The Inspired Artist Studio by Blue Sun Studio, Inc

The Inspired Artist Studio Volume 1, Issue 1 June 2012

Artist Spotlight: Fine Artist Janice Cartier

Poetry Summer poets share their thoughts

Give Your Readers Characters They Will Never Forget

Were You A Grubby Kid? Imagination unleashed In The Dirt

Summertime Memories Through Photography

The Inspired Artist Studio Volume 1, Issue 1 June, 2012 The Inspired Artist Studio is published on the last Friday of every month. To Subscribe click here. Submission Guidelines All submissions are original work not previously published, except for author’s own websites. Authors retain all copyrights to the work however we reserve the right to publish on Blue Sun Studio Websites and newsletters with attribution. Entries may be used for purposes of promotion and contests. Chosen entries may be published- with attribution- in a collection of entries for a future publication. Send submissions or contact us, send your emails to: inspiredartist@bluesunstudioinc.com Blue Sun Studio, Inc. 4695 Marnell Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89121 Find us on the Web at: http://bluesunstudio-inc.com Copyright © 2012 by Blue Sun Studio, Inc.

“…Bonds of Blood and Spirit: Loyalties is a book of connections; family, romantic, soul, spirit, self. This is truly a work of fiction, but the delights, trials, heroics, and adventures of the characters call for the reader to take part in the journey of love and growth – of and between the players….” - Wynn Godbold, Bee Sharp

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The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

In This Issue: From the Editor’s Desk................................................................... 4 Behind the Words: Give Your Readers Characters They’ll Never Forget........................ 5 Meet the Pack: Family History—Regina Capalini...................................................... 6 Artist Spotlight: Janice Cartier................................................................................... 9 The Inspired Artist Gallery: Photos and Original Artwork........................................................... 14 Life’s Little Inspirations: In The Dirt........................................................................................ 16 Poetry Corner.................................................................................. 18 Fiction Friday: Your Midsummer Fantasy Challenge!.............................................. 25

14 Explore the Poetry Corner Summer Memories

5 Unforgettable Characters

9 Artist Janice Cartier 3

From the Editors’ Desk Welcome to the launch of The Inspired Artist Studio! Why Studio? When we created our company, Blue Sun Studio Inc., we specifically chose the term Studio because we knew that our favorite people to work with were creative artists. And...being creative artists ourselves, we always knew that web design and consulting were only a portion of what our company is all about. At the heart of Blue Sun Studio is a mission: To provide creative artists with the inspiration, tools, and confidence to make their creative dreams into a reality. This new magazine is for you. To help you flex those creative muscles, to showcase your talent and to meet some very

talented artists, like yourselves, who are making their dreams come true. And just to have some fun. If you are anything like we are, your reading list is filled with how to’s and shoulds. We’ve been thinking for awhile now that we needed something to bring fun back into our creative lives. We are so glad you joined us for this very first issue. You will see that we are a work in progress, as we gather new readers and pay close attention to your creative ideas on what you would like to see here. So please, pull up a cuppa something tasty and enjoy. Then give us your feedback AND your submissions for next month’s issue!

Wendi & Deb Blue Sun Studio, Inc.

PS: A special thanks goes out to all the artists who sent their artistic contributions to be a part of this premeir issue. You all did a fantastic job!

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Behind the Words Give Your Readers Characters They Will Never Forget Wendi Kelly & Deb Dorchak

or sending them unprintable messages regarding their diabolical existence. Why? Why were mere words on a page able to transform you into an emotional cheering section for a fictional character

Disney/Pixar; Up Question: How do I create characters my readers will remember? What makes them really live? Take a moment to stop and think of your favorite characters. Chances are that beneath the eloquent dialogue and unique quirks, there was just something about that character that you could relate to on an emotional level that rocked your socks, touched your heart strings or made you angry enough to want to dive into the book and rip them apart. You were either cheering them on, laughing along with their crazy antics, screaming in your mind to warn them of danger they couldn’t see Summer Memories

that you will never know, see, or actually talk to? Why do some characters get nothing more than a turning of a page and a yawn while others stay with us for the rest of our lives? Strongly written characters create an emotional impact. You can love them, hate them, cheer them, warn them, but you can’t ignore them. You can’t NOT care about a well-written character.

