Emerald City Swag

In the past, I have had the privilege in featuring mixed media artist that are truly brilliant.  But, I have a very strong opinion that every artist is unique and you honestly see it in their work.  For the month of September, I was delighted to stumble upon Ann Arbor Art Fair's 2015 featured artist Katie Hofacker on  The Guild .  I was surfing the web to find local art festivals during the summer to expand my search for talented artist beyond social media.  Unfortunately, at the time I did the search, I just missed the festivities and Katie's exhibit.  What a bummer!  However, that didn't stop me.  I was so enchanted by her pieces, that I searched for her contact info and e-mailed her about being featured on ECS.  She accepted, I smiled like a Cheshire cat and pumped my fist up with joy.  Reader, you'll understand my excitement once you've scrolled down to observe her art yourself.  Her mixed media involves a process called photo transfer which I find super cool a

August Artist of the Month: Amber Favre https://www.amberfavreart.com/ ECS proudly presents another fellow Washingtonian, Amber Favre, as our August Artist of the Month.  What attracted me to Amber's art was her bold and vibrant colors (do you see a trend in my taste in art?) as I scrolled through Instagram.  Her paintings take your imagination to another place and lean toward more of an abstract style.  I have to be quite frank with you, some of the abstract art out there just doesn't really speak to me, but Amber's did.  Like I have said in the past, art brings out certain emotions and feelings inside of you.  Everyone is different. I find myself looking at Amber's art for long periods of time waiting for it to come alive or for me to develop the ability to jump into the canvas.  And yes, I do see the Northwest influences in her pieces; who wouldn't?  She's another artist that makes me miss Seattle and it's beautiful surroundings.  The rain

According to Merriam-webster.com , art is defined as  " something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings : works created by artists : paintings, sculptures, etc., that are created to be beautiful or to express important ideas or feelings."   Growing up in Seattle in the 90s, I remember sitting in the backseat of my family's van as we drove past splashes of art on the freeway.  I would always wonder how in the names did that get there and who did it?  I am not talking about tagging or grafitti which have their own unique artistic value, but eye catching vibrant murals on the side of a bridge or walls of buildings.  I cherished these memories, I soaked them in. So why is it when our children decide to draw on the walls with their crayons, most parents respond in frustration instead of embracing this form of self-expression?  We really should just hand them some paint brushes and let them use