Winter Vacation

Now that it is nearly Spring here in Missouri, I thought I might share some of my winter vacation photos. We went to Cedar Key, FL in February. I know, I know, you have never heard of it. That is because it is a little known off the beaten path destination in the north central coast on the Gulf side. You basically drive to Gainesville and then head for the coast which is about 55 miles. It is a very small lazy li'l town. Restaurants may or may not be open each day, the grocery is tiny, shopping practically non-existent (which was quite a money saver I might add ha, ha).
But the sunsets.....oh my oh my. Simply stunning. And it was like this every.single.night.

 I am infatuated with these Live Oaks. We stayed in a house on a very teeny weeny key; it was called an island, but that is kind of an exaggeration. It was incredibly beautiful though and yes, we were surrounded by water. To sit on the porch and look at these trees day after day was a complete treat.

 I had time to sketch and write and think.

Decadent and serene all at the same time.

Step by Step

I am back to painting. In a big way.

This is a 6' by 4' canvas and, as you can see, it is leaning against the wall in my studio. I thought it would be interesting to document the progress of this painting.

 I have turned the piece multiple times, so I am not sure if I photographed it from the same orientation each time.

 I am pretty sure it will be a vertical painting, but of course that might change too. You just never know.

 Purple is my new friend, just little dribs and drabs of it, I don't want to go overboard.

Still lots more to do, but this is where I left it yesterday.

Feeble is as Feeble does

My memory gets worse and worse all the time. Good grief. I have vague recollections of things, like I know I was involved at some level, but I can't remember when or how. Of course you know the Drama Queen exaggerates, but I have noticed certain, ahem, failures in memory.

This fabulous pouch for example......

bookhou.com
Pouch

Yesterday I received a package in the mail. Smartly wrapped, it contained this beautifully made pouch. It is soft linen which has been silk screened with cool designs. Fully lined, the pouch was clearly  made by a very good seamstress, not an amateur like me. It's just the sort of thing a person who calls herself StencilGirl would love. 

But I didn't order it? Or did I? Hmmmm, I searched my 'stuff I order' folder and yes, I really do have a folder with that name. Searched Paypal for money sent. Found nary a record.

But wait......I have some fuzzy memory of entering my name in a contest, perhaps an online magazine - oh my gosh, it is coming back to me, Covet Garden?? I think I might have won this, woo hoo!!!

All I know is that I reallyreally like this pouch. I believe it will travel with me because it makes me happy, being made out of two of my favorite colors with patterns I completely dig. 

Check out this website to see all the products made by bookhou. They must be pretty cool peeps and I suspect I might like them. I do know I like their stuff, that is for sure and no, they didn't ask me to write this, I just wanted to.

In the meantime, I gotta ask.......is anyone else out there losing their memory????

Home Again

So I snuck out of town for about 10 days. You didn't even realize I was gone, did you? Hmmmm, I tried to plan it that way, what with all these thievin' peeps on the Internet. You don't want to reveal too much, huh?

Geez I am so not wired that way.

Anyhoo, here is a photo show of my trip:

The drive. I participated very little in the actual driving part. I really don't like to drive very much. In fact, if I won the lottery, I think I would hire a chauffeur, that is how little I really like to drive. Whenever possible, I sat in the backseat with my friend Julie and we watched videos while the men handled the actual navigation and driving part.

Sketches. I was playing with some watercolor pencils and doing quick sketches. It felt really good to allow my drawing muscles to come out. They are feeble at best, but it was fun. And it reminded me of how much I really need to draw. Julie and I set up a quasi-studio in our rental house and we made some arty things each day while the men solved all the world's problems. They also cooked for us, how lucky are we, huh??

Patterns. You know how I love patterns. This was a light at the hotel on the way home. I think I see a stencil in my future.

Pelicans, they were everywhere. Such amazing birds, I caught this one on my iPhone believe it or not. 