Common Denominator Have you ever watched the animated Disney movie Up? This whimsical little movie packs a lot of punch when it comes to characters you care about. At the beginning we meet Mr. Fredrickson and we also meet his future wife. There’s a lovely montage of their life together, going through all the trials and tribulations that many (continued on page 16) 5

Meet the Pack Family History

Wendi Kelly & Deb Dorchak So often when we read a book we get close to the characters. We want to know everything about them, especially what their life was like before we met them. If you’re lucky, an author will take a fan favorite and expand on that background in another book, like Anne Rice with The Vampire Lestat, or us with Diego’s story in our upcoming Bonds of Blood & Spirit: Uncivil Wars. Alas, not every character gets the spotlight, as much as we would like them to. Authors only have so many hours in a day and doing in-depth character biographies would take a lifetime in some cases. In the meantime, we can offer you a solution. We want you to write in and ask us questions you’d like answered about the characters you’ve grown to love in Loyalties. Our first question comes from one of our newest Pack members, Lynda Starbuck. Lynda asks: I think at the point that I am in the first book....I would like to ask Regina about her family history before the age of 17 when her first shift occurred. Who and 6

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

what were her parents, grandparents... was she in anyway prepared for what was to come? It may be explained and I just haven’t gotten there yet...and I am sure I will have other questions as I go. Wendi Kelly, who is the creator and main writer for Regina responds: Book one doesn’t get into Regina’s past too much, mostly because Regina doesn’t know that much about her life as a small child. All she knows is this: She was born in Brooklyn, New York and her birth parents abandoned her. She was raised by a succession of foster families until she was brought to Cuyahoga Falls, a town on the outskirts of Akron, Ohio when she was three. From then on, she was raised by two very cold, unfeeling foster parents who shared nothing about her background and very little of theirs. She left them after a traumatic event at the age of seventeen and has never seen them again. It was a loveless childhood and caused emotional problems for her that she struggles with in book one.

Illustration by: Deb Dorchak; Regina

Summer Memories

Janice Cartier; Sea Urchin and Prickly Pear

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Artist Spotlight: Janice Cartier In The Play Zone With The Curious Cat of Art Wendi Kelly & Deb Dorchak interview Janice Cartier

The year was 2008 when we all first met. These were the days when blogging was new and all of us were finding our footing with this new medium. I got to know Janice Cartier better when, like Wendi, she came to me to design her first website. I think I got paid in maple syrup, which was a very good thing because it was the real thing and not some immitation stuff in a silly novelty bottle. Over the years, Wendi and I have discovered that Janice is an extremely talented artist. Her paintings are rich and vibrant, and like her writing, presents a unique perspective on the world Janice lives in. Not only do we admire her work, we adore her as one of our good friends and we’re very happy to present you with this interview. Please welcome Janice Cartier, le curieux chat d’art. Summer Memories

*** When did you first discover you were an artist? Childhood. It looks a lot like play, but it just might be your calling. I was that kid who happily squished finger paints, colored endlessly, asked if we could draw pictures with our poems in school, and noticed things. I was curious the cat. Always wanting to find out more, or take a closer look, or find out the why or the how of things. And I wanted to draw them as much as I wanted to experience them. Touch them. Smell them. Or ask others, “ Did you see that?” And I loved stories. So I read and I listened and I watched. Well, when I wasn’t annoying my older brother, or trying to tag along with him. Or chasing tadpoles in the creek, or taking dancing lessons, or riding my bike, or playing with my friends. or learning to bake. It came with the package I was given at birth. But the clincher came in fourth grade, when my older cousin Joann asked my parents if she could borrow me for her art class. They needed a model. My parents 9

Janice Cartier; Lotus, frrom the “Drawing 10000 Things said okay, so Joann picked me up Saturday morning very early and off we went to the grounds of a large estate into that stone caretakers cottage...in between sittings, in the breaks, they gave me clay and charcoal and paper to play with. I can touch that first day, one of many Saturdays. Its like a fine perfume, or a fabulous meal all rolled up into one. The smell of moist clay, the scratch of charcoal across the tooth of paper, the color of paint. The warm fall light through the windows chasing hands and fingers busily at work...the laughter and ease...even the scary teacher. She was ruthless. I found a world that I felt both excited by and comfortable in..a play zone so exciting I could barely sleep that first 10

