creativity

067: Still Younger Than Mom ;)

May 3, 2017 by balzerdesigns 2 Comments

Today’s podcast features a conversation about the Nari Ward opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Art in Bloom at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), my prize winning painting, and more! I will be sharing some long blog posts with lots of photos of the ICA Opening and the Art in Bloom stuff in the upcoming weeks, but if you’d like to peek at them in the meantime, you can see them in this week’s vlog:

Here is a photo of my painting that won first prize in the oil/acrylic category at the Watertown Art Association show:

We’re going to be doing a “listener mail” episode soon, so please leave us your comments and questions!

Thanks for stopping by!

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

062: After Creativation

February 2, 2017 by balzerdesigns 4 Comments

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I’m delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! Today’s podcast features chatter about new classes, interrupting, the word interesting, the MFA Boston, the Blogiversary, and our visit to Creativation (formerly CHA). I thought I’d include some photos from Creativation as a companion to the podcast. Enjoy!

I am planning to share all of my projects very soon, but just so you know, I was finishing this quilt sample on the plane to Phoenix!

Speaking of Phoenix, I took a photo from our hotel room window that I thought was kind of cool:

I spent the first day setting up the Brother booth, which turned out great!

As I mention on the podcast, I demo-ed, demo-ed, and then demo-ed some more! In the Brother Booth, the Crafter’s Workshop Booth and the Art Foamies Booth:

Here’s a peek at the show floor:

But, of course, Creativation is really about the opportunity to take photos with other people!

Ten points if you can guess which of my friends decided it was a good idea to give me a makeover…. 😉

And last but not least, this is coming soon…

Get excited!

Thanks for stopping by!

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

059: Lou Ann & the Gelli Plate

December 14, 2016 by balzerdesigns 3 Comments

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I’m delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! Today’s podcast features Lou Ann Gleason:

Lou Ann is CEO and co-founder of a growing company, Gelli Arts LLC. Gelli manufactures a unique gel printing plate that is used by teachers and artists. Gelli started with her partner’s great idea. Clever manufacturing, savvy marketing and lots of getting the little things right have turned that idea into a brand with an expanding customer base around the world.

Lou Ann was born and raised in Michigan, one of 10 children in her family. She worked at a department store to help pay tuition at her all-girls high school, and then put herself through college. She graduated from Michigan State. After college, she worked first for a department store, making decisions about which women’s clothes to stock, then for a bank. Eventually, she went to get her MBA at University of Michigan.

The MBA degree opened up new opportunities. Lou Ann worked at Procter & Gamble. There she worked in brand marketing, making decisions about product development and advertising on household brands such as Cascade, Dawn and Joy. She was also lucky to spend a few years developing new products—which became a big asset at Gelli Arts.

Lou Ann stayed at P&G for 15 years. Later she served as chief marketing officer for a vacation real-estate firm, then started her own consulting business. Today she divides here time between the consulting business and Gelli Arts.

Lou Ann met her husband at P&G. They have two children, one son in college in California (who has already started his own business) and a daughter who is serving in the Peace Corp in Ukraine.

The artwork samples in this post are by Joan Bess, Birgit Koopsen, Marsha Valk, and Lou Ann Gleason.

Find Gelli online:

Thanks for stopping by!

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

058: Quilt Festival 2016 in Pieces

November 9, 2016 by balzerdesigns 9 Comments

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We recorded the first two sections of this three-part podcast while I was at Quilt Festival. If you listen, you’ll get a bit more of an in-depth perspective on being at the show.

And now, just a few of the quilt photos (lots more on the blog this week and next):

Thanks for stopping by!

046: Not Interesting

May 10, 2016 by balzerdesigns 2 Comments

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I’m delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! You’ll have to listen to the podcast if you want to know what the title means! 😉

Here are links to some of the things we chat about on the podcast:

Jen Hewett on instagram. Her #printpatternsew adventure. And the #memademay16 hashtag.
I’m not sure if this is the original person I found doing the whole wardrobe makeover, but here is “New Dress a Day.” I think “ReFashionista” may be the one I was thinking of.
In case you don’t own a TV, Project Runway.
A peek at some Gelli Doodles….
Make It Artsy TV (new Facebook Page)
Periscope — in case you want to watch for the backstage videos next week!

As discussed, here is an example of Braque vs. Picasso (source):

And here’s the before and after of the painting I ruined:

Thanks for stopping by!

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

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