Art and Soul Report Wrap-Up and Upcoming events

A quick wrap up of my Art and Soul experience...Wednesday night after I taught the Wabi-Sabi class, I went to a talk about online networking by Claudine Hellmuth. Claudine is a petite dynamo! She taught classes every day, or close to it, and still seemed to have plenty of energy. I've followed her work and career for years and it was great to finally meet her. She gave some excellent ideas to improve my blog, so I'm working on it. Post more often, less verbiage!

My first book attempt

Here's the book I made in Chrissie Hinds' class. I knew the activity would be challenging for me as I have difficulty in learning things that have to be exact, like the Coptic stitch. Chrissie helped me through it and I have now made my first actual book, as opposed to altered books or books stitched together any which way! Note I'm not showing you my stitches. Still, now that I've done it once, I'm looking forward to trying again.

Chrissie and I laugh over my funny little book the day after class




A bit of the crowd at Vendor Night

Saturday night was Vendor Night and this one was really big! I had a table and got to see many of my students and fellow classmates.

Mixed media artist and Art and Soul co-organizer Bee Shay with her collection of cool ephemera and vintage items.

I love Bee's tower of vintage cases topped by a fairy tale hatbox

The photogenic artist, Sas Colby was my neighbor at Vendor Night

Janet at Vendor Night

Janet from my Wabi-Sabi class kindly womaned my table for a while so I could check out the rest of the tables and booths. Janet also introduced me to that Southern staple, Waffle House. We don't have them in Portland, but wish we did--they make a mean waffle.

Kellee

The week of Art and Soul I felt blissfully surrounded by art and art-makers. I had a great talk with our bartender in the lobby restaurant, Kellee, about her own art making and the challenge of staying in touch with it while children are small. The cab driver on the way to the airport when I left for home confided his past as a composer and musician and his hopes to reconnect with this part of himself.

While at the retreat I made art most nights in my suite. This is a box I decorated as a special gift. Inside are art materials, as well as scrolls containing writing prompts and affirmations.

This coming weekend: Annual Mt. Tabor Art Walk!

I'll be hosted by the talented painter, Helen Snyder. At the website you can see work by all the participating artists and download a map to the artist sites. Besides seeing a wide variety of fine art and craft, you'll catch a glimpse of some lovely gardens in the area. Come support your local artists--hope to see you there!

Monday, May 18 12-5

Off during the day? Join us at Papers Primavera, a new class at The Art of Your Life studio.

"Klimt paper"

Celebrate spring by creating delectable hand-decorated papers! You'll learn how to create your own moldable form stamps and to use them along with inks, markers, acrylic paints, and other media to decorate several kinds of papers. You'll leave with a collection of unique papers for future art projects and gift wrapping.

Tuition: 65. Includes supplies and a light snack

Happy Spring!