Saturday night back home in my bed. These are things that look like a simple Saturday, or a lark at the time, but they can also mean...here is your river. Are you listening? Mark it on your map. What is your favorite medium to work with? Paint. Graphite. I’m a respectable photographer too. There’s a buttery, squishy juice to paint for me.. and a tactile, pure quality to graphite that I adore. Although I appreciate all media..and photography and I are natural friends..pencil and brush call me out to play most often. I’ve a lot multimedia things, I would love to do in the works, but today, this week...it’s paint. And of course always drawing. The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Do you have a specific creative process? Yes and no. Process depends on the project at hand, although as artists, we are always in process...and must find our ways in and back out again at will. That’s what we do, right? I can begin with an idea, a concept that intrigues me and go after that, set up the structure and surrender to the contained chaos of exploring it...or I can see something, and let it trigger me... just give into it at that moment and let it lead me. I like both. I can pretty much assure you that anything I do has a drawing at its origin. It’s a getting to know you thing, as well as my native language you could say. And somewhere in the mix, there’s probably a photo or two or a dozen...I can work on location, but I prefer to capture and then bring it back to work out or translate to my own voice. I’m not out to recreate anything as it is, as much as, as it is to me. What is your favorite subject matter? Organic form. Light. Line. Color. Orhan Pamuk said that painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight. I liked that when I read it and thought it true...I, pretty much like to play with those kinds of things, thoughts and rhythms. I’ve been known for huge wetlands paintings. Those who really know my work can walk up to one of those and see that I’m really paintSummer Memories

ing the spaces in between as much as the more obvious subject. And that my still life work is alive because of that. I love those pieces and will do some more sometime, but at the moment...one of my best ever mentors tapped his fingers on those spots in between and said go there. So I put everything on the table and went back to basics. Just started going inside and drawing and letting what asked to be there, be there. What’s there is line and color and form and delight in that and that’s plenty. Hence one of the new series, “Drawing 10,000 Things”. How do you make a living with your art? I paint. I draw. I design special projects like the highly successful Jacob Lawrence Project that I had the pleasure creating and doing with a very close to my heart group of girls at Louise S. McGehee School for Girls. That culminated in two exhibitions, a private one for presenting the project to parents, faculty and the school and a more public one at the New Orleans Children’s Museum. I’m quite proud of that. I was asked to design an ad hoc project within it for the literacy group the girls did with the children at Bauduit, so I included their mural as part of the exhibit. When those children and their parents came down to their city’s museum for children and saw their work and the fuss..I had gotten Whole Foods to sponsor the food, free admission 11

for the kids...and found themselves as part of the show...well.. hang that the pay was terrible, and the hours exhausting, that administrative bumps along the way made me go home and think what and why am I spending so much time on this...take all of that and say...there are many,many ways to make a living..but this is one of the highest value things I’ve ever done. Hands down. I’ve done Public Art, private ball favors, I’ve textured opera sets, painted silk collections for the Ritz and private clients. I’ve mentored gifted girls on location as well as

weekly figure group in Santa Fe...the voice I hear in my head when I draw nudes is and always will be Auseklis Ozols, my teacher at the academy. His training came from the prestigious Philadelphia Academy, shades of Robert Henri and the legendary others.No matter where I am, when I sit down to draw figure. I can expect my dear friend Auseklis to show up whispering, usually in accent, ”sforzo,” “sfumato” ...speaking of lines and touches of conte to paper. Drawing is all about touch, you know, and taking a line for a walk, maybe

“Painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight.” all things studio. And taught them across disciplines. Always bringing studio art and practices into academics, broadening the scope of responses we can bring to learning..one of my soap boxes if you know me. I’ve also worked adjunct with the go to scientists for the wetlands in the Gulf. And been featured on their national publications. I find working across disciplines fascinating. But I am mostly known for my paintings. Are you self-taught or did you go to school? Both school and self taught...always learning. One of the keys to staying fluid. I’m smiling at the moment thinking of my 12

for a dance, and sometimes for a bit of a flight..subtle skills worth honing always. And my drawing teachers in college who were exquisite...honestly...No matter what kind of art you practice, the best way I’ve ever found of keeping flow, and staying fluid is a consistent drawing practice... it is essential to me. I did not take painting in college. I took painting at the academy, but for the most part I’m self-taught with the help of some very special mentors and passionate observation and desire. One mentor kicked me out of her watercolor classes after two terms and said just get out there and paint, you’ve got it. I won the prize that year. And The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

