My favorite piece was my friend Hailey’s earthwork which she made out of snail shells she found on the beach. It reminded me of Andy Goldsworthy a lot and was beautiful.

A couple of friends worked with me to make a zen balancing rock garden in a tide pool on the beach. It was a lot of fun and I worked on making archway rock pilings which were a little difficult but fun to do.

It was only part of the field trip but it was my favorite. There is something so rewarding about creating art and having fun doing it. Working with a group of friends and taking only what the earth provides to make artwork that is creative and fun to do. Most of all, it is just so much fun enjoying nature with some of your best friends.

This first part consisted of the Sand Castle Contest. Some of them were quite interesting.

My favorites where the giant great white sand castle, and the giant sand sculpture of Poseidon and the BP oil spill.

This one was definitely the best, it had a message about the BP Oil Spill and of course the quality of the sculpture was amazing. The eyes and teeth made out of shells where so amazing and life-like. The seaweed oil spill was an interesting and unique touch as well. It was the last one on the beach and looking out over the whole crowd was quite a spectacle.

It was interesting looking at all of the people. It was a mob of beach goers all looking and appreciating the work of these sand artists.

I am glad I went, Part two will be coming up next.

My aunt Valri Peyser is an amazing artist and she is going to be a part of this next up in-coming Open Studios in October. I got to photograph some of her most recent projects she is working on that will be a part of the open studios show like these amazing decorated wine bottles.

The bottles are really amazing, each with its own personality and flare that is unique in itself. The front portrays a person ranging from a head shot to a half body portrait and the back is a beautiful pattern like flowers, stripes, dots, swirls, or any other design you can think of.

Her beautiful wine bottles won’t be the only art on display, her paintings will also be there for Open Studios.

Bright, colorful, fun, and artfully crafted, I can’t wait to see what else she will have come the date of the Open Studios in October.

To contact my aunt about her work, see her website: http://www.valpeyser.com/ So come check out her open studio this year, you may even see me

I love living in Santa Cruz, the people, the culture, the lifestyles. Everything about Santa Cruz is different. I love it because I enjoy people, I don’t have to go far to find a character, someone interesting to talk to, people who have lived life and want to share. There is so much potential here and that is what I love. Art lingers beneath the surface of everything. This is home.

I was explaining my pieces to a group of people at the art show and when they walked away left over was a little girl standing there. I asked her if she wanted to hear my explanation and she said she already had, then she just walked forward and hugged me. I had never met this person before in my life but here she was hugging me. When she let go I asked what it was for and she just said

It was for sharing with me something beautiful

That meant so much to me, not just to hear someone compliment my work but to understand that the meaning behind my pieces were understood. All I ever wanted from my art is to share with people a perspective that they are not used to seeing like I also do here on my blog. This little girl is why I do art, I do this so I can help people see the ordinary things of everyday life in an entirely new and beautiful way.

I don’t care what people think about my work, whether they say it is weird, ugly or just nonsensical. All that matters is that I can share something with people. I just wanted to say thank you to that little girl. I wish I had asked your name, but you helped me. I hope I really did help you too.

I am an avid art lover and these are my two newest additions to my room. The first picture is the first original piece of artwork that I have ever bought on my own. I got it at Bruce Telopa’s show last night at the Dead Cow Gallery. The other is a gorgeous painting my aunt did and gave to me called Wolf Whistle. However now I have to rearrange my walls. Which means taking ever bit of work up on my walls (which is way to much stuff) and trying to figure out how to put the pieces back together.

That doesn’t matter, I am just ridiculously happy about my art. I can’t wait to see what they will look like up on my walls.

Here is a nice combination of my photography and an open studios artists work.

I really enjoyed the way this photo turned out and learning about this womans style of art.

I think it was called encaustic, but anyway it was very cool use of wax and paper. Very interesting.

It is always fun during open studios to find not only new artists but the ways they execute their art.

I just loved the white flowers so I decided to use them as the center point of the photo. Turned out better than I thought.

Encore weekend, I can’t wait.