Art & Soul adventure

Been so busy since returning from Art & Soul Sunday night ... catching up, filling orders and making stuff for Chick's Picks https://www.chickspicksbyhillary.com/ show next week. I haven't even unpacked the vendor night leftovers from the car! I really need to do that.

Anyway, I had a great time at A&S. Friday night there was an informal art journaling session with Diana Trout (*love* her!) Saturday I took a class with Carla Sonheim. I was not familiar with her work prior to A&S, but that's the beauty of weekends like this ... you get to experience something or someone new! I adore her whimsical style.

We started the class with some very casual, no pressure drawing exercises (including a portrait of the person sitting across from us ... done with our non-dominant hand!) We then moved on to applying watercolor and gesso to small boards. We then either drew a simple line drawing or "found" an image in the gesso blobs. The whole class was very relaxing and I was very pleased with the six(!) panels I created. The bunny drawing at the top has special significance for me. Long story short, when I was about 8 years old, a teacher told me that a 2-dimensional, simple line-drawing rabbit I'd drawn did not look like a rabbit and proceeded to show me a realistic pencil drawing of a rabbit. I've never forgotten that (I've gotten past it, but never forgotten it). So the top image of a rabbit (which was "found" in a gesso paint blob) is my triumph over that nasty old teacher's comments!

Carla has a new book coming out on July 1. I ordered my copy! http://www.carlasonheim.com/ Had a great time at vendor night ... I love to see other people as excited about vintage finds as I am. I met a number of other wonderful vendors, including Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad (a true kindred spirit!) http://vintagerescue.typepad.com/ And I sat behind instructor/artist/vendor Julie Haymaker. http://juliehaymaker.blogspot.com/ A friend of mine said we were like twins! Love her work and bought one of her lovely necklaces (she says they don't photograph well ... trust me, they're beautiful in person!)

Wow, I'm wordy tonihgt. So that's the experience in a nutshell. Because I've been away two weekends in a row, I've been slow to post new finds to the shop. I apologize for the delay, but new goodies are coming next week!

Wrapping up ... & heading to Hampton!

Thought I'd wrap up my Inspired experience in one more entry because tomorrow I head out for another adventure at Art & Soul! The remaining 3 classes were "Encaustic Wax" with Suze Weinberg, the "ChaCha" necklace with Angela Bannatyne and "Inspired Circle Mosaic" with Dara Troshane (links to all the instructors can be found on the Inspired website http://www.donnadowney.com/index.php/inspired-artists-workshops)

I feel the need to confess that the the rhinestone part, the clear pendant and the long dark chains are part of the *fabulous* necklace I bought from Amy Hanna. But just look how beautifully they go together!

I'm taking just one class at Art & Soul, and then I'll be at vendor night with a wonderful array of vintage goodies. If you live in the Hampton, Virginia area, please stop by ... it's open to everyone!

Smitten with c.d.

The 3rd core class I took at Inspired was with c.d. muckosky. I admit that before the class, I was not familiar with her or her work. But I'm smitten now! In the class, she showed a number of techniques to create pages for a journal using lots of found stuff (right up my alley). We painted tags and sprayed Glimmer Mist through stencils onto paper bags and sewed papers and attached colored tape and used molding paste with plastic stencils. She also showed us how she does her very unique lettering style. If you're not familiar with c.d., I recommend hopping over to her blog http://cdmuckosky.blogspot.com/ These are a few pages I made in her class ...

Creating with Regine

The next class was creating a figurine with Regine Dossche using a material called Powertex. We began with a wire figure, wrapped it in foil then covered that with masking tape.

The next step was to dip strips of 100% cotton Tshirt in the Powertex and give our figure more depth and shape. The material was interesting to work with and dried within a few hours.

We were told to bring something to use as a base for our figure. A couple of years ago I purchased an alternator for an old Model T at a church rummage sale! I'm embarassed to admit I paid $10 for it, but it was one of those pieces that just spoke to me and I had to have it. Well, now I know why!

I call my piece "Mother's Embrace". Going into the class, I felt this was outside my comfort zone. But that's the wonderful thing about a creative weekend like this. You're forced to try new things, have a new experience and discover that this was actually quite relaxing and a lot of fun!

Inspired with Pam Garrison

Back from my weekend at Inspired and what a wonderful experience it was! The Downeys were delightful hosts. I learned new techniques, made new friends, hunted for treasures at the vendor fair and created fabulous artwork. It was such a treat to be completely immersed in artwork and surrounded by creativity for two whole days! In 48 hours, I took 6 core classes and 2 mini workshops, so I figure that on average, I finished one project every six hours! So I'd like to start sharing ...

My first class was with Pam Garrison (that's her in the photo above using her famous dip pen!) I was delighted to meet her and was thrilled to get to see her journals. I only wish I could have looked at them longer. They are even more beautiful in person! We made covers and a few interior pages for a journal. These are my covers.

An added bonus was that Amy Hanna (of "Rejuvenated Jewels" fame) was Pam's TA! So I got to meet her as well (and purchase one of her beautiful necklaces). And they both signed my journal. Yay, yay, yay! PS - Just got the proof for my article in the upcoming issue of "Art Journaling". As excited as I am, it's kinda scary seeing your thoughts in your handwriting exposed out in the open for all to read! Having a little anxiety at the moment!

Getting Inspired

Well, I'll be heading off to Donna Downey's Inspired Artist Workshop on Thursday. Looking forward to a new experience (and especially to taking a class with Pam Garrison - yay!) Will do my best to post new goodies before I go!

Also, I'm taking the store on the road the following week. We'll be at Art and Soul in Hampton, VA for Vendor Night on May 22 at the Embassy Suites. If you're in the area, please stop by!

Wish*full trunk show!

Welcome Wish*full art retreat-goers! Below is an image of the trunk show item from The Paper Flea Market. This retro office pack contains over 25 items and is priced at $20 (includes free shipping within the continental US). If you're interested in purchasing this item, please e-mail me at thepaperfleamarket@yahoo.com

Thank you!