them. Now? We’re going to own that space too, baby... you do hear me chuckling, right? But seriously, some things need to be said in different ways. Some things speak to me as drawings, some as watercolors, some as oils.. and some as other media as well. So I listen. And try to find my way to go there. It’s Janice Cartier; Night Blooming Sirius fun and scary and all kinds of what it is to be an artist. Rarely satisfied, did as she advised. Others like Patricia never complacent. Always seeking. Tobacco Forrester, said the same. I painted What advice would you give to up and with her, listened, learned and then went coming young artists? on. In terms of oil though...ack...I can get Take care to protect and nurture your more oil paint on me than on the canvas. spring. Listen to yourself. Trust yourself. As much as I love paintings, I can struggle Hone your practice. You are going to need in oil with the best of them. and yet I both agility and persistence to endure. love oil paintings. Some are too exquisite Which artists inspire your work the most? for words...a spiritual experience for me. Fairfield Porter. Cy Twombly. Don’t make Which is, of course why I set up a personal me choose...all of so many artists, and Jazz challenge to go straight toward them esmusicians and dancers. Have you seen So pecially after spending more time in Santa You Think You Can Dance? I like to look Fe where oils and sculpture rule. I jumped across disciplines. And writers. Hugely in. Decided to get in there, get messy and inspired by wonderful writers. Steinbeck. even further, do it in public... I started Saramago. Too many to name really. posting my oils on line a few years ago.. How do you keep your creativity fueled? and fortunately people don’t hate them. Meditation. Huge. Knowing when to rest. Before they just went to private clients Looking at things that interest me. Reading and upon request. Decently wonderful, but I never felt flexible or, um...facile with Summer Memories

(Janice continued on page 23)

The Inspired Artist Gallery

Inspired Artist Wendy Schneider Blue Moth 12”x12”, mixed media on watercolor paper January, 2011 “It was painted on Saba in the Dutch Caribbean. It incorporates moth wings from a roadside find and other local seeds etc.”

Find out more about Wendy at: Art on the Rocks

Bird’s Eye View December, 2011 “I was working abstractly and just like the way the colors worked together.” 14

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Inspired Artist Wendi Kelly Michigan Sunset July 2010 This month’s cover image comes to us from our very own Wendi Kelly. Wendi is a talented artist in her own right and enjoys photography and painting. “The photo was taken on a family vacation in Michigan, walking along the beach with my husband on the shore.”

Summer Memories

Life’s Little Inspirations In the Dirt Wendi Kelly

I was a grubby little girl. Grimy and dirty and messy with stringy dishwater brown hair that turned blond from spending too much time playing make-believe outside with my brother and sister out in the country. My sister ate ants. Just to gross us out. She said “pretend they have chocolate on them and have a bite.” I drew the line at eating ants. But other then that, we were little country bumbkins frolicking through the acres of meadows and fields that was our playground. There was always dirt under my fingernails. A lot of the time it was because I was 16

digging a pathway to China, or digging for gold, or had determined that there was a lost city like Pompeii right underneath the garden that nobody had discovered yet. My mother spent a lot of time saying “Comb your hair.” and I would say, “I just did.” It wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t meant to be combed looking. Still isn’t for that matter. I’ve just accepted it now. I have jumbly hair. It does what it wants. And it doesn’t want to looked combed. My Father was the most dismayed. His expectation was that his daughters would look like proper princesses. And that at a moments notice we could be taken out and shown off as the little delights we were supposed to be. Except I wasn’t a delight. I was a disaster. He often lectured me on the state and condition of my legs and knees. Crawling around in the dirt didn’t do a lot for my lady-like calves. I was always sporting a multitude of scrapes, bruises, cuts and band-aids. When they would dress me up I looked like a battle victim from the knees down. I don’t remember having a lot of store bought toys when the three of us were kids. The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

I remember having books-lots and lots and mountains of books, and play-dough and markers and finger-paint and acres of land with gardens and trees and dirt. “Pretend that we’ve just discovered a secret cave and we are the only ones who live here, and we have to find stones to make a campfire, and food to eat, and hunt and where will we sleep and how will we live..” and on and on went every adventure. My brother, being much younger, may, if you ask him, tell you that his childhood memories center around “go fetch this

against the scheduling that we as adults face on a daily basis. Every minute booked up. I long to run free and play in the fields, letting my imagination run along beside me. In my life I have found ways to gain those moments of unabashed freedom. My morning quiet time, journal writing, now adding back in fiction writing, the greatest “let’s pretend” of them all. My gardening lets me get literally down in the dirt, hands full of the rich brown loam, planting seeds, participating in the bringing forth of new

