La Casa del Arte y Sueños

The title of this month’s post, which translates as “The House of Art and Dreams,” sums up the purpose of the little house shown in the photo above. The name itself suggests unusual and multiple uses for its future, and I decided to use the home’s Spanish language identifier first, because I’m intensively reviving my once near-fluent Spanish skills as an homage to my many Spanish-speaking neighbors and friends. 

For the past three years on my daily walks through Tieton, the small town where I live in Central Washington, I always slowed down when I approached the charcoal-colored house on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Washington Street. As a visual artist who never really had a real art studio with enough room to turn around without stumbling, in my private fantasies I longed for a simple and tidy studio house similar to the one with the golden ginkgo tree in front.

In my previous Seattle house, I used part of a vacated bedroom to work on smaller art pieces, and when I first relocated part-time to Tieton in 2008, I created a slightly larger studio and living space—one of 14 live/work lofts inside a repurposed 1950’s fruit processing warehouse. Both spaces were “adequate” (a euphemism!), but as time passed, I began to long for a more permanent work place that would allow my art and dreams to expand as broadly as they could. Finally, in the early spring of 2025, through the workings of almost unbelievable synchronicities that have always been part of my life, my dreams of having a real studio were fulfilled.

I now have a studio space that won’t require endless years of cleaning and remodeling. When spring arrives next year, I’ll plant my treasured heirloom morning glories around the porch entrance and install a hand-painted sign over the low front step. The sign’s message announcing the “Art and Dreams” that will unfold inside will finally fulfill a purpose I’ve carried in my mind for half a lifetime. I’m saving a special bottle of champagne to share on that day.

A Complementary Artistic Milestone

During the months and years I patiently waited for a physical studio space to materialize, I decided to shift my creative skills towards writing. The result was this Art Nun of Central Washington journal, which I launched in the autumn of 2022. 

My journal’s purpose has focused on presenting positive-spirited, “alternative views” that I and many other artists have offered as antidotes to the negativity and shallow commercialism that surround our daily lives. My choice of topics—sent to my readers on the first Saturday of each month—has included nature, art, music, poetry, science, and the often-overlooked, behind-the-scenes life stories of creative heroes from many genres whose work is meant to expand the understanding of the world’s deep-diving artistic riches.

This new, creative outlet has also been a self-directed, educational endeavor in itself, as I refined my research, writing, and presentation skills to share with others. I treasure the enthusiastic and eloquent testimonials, comments, and shared conversations I’ve had with my readers since the beginning of this journal:

Your post about your father was really touching. That’s Boy Talk for “It made me cry.”
     — PL, Seattle, Washington for My Father’s Desk, October 30, 2022

The photo for the 2022 Solstice Mini-Greeting spoke to my inner soul of winter into spring joined.
     — DS, Tel Aviv, Israel, for 2022 Solstice Mini-Greeting, December 22, 2022

Thank you so much. There are many “resonances” for me in your postings, meaningful and thought-provoking, that I really appreciate.
     — JW, Lopez Island, Washington, for My Mother's Memorabilia's Box, April 2, 2023

I can't express how much I enjoyed this most recent missive of yours! The revelations in it, the tight choreography of its meander through history and histories—a kind of Japanese woven bamboo basket intertwined in natural hues and pathways towards a sublime structure!
     — DR, Tieton, Washington, for Visionary Voices, August 10, 2023

Good, touching story, Sandra. I enjoy and appreciate the perspective of the Art Nun each month; I absorb some wisdom from every post.
     — JK, Tieton, Washington, for 2024 Winter Solstice Greeting, December 21, 2024

Beautiful work and inspiring, Sandra. Isn’t it just crazy what we have done to this planet that sustains us? Thank you for continuing to beat the drum calling for attention to the heartbeat of the planet that gives life to us all.
     — CH, Yakima, Washington, for A Contemplation of Water, June 7, 2025

Beautiful piece, my friend! And an apt message too. I myself have been dwelling upon the “act” of stillness and the challenges of making space for it. Love the poems, the imagery, and your words.
     — JB,  Fort Collins, Colorado, for High Summer Stillness, September 6, 2025

I'd like to thank the readers of my Art Nun of Central Washington journal, especially my free and paying subscribers. As I start my fourth year, I continue to greatly appreciate subscriptions at either level.

Sandra Dean, Visual Artist
Tieton, Washington USA