ART IS...You days 2,3,4,and 5

where to begin?  Friday night I had class with one of my very favorite artists/friends.  Miss Linda Willis of Rhode Island inspired us to make zombies

and monsters and witches!  i just love the randomness of these!!!

this one was my favorite and Linda abandoned her art into the arms of this lovely lady.

I am making my own version.  it is a work in progress

some of my friends

betti, marlene and loretta

Day 3 - Saturday brought a morning session with mrs. pom aka loretta marvel 

she spoke of the connectiveness between women and friends that dates back years and reminds us of  Victorian days when women bonded over embroidery hoops.  mrs. pom had us wrap embroidery hoops with fibers and make tags for each other to attach.

anne and loey busy making tags

elizabeth and her lovely hoop

after our creative jumpstart i was off to my class of the day, titled my soldered muse with kecia deveney

 kecia's work is lovely and eclectic

we learned how to solder (my favorite part was learning how to make those little soldered dots) and add embellishments to make a dimensional doll of our muse.  the student work turned out unique and fun!

and look who was in the same classroom creating a doll of a different sort 

my friend Linda Willis!

Saturday Night was ART TRUNK AND TUTU night

there were so many vendors with so many beautiful things...if only i didn't have two kids in college *sigh*

Sunday was bittersweet.  It was PJ day

Ellen, Sal, Loretta, Me
Patricia, Elizabeth, Betti, Kecia

 and started off with Breakfast of the Brave.  Artists Melissa Bolton, Jodi Ohl, Tracy Verdugo, Kecia Devaney and Seth Apter shared experiences outside their comfort zones that made them who they are today.  Patty Dineen also presented Ellen Legare with a quilt of squares made by many of the ART IS family.  The picture here doesn't do it justice.

Then it was off to class with Tracy Verdugo. This class was called Sacred Marks and was based on the Aboriginal word, Dadirri which is a special quality and unique gift of the Aboriginal people. It is an inner deep listening and quiet still awarness.  The class was a two day class.

we started with personal symbols and their meanings.

At this point during class, Loretta got word that her mother had passed away.  It was terribly upsetting and I just couldn't continue until I took care of my friend.  After bringing her home and regrouping, I went back to class, but missed a few steps.  It didn't really matter though as this is a process of layering.

After wrapping up day one of sacred marks the PJ party continued into the night and we had a chocolate fountain and made the bracelets mrs. pom had planned on having us create.  

day two of sacred marks was more layering and learning to let go...

tracy's finished piece.

one of tracy's pieces still in progress

My piece is still a work in progress...more on that later.

ART IS...You is always my favorite time of year.  I get to see my old 'art friends' and make new.  Like minds gathering together, sharing ideas, connecting and getting inspired carries me through another year.  I can't wait for ART IS...2013!

ART IS YOU....day 1

The largest East Coast ART retreat has begun!  ART IS...YOU!  This is my annual retreat and I look forward to it every year!  It is like a family reunion of sorts.  Everyone reconnecting with old friends and making new.  

My first class was with an encaustic painter named Serena Barton.  She is from Portland Oregon and her knowledge of encaustic is amazing!  Her work is pretty amazing also.

Encaustic is basically painting in wax.  The word encaustic comes from the Greek word 'encaustikos' meaning to burn in, and that is exactly what we did.

First you need a palette of colors

and some beeswax mixed with resin.

(that is one of Serena's portraits)

After coating your substrate with beeswax you 'fuse' it with a torch.  yep, we are using tools here!

then you paint with the wax

and fuse and paint and fuse until you get a finished product.

My piece

What I learned about encaustic -

It isn't a medium you can control.

Surprises happen at every turn.

Fusing is tricky.

In a way it is very meditative.

You need a lot of wax for one portrait.

It is pricy.

It is for texture lovers!

I would love to explore this medium more, but want to take a couple more classes.  The layers achieved with encaustic are amazing.  I have some ideas about mixing this with some of my woodburning techniques.  I'm not finished with this medium yet!

30 days of get your ART on!

Beginning October 1st, I'm joining traci bunkers in 30 days of get your ART on!!!  I need to jumpstart my creativity and the timing is right.  I'll be at ART IS for the first few days of October so i'll have some momentum going in.  wish me luck and if you can, join me!  

cherish mother earth

my latest painting, cherish mother earth, started with a sketch in my art journal.  i sat down and just started drawing. i was thinking about global warming and all the harsh weather systems that have passed through lately. I thought about all the tornadoes, heavy rain, hurricanes, heat, and the snow we had last october (which caused power outages for days, very unusual for metro NY).  i couldn't help but wonder, "Is there something to all this global warming?"  

original sketch in my art journal

I liked how this sketch made me feel, so i decided to paint it for the upcoming LIVING LARGE show.  I started painting and thinking about the natural elements of air, fire, water and earth.  I thought about global warming, I thought about mother nature.  The finished product is this.  When you look closely you can see drips here and there, that represents the melting, or global warming that is occurring on our planet.  

cherish mother earth
acrylic, 30"x40

me with my painting at the NRAA's LIVING LARGE exhibit
 part of the New Rochelle's ArtsFest 2012

Paper Source opens!!!

There's a NEW playspace in town!

Yesterday was my annual eye exam.  After it, i decided to take a walk and do a little window shopping.  well, my window shopping turned into real shopping when i discovered what opened! As an artist, imagine my excitement when i saw this:

Paper Source!  YaY!  I am so excited!  It's like a playspace for me.  When I need inspiration, I often will go to a bookstore and scour the books in the art section or I'll go to an art supply store and shop (A new pen or paint will work wonders for artist block).  That is exactly what I did at Paper Source.  They carry such beauty as this...

I just love handmade papers, japanese papers especially!  the colors, textures, feel..yum!

They also have a wonderful space to have classes, birthday parties and get togethers...

Who wants to come here with me and have a Friday night art journaling party complete with wine and cheese?

Something I liked was the look of these stamps together.  I've always had a fondness for typography and this just appealed to me.

I really don't use stamps in my art, but how cool is this?

Paper Source also carries stencils, gel pens, micron pens, bind it all machines, beautiful art calendars, fun little books and all kinds of little gifts.  They also have cardstock in a variety of colors with matching letter weight, and envelopes of various sizes.  good to know when you are planning a party.

But my latest guilty pleasure is washi tape and tissue tape.  Paper Source has it!

(some of this is fabric tape :) oooohhhh)

Another thing I found hiding on a table was this wonderful game:

I didn't buy it, but i think I'll be going back for it.  I'm thinking it will be a fun start off point for a crazy art journaling page.

And when I return, these guys are waiting for me...

 I think I'm going to need to get them too!!!

art trips with mrs pom

i am so fortunate to have found a friend, an art friend, who lives close by.  loretta aka mrs pom is that friend for me.  when neither of us is bogged down with work or family or school, we grab the chance to go on little art excursions.  in the past 2 weeks we have had 2 outings!  

first was our labor day trip into the city.  destination: the bowery.  we left early in the morning so we could go to a special coffee shop.  to our disappointment, it was closed! on labor day! imagine? so we settled for this:

the neighborhood around bond street is lovely.  you see this

and the most amazing building - the george frankel theatre.

 outstanding gardens with birds

and lovely piles of rock!

and much to our chagrin, john derian was closed! not because of labor day, but it's closed on mondays!! i was so disappointed. guess i'll be making another trip to bond street.

but dick blick was open, so some damage was done there.  i was so busy shopping i didn't take any pics.  trust me, art supplies were purchased and have already been put to use.

next on the agenda was a class with mixed media artist, seth apter. i had never met seth before, and am so happy i finally did!  he is an amazing teacher and so nice to boot!  

 it was held at litttle bird creations studio owned and run by michele luxenberg whom has a lovely little walk up studio on the west side. 

my partner in crime, loretta

my gorgeous friend betti, who catered dinner for loretta and i (xo)

  the class was titled, text tiles, a play on words.  we created on small pieces on cradled wood.  it consisted of layer upon layer of acrylic paint, manipulating each layer to create amazing texture.  

step one - basecoat

a few steps in - layers upon layers of luscious color and texture

seth demonstrating with gesso how to emboss and deboss

about 7 or 8 layers in

text added to make a statement

and photo opps...michele and seth

BZ with her finished piece.

it was a fun friday night outing! just what this girl needed!  thanks all my art friends, i couldn't survive without you!!!