The Toronto Artist Project show is now about 10 days behind us. Well, I have now been able to get a little rest, so I wanted to share some experiences and feelings from the show.

Getting ready for the show requires a lot of activity (work that is both logistical and physical) and I am not hiding that it can be pretty exhausting getting ready for the show, specially the last two to three weeks leading to the event and the day of booth setup were really intense and I felt tired. This was my second time attending the same show (2018 was my first year), so this time around I did have a bit more experience in what to expect and how to set things up. Yet, it was still a lot of work. But once the show starts, despite long days of standing and little rest, I find that the experience of meeting and talking with people is just amazing. In fact, that is the best part of the show. Once the both is setup (and things look good) and the show starts, all I have to do is just be there, be myself, talk with people about the things I love, and hear from them the things they love or dream about. It's the fun and easy part of the show.

Thanks to everyone who visited and stopped by and chatted with me! And thanks to those who took pieces home!

I love all the conversations and being able to connect with people. Buyers telling me where the art will hang in their home and why they picked it, what the art will help them feel in their space is really amazing. I love seeing them excited as they take it home to transform a part of their home. I am grateful to hear the wonderful feedback about my work, and the feelings I am told my art evokes in others. The general feedback was that people feel happy and peaceful around my art. I was often told that my paintings have lot of energy and color, but yet also some calmness. I'm truly grateful and so inspired to create so much more! I'm already dreaming up a lot of ideas for new works I want to create this year.

Being surrounded by other artists, seeing all their art, and talking to them is the other thing I love about the show.

I am fascinated by the amount of creativity and variety everyone is brining into the art scene. Sometimes I wonder what makes us painters create all these different styles or themes, when all we use are similar paints and tools. Yet everyone has a different way of thinking, feeling, and how they use their hands - and the results are so unique.

I made sure that I had some time to walk through the entire exhibition before the show officially started to admire all the artwork. I grabbed a coffee, put on my sneakers, and walked the aisles for about 2 hours. It's this quiet time, when booths are mostly all setup but not many are really around as everyone typically arrives shortly before the show starts. I realized again how happy I am around art (I'm not talking about my own art but all the other art). And I remembered how years ago (year before I started painting) I would always get butterflies when walking by or into an art gallery. There was something that would make me so excited, and somewhere inside I had a sense that painting was going be in my life sometime in the future. It's interesting, my happiness when I am surrounded by others' artwork has not faded now that I am also painting regularly - in fact my excitement has grown even more. I love seeing art. I feel so inspired and happy like a kid.

I want to thank all the artists in the world for creating what they love and for sharing it with all of us to see. You all make the world so much more beautiful, colorful, and full of hope.

Cheers to the love of art :)))