The area at the corner of Sheridan and Main has turned into a hot spot of some really cool shops and things to do. There’s Ribbon Records, Urban Artifacts, Broken Tree Coffee, Lit. On Fire Used Books and The Costume Trunk, just to name a few. And right next to the Costume Trunk is a really original and fun place of business called, The Art Garage. The Art Garage is not only a local art gallery with art by local artists hanging on the walls to look at and purchase, there’s also a featured monthly artist and you can drop in and create your own art there! I went and did the Drop-In Art back in February of 2014 and I just realized that’s been over two years ago! I’d say it’s time for a return visit to create another piece of art at the Art Garage! To the MBIP Mobile!
And we’re off cruising down Main Street to...
The Art Garage! I love the signage and store front here! There’s lots to look at and do even before you enter the art studio...
The front windows have art in them to look at and information about the different things and events going on in here including art classes, art parties, workshops and of course a gallery featuring local artists and a featured artist of the month. One thing that I’ve never seen out here is chalk where you can create your own art or message on the sidewalk and so I had to add the mark of MBIP to the sidewalk out here!
Okay, let’s go inside and see what’s up in here today. As I walked in I saw a familiar face behind the counter and that’s the owner of the Art Garage, Jessica Ball! Jessica’s not only the gallery owner, she’s also an artist and you can check out some of her fantastic artwork right here and here. Great to see her again!
Here’s some of the local artwork on the walls here in the Art Garage, I love looking at all the different pieces of art...and maybe I’m being paranoid here, but I think that last painting is staring at me!
The Artist of the Month for May was Kelly Rowden. This show was local portraiture art and it was a collaboration between Kelly and Nicholas Dodd Photography. Kelly painted her interpretations of Nicholas’ portrait photos and it’s really cool to see both the photos and then Kelly’s painted interpretation of them! You can read more about Kelly and see more of her art at her website: The Raven and the Crow.
Okay, it was nice to look at all the art in here, but now it’s time to make our very own Drop-In Art!
And here’s the crew to help us out with our painting, from left: Jessica, Jessica (you don’t have to be named Jessica to work here, but it doesn’t hurt!) and Jessica’s daughter, Olivia, holding out a brush for us to use! And check out the guitar painting below, that was done by Olivia who looks like she inherited her mom’s art talent!
This mother and daughter were first up and here’s Jessica and crew getting them all set up and then...
It’s my turn! Every week there’s a special piece of art that you can paint and there’s artwork to use for reference and for this week it was a desert cactus scene. You can also choose other references to use, but I wanted to do the cactus scene and so Jessica set me up with paint and gave me some tips for doing this acrylic painting including which brushes to use and that you should paint the background first and then work your way out of that. Okay, I’ve got my reference art and my place to sit and paint and here we go...
Check it out, I’m quickly painting my masterpiece! This is really fun to do and if you have children, I would think this would really be a fun thing to do with them in the summer when school is out and you’re looking for fun activities to fill the daytime. Okay, I think I’ll take a little break...
And see how the mother daughter team are doing over there across the room. Wow, she’s doing a fantastic job and I’m inspired to...
Go and put the finishing touches on my Drop-In Painting!
Here’s Jessica and Olivia drying off our paintings...
And here I am proudly holding mine! So what do you think?
Ah, everybody’s a critic these days! Even foxes! Well, I’ll just ignore him, I’m happy with my cactus painting!
Here it is proudly on display in the MBIP World Headquarters!
Jessica made a fun collage from the day and sent it to me! Thanks to Jessica, Jessica and Olivia for a really fun Drop-In Art day at The Art Garage! I had a blast!
This Friday The Art Garage closes at 4PM to get ready for their First Friday celebration that begins at 5PM and goes until 9PM! Lowell Levene-Sims is the Artist of the Month for June and he'll be there for the First Friday celebration, so stop by and check it out! Other events and happenings this summer include: Kids Summer Art Camp, Date Night and Ladies Night, Toddler Time, Artist Workshops and Private Paint Parties!
The Art Garage
Hours: Wednesday 3-7pm; Friday and Saturday 1-5pm
712 W. Main Street
Peoria
309-231-2511
facecrack page
Related Posts: Making Art At The Art Garage, First Friday On A Sunday Morning and The Twelve Shops of Christmas, Part Two.
Someday everything is gonna sound like a rhapsody,
When I paint my masterpiece...
Surprise link...click on it, I dare you!
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Bonus Photos From The Grand Opening Of The Chef & The Baker!
Last week we attended a private open house for the new location of The Chef & The Baker and yesterday was the Grand Opening, so I stopped by for lunch, check out the photos below!
Here we are at the new location of the Chef & The Baker at 106 E. McClure Avenue, just off of Knoxville.
After I took that picture, I saw a familiar face, it’s Annie (Hennessey) Mayo! Yet another Hennessey makes the MBIP blog! Annie’s the daughter of Phil and Dede and it was great to see her again and catch up on some Hennessey news and updates! I followed her inside, check out the ribbon on the door that was cut earlier in the morning for the Grand Opening festivities! There’s Annie giving her order to Ian and Karen’s taking my order. And check out the Chef & The Baker cookies they were giving out, very cool!
As I noted in the post from last Thursday, there’s a full dining room here and it’s filled up today! And check out the wall art, it’s just about complete. Back in the kitchen they’re churning out the orders and mine’s up! The dining room was full, so I decided to eat back at MBIP World Headquarters.
And here we are, as you can see, the MBIP Kitchen collage continues to grow and let’s take a look at this box lunch! I got the Havana sandwich, an order of pasta salad and of course I had to get a cupcake too! The pasta salad was really delicious, it’s got ham and peppers in it and it’s so tasty and a great warm up to the Havana sandwich! This sandwich has pulled pork piled up on top of shaved black forest ham with crisp house made pickles accompanied by a spicy dijon mustard and gourmet swiss cheese on a fresh-baked hoagie roll. It is so good and the combination of all these flavors work so well together and the different tastes and flavors that pop out on to your taste buds as you eat it is so satisfying and wonderfully delicious! And for dessert I had Karen pick me out a cupcake and this is an iced cherry flavored cupcake and it literally melts in your mouth in such a sweet way! Stop by and check out the great new location and great foods and delicious baked goods at The Chef & The Baker soon, you’ll be so happy you did!