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!!!