Thursday, August 11, 2011

Unstoppable creativity

Twice weekly I get to work among artists in a rambling former church in Roseville, Calif. They are painters, potters, graphic designers, animators, sculptors, jewelers, artisans.

They fill the rooms of that place with the unstoppable flow of their creativity, their joy (one man delights in bringing the U.S. presidents back to life in portraiture) and even their concerns (one woman painted her distress at the tanking economy, and built a keepsake box in honor of Japan's earthquake victims). You can buy any of the exquisite works they create; the creations fill the shelves and walls, a gallery in constant motion.

They are the denizens of Studio 700, a division of Placer ARC, providing a wide variety of services and opportunities for Placer County adults who have developmental disabilities.

As this music video shows, the artists of Studio 700 know and show no limits. And this is just one bit of a vast reservoir of creativity committed daily at the studio.

Just take a look at work of animation artists interpreting Death Cab for Cutie's "Codes and Keys" off the band's latest album:

Teachers Andrea and Tristan explain:

"The class worked as a team to come up with their own unique interpretation of the lyrics. Then they created a storyboard of their final ideas.

"After that, it was drawing time. We made a list of everything that needed to be drawn, and the clients drew … and drew."

Artists scanned their final work into iMac™ computers, and used Adobe Illustrator™ and Photoshop™ to color them. They used Flash™ to animate the work, editing all of it in iMovie.™

Stop by the Studio, 700 Douglas Boulevard in Roseville. The artists love visitors with exquisite tastes.

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