Inspired and Energized

This is one of the collaged blank cards I have started making.  Went away last week to Chicago, with my husband, to celebrate our 16th anniversary!  We saw Steve Martin play at the Ravinia Festival, which was quite a treat, as he is a wonderful banjo player...John and I are learning to play the banjo and it's always fun to see people perform.  One of the other highlights of our trip was the day at the Art Institute of Chicago, where we saw so much wonderful art, that we were both ready to come right home and get to work in the studio!  We made an appointment at the Print and Drawing Room and were able to see a few amazing works that they'd pulled out for us -- prints for John and collages for me.  I had always been somewhat ambivalent  about Kurt Schwitters collages...until last week when I had them in front of me.  They were stunning!  I was struck going through the museum, taking in only a fraction of what we could have seen, that one is drawn to different works as life and the creative pursuit goes on.  When I was in my twenties I was fascinated by Picasso and Dubuffet, Gorky and a whole host of other artists...now there is a different group of people that command my attention...one of them being Kurt Schwitters.  Saw a lot of Joseph Cornell boxes and collages and I continue to love his work.  So, here I am, back at home, ready to dive into new work...inspired and energized!