2 Blue Hens Art Room
Please share backstory and vision of your business 2 Blue Hens:
Liz: When I was 23, I fell in love with a process arts studio in Cambridge, MA where I was living
at the time; it became a dream of mine to one day open my own studio. That dream was tucked
far away as I first taught in the public schools in Boston, then moved to Ridgefield only months
before the pandemic began. In March of 2022, Rosie and I connected and our creative brains
went into overdrive with ideas to open a sensory play and process arts studio here in town. It’s
so incredibly surreal that in just six months, those ideas became an actual space where children
and families come to create seven days a week.
ROSIE: I live my life very much in the moment. When covid struck in Virginia I watched children’s
activities, schools and services put on hold, then transition to virtual and I wanted to create something for
children in our town to safely socialize in person, outdoors, creatively. I would pack my trunk and haul
several art stations laid out on large tarps to our local park every weekend. I got really strong at lifting 30lb
rice bins in and out of my trunk which was a win win because gyms were still closed! Parents and their
little artists were Instantly hooked, and when 2 years later we moved to Ridgefield it was an immediate hit
with this amazing community. Parents quickly valued the joy of seeing their kids making a mess, not in
their homes. When Liz and I met and she shared her vision for opening a children’s art studio, we realized
we could fuse the sensory play with the process art in a pretty incredible way and so the vision grew to
create the most creative sensory art studio we could ever imagine.
How do you come up with creative ideas for your art projects and parties?
Liz: So many different ways. Sometimes they flow easily and sometimes I need to wander, kid
free, around Michaels or a dollar store to get inspired; sometimes the best ideas come in the
25th hour. Rosie and I have an ever growing Pinterest page full of ideas and often bounce
ideas off of one another.
ROSIE: I love looking at children’s books for inspiration, Oliver Jeffers, Peter Brown, Mo Willems, Julia
Donaldson are a few favorites whom I read often to my kids and each time I open one of their books I get
a new wave of ideas.
Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in town?
Liz: I grew up in Syosset, Long Island and lived a long post college stint in the Boston area
before settling in Ridgefield with my husband and three kids in the fall of 2019. We were just
settling in as our lives were derailed personally and due to the pandemic; its been a
nontraditional few years for sure, but Ridgefield couldn’t feel more like home.
ROSIE: Born in Bath, England, raised in a small beach town south of Boston, 4 years in Delaware for my
undergrad, 9 years hopping around apartments each smaller and more charming than the next in the East
Village and finally Brooklyn before moving to Virginia for 4 years, one last move and we’ve been in
Ridgefield for 1 year where we plan to set our roots because it’s the best town in the country 🙂
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
Liz: I’m a pretty shy homebody. I have learned how to schmooz and chat over the years but few
things make me more uncomfortable than having all eyes on me in large groups!
ROSIE: My husband bought me a chainsaw for my birthday and I’ve been known to take trees down
during nap times.
Favorite things to do in your free time:
Liz: What’s free time? I find there are pockets of free time tucked into the busy days, when I like
to take a walk, catch up with friends near and far, or read. Having 2 Blue Hens to channel my
personal energy into, has reignited the joy I find in spending free time with my own kiddos, and
there’s nothing better than that!
ROSIE: My kids are my life, watching them smile is what gives me the biggest high, so my favorite things
to do are creating magical moments for them, and give them memories to hold onto. And if those magical
moments happen to involve a sparkling rosé for me, then it’s all the better.
How has this community been instrumental in getting to where you are now?
Liz: Ridgefield has opened its arms to us wider than I could have imagined! From believing in
what we’re doing, to taking a chance and registering for a class or booking a party, to donating
materials, we wouldn’t be where we are without this community. The response has truly been
inspiring.
ROSIE: This community is everything to me. The love, the loyalty, the energy and enthusiasm is why I
want us to be the very best. I want to give this beautiful community the best damn creative outlet they
could ever imagine and then some, because they deserve it.
