I Love Myself a Workshop

I love, love, love art retreats and workshops. It's fun to escape and spend lots of time with similar minded ladies like Amy, Molly, Maija, Kecia, Pam, and Julie, who is one of the founders of the Art Nest retreats. Pam, Amy and Kecia teach some fantastic classes that I can not recommend enough. I was lucky to attend and meet those ladies in person and make art all day with them. It was fantastic to see new perspectives and new techniques. I've been able to attend an Art Nest Retreat, Art and Soul in Portland and here in Dallas plus some random day classes here and there. I love the total immersion and find it unbelievably inspiring plus it's a fantastic recharge for the creative soul. But it's another big commitment in a pretty packed schedule.

I have a full time job, a husband and now a super cute new baby. It's rough getting away for a few days, not that my husband isn't supportive because there is no one more supportive than my husband. Seriously, no one. But, I feel bad about leaving him with all the house stuff and the brand new baby. Plus, I don't want to leave the brand new baby! Who's not brand brand new but 6 months is still pretty damn new. Nordstrom's would still take her as a return if one were so inclined. I'm not since she's awesome. If you follow me on twitter or facebook you know this because I'm obnoxious with the baby picture posting. I'm digressing again. Sigh.

Anyway, it's rough to travel and spend the money on the get away with airfare, hotel and food, plus classes, plus supplies, etc. But, there's now this new fancy thing called the intranet. It's nice. I can attend classes from the privacy of my own house and wear footie pajamas. Not that I have them but I could and you wouldn't know because IT'S THE INTRANET. Fancy new fangled technology. Class can be attended post-baby going to bed and husband can run wild with his free time since wife and baby are now occupied and require nothing from him. Anyway, I took a class last year with Stephanie Lee but then I kind of forgot this was an option and now I'm a little obsessed. I've signed up for Flying Lessons with Kelly Rae Roberts who has become a bit of a mentor for me although she doesn't know it. Another great thing about the intranet. Harmless stalking. I just registered for The Alchemy of Objects with Deryn Mentock. It looks awesome and I want to support the use of the word "alchemy". I'm also taking a Photoshop class at a local community college but that's an in person thing so not really part of my rant here but it's still awesome and only 3 hours 1 day a week which is totally do-able.

So now I'm doubly excited about fall since it feels a little like I'm going back to school too. Now I'm in need of a Target run stat. School supplies!

Paris Panels

This is what we made in class today for Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. A lot of people made very romantic and vintage family panels but I was really moved to do something focusing on Paris ... maybe I finally got a chance to focus on the theme of the retreat and really embrace the romance and magic of Paris. I had a great time making these pieces and am really happy with how they turned out. I'm really getting the hang of soldering although I'm starting to become slightly phobic about jump rings! I've learned to just be patient and keep working until they work out.

A good friend of mine took the class with me and it was a blast. She's got a great sensibility and is an amazingly talented artist in her own right. She makes gorgeous stained and fired glass pieces. I'm lucky enough to have a piece she made for me. Having a friend in the class really made it fun and helped keep us motivated as 6 collage pieces could be kind of a challenge. I don't usually make that many pieces as once. Sally Jean also encouraged us to work outside the box and do something different than our usual style. All in all, I'm really happy with my finished piece.

Art is being done!

I haven't had too much time to post as I've been over-run with art to-do's with all the good inspiration from Art & Soul. I took Sally Jean's Soldering for Virgins class on Sat morning and learned a valuable lesson that tools really can have a huge impact on your work. I've been really frustrated by soldering (see earlier posts) and jump rings were a nightmare but I used one of her soldering irons and it was a breeze. All her pointers and tips worked great and now I can't wait to make the upgrade. I've gone a little nuts with the art purchases lately so it could be a while before I make the soldering iron investments.

In the meantime, I stayed up half the night last night working on polymer clay tiles. I really am inspired to work on a mirror using the techniques I learned from Laurie Mika. I've even been working on deconstructing the tin cans like Opie O'Brien demonstrated but that will take a little more practice and maybe wrangling the hubby into it.

I am having a great time with the art break but am a little manic in my goals for getting stuff started and just playing. I love my new job but dread going back to that routine and the long hours that make it really hard to find studio time. I love spending the afternoon painting tile pieces while background boards dry and new tiles are in the oven. I daydream about making this work beyond presents for friends with a few sold pieces here and there but I can barely make the time to get a couple of projects a week done and then the flood of questions about how realistic that is and is it fair to even contemplate that kind of thing given the sacrifices we'd have to make as a family... oh well, I have one more day of art goodness with Sally Jean's Mr. Roger's Neighborhood class I'm taking with a friend tomorrow so I'll have even more great art inspiration!

Hope you had a great weekend guys.

Art and Soul Retreat

I've gone to two classes at the Art & Soul Retreat here in Dallas and they have both been fantastic! Thursday was Linda & Opie O'Brien's Tintastic which was amazing. I purchased a small anvil for the class and used! It's awesome to now own and utilize and anvil... seriously, I may have crossed into some kind of weird cartoon twilight zone with my love of my new anvil. I'll have to take a picture but for now, I've got photos of the class and the bracelet I made. This experience was amazing as these are two unbelievably talented people who have a real passion for art and creating. They were encouraging and inspiring so it made for a wonderful environment... take their class if you ever get the chance.

Today, I took Laurie Mika's Mosaic Icons, also fabulous, and I have tiles in the oven as we speak. Laurie did a great job of teaching us to trust the process and if we hate it, wipe it off and start over. She has a great spirit and truly encouraged all of us. I'm really happy with how my project turned out and am trying to keep up with all the great art ideas she's inspired.