Father's Day came and went, and it was beautiful outside! 

To my pleasant surprise, a father and friend of mine decided to get outside for Father's Day and visit Gwynns Falls Trail. He and his family checked out my piece #TakeASketchLeaveASketch, and his daughter sketched a little something to leave in the box.

Though I haven't made many interactive works in the past, it makes me very happy that people are actually interacting with this piece. From what I've observed, usually kids are the ones who leave a sketch.

One of the best things in life to me is to share my art with others. And #TakeASketchLeaveASketch is about giving others the opportunity to share their art as well. I'm glad kids are compelled to sketch something and share it, but I hope more adults will jump on board too! You are never too old to let your creativity out.

When was the last time you shared your art with others?

It has been quite the summer. Some highlights:

I did another class at Mesh Baltimore, one of my very favorite groups in Baltimore, where people gather to share knowledge and skills with each other. I taught about making art from recycled materials- it was a blast as usual and students got to take some scrap materials off my hands!

Also this summer, I enjoyed having my first show in Frederick, Westmaryginiasylvanington. As the name of the show suggests, this was a regional exhibition featuring artists within a 50 mile radius of Frederick. Andrea Pollan was an excellent juror and speaker for the show, and Adam Farcus from Hood College did a fantastic job of putting it all together. I really loved the art from the rest of the artists, so it was great experience!

I also finally installed in a new, stable mailbox for #TakeASketchLeaveASketch at Leakin Park at Gwynns Falls Trail. People have been leaving sketches, too! Check my page to see the updates on that.

Another highlight of the summer was visiting my home state Colorado. We went at the end of August before the big rains hit. The flooding is mind-blowing, by the way. For those not familiar with the Colorado climate, it is generally dry throughout the state, even desert-like in many areas. Heavy rainfall is not common at all, and I literally cannot believe my eyes seeing how much water landed over the state. I think this article does a good job explaining how unusual this type of weather is.

Anyway, while we we visiting, some attractions like the Royal Gorge were closed due to wildfires since there has been a severe drought until just recently. But,we did get to see many other areas of the state that are quite beautiful. I particularly enjoyed going to Seven Falls, which has always been within minutes of where I have lived, but I had no memories of actually being there before.

Though my hometown of Colorado Springs was spared the worst of the flooding, I learned from my parents recently that many trails have been washed out by rain, and Seven Falls actually did flood. Anyway, I recommend that everyone visits Colorado, it is a beautiful state with a lot to offer, and, despite the extreme weather, most days are so nice there.

Another thing I really enjoyed this summer was participating in some flash mobs. My friend Mary is doing awesome things as a blogger and an artist (see blog here), so I decided to participate in her Human Rainbow flash mob and Sidewalk Chalk flash mob. Both were at the awesome Federal Hill Park in Baltimore.

I love Mary's projects because they're always fun, bring people together, and I get to see Mary, who is such a positive, joyful, creative leader.

Well, that's it for now. As far as news goes, I will my first solo show in Baltimore this fall at the Notre Dame of Maryland University from October 21 to November 22. I am very excited about that and am currently working on some new projects for it. Also, make sure you visit my #TakeASketchLeaveASketch page to see the latest sketches.

How was your summer?

It's July, and there is nothing too new to report about #TakeASketchLeaveASketch. I checked on the original mailbox (now birdhouse) on Sunday. It still looks about the same as it looked a week earlier, no further decay and still no eggs in the nest. I wonder if the bird still wants to go through with laying eggs there since the roof and door suffered some damage earlier. I will check on it later again later on.

The great part about doing interactive outdoor art is that you have a reason to visit the park a lot! I highly recommend Leakin Park at Gwynns Falls Trail. It is quite beautiful as you can see...

One exciting thing happened yesterday. A contact I made at work, Rachel, said she would like to take part in #TakeASketchLeaveASketch, so she and a couple co-workers did some nice sketches for me. Check out all the sketches to date on the #TakeASketchLeaveASketch page!

Thanks to Rachel and everyone who has participated so far! Don't forget to like my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter for more updates.

Unfortunately, it's taking longer than expected for me to build a new mailbox for #TakeASketchLeaveASketch, but, it is an ongoing, interactive piece, so I decided to keep it going until a new mailbox is built. For those who inquire, I've been mailing a sketch along with blank pieces of paper. After recipients take my sketch, they can leave a sketch for me by sending or tweeting their images back to me. I already had success with one friend who lives in Nebraska. Her whole family (except the youngest baby) actually drew sketches for me. Awesome!

For more details and to view the whole #TakeASketchLeaveASketch project, click here.

I wasn't sure who would be next to take interest in the project, but interestingly, I talked to a nice professional, Rachel, over the phone recently, and she said she had seen my website and wondered what #TakeASketchLeaveASketch was. I told her I'd be happy to send her a sketch as long as she sends one back.

Last night I sketched this gem and enclosed it with 4 blank papers so she can others can send their sketches back to me. We'll see if it works!

As you probably know by now, my outdoor mailbox for #TakeASketchLeaveASketch has been forcefully converted into a birdhouse (by a bird, of course). But, that doesn't mean the sketching is on hold.

My old high school friend, Bethany, who I've kept in touch with but haven't seen in years, lives far away so has not been able to visit my art in person. After seeing my updates on #TakeASketchLeaveASketch, however, she let me know that she wanted to get in on the action. #TakeASketchLeaveASketch is back on!

I sketched the above image for Bethany this evening and will be mailing it to her tomorrow. It makes me happy that my project has taken this turn. I am also enclosing some extra paper for Bethany so she and her family can sketch something to share with me. I hope they do!

Just so everyone knows, I do plan on rebuilding a more bird-proof mailbox for the Nature Art in the Park exhibition, but until then, there's nothing wrong with letting #TakeASketchLeaveASketch take some natural twists and turns.

Last week was the slightly rainy opening of Nature Art in the Park. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I am pretty new to creating nature art (art made from natural materials) and public art (art displayed in a public place). I should also say I have never made an interactive piece before, but came up with the idea to build a nature inspired interactive mailbox. I built the box from found branches and bark, filled it with handmade recycled paper, left instructions for visitors take a sketch and leave a sketch, and encouraged them to tweet their sketches using the hashtag #TakeASketchLeaveASketch. I planned to upload all the Twitter photos to a page on my website over the course of the Nature Art in the Park exhibition. After much hard work, I completed the piece, installed it, and hoped for the best.

Because of the weather, not that many people visited my piece at the opening, but I did meet one person who sketched the following and put it into the mailbox. I was happy that the project was underway.

The weather continued to be quite rainy throughout the week, and there hadn't been any tweets after the first sketch, so I decided to check on my piece yesterday. I was surprised at what I found:

There was a bird's nest inside! To be fair, I modeled this piece after different birdhouses I looked at, but I didn't think a bird would take it so seriously. I called the organizer of Nature Art in the Park, and she suggested I rename this piece, put a "do not disturb" sign next to it, and make a new, more secure box to carry out my original idea. That sounded good to me, because if I took the bird's nest out, I am pretty sure another one would come around and use it later.

So, for now, #TakeASketchLeaveASketch has been temporarily derailed, but hopefully in a week or two I will have the second version finished and ready for action. If you would like to see (but not touch) this original #TakeASketchLeaveASketch art piece, find it on Trail D at Leakin Park.

Also, let me know if you would like me to make you a birdhouse.