Birds of a Feather

I am thrilled to be teaching a class at  THE Art & Soul Retreat in Virginia Beach Virginia this year.
It's a fun mobile class where we will be learning several things like this (but not limited to this!)
*designing one of a kind fabric with hand drawn Thermofax screens (screen printing)
*several beading techniques to embellish the birds
*embellishing techniques on driftwood (paint &/or thread wrapping)
*techniques to weight a mobile to achieve balance
*different ways to create a 3d bird (something besides the traditional stuffing material!)
*demonstrations on crocheting wings and adding beads to your crochet!
*alternate materials to make wings out of
and who knows what else!

lots of beading techniques

different options for wings

demonstrations of crocheting with beads!

lots of painting, beading and thread wrapping

ideas for balance on your mobile

There is always a lot of laughter in my classes as I believe that that is the best way to learn - in a relaxed and accepting atmosphere...and what is more relaxing than laughter?

I know that there are tons of online classes to choose from but if you have never been to a "real" art retreat before, you are missing something!
It's at these retreats that you meet people that will become lifelong friends.
They understand your creative drive, your odd ideas and would never divulge your retreat secrets.
Never.
And when you are able to learn with hand-on help...nothing beats that, now does it?
And being in a group allows you to see how many people do the same thing differently because sometimes you just don't understand what the teacher is talking about...it helps to hear or see it from a different perspective, doesn't it?
I love the camaraderie that develops within the group, the sisterhood of the traveling art retreat...

And Art & Soul is THE original retreat.
The one that all of the other retreats model themselves after.
And for a good reason - it works.
It delivers what people go there looking for - creative energy, like minded peeps and an opportunity to learn a craft or an art technique from experienced teachers.


I'll add some photos of the class that I am teaching this year at Virginia Beach.
Won't you come and join me there?

surface design in the form of screen printing 

lots of different wing screens

playing with painting ideas

lovely driftwood embellishment

painting a plain bird

beautiful bold colors

or you could draw on your bird!

a lovely twisted bead tail

great uses for tiny pieces of driftwood

Building a Better Bird

What's on your table?

I'm working on building a better bird.
I have several samples for the April "Art & Soul" workshop but, true to fashion (mine, that is), I can't stop there.
(I have got to get better photos up there)
I am constantly striving to make everything "better"...perhaps I should say "different" instead, since the concept is the same.
Just different ways to get there.

There's this colorful bird -

As well as this one.

I think that most people love big bold hits of color in projects. I do too, but, I also think that understated color has its place.
I'm working on that right now.
Here's a couple of the parts and pieces of inspiration that I am using/working on/working from...

My work table looks like a stuffed bird graveyard right now.
Bodies, wings, beads, tail feathers and head dresses at all stages of completion.
Not to mention the driftwood (painted and wrapped), threads, torn pieces of fabric & trim, paint and thermofax screens.
Sounds like fun, eh?

New Workshop!

I have a few classes scheduled for the coming year.
One of them is in Virginia Beach (Virginia) at Art & Soul. I am really excited about this class for a couple of reasons.
The first one is because it is Art & Soul!
When I first began teaching workshops, Art & Soul was at the top of my list for places to teach. It was (and still is) the top place for innovative workshops, true creative bonding with like minded people, and so much darn fun!
It truly is the industry standard for art retreats.

The other reason is the project.
I created a workshop just for the retreat.
Not a book, not a painting (although we will paint), not drawing...instead I've planned a whimsical mobile with beaded & screen printed birds, hanging from embellished driftwood.
I have always loved mobiles. I love figuring out how to balance the weight of the treasures that I'm adding to the piece and I love searching for just the right baubles.
They are fantastic for hanging in your studio, a sunny window, kid's room or any place that needs a shot of something quaint and unusual.
And colorful.

Lots of smooth, silky driftwood. Hand picked by myself and my handsome hubby.
I tend to collect things like that when we kayak or ride our bikes along the shore.
Piles of colorful beads - shiny, matte, oblong, sparkled, square, painted and all part of the kit for the class.
Bold, colorful paint colors.
A stack of thermofax screens to screen print with (all one of a kind images drawn by yours truly).
Threads, glorious threads to stitch, wind and suspend with.
I already have several "practice" mobiles hanging in my studio window and two that are attached to the chain pulls on ceiling fans. One of those pieces was recently published in Liz Kettle's beading book (you need to check the book out! It's wonderful for first time beaders, if you need a refresher or if you need a shot of inspiration!).

We'll be doing all sorts of things in this class - here's a peek at a few of them.

Different fringe ideas with beads.
Also little crochet wings!

A variety of beaded hair styles.

Don't like crochet wings?
How about paper ones?

Beaded necklaces, different tail trims.

Ideas for eyes.

Look at this twisted beaded tail feather!

Lots and lots of ideas for beading on your birds.

I'll leave you with a shot of my work table today.
I've started on a blue and green mobile- beginning with designing my personalized fabric with screen printed images.

Nothing like a bunch of little circles, is there?

The Nature of Fashion

This will also be posted on the "8 That Create" blog.
Check out the other blog posts there!



Like everyone else in the group, I've been working on the upcoming show in New York.

I chose to incorporate a bit of natures' fashion into my pieces.
I've been working off of the knowledge that nature, just like fashion, dresses herself according to the season.
Her fashionable colors change as well as the way that she clothes herself.

I spend a lot of time observing the fashion show that Mother Nature organizes.
I try to take my creative cues from this show.

Season to season, the colors change.
The emotion changes.
She sheds her autumn foliage for the monochromatic palette of winter.

The fashion of nature sheds light on the nature of fashion.
Meaning that fashion changes with the same cycle as nature.

I created this piece from natural elements - sticks, stones and leaves.
The stitched background is made from real leaves that have been pressed and allowed to disintegrate into tissue paper before laminating them to tea bags and scrim.

You can see the leaf above - it has disintegrated
into the tissue paper that I pressed the leaves on.

I used leaves that I gathered from my home garden
as well as vegetation from the forest near my home.

You might find an herb or two in my fabric...

Petals from garden flowers, especially gardenias and lilies.

You can see the layer of tea bags and scrim on this sample.
I laminated all of it together with acrylic soft gel and matt medium.

I also dipped a couple of the central collage elements into beeswax.

The beeswax makes the tea bag very transparent.

I love the smell!

"Nature's Fashion"

This is a 12" x 12" piece mounted on 1.5" stretcher bars.
Each person in the group of 8 will create a panel the same size.
They will be hung in a grid - like a nine patch - with our signage in the center.

I have created two other pieces of wall art plus a book.

Last April, I helped a friend of mine vend at the Virginia Beach "Art & Soul" retreat.
She had all sorts of vintage items to sell (!) and I was one of the helpers in charge of putting these things out on display (can you believe that she left me there with all that cool stuff?!) (my husband couldn't).
I unpacked a pair of little girls espadrilles.
I immediately saw the potential for a book in this pair of shoes.
Some of the group used women's shoes to create a piece of artwork out of.
I chose to use this well loved pair of shoes for one of my projects.
Here's what I came up with.

"The Sole Book"

"Sole Book"
front view

I spent a lot of time painting, staining, crackling and waxing each page
before adding them to the book

I love the crackle pages.
They look like an old sole (or soul, for that matter).

I used a glaze of acrylic paint to bring out the crackles on painted paper

Beaded Birds

"Birds of a Feather"

Art and Soul Retreat

Virginia Beach, Virginia

April 24, 2013

Sea Life

While I am (supposed to be) working on class details, putting together samples and step-outs,
I have to do other things to keep me inspired (to keep me away from work) and to help me keep a fresh outlook.
When you teach, you tend to deal with the same materials and the same projects for a long time.
It's nice to take a break and (escape) (run away) play with other things.

Drawing is one of those things for me.
I have long held the belief, as many others do as well, that daily drawing/writing/painting (insert whatever creative endeavor you love) will not only improve your technical skills but your creative skills as well.
It's just like exercising your skeletal muscles...you use them/exercise them and they increase in size/stamina.
They reward you by serving you in an increased capacity.
If you exercise your creativity, it will do the same thing!

Grab a cheap journal, sketchbook, pile of paper and get to it!

Just make marks, write, paint...just do something creative every day.

I started drawing these little underwater plants a couple of days ago.
Now I can't seem to stop!


This is where it all began -

I usually begin my drawings with simple lines.

I getting a little looser with the designs in this one.

Maybe it's time to stop...

I made a thermofax screen out of some of these and I love it!
The tiny details really look good on paper as well as fabric. I'm going to use this screen on the "Birds of a Feather" mobile that I'm working on.