Zinnia!

There is a favorite local craft store and gallery named Zinnia, "A space for contagious creativity".   http://www.zinnia.biz,  http://zinnia4crafts.blogspot.com
It's by far the most fun store to visit and shop at in South Pasadena.  Its owner is wonderful and creative, and she has artistic, amazing employees who contribute so much.  I've taken a couple of inspiring, crafty, classes there.  They also have a store cat named Alley!  I had been planning to do a blog post about this terrific store.  I mentioned it in my post "The 350 Project".  Today I received an email from Zinnia announcing that they are moving to a different location which isn't such happy news to me.  I hope their new location will not be too far away.  Well, what an opportune day to finally get to that blog post!

Zinnia is a special store because they also have a small gallery space where they've hosted some really wonderful and popular shows.  I've participated in each one since I wanted to support them all I could.  I'll post the pieces I've painted for their shows here.  All are ACEOs or ATCs which are always 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and can be in any medium.  These shows were when I was illustrating commercial greeting cards so I tried to have fun with my pieces for Zinnia.

The first show was in 2008, The Bee Cause: a Group Show Dedicated to the Honey Bee.  It was a benefit to bring attention to the honey bee crisis and Colony Collapse Disorder.  I donated my piece and it sold so I was happy!

 Their next show, in 2009, was the Tattered and Tangled Garden Party.  The opening was in conjunction with South Pasadena's Art Walk.  So much fun to stop by.

Zinnia's 2010 show was The Kitchen Show, anything kitchen inspired, whatever that meant to us artists.  There were fun pieces made from kitchen utensils, cups and plates, and artwork featuring food.

The Cirque de Bizarre show in 2010 was Zinnia's most ambitious show, meant to coincide with Halloween.  The opening was on Art Walk night again and what a great turnout they had - artists, art lovers and friends.  I'm going to miss Zinnia and hope they will relocate soon!