“...at a moments notice we could be taken out and shown off as the little delights we were supposed to be.” and go fetch that and here-lug that over there and here- lug this big tree branch here to make a fort over there. My sister and I were the dreamers. The schemers that made imaginary worlds out of grass and trees and gardens and dirt. Despite our parents attempts to keep us from looking unruly, I’ve never regretted a single scraped knee. Those years of fearless abandonment of rules and structure, hours of imaginary free play, shaped and formed who I am today. I struggle against the conformity of overscheduling that our kids ( even mine) are dealing with in society today. I struggle Summer Memories

green life, new flowers, fruit, vegetables. The anticipations of the first harvest of summer, the excitement almost…brings back that childlike thrill. Remembering to take the time to play, letting go, letting the creative juices run wild and uninhibited returns us to a more natural state. A state of mind without fear. A child-like state of mind where creativity is as natural as a flowing current of water. In a happy, playful child there is no fear of failure. No fear of success. No “what if they see me acting like a fool, what if I’m not the best. What if I AM the best?” There (continued on page 19) 17

Poetry Corner The Gift

By Tania Lynn I appeared like lightning piercing the sky. Greatly unexpected, a hindrance was I. Washing away goals, changing dreams like the tide, I crushed her youth the moment I arrived. But her love flourished with each passing day, As she accepted her life, the gift that I gave. Our life was not charted, predicted or planned, We faced our troubles hand in hand. They flooded our lives, right from the start, But made us two people stronger of heart. She welcomed my presence for she did know That when a storm goes by, it leaves a rainbow.

Bird-brained idea By Joy Resor

In August, I insist our motley flock of four attend a harpsichord concert at an antique shop. We arrive later than most, excuse our way over skirted knees to perch on a piano bench in the back row. After three songs, I hatch the idea we take wing. Outside, I scratch my foot on cracked pavement in flits of laughter. Swooping through my brainâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; my desire to expose our sons to culture, the prim-plumed audience, a mother henâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pluck to flee the coop.

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Running the Dew Away By Leigh Spencer

Barely dawn and the lawn is a sparkling field of no less than a million diamonds Gem droplets clutching each blade of grass in cozy clusters While the gaudier jewels droop like opera earrings hanging from clover leaves I am a fairy princess with a new pair of Keds This is no mud puddle to incur stains and maternal wrath This is magic This is opportunity This fades to nothing when the sun comes fully up

Sweet Cheeks By Davina Haisell

Sweet breezes on my cheeks. Gaze fixed on scenery below. Shades of green, forested peaks, yellow daisies glow. Through morning summer mist, golden rays shine. Mist is fresh, cheeks are kissed, natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call designed. Trickling whispers, a babbling river release glistening waters to sea. A comfortable sigh, bursting, I shiver. In the woods, I stopped to pee.

I do my royal duty collecting for myself all the jewels I can Crown of tangled hair laughing wildly as my damp feet run the dew away Summer Memories

Background Photo By: Davina Haisell; Daisies 19

(Characters continued from page 5) married couples go through. They meet, fall in love, get married, find out they’re going to have a baby and then lose it, and all through the montage Mrs. Fredrickson’s dream is to visit Paradise Falls in South America. But life gets in the way and they never quite get there and it’s something that weighs heavy on the mind of Mr. Fredrickson after his wife dies. The montage is one that really tugs at the heart strings. Why? Because on some level we all can relate to what the characters are going through. We may never have been married, or lost a baby or a loved one, but we can sympathize and imagine what it must be like to suffer such a loss. By the same token, we may also know what it’s like to have the kind of love Mr. and Mrs. Fredrickson had. They’re relatable. The movie itself is total fantasy, but the human emotion and experiences are very real. In a very short time the characters come alive and we see them as human, and we RELATE to them through shared and believable experiences. The scenario may be fantastic, but the human choices being made are very real. A young couple forced apart at a crucial moment with no other option other than 20

to face the fact one of them is going to die and the other will have to go on without them. We care. Immediately.

