Colorado Part Two

Back to Deb Prewitt's home studio classroom.
Her shop is the "Blue Twig Studio" and man oh man, does she have some really cool things in there!

This week, Deb is the vendor at the Las Vegas "Art & Soul".
I'd love to be there with all of those crazy ladies (and guys) having fun and creating so many great projects.

The second class at Deb's was "Painted Papers" (which could actually be called "Background Painting", "Art Journal Pages" "Abstract Painting" "Decorated Pages" or any combo of those).
It's a fun, fast paced day of painting, screen printing, tips and tricks to add color, texture and movement to papers (or fabric) that you might want to use for something else.
The ladies had so much fun!
Ruth Chandler used a piece of "MultiPurpose Cloth" to paint on. You can do the very same things to this cloth that you can do on paper.

I stayed with my buddy Liz for a couple of days (I was slave labor kitchen help to her) (lol).
She did feed me (very well), let me sleep there for free (except the slave labor), drove me around, and let me launder my clothing...

Oh, and she took me to the Denver Art Museum.
Where we had arranged to met Jill Berry and spend the day with her.

The "Yves Saint Laurent The Retrospective" exhibit was there.
I thought it would be interesting, even though I am not a real fashion person (unless you count Birks, jeans and tee shirts as fashionable) (except I did wear a skirt and really cute sandals that day!).

Was I ever shocked when I got there.

The exhibit was awesome!

There was a lot of history included, tons of beautifully dressed manikins, luscious headdresses, yummy textiles, lots of audios to listen to as well as several videos to watch.
It was one of the best Art Museum exhibits that I've ever seen.
We could not photograph inside of the exhibit and I left my sketchbook at Liz's house (arrghhh!) but I do have a couple of things that I am doing in my Colorado Sketchbook I can show you later.

If you are close to Denver, you should take the time to visit the exhibit - it is well worth it.

Liz, Jill and I had a fantastic visit.
I wished at that moment that I lived there in Colorado...but then again, they could just move to SC, right?

Hodge Podge

Did you read the post over at the "Sketchbook Challenge" blog about the scrap bag that I made from Mulit-Purpose Cloth?

It's a great way to use those teeny tiny scraps that you save (and you know that you do) and then wonder what the heck you're going to do with them! And it's easy-peasy too!

I am really loving the MPC from Roc-Ion. 

It's so easy to stitch on, you can draw or paint on it just like paper and/or canvas and there are NO raveling edges! None!

I'm already working on a book cover using it so watch for a tutorial on