The stars aligned and I was finally able to stop by Ephemera in Paducah, Kentucky to take a workshop this month.  It fit perfectly (kind of) into a road trip we decided to make for me to do a speaking engagement in Austin, Texas.  And gave me a chance to bulk up my collage fodder stash in time for a visit back to Atlanta for a collage workshop in June and a new series I have in mind.

Kristin, who is the owner of Ephemera, is someone I have known for years since I crossed paths with her professionally in her earlier incarnation as an economic developer.  She pivoted almost ten years ago to this successful life as a teacher and owner of one of the best known studios for visiting mixed media and other art teachers in the country.

Turns out, I got there just in time.  Kristin has just announced that at the end of the year she will be taking a “gap year” and Ephemera as it is today will cease operations (at least with her at the helm), so I’m glad I got there when I did.

If you don’t know, Paducah is legendary among quilters – the center of the U.S. quilting universe – and years ago reated a program to provide artists with incentives to revitalize a section of the downtown area.  It’s a riverfront city with beautiful parkland, and at this time of the  year it’s a luscious green everywhere.