In this issue...

• On the Move
• Instructor Spotlight
• Upcoming Events
• Upcoming Workshops
• Creativity Circles

I’m currently reading a book called Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee. In the second chapter, Lee describes visiting an apartment where every surface is a different color, pattern, and texture—including the floor!

Picture a sand dune blown by gusty winds so that it banks this way and that, and then imagine hard little lumps all over the surface, like goose bumps on the skin of a giant. It wasn’t a floor you walked on so much as one that you clambered over, finding and refinding your balance with each movement (48).

She goes on to explain how the “abundance aesthetic,” of which the apartment is a perfect example, serves a higher purpose: feeling a little off-balance and overwhelmed teaches one’s body “how not to die.”

The same is true for change in general. Although it’s usually uncomfortable until you get used to it, it reminds you that you’re still alive. As I write this, I’m preparing for two big changes in my life.

First, my husband and I will be walking the Camino Way later this month. We’ll be doing the Original Way, a mere 200 miles, as compared to the 500-mile French Way popularized in 2010’s Hollywood movie The Way, but it will still present considerable challenge and change.

We’ll be walking about 15 miles a day, and the first couple of weeks will be through the mountains. As many of you know, I walk a few miles a day, most days of the week, but it’s a far cry from walking 15 miles every day! I will also be eating and drinking differently. Though the Spaniards love their churros, I suspect chocolate won’t be quite as easy to come by on the trail! And, of course, I will be surrounded by a different geography, a different language, and a different culture.

Later in her “Abundance” chapter, Lee notes that “vacations [are] a way to soak in sensations that are different from those at home” (59). I anticipate soaking up so much sensation that I may turn into a prune!

When I get back home, I will immediate take-on a second big change: Purple Crayon is moving to Reynold’s Village (50 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 111) on July 1st! Unlike our current location, the new location will provide easy access to restaurants (Chupacabra and  Baked Pie Company are next door), more parking, a bus stop, better security at night, and walking and other exercise options (we’ll be just up the block from the Woodfin YMCA).

Like walking the Camino, moving will be both scary and exciting—and I’m already noticing the changes both of these “awakenings” have had on my energy and my art: I’ve been far more drawn to color and experimentation in the last few weeks.

While I wouldn’t encourage anyone to take on two big changes simultaneously—and it wasn’t my intention either—if you're noticing your life, or your art, stagnating, I would encourage you to shake things up a bit; move to something different. Try a new hair style; take a different route to work; go for a “Sunday drive.” Anything that gets you out of your routine will do!

If you still need suggestions, Purple Crayon has lots of stimulating workshops coming up this summer. While there's not much going on this month because of my vacation, Deana Murchison's Fluid Art: Basics and Beyond on 6/15 and Pamela Shook's Goddess Doll on 6/21 will be well worth the wait! I hope you'll join us for those, as well as all the other great classes we've got scheduled after the move! 

I look forward to playing with you! 

​—​​​​​​Pam Robbins, Owner

Instructor Spotlight

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Workshops

Creativity Circles & Other Members-Only Events