More Art for @juliejulie

I'm not a big New Year's Resolution type. Big promises to myself are easily broken. I'd rather take a series of small steps to make big changes in the long run.

I used to make art, and I want to start making it again. It stirs up little threads of happy inside me, which weave their way into everything else I do.

In fact, when my kids were little, I had an art studio set up in the basement along with a potter's wheel and a small kiln. I taught kid's classes 3 days a week and hosted Thursday night wine and clay nights for moms. Joy.

I also painted dots on vintage suitcases and sold them to sophisticated ladies who had style and good taste. Julia Roberts bought the first one I made, so I got instant cred. and galleries and stores around the country took them in on consignment, and I did custom orders.

Life got busy, I gave away my wheel and kiln when we moved, I stopped dabbling in colors and textures, and jumped into words for a while. Now I have a garage full of blank suitcases that aren't sure what their purpose is. They are lonely and unadorned. It's sad for them.

I'm ready to start playing with art again. I want to explore more mixed media, so I called my friend Sondra Holtzman, a local artist who teaches and travels around in her fun, vintage trailer, which we named "Artstream" so she can take her art classes on the road.

Sondra and I are partnering up to help each other. I'll write about her Traveling Studio, and show her how to use digital media (including Twitter, where she's @ArtSondra) to push her business, and she'll teach me how to get the images that swirl around in my head onto surfaces.

Happy, happy. Joy, joy.