What a Milestone, Dear Friends!

Hello! 

It's been an incredible week. My next Art Lesson (Vol. 2 - BLUE) is being finalized with the editors & art designers as I type this. And then yesterday, I reached 1000 followers on Instagram! What better way to celebrate this milestone than to acknowledge the two people who influenced my creative journey in a such a profound way:

Pokey Bolton, founder/former editor-in-chief of STUDIOS magazine (as well as founder of Cloth Paper Scissors, Quilting Arts, host of Quilting Arts TV, chief officer of Quilts, Inc.......and on and on),   truly is my hero. Her creative legacy is huge to me. I still treasure my very first issue of STUDIOS, where Pokey shared not only her beautiful space but how to create a design wall on a dime. 

(photo taken 2009, in my MA art studio)

I revamped Pokey's idea by using black iron garden trellises. I attached s-hooks at various spots in order to hang my paintings, fabric scraps, and works-in-progress. Thank you, Pokey, from the bottom of my heart! This is a total full-circle moment for me, now that I'm a Cloth Paper Scissors Art Lessons instructor. Holy moly. Feeling grateful indeed.

Cate Coulaos Prato, former editor for Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS and online editor for Quilting Daily, was the one who discovered me. She was the one who believed in me. And then she featured me in STUDIOS magazine as well as her book Inside the Creative Studio (2011). I think the best e-mail I received from Cate went something like: "Hey Gina, Pokey actually wants a selfie of you with your baby pet rats on your shoulders while you're painting in your studio. Can you send us that?"

Let's just say, little Summer and Autumn were misbehaving and the above was the only shot I could manage with them clinging to my neck LOL! Cate, I love you. Thank you. 

And THANK YOU to all my dear friends and followers.

May we all stay passionate about our dreams.....for believing in them will help us travel far, go deep, and reach high!


p.s. please stay warm everybody!