Continuing my declarations of art love for the month of February....the new Somerset Studio arrived yesterday so I thought I would talk about matchboxes, the subject of my Make It Your Own column. I started using matchboxes a few years back when I was interested in making mini shrines. I love that they are on standby, ready to assist me in projects, in a bin on my studio table. And when they are pre-painted it's even better. Recently I started embedding them into canvas surfaces. I had so much fun doing it - the possibilites are endless with what you can put in them, how to compose your piece, and I thought it would make a great class so I'm teaching RECESS at Art Is You, Stamford, CT in October. Get it? The boxes are recessed, plus taking a workshop is like getting to play at recess. I crack myself up! So here are some of the pieces that appear in the article.