Orchestrating a Symphony So how do you make sure that your character is going to tug at at just the right aimed heart string? By following a few carefully executed tips. 1. Be Your character’s shrink. You need to know what motivates them. Everyone has a few key motivators that govern their every day thoughts and actions. These motivations usually stem from some internal dialog that may or may not be part of the main story line, but you as their writer need to know all about it. You know what I’m talking about because we all have it. It’s that little voice inside our head that chatters on like a worn out record, incessantly playing in the background. You need to know what’s playing in each of your character’s heads. 2. Find their vulnerability. It’s one thing to make your character a hero or a villain. Everybody loves a good hero or a really bad baddie. But readers don’t relate to Heroes. They relate to characters that remind them of pieces of themselves, or parts of themselves that they wish they had. To do this, your character must have an underbelly, a The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

soft, touchable, vulnerable authentic side that makes the reader want to reach out and touch that character and take them home. 3. Help them transform. The key to a really great character that we all love to love or hate is the ability to watch them transform before our very eyes in to something more than they were before the story began. We want to watch the hero grow, we want to watch the baddie sink into the depths of despair and gloom… we want to cheer them on as they leap over insurmountable obstacles. In order for this to happen, they need to have emotional characteristics built in from the beginning

that are going to kick in when the time comes…what are they? They may not know..but you the writer sure better. 4. Make them relatable. There are some universal experiences that we can all tap into emotionally. As our examples pointed out, we don’t have to experience the death of a child or the loss of a cherished spouse, or find the love of our lives to imagine what those emotions might feel like. We want to experience life through the eyes of your characters. SHOW- don’t tell- us how your characters are dealing with the experiences they are going through. Help us to experience the story through their eyes.

Your Designers for Life See how our unique approach to design will help your business. Visit us today: http://bluesunstudio-inc.com

Summer Memories

(Dirt continued on from page 15)

(Janice continued from page 13)

is no deadline to beat, no quota to match, No target to topple. There is giggling, there is laughter. There is adventure, there is fun. There is the restoration of the spirit. There is growth. There is love. When is the last time you got down and played? Went out and romped in the sun, went for a ramble with no destination, wandered about for a new place to discover? When was the last time you went digging in the dirt, not afraid to get dirty, not afraid to be caught being a mess, not afraid of what others thought? When was the last time you were completly uninhibited, without a care in the world, skinned knees and all, flaws and all, exposed in all your authenticity? Would you like to come and play in the dirt with me? It’s fun. After all. Seeds grow in the dirt. You never know what might happen there.

fantastic books. Going to see wonderfully curated exhibits. Music. Talking to friends. I do lots of notes, and sketching and capturing ideas, concepts.I’m sure lots of your audience can relate: often it’s the choosing. The do this now and not that, that is more of an issue. What is the most favorite piece you’ve ever done and why? The next one. I have some personal faves, but mostly there is nothing like those first few strokes on the next new piece. Bonus Question: Pancakes or waffles? Pecan waffles, Camelia Grill. No contest.

For more weekly inspiration, click here to visit

On the rocks with your business?

Creative Clarity Coaching with Wendi Kelly is your beacon to success.

Contact Wendi today at: http://creativeclaritycoaching.com

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Photo by: Wendi Kelly; Ireland Summer Memories

The Inspired Artist Studio June 2012.

Fiction Friday A Midsummer Fantasy What is Fiction Friday? Fiction Friday has its roots in the days where Wendi and Deb used to write online with other very talented people. We told stories. Lots of them. This section of The Inspired Artist Studio is designed to bring back the joy of storytelling. Whether you want to write a short story of your own, or collaborate with one or more other people to create something, you can do that here where we’ll showcase the best of the submissions that we get. Our next edition comes out the last Friday of July. Our theme will be “Midsummer Fantasy”. What kind of magic does summer hold for you? When you think of fantasy, do images of fairy circles and different worlds come to mind, or is your magic as simple as a summer romance? Images, music and movies often give us inspiration for new characters and stories. Each month we’ll feature an image to help get you going. This month we have Daybreak by Maxfield Parish. Parish’s otherworldly colors and lighting lend themself perfectly to the fantasy world. What do you think the story is here? Your submission has to be in our hands no later than the third Friday of the month, Noon Eastern/1pm Central/3pm Pacific. (Note, July’s deadline is July 20th.) For full submission guidelines, please click to visit this page here. If you have questions or have a submission to send, or just want to tell us how much you like The Inspired Artist, click here to email us. Good luck and see you next month!

— Wendi & Deb

Summer Memories