ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

When I closed my gallery, Sanctuary of Davidson, in 2017, my heart was broken. Even though it was the necessary thing to do (a husband who travelled for work; 2 teenage girls with multiple extracurricular activities, etc.), it was a bitter sweet ending to a lovely artist haven I had always dreamed of creating. But all things have their season and Sanctuary’s season had come to a close.

I always knew, even before Sanctuary, that I wanted to have my own personal art studio in a cute little space on Main Street someday. A place where I could create, teach art classes, invite other artists to come in and paint with me, and have pop up shops where makers of all kinds could also sell their work for one fun-filled, fabulous weekend a month. I didn’t know if that would ever become a reality and even gave up on that dream many times. But, as fate would have it, a lovely little spot did, indeed, open up…a perfectly sized, historically charming space that was just screaming to become a studio for me and play host to a plethora of other art-related activities. So, Maria Hamm, a fabulous designer, art teacher and amazing friend of mine, and I decided to try for it as partners. We were lucky enough to be chosen to have the space. And, just like that, my little studio dreams are moving towards fruition!

Fast forward a few weeks, and we learned that our lovely, historical floors had some lovely, historical termite damage that could have Maria, my artwork, all her art students, and I crashing through the floor at any given moment! As weeks and months passed while a suitable contractor could be found, my dreams started to feel as if they were beyond reach again, like, perhaps, our amazing, perfect little space would prove to be unusable. Maria and I both started to feel heavy and sad. Until…

We got the call that the floors would be fixed within a couple weeks! And as we watched the contractors rip up the entire floors to the crawl space and then just as quickly built a new base, our hopes and dreams started to soar again. We might even be in the space in time to teach fall classes! We were over the moon. Again.

Dreams are good. Very good. And you are never too old, and it’s never too late to take a step towards those dreams. The most difficult thing is to wait – wait for the perfect timing. Just as every good thing has its season, many good things require patience. A good thing at the wrong time is a dream killer. But a good thing at the right time? It’s the stuff of great dreams.

The Casual Creative is happy to be the newest art venue in Davidson! Maria and I are proud to offer eclectic and fun art classes for kids and adults, and our very first Pop Up Makers Mart will be held on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. And you can stop by pretty much any weekday to check out what I’m painting. Heck, bring a canvas and paint with me!

Maria and I are committed to creating something beautiful and unique in the town of Davidson. But, our first and most important commitment is to our families. So, you won’t find regular hours at The Casual Creative. When I am painting, or we are teaching classes, or hosting a monthly Makers Market, we’ll be there! Otherwise, we will be watching our kids play soccer, or perform in Musicals, or compete in swim meets. And we might even leave during the day to have a lunch date with our husbands (who are NOT traveling any longer. YAY!).

But, when we ARE there? It will be glorious. We promise!