Creating is Making

A few weeks ago, I came up out of the subway and looked towards the park. I loved to see the magnolia trees in bloom, knowing that any day now the little spring green buds on the trees will overnight burst into a beautiful carpet in an array of textured greenery. As I walk down the block my neighbors' yards are full of Spring flowers and I am living for the day. The field of bluebells comes to life at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and I can stand in the heart of it with the warm afternoon sun on my face and feel like I am in a Van Gogh painting.

This is why Brooklyn is filled with so many artists who love living and working here. It’s a place that just inspires creating and making things. This winter I was longing for Spring and the reawakening of colors after months of white and shades of grey. I guess it's why I spend the time making my little flower top cupcake stands...

I call them cupcake stands because that is how the idea first came to me, but they would make fun candle holders or soap dishes or be where your rings and things wait for you. For me I want to be able to devour something small and delicious and then have a feast for the eyes.  So I made mini cupcakes and that way I can have more than one. The turtle frogs or frog turtles also came from nature’s inspiration. They can appear to be slowly wandering around the dinner table or basking on the rocks in a clear dish of water while holding flowers in their openings.

I 'm spending my weekends in Red Hook working inside the BWAC gallery on the Red Hook piers across from Fairway. My landscapes, inspired by a community that reminds me of a pioneer town filled with possibilities, are on exhibit there along with the work of 200 other artists.


Judith Eloise Hooper "is an artist who just likes making things". Her art is on exhibit at BWAC and her functional works at NYCreates. Judith likes to create opportunity for other aspiring artists. To this end, she chairs the Art In Clay shows at BWAC and is Executive Director of NYCreates.