Albert Knew What He Was Talking About!

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.  Albert Einstein

Hard to imagine anyone who has taken a class at The Ink Pad this year would argue with Dr. Einstein about this! Indeed, we've had an amazing year hosting incredible artists who have ignited and awakened so many of us with their talent and generosity.  Here's a look at some of the highlights:

Michelle Ward showing off her incredible cardboard journals

Dina Wakley talks color!

Master Mail Artist & Bookmaker, Jennie Hinchcliff

Julie proved everyone can draw!

Nathalie's classes are joyful!

Yes. You CAN Draw....

....and on Sunday, July 27th, Julie Fei Fan Balzer proved it to two dozen 'doubters' who didn't believe they could! Take a look inside class and see for yourself what was created!

Julie's own uber-cool, hand painted brush cases!

Inspiration can be found anywhere!

Happy Teacher!

Happy Group! Inspired and ready for more!

Random Creative Fabulousness

Sometimes it's fun to go theme-less and just blog about random stuff. That's what we're about today.

Take a look at some recent happenings at The Ink Pad and all the creative people that make us tick.

• Mail Art. We LOVE it!

So imagine how we squealed with delight when we received this little package of goodness from the incredibly lovely and talented Jennie Hinchcliff at Red Letter Day

• Happy Artists. We LOVE them.

Here's a little peek at some of the happy faces after a day of creating art with Jessica Sporn

Ava wasn't comfortable about using paint and canvas, but look at the amazing piece she created!

Karen and her uber-fabulous mermaid collage

Beautiful Violet always happy to be making art.

Teaching makes Seth Apter AND his students very happy!

Smiles all around when Nathalie and Julie come to share their talents with us.

• Cute Cards. Who doesn't LOVE them??

These are all from Lawn Fawn and you'll be seeing the stamps arriving in the shop very soon. We think these are absolutely adorable. C'mon, you know you love them, too!

Who Knew??!

Well, of course we knew about the legendary jazz musician, Louis Armstrong. His contributions to American music have been well documented and he continues to inspire young jazz musicians even today.

What we didn't know however is that "Satchmo" or "Pops" as he was nicknamed was also a prolific collage artist!!

In fact, we just discovered a book entitled "Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong." Filled with beautiful reproductions of his collages and interesting stories of his many achievements.

We are totally inspired!

Take a look at some of his amazing work:

Look at the wall of collage!