Yes, we were in Florida. No, it wasn't warm. Maybe 2-3 days of warm weather, but I had to buy more clothing at the consignment shop, that is how cold it was. Luckily the sun was shining. And we did have a lot of fun.

Book Contest - Yay for Jenny Doh/Contest closed-we have a winner!

This contest is closed, our winner is.......AMY.......as selected by random number chosen by my grandson Aidan. After much discussion with his brother regarding potential selection methodology. 
Feel free to read the story anyway though.....
I have told this story before, so feel free to skip ahead if you are bored.....

Anyhoo, many moons ago, I was invited to teach at Squam. It was a big honor for me, I hadn't taught at very many places back then and I knew hardly anyone. I traveled to New Hampshire by myself, yep, I drove there, in some crazy need to manage my supplies by hand (ie, not shipping them). I arrived to find a fabulous setting where it seemed like lots of the people already knew one another. Naturally I knew not one soul. I felt like a kid dropped off at camp. Ahem. That's just me being a baby in case you are wondering.

I went to my cabin, found my assigned room/bed and unpacked my things. I was pondering my next move, hmmmm, what to do, where to go, how will I fit in here.....I walked out of my room, still slightly dazed and smacked (uh, yeah, pretty much literally) into Jenny Doh. Like some sort of starstruck teenage, I said, uh, hi! You're Jenny Doh. As if she might not have realized that. 

And so we met. And kinda hung out a little bit, went to dinner, walked to the after dinner gig where she was giving a Keynote speech, attended the Jonatha Brooke bonfire event. Oh my was I ever smitten. Cause Jenny is so Smart. Adorable. Talented. Genius......well, you already know those things. What you might not know is that she is also very genuine. Authentic. Compassionate. Real. Kind. 

When she asked me to participate in her book, it was a no brainer. 

The book, Creative Pilgrimage, is out now and I got my copy a few weeks ago. 

WowWowWow, this is really a nice book. If I hadn't been given a copy I would buy this book. Seriously. There are wonderful pictures and great stories about a number of retreats (pilgrimages) that have become near and dear to my heart - Squam, Valley Ridge (only 2 spots left in my class, this being a quick salespitch digression), and of course Artfest, the place where it all began for me.  I knew all this would be in the book. What I didn't realize is there would be such cool projects. 

I mean these projects really rock. Artists such as Tracie Lyn Huskamp (soon to be a designer with StencilGirl, her stencils being cut literally as we speak!), Carla Sonheim, Alisa Burke, Flora Bowley and more. 

Jenny has graciously offered to give away a copy of the book!! 

So, here's what you need to do to enter.......just leave me a quick comment about the idea of Creative Pilgrimage - if you've been to a retreat, tell me where and how it affected you. If not, let me know where you reallyreallyreally wanna go and why. 

I will have my grandkids make the drawing on Wednesday night at 6pm CST.

And Pssssstttt........pass it on......just click a link below to Tweet, Facebook or what have you. If we get a lot of entries, I will throw in a copy of my book too!! How's that for fun!

What an Honor!!

Saturday night (week before last) was Art Feast - the event where we made the chairs....anyhow, it was my extreme privilege to be honored as the Visionary Artist of the year by Chesterfield Arts. Wow. My hubby managed to snap a couple photos, including one of me with my hand blown glass sculpture, wowza. What an amazing honor.

Well Lookee here......

I so love it when people use my stencils and then tell me about it. I mean seriously, could there be a better endorsement from my products? Anyway, take a look at what Deb (Stamp Dancer) has done! Isn't this great?!?!?

Grounds for Sculpture

Last year John and I were very privileged to have a private tour of J. Seward Johnson's Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey.
It is an absolutely magical spot and I would strongly recommend a visit if you are in the area. I was lucky enough to meet Seward when he was in Chesterfield to celebrate the installation of his Awakening sculpture. He is a delightful man with a wry sense of humor and that is evident all throughout the sculpture grounds.

When reviewing recent photos, I found this one that John took of me in Seward's"bedroom." I don't know if he actually sleeps there or not, but I would like to believe that he does. It makes me smile.

Have a Seat

The chairs are done. Whew, I finished them just in time to fly out to the CHA show in Anaheim. I will write about that later, but I wanted you to see the chair pictures. They will serve as some of the centerpieces at ArtFeast this coming Saturday night, where they will also be auctioned off.

The chairs were made with a swimming noodle and carvable foam. I layered Rigid Wrap on top, then coated with Wood Icing. After sanding the surface smooth, I collaged and/or painted the chair. They were really a lot of fun to make.

 Did you notice the book that the bear is reading? Tee, hee, hee......

New Classes, busy, busy

I've been busy finalizing my classes for the year. Samples are due for Art Is.....East Coast and West Coast. I have developed new (never before taught) classes and I am rather excited about them. Here is a sneak preview.

I am really diggin' these pieces. The texture is interesting to me and I was having a lot of fun with the very limited palette and scraping, oh how I love to scrape.
I think I want to take these B-I-G......keep playing and see how big I can go.....

Of magic and hummingbirds

 I first met Jess at Squam a few years ago when she took one of my classes. She is a sweet and gentle soul. We caught up last year at Encausticamp when I was awestruck to watch her capture (and then release) a hummingbird which had flown into a classroom and was completely freaked out. What a magical moment.

I adore this picture and was thrilled to capture it on my phone (!!).

So Jess started this website called Seek Your Course. It is a genius concept whereby she has instructors and classes listed so that students can find courses that match up with their interests. There are individual classes and retreats and the site is growing all the time. Way cool, she is oh-so-smart.
More magic when I saw this review of my book. Oh my sweetness!!! I had no idea this was happening. What a lovely treat!
And I had totally forgotten about this interview I did quite a long time ago. Fun to see these things crop up.
It is Friday. I have had one of those weeks where I feel as though I have accomplishing nothing. Ugh, I hate it when that happens but I am trying to put a better face on it, focusing instead on all the amazing STARTS that I now have in place. Ahem, am I just deluding myself?? Do you guys do that too? Sometimes I wonder if I am just the Queen of Rationalization.
I could use some magic moments right about now so that I can pull it all together.....

Pull up a chair and stay awhile

And what is she doing now, you might ask?

Well, as I said, pull up a chair......

Remember last year it was all about hats. And in 2009, they were heads.  (wow I look young back then, geez.....).

Anyway, it's the time of year when Chesterfield Arts prepares for the annual ArtFeast fundraiser. I like to help with the decorations because it makes me crawl out of my box and stretch my artistic muscles.

And with Chairs as the theme, well how could I resist!! 

Shown is one batch of the Rigid-wrapped chairs awaiting decoration by artists - there are 50 total. We have another Papier-mâché party today. Last week I drank wine through a straw 'cause my hands were so yuck I could never have managed a glass. How pitiful. But, in defense of my own behavior, we had been working for hours and hours and were just slightly slap happy.

The chairs will serve as centerpieces at the ArtFeast event and will then be auctioned off. I have committed (or I should be committed, I can't remember) to decorate 4 of them. I am apparently planning some sort of timewarp experience as I don't know when I thought I would do all this. Ahem. You have heard this before, haven't you, my dear readers?

Somebody slap me in the head already.

And guess what? Art Unraveled is officially OPEN tomorrow.

Master Class

Seth Apter's Master Class is up and you can find my comments over there along with others......I enjoy these features so much. Thank you, Seth for your genius in doing this. I so appreciate your time in organizing and sharing with others!! 

http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/

 

Saturday means Valley Ridge

Valley Ridge registration starts this Saturday.

I am really rocked about my collaborative class, which opens the 'season' at VR. My studio partner, Julie Snidle and I will be teaching together and it is all about wax. We will start out by making Batik papers, which is something I love to do. And truly, I could probably spend the entire 3 days doing nothing but that, I like it so much. But wait, there's more! Then we move into encaustic paintings and spend a day with that. The third day we step it up one more notch by adding mixed media to our encaustic paintings. Three whole days of waxy wonder. Ah, life is good.

Julie and I really dig the idea of introducing encaustic painting to people. It's hard to 'get' on your own. I tried learning from books and even an online site, but this is one medium where it really really makes a difference to work together. In person. And the intimacy of Valley Ridge is perfect!  

 Just to be clear, you will still get tons from the class if you already know about encaustics. I mean we have soooo many tricks up our sleeves......I just can't wait!

One of the best parts of this workshop is the non-schlep factor. We are bringing nearly everything you need. All sorts of incredible supplies so you can learn and play and decide which parts of the process you like best before you invest in all the stuff. I think you know what I mean about that, huh.
Anyway, I hope you come join us. This one is going to be special.

Playing

 Mixed media on watercolor paper. These are painted with a palette knife which didn't work as well as I hoped on the paper. Then I collaged things onto them - parts - some cut out of my palette paper plates, some are Citrasolve papers. I was mainly having fun with shape.  I think that bottom one, with I am calling "Point Taken" may actually go another direction? But I think it maybe works this way too.

Gifts from me to me

Uh yeah, I guess I bought myself even more than I mentioned here.
I was at Artmart last week, that is our local art store extraordinaire. They have great buyers who stock the place with all the goodies you want. I mean seriously.
Anyhoo, they had this metallic set of encaustic paints from R+F.  This is the set.  I really wanted it, oh did I ever, swoon....... Lucky for me I had a 40% coupon burning a hole in my pocket so poof! They are mine.

I have been playing with encaustics a lot recently. I found that if you use a certain white (sadly, I don't know which one cause the label is missing from mine) plus a metallic, you can get these totally wild effects. I like heating the encaustic paint until it is molten, where it is kind of swimming on the substrate. I love to watch the colors move in and out of each other. There is a certain point where they repel one another, the colors do, and it is just magic. I could watch this all day long. Way cool.

And another thing I got were earrings. For many years I have had double piercings in both ears. I usually wear pearls that John gave me in the top hole, but I wanted another pair, more simple. I found them on this site. I wanted really small and delicate studs. Grace makes them, you can see a few more pairs here.

Art Unraveled, woo hoo!!!

Yay, I get to teach at Art Unraveled again!!! All of the retreats have their own personality and, for me, this one is about community, friendship, hanging out and making art together. It is held at an Embassy Suite, so the accommodations are quite nice. Free breakfast and free happy hour (uh, yeah, I admit I have called happy hour 'dinner') set up opportunities to meet people and that is when much of the 'hanging out' takes place.

  

I find there more interaction between teachers and students at AU - probably because it is so comfy to lounge around in the lobby/bar/pool area. Personally, I like that a lot and it is one of the reasons I enjoy teaching at AU - Linda is also incredibly detail minded and this operation runs like a well oiled clock. As for the ART? Well you have got to see the classes.....ooh, la, la, nice lineup this year, the 10th anniversary! 

So, go check it out. And I hope to see you there!!

pssssst, there is a discount for early registration, pass it on........

'twas the Day before Christmas, when all through the house.....

Of Peacocks and cupcakes - stencils, oh my!!!

I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes holiday gifts leave me still wanting for more.....ok, ok, call my selfish if you want, but I have a feeling some of you know what I mean. Sure it's great to get the lovely sweater from Aunt Gert, but maybe all I really wanted was a few Copic markers or Pan Pastels, or the Catalogue from the deKooning show.
As artists, many of us have art on our brains 24/7. I know that I do.
And now that my shopping for others is done, I will confess I am doing a little bit of shopping just for me. One thing I got was this:



What a great price, huh? I can hardly wait to start using it.......as dear as my family is, no one ever would have known how much of a thrill this would give me.


And I also got this, from Sabrina Ward Harrison. I have her other books, but had somehow missed this journal one. It is fantastic! She has done journaling on tons of pages, but also leaves lots of room including very thought provoking prompts. And guess what? Since she has already filled some of the area, I feel free to write all over it myself and I find that I am actually working through some issues. Yay!
Then......over at StencilGirl, we have 4 new products that I am pretty psyched about. These are 6x6 (!!) size and are being sold individually for $7 each. They are pretty special, don't you think?

Michelle Ward, of course, don't you love it?!!?!

New designer, June Pfaff Daley!!! How sweet she is.

More Michelle, coordinates with the large damask, so you are gonna want both....just sayin'

And another new designer, Kae Pea, a friend of mine from years ago, I'm so glad she is part of StencilGirl!!

So, if you are in the mood to treat yourself, here's the link to StencilGirl.
More designers and more designs coming soon. Too many to mention, but suffice to say, we are wallowing in the goodness and can.not.wait. to share it all with you!!

Valley Ridge lineup!!

You all know how much I love Valley Ridge. I adore Katherine, her house, the studio, her land and especially the students who attend the classes. Oh my, what a divine place to teach.

For 2012 I am thrilled to be opening the season by co-teaching with my studio partner, Julie Snidle. Obviously Julie rocks, I mean why would I share a studio with her otherwise, right? She is an encaustic dynamo. I kid you not. She has a way of teaching where she guides you step by step until poof! before you know it you have created an incredibly successful encaustic painting! 

And I'm teaching the Batik Paper part - it was 'passed on' to me by Katherine and I will be thrilled to share all the new techniques I have discovered. Plus I'll reveal some of the many ways you can use Mixed Media with your encaustic works. It is all waxy goodness and I would lovelovelove for you to join us.

So check it out HERE at the Valley Ridge site.

Tis the Season

I know it's time to decorate. Well, past time, if you consider so many places have had their decorations up since Halloween or Thanksgiving. PEOPLE, what are you thinking.
Oh sorry, I digress.
I am in a quandry about the tree this year. Mainly because of........

Remington in the back, Lyra up front

Ahem....yes, I know they look innocent but, trust me, they are wild beasts. One morning John and I walked downstairs to find they had wiped out a dining room chair. On its back it was, all four feet up in the air, how they managed it I can not imagine. Or the bigger question, why didn't it wake us up?
The idea of a tree seems, well, a little nuts quite frankly.
But I do want ornaments, yes I do. I think I am going to duct tape them to the railing. It won't be the most glamorous look, but festive in a different way. I will get cute duct tape, tee, hee.

Seriously though, these are the ornaments on my list.......aren't they fab? They are oversize, B-I-G, very cool. Painted by my friend Calise for the wee sum of $18. If you are in St. Louis, you can grab them at the Wood Icing Store in Chesterfield Mall. If you are out of town email her: caliserae@gmail.com
She does custom work too, it is completely adorable. Hmmmm, me thinks I should have her do Remy and Lyra........

Time in Flight

Where oh where does the time go? I mean seriously.
Lately I have become a delinquent blogger. I don't mean to, there are tons of blog posts that I construct in my head, but they never make it to the page for one reason or another.
I am doing a trunk show this weekend, over at Chesterfield Arts.  Since I've been doing so much teaching, I am waaaayyyyyy out of practice with the shows. Hence I feel like I've been reinventing the wheel this week. Plus I like to make gift items (in addition to wall art) for the holidays. Here is the small journal kit I made.

This required me to sew - see that handpainted paper on the cover of the journal, that is sewn together. I actually poked myself and bled on one of them, nothing that paint couldn't fix, tee, hee.
Several of my local art friends are doing the show so I know it is going to be fun.
Dawson will be there. 

I adore her work, have bought some of her tea lights for my house and also for gifts. Plus I am pining away for the work above, from her WallFlower series. I even have a spot picked out, where it will hang.......just sayin'....
And Sharon will be there.

Her work rocks. Seriously. Rock stars own it. Actually I just made that up, I don't know if they do or not, but they should.
So, in case you have been wondering what I'm doing, this is it.
If you are in the St. Louis area, come out and see us!!!