Carl, by Liese Chavez

Today I had a breakfast that turned into a full day of wonderful conversation with a new Colorado Springs friend and wonderful photographer, Kat.

We met at the Adams Mountain Cafe in Manitou Springs, Colorado, a town of fewer than 5,000 people at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

After a great meal, cup after cup of coffee, and conversation that seemed to indicate that we’d known each other for ten years instead of two weeks, we headed out of the cafe to meander Manitou Springs’ shops and galleries.

Carl, by Liese Chavez

Although we visited a number of galleries, it was Mountain Living Studio that inspired us each the most. Artist Liese Chavez was working in the gallery when arrived, and she greeted us warmly. As she and Kat chatted, they realized that they had a mutual friend and photographer.

Carl, the angry owl in the photos here, asked if he could come home with me to live on my desk at my new office. How could I possibly say no?

Carl, by Liese Chavez

Kat must have also heard Carl hooting, too, because she found an acrylic tile necklace of the same print that made its way home with her.

This blue owl named Ollie was my second choice, but I decided that Carl’s vivid colors would be better-suited to my office.

For more of Liese Chavez’ art, you can visit Mountain Living Studio at 741 Manitou Avenue in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

Don’t live nearby? No problem! You can also find Liese’s art on Etsy.com under Dead Pan Alley.

You can also follow Liese Chavez on Twitter.

Motorcycle in Gallery, photo by MilliGFunk (taken with my iPhone4)

Just as my friend and I turned to walk away, a man walked up behind us, pulled out his keys, opened the door to the art space, and invited us inside. It’s been six years since I worked for a gallery, and it’s been at least six months since I’ve been inside one. The gleam of the hardwood floors and the bright white of the walls were welcoming.

Rad Chair, photo by MilliGFunk (taken with my iPhone4)

The art currently shown at Art Monster was created by Chris Sabitino and Myles Keough. The show features a lot of white space with black design work. A few pieces were enamel work on wood, but my favorite was the installation art, which made me think of the lava pits scene in Star Wars III: “Revenge of the Sith”, but with friendly little monsters.

Cute Little Monster, photo by MilliGFunk (photo taken with my iPhone4)

The guy who let us in had no idea that I have a background in the arts, but we did find that we have a connection to my tiny Missouri town; I live here and he fishes here. I’ll definitely keep Art Monster’s gallery on my radar for future journeys to Cherokee Street.

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Art Monster is located at 2617 Cherokee Street in St. Louis. The gallery can be found online at www.artmonstershop.com.

Saturday night, March 20th was a cool and rainy spring night in St. Louis, but that didn’t stop seventy or so young professionals from gathering at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in University City for the COCA Junior Board’s first-ever fundraiser, “COCA Immersion”.

The event was casual, with guests moving between a food table (fantastic catering by Butler’s Pantry), two drink tables (courtesy of Major Brands), guest seating, and COCA’s Millstone Gallery.

Performances were given by COCA’s a Capella choir, and performances will subsequent group instruction were offered by hip hop and tango dancers.

Despite the motion blur in the following photo, I was neither hip hop dancing nor tango dancing. In fact, I wasn’t dancing at all – I was just unable to control  my enthusiasm for the art project we were each invited to help create…

We were each invited to paint one small canvas of a larger mural created during the course of the evening. The mural project was facilitated by St. Louis artist Dennis DeToye.

Here’s my contribution to COCA’s new mural – Tile #78:

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The Center of Creative Arts is located at 524 Trinity Avenue in University City, St. Louis, just off of the Delmar Loop. COCA enriches lives and builds communities through the arts. For more information on COCA, visit them online.

Through the window, photo by smalltowngirl

Ste. Genevieve, Missouri is among the small towns I’ve explored that has a few murals to brag about. The close-up of the guy in the window is great. Check out his missing eye and bubble gum nose…

Bubble gum nose, photo by smalltowngirl

I like think that if this little girl could talk, she’d be saying,  ”Ugggh, PLEASE dude.  Get the gum out of your nose and put your eyeball back in. SEEEriously, dude, uggggh.”

Annoyed and Disgusted, photo by smalltowngirl

And this guy was like, totally inspired by me, trekking around rural Missouri with my camera. Only he’s tall and I’m short, and he’s a dude and I’m not, and he’s got dude hair and I’ve got girl hair. Oh, and I’m pretty sure this mural has been around since before I trekked about Missouri with my camera.

But otherwise, totally and completely inspired by me.

Inspired by smalltowngirl, photo by smalltowngirl

My favorite Ste. Genevieve mural though is this one. I love how it isn’t clearly framed at the edges, creating a real sense of three dimensions.

Ste. Gen Mural, photo by smalltowngirl

New York City still takes the cake where art is concerned, but I think Ste. Genevieve’s murals are evidence of the valiant effort rural Missouri is  making to stay on the cultural maps. Nice work, home state. Nice work.

NYC=1, MO=0.5 (Yes, I’m now scoring in half-points. You got something to say about that?)

Part of the way into this video, I thought, “Hmmm, his art is kind of neat.”

And by the end of this video, I was inspired.

“I have learning difficulties, you know I can’t read or write. I had to find a way to express myself…the teachers at school made me feel small, so they made me feel like ‘nothing’. I’m trying to prove to the world that ‘nothing’ doesn’t exist.”

What a great reminder that everyone brings something to this world. Check it out:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYi458oI0-8&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]