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A couple of weeks later…

Daisy walked out of the small kitchen in her studio and smiled brightly — a real, true smile, like she hadn’t smiled in a long, long time.

Her eyes briefly lit on every single lovingly thought out detail of the room as she walked into the living room to set down a dessert tray laid out on an over sized-cutting board.

It had a large ornate yellow daisy in the middle of it made from ivory colored vanilla, deep brown chocolate and minty green butter cream frosting.

Arranged around the daisy were several varieties of cookies, brownies, shortbread, and pretzels for dipping in the frosting.

Colored candy-covered chocolates and edible candy pearls and nuts accented the display and whatever sweet treat you chose to sweep through the frosting could then be dipped in the smaller pieces of candy and nuts to add to your fancy dipped dessert.

On the opposite end of the table were several stacks of plastic cups that had been emblazoned with a caricature of a bunch of daisies and the studio’s phone number.

There was an ice chest filled with ice sitting on the floor next to the table and multiple choices of soft drinks and jugs of iced tea and lemonade to choose from to fill your cup which also doubled as a thank you gift for dropping by the grand-opening.

On the table across the room sat a similar chopping block, this one equally as artistic, but a charcuterie board, in the shape of an artist’s palette with an array of cheeses and meats making up the colors of the palette and several different choices of crackers and condiments accenting the artistic presentation of the food.

In every room of the art studio, there were similar chopping boards and trays offering vegetables and dips, finger sandwiches, and even one with butter spread decoratively across a cutting board with slices of different types of breads stuck down into the butter.

Sprinkles of certain herbs were also laid across certain swatches of butter for added flavor.

Daisy had spared no expense. She couldn’t wait for visitors to snack on everything she’d provided as they explored the rooms created with others like Daisy herself in mind — those who loved art in all its forms.

The main room of the small blue building turned art studio had had new windows installed to provide plenty of bright, natural light from both the East and the West. The walls were lined with antique book shelves now retrofitted with dedicated spaces to hold paints, and charcoals, pastels and pencils for sketching, paint brushes, spatulas and blades for cutting in oil paints and any kind of tool imaginable for the up and coming and well established artist. Artists’ palettes were stacked in an orderly fashion on the shelves along with aprons and hand towels.

Canvases stood lined against an adjacent wall in what was once a bicycle rack, organized by size, waiting for an artist to choose them to be the platform of their next masterpiece.

Several easels stood here and there displaying some of Daisy’s works as evidence of her talent and ability to instruct those who might want to attend the art lessons she was offering.

And yet more easels leaned quietly in another corner, waiting quietly for the gifted hands that would choose them to hold steady their own works.

In the next room were four pottery wheels and accompanying benches, along with storage for clay and the tools necessary to create the perfect piece of pottery.

Out back, a safe distance from the art studio, was a fire-safe building with two kilns to fire the completed pieces.

Another room held small, colorful kid-sized furniture with buckets of crayons and stacks of finger paints, and watercolors, and fat pencils easy for little hands to hold.

There were boxes of modeling clay, and mats on the floor that could be taken outside and hosed off, and aprons to protect little kids’ clothes while they let their creative side soar without inhibition or worrying about making a mess.

The last room held an array of art supplies most might not consider art.

There were skeins of yarns and strings in every color, type and size imaginable, and knitting needles and crochet hooks to use with it.

There were pails of smooth uniquely-shaped rocks and stones that could be painted and taken home as a souvenir or gift for someone else.

There were fabrics and cotton balls of all shapes and sizes, felts, and rhinestones, lengths of corded satin, strips of leather, and anything one could wish for to complete any kind of art project they might have in mind.

There were even a variety of wires and plain frames that could be enhanced with any of the other items offered to make a unique frame or decoration for anything you might have in mind.

In addition to the rooms dedicated to art, there was a kitchen, a bathroom, and a private office for Daisy to be able to keep up with all the administrative duties that came with running one’s own business.

In that office, she had a desk, chair, and filing cabinets, but also she’d included a futon rather than a sofa, in case she ever decided to spend the night here.

But that wasn’t all her new studio featured.

While the building itself had not only been renovated with new rooms being added, each room had been enlarged and had picture windows just like the front room added for excellent natural light throughout the studio.

And outside two more buildings had been added in addition to the kiln.

The first was for stone and wood sculpture and was outfitted with all the tools and raw materials necessary.

There were even four separate daises for students to rest their work on while it was being created.

The next building had been designed by Everly and dedicated to the kind of art she excelled at.

Also considered sculpting, it was a very unique form of the art.

It was done with metal, a cutting torch, and a welding machine.

She’d excitedly offered to come in whenever someone was interested and give classes and instruction on what she knew and did so well.

She’d even donated a couple of her pieces to the building so that anyone who wanted to know more about it could see what some of the technique’s results looked like.

To understand the overall layout of the place…

If you were standing in front of the main building with your back to the two-lane highway, to the far left of the building was a smooth cement surface that had intentionally been left for anyone who wanted to go outside to paint to have level ground to set up their easel.

There were a couple of round wrought iron tables and matching chairs that had been painted white and scattered about for anyone who wanted to sit and observe, or have a snack outside.

A small parking lot had been established to the far right to keep vehicles away from the outside of the buildings and the spaces set up for the artists who preferred to work outside.

In the middle of these, sat the main studio, the one Daisy was happily laying out platters of food for anyone who might come to her grand-opening.

The main studio itself was still blue, a rather pleasant and soothing sky blue.

Somehow Daisy had managed to give the indication that the upper parts of the exterior walls always had sunlight shining down on them from above, with a sense of a glowing hue worked into the blue near the roof.

A forest of human-sized flowers had been painted on the exterior walls, and within that forest of flowers were hidden little cartoon ladybugs, bumblebees and butterflies.

Bunnies hid beneath the leaves of the flowers, and a friendly bear in a bright pink tutu stood on tiptoe with a paintbrush in her hand to add a splash of bright yellow to the center of a daisy she was putting the finishing touches on.

A front porch had been added and now held a couple of benches and a glider rocker.

The porch was painted blue as well, but its columns had been painted to look like tree trunks with its roof painted to resemble tree branches filled with green leaves.

The three outer buildings that made up the kiln and the two sculpting facilities were situated behind the main studio, spread far enough apart to not interfere with one another if all were in use at the same time.

A large inviting sign painted as brightly as the studio itself, had been installed a couple feet from the roadside that proclaimed the place, ‘Daisy’s Escape — Arts for All Ages’. Beneath that in smaller letters her sign stated, ‘Classes and spaces for beginners to experts’.

Brandt was the first of the clan to arrive for her grand-opening. He strode right up to her and kissed her on the cheek. “You need me to do anything?”

“No, thanks. I think I’ve got it all covered. Where’s Tempest?”

“She’s outside searching for all the little critters you hid in the flowers painted on the building.”

“Oh, my Gods!” Tempest exclaimed coming through the front door as Brandt hurried to her side to steady her as she stepped up and over the threshold.

“I love this place! I’m not the least bit creative and I can’t wait to make something!

And all the little bugs and animals you put in with the flowers you painted.And how the heck did you manage to make the top of the outside walls look like there’s sun shining on them?

The blue isn’t lighter there, but it looks like it’s got light shining on it!

I love it! I want it painted on the nursery walls for the baby! ”

“We can do that!” Daisy said happily. “But I know you’re creative. Don’t even try to tell me you’re not.”

“Not like you. You truly have a gift.”

“Thank you, Tempest. That means a lot to me.”