Get out the scissors and the glue...add in plenty of laughter and a bit of wine...creativity is on the loose...
I invite you to visit my newly renovated workshop studio where I'll be hosting regular art parties open to the public. What is an Art Party you ask? Its a creative opportunity to join like-minded souls...letting the world pass by for a few hours while you paste, cut, bend, hammer and paint...while constructing a one of a kind project...with no worry of what supplies to bring nor any concern about clean-up.
Each Art Party will feature a different creative project...often using recycled materials in unique applications...
you'll have a chance to experiment and explore...
If you've been following my blog, you know that I have been busy...armed with a load of leftover lumber and a few gallons of white paint, I transformed a dark daylight basement into a bright workshop studio...stocked with plenty of recycled and vintage supplies.
There's four workshops I'll be offering this spring:
April 5 - Collage Paperweights
April 26 - Recycled Book Journals
May 10 - Junk Crowns and Corsages
May 31 - Garlands and Banners
You can find all the details and registration info on my Art Party page - click on the paintbrush image on the right sidebar to navigate to that page...
Now you know this isn't great art...there'll be no painting the Mona Lisa...but you will enjoy yourself...and you will be inspired...because with over 20 years of workshop planning experience, I love igniting the spark of creativity in others...
Creating art doesn't take expensive supplies or elaborate techniques...just a willingness to jump in and try...everybody can be creative, sometimes you just need a little nudge...
I'm hoping to post photos soon of what the workshop studio looks like...but given the gray Pacific NW weather, photography is a challenge...
In the meantime...check out the workshops...gather up a few friends...set a date...and get ready to create...
Talking with my sister over the weekend...its a long story...but the essence was - what would you do if you suddenly had the good fortune to acquire $10,000? Why, go to Paris, of course!
Just so I'm clear...I'm not actually going to Paris - it would be my wish if I had an extra $10,000 - which I don't ...but one can always dream!
A little whimsical play time while watching the Oscars...using several new textures from the Vintage Collection put out by Design Cuts...a fab new site I've just discovered that offers incredible graphic design layouts, textures and fonts...
My creative photography has really taken on a different dimension since I started the online class, Photoshop Artistry...learning to layer upon layer...exposing some surfaces while disguising others...combining original images with digital reprints of my multi-media collages...
I've recently learned that three of my digital photo creations will be highlighted for others to enjoy...
I was chosen as one of 25 artists from the Photoshop Artistry class to be included as part of a gallery show in Fort Wayne, IN. Two of my digital photographs will be featured and on display for the month of April...you can view the complete catalog of entries here...
And one of the submissions that I sent in to Leslie Riley in her call for artists to contribute to her expanded book, Quotes Illustrated, was accepted for print. I can't reveal anymore information than that...you'll just have to wait until November when the book is published...which you can be certain I'll be crowing about here!
So back to my Monday daydream...if you had $10,000, what would you do?
I am an early morning person...always have been...
The quiet and the solitude that is present just as the sun rises is the best part of the day.
Here in the Pacific NW, when the sun does show itself, it can make a spectacular morning appearance...the view out my living room window shows the brilliance as it sweeps along the hilltop...
The widespread use of the new iPhone Watercolour app is popping up everywhere...but since I have an Android phone, I'm not able to play along...at least not on my phone...but Photoshop has a Watercolor filter that provided just as much fun...
We've had a couple of sunny days this week...which is helping to coax a few buds willing to brave the cold...this yellow crocus (with its watercolor filter) echoes the caption...hurry spring...
It is the small delights such as early morning sunlight and discovered blooms that are special finds...joining others in their simple celebrations over at Kim Klassen's Friday Finds...
My sister and I have a saying...whenever we are going junking..."everybody's lookin' for something different"
This scenario was absolutely at play when I visited the local Goodwill outlet last week...
The outlet was more fun when it was newly opened and relatively undiscovered...the large rolling bins of discarded stuff and plenty of room to spread out...I'm one of those who loves to dig through the piles...the thrill of the hunt...you just never know what you might find...
Now...the perimeter of the cavernous room is lined with pickers with their shopping carts...waiting for the next rolling bin to arrive...most of them with their code scanners which let them know if a certain book is worthy of resale...
I have a keen eye...I can discern an aging cover and yellowed pages among the heaps of harlequin romance paperbacks and biographies of forgotten celebrities...
The books I'm looking for no one else wants...outdated information or lack of ability to reference a textbook without the aid of Google has rendered these volumes useless to some...priceless to others...
My haul...costing me all of $2.18...old maps and dictionaries are the backbone of my collage compositions...the textbook a source of interesting diagrams and explanations (and no first electrical book for girls...what's with that!?) The blue book's deco cover design will be perfect for upcycling into a book journal...
yes...everybody's lookin' for something different...what have you found lately?
it is usually about this time each winter...that its hardest to remember that spring will eventually arrive...
joining the group (albeit a day late...) at Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday...where the theme is "light"...
enjoy the day...spread the love...
