Who does your office say you are? When people look at your office, or cubicle, or perhaps your desk among all the others, what statement are you making about yourself?

Family photos are signs of a mom or dad. Unicorns are signs of a fantasy dreamer with a sense of humor. Calendars are signs of the well-organized. Do you notice these little things when you go to the desks, cubicles, or offices of others? Sure you do, we all do, whether we are conscious of it or not.

My office says that I am utilitarian. I have my tools around me: books, papers, pens, pencils, brushes, canvas, and camera. But on the wall next to me? I hang my 6’x6’ painting. It is big, bright, and bold. People who know I’m an introvert sometimes laugh to find I paint so boldly, but it is also who I am.

Not everyone can have a 6’x6’ painting where they work, but everyone can have coordinating pieces of desk supplies that might give a clue that you are more than you seem.

At Volcano Alley Creative Group, our goal is to provide products that show your style in your spaces: work, home, and out-and-about.

by :: Min

When you think of Christmas, what comes to your mind? Trees? Santa? Stockings hanging ready to be filled? Birth of Christ? Angels? Shepherds? Caroling? Parties? Shopping? Lights?

The season is full of so many things but the one thing we see just about everywhere we go are Christmas lights! Neighborhoods are awash in brilliant colors—now, even rhythmic flickering lights. Downtown streets are covered in arches created by strings of lights. Lights glow around the city center Christmas tree. Indoors, lights glow from the tree, the candles, and the fireplace.

Christmas trees lights splashed across the walls one year. We’d never seen anything like it before, but that year our folks had a new tree. As the light grew dim outside [As night crept near] the tree lights began glowing ever brighter and brighter, moving out from the tree to encompass everything around it. It was amazing! Those little bulbs spread magnificent colors up onto the walls and plants. I called everyone in to take a look while I grabbed the camera to make a record of the sight. We all oohed and aahed for a while and enjoyed it all season. It is now the inspiration for our Christmas collection. We wanted to share this extraordinary phenomenon with you, so that you, too, will look for those extra little bits of excitement with your holiday.

Living cute in a small space. That seems to be the fashionable way to live these days. Not only young people but also established and retired individuals and couples are downsizing to reduce the distractions in their lives. Many are choosing the “tiny homes” or lofts that offer a few hundred feet of living space over the previous thousand-to three thousand square feet former family homes. Some even create a small individual nook or cranny to call your own in the larger family home. We call this the Girly Garret because for us this is a creative space.

When living in small places the need to coordinate the furnishings becomes even more important than in the bigger places; a guest can see everything in the home the moment they walk in.

We all know our favorite colors, textures, styles although sometimes to have a professional providing a well coordinating eye can be a help. What are some of the things you love best? How can you make a space to show it off?

Often the tiny homes have limited wall space so a wall decal is a good purchase because it will stick on a cabinet or door, no nails just removable adhesive keeps the poster/print in place until you want to move it again.

Or perhaps you want to bring in touches of your colors or hobbies into your home by means of upholstery. Or throw blankets or pillows that you can change out when the mood suits you. Sometimes even dishes and towels can help coordinate your tiny space.

As autumn begins to settle in we notice the days are shorter and the sunsets come earlier. Soon we will notice the colors in our neighborhoods changing from bright green into the exuberant yellow, golds, and oranges of the season. The light that shines through the golden maples is often heart-wrenching beautiful, and we all stop for a moment and pull out our cameras to capture a piece of it. Light is important.

Light is a primary feature in art. Northern light is different from southern light. Desert light is different from tundra light or mountain light. Light on cold days is different from light on hot days. All of these differences create variations in art.

Then there are categories of overcast, sunburst, and dappled light. Each type of light sets a new tone for a painting, and that light is constantly changing. When he grew older, impressionist painter Claude Monet would set up a row of canvases. Every hour he would set the painting aside to wait for the next day’s exact time to catch the same light. Then switching to the next subject in a different series, paint in that hour’s light. His Rouen Cathedral series shows his interest in capturing the beauty of each hour of the day.

Photographers know all about light, it is one reason the good ones get great photos and the rest of us get what I call “snapshots” rather than “award winners”. The same is true for all forms of art, even stained glass windows, sculpture, and architecture—when the light hits at the right angle and the right intensity we gasp at the beauty at sights we have never bothered to notice.

Clean lines, balanced placement, just the essentials are the marks of Sarah’s eye. After she began her wondering about Min’s eye, I began wondering about hers. Fair is fair after all, and I was curious what I would find.

I looked back at her early drawings, and later drawings, and her design work and began to notice the style. This became an easy task when our parents downsized from house to retirement home. The project allowed me to look at our old work and I began to differentiate between my old school pictures and hers with ease.

Sarah’s were drawings that told stories: there was William Tell shooting that arrow at the apple on his son’s head, there were the three pigs in their homes, and there were the ghosts of Halloween crossing our back yard. All the stories told in one image each. The characters had feet and hands and facial expressions, details were noted.

As for my old work? Sheets of just colors flowing together or layered, the suggestion of mountains by areas of pattern and color, a yellow blot of sun, a blue streak of water. A head and feet showing above and below a brightly painted garment, the hair on the head being purple, or orange or Crayola’s midnight blue.

What do sounds look like? Walking into a coffee shop there are many sensory cues. The smell of the coffee, the atmosphere with the artwork, furniture and lighting, but there is also the sounds. People talking and laughing, the clatter of the dishes, the scooting of chairs, even, if you listen closely the typing on the keyboard. Continue reading “What do sounds look like?”

An interest in how life functions and grows and how that process is mirrored in art is one of the bases for art created by Volcano Alley Creative Group.

For instance, Min’s interest and background in painting and art history keeps her looking at the new ways art uses and rejects the prior art period. Straight, dignified, classic becomes curvy, lush, romantic. But just as quickly there is a return to something older and yet new. In Venice style “A” develops while in Florence style “B” develops, and style “C” develops in Bruges. Or we can substitute New York, Tokyo, and Mumbai. And yet, much of it is quite similar. Not only do developments, styles, and names travel around the world in seconds these days, similar issues, concerns, and joys are reflected in their art. Continue reading “Earth Mirror”