Paris!

It's here.....the long awaited Paris print that I promised was next in line for the Children Around the World Series. Oh ya, remember that? I finally finished it!

So many of you have been waiting on this one....I am so sorry for how long it's taken me to get it done. Truth is, December came, and I was in the throws of making fabric deadlines. During art sessions, I'd work up drafts of this, and nothing satisfied me!

To be honest, I felt a lot of pressure....It's Paris, come on! So many people have their own experiences with this city, as do I, and I just couldn't seem to find it's essence in a way that would get across as much as possible in as little as possible.

There's the romance, the food, the sounds when you are walking through the park. There is the vintage and almost feminine charm. What about the colors? Those neutral blues of the rooftops against a pink Paris sky. Paris is sassy, but charming and old school all at the same time. I wanted Hot Air Balloons....mimes....children in the streets....accordian players....flowers....checkered table clothes....painted sidewalks.....How to say it all?

Well, I couldn't say it all...nor did I want to. Instead, I focussed on a feeling that most people have while they are there....and I can't really put it into words (thus my art) but it has something to do with a romantic feeling that you can do anything. You can go anywhere, love any way you want to and live by your senses. You know that feeling when you are walking through Paris at dusk, and there is that gentle breeze through the streets that makes you just want to keep on walking forever? Notice every flower in the window? Every different kind of lamppost?

But somehow, in the details of this amazing city, you are compelled to pay more attention to what's right in front of you...most often a best friend, a lover, a soul mate. It truly is the city of love. I am sure many of you can say that Paris made a lover out of you. It did for me! And my first time was before I even had a ring on my finger.

But with that romantic notion, comes the thought that Paris is a marvelous place, of course. But unlike most places in the world, Paris is also an idea. A really good idea. There is something that we've all captured for ourselves in the "idea" of Paris, and so...to capture the fact that for most of us, Paris a really special memory (or place we hope to have memories of some day) I've made this print on the cover of an Airmail Envelope...kinda like a postcard ....which is the way most of us know Paris. A snapshot, if you will. For those of us who don't live in France, I think we can all say with Audrey Hepburn: "Paris is always a good idea."