for sharing their time and insights with us. See you next Thursday!