Mary's Mary

Mary Stilwell has reached the Midwest and her new home--greetings, Mary! Here is how her icon of St. Mary looked at our last (for the moment) coaching session.

Collage Workshop pictures

Here are a couple of pictures from last week's collage workshop.

Julianna made two lively and lovely collages. Note the exquisite stitching she used to embellish her collages! Shown below is Linda's dreamy collage made at The Art of Life group.

Diane Havnen-Smith of Innerstandings (http://innerstandings.com) is offering a wonderful workshop on February 17th. The art retreat is led by Stephanie Lee and is called Totally Plastered! Here's some information. To see pictures and/or register go to http://innerstandings.com/stephanielee.html

From the workshop description:

"Imagine Italian frescoed walls, faded paintings impregnated in the time worn plaster and the energy of the art still after the span of time. Whether you are a beginner or experienced artists, you will enjoy being able to translate this feeling into your own 2 dimensional artwork by learning the basics of working with plaster and plaster-like products. To create deep and rich texture in your piece we will focus on in depth exploration of texturing techniques with trowels, sculpting and casting, painting, tinting, sanding, carving, rolling, etching and writing into plaster. We will also learn various plaster recipes for use in different forms of artwork such as wood, canvas, altered books, jewelry and more. Students will enjoy being able to take home a finished piece and more ideas for future pieces along with a take-home booklet of hints, tips and general information for working with plaster at home."

"Art making can feel dangerous and revealing. Art making is dangerous and revealing." --Ted Orland and David Bayles

Serena Barton's Blog

Welcome to my new blog! It's also my first ever blog, so bear with me. I'm excited to have a space to share information, ideas, and images.

The January 21st workshop at Art of Your Life was a lot of fun and participants produced amazing pieces! Watch this blog to see some of the lovely and innovative collages that grew out of the "Layers of Memory/Layers of Imagination" collage workshop. Many thanks to all those who participated for your enthusiasm and courage to try new things and work from your hearts!

Individual art coaching students and Art of Your Life Group members have also created wonderful work, from paintings to altered books, Dia de los Muertos Shrines, and clay figures

Today's featured artist is Mary Stillwell. Mary has been an inspiring and enjoyable companion as she has met with me for art coaching. She is developing her own style of icons and is a most passionate and exciting painter. She is moving out of state, but we are determined to continue to work together by email. Here is a sample of her work in progress:

Here are some pictures of the office/studio:

Join us for the "Meet Your Muse" workshop on February 11!
Have fun exploring with creative exercises designed to unleash your inspiration! Create your Secret Book. Design your own plan for keeping regular dates with your Muse. The workshop meets 10 AM to 4PM. Morning snacks will be provided. Bring a brown bag lunch. Tuition: 75. Materials are provided.

Let me know what you are doing in the wide realm of art!

I had no idea blogging could be so much fun...

Best,

Serena