AWOL

I want to share a place so magical and inviting that I even hesitate to post this. It’s the home to my creative muse and I covet it dearly. It sparkles with light and color like no other gallery I have ever been too.  And it’s driving distance from my house. All good. The gallery, AWOL, Art Without Labels is just that.

AWOL is a an art collective of artists with developmental disabilities. It is located in Petaluma, CA.  The artists work with an instructor that guides them and helps them expose their natural  gifts. Paintings, ceramics, prints, wearable art, and other mixed media artworks fill the walls and shelves of this working studio/gallery space.

The world is so fortunate to have these wonderfully, talented people that share their pure artistic vision with us. I adore these paintings, now in my own collection.

To quote Pablo Picasso, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

I finally get it. If only I could paint this freely and purely express myself, then I would know the wonder that the artists of AWOL have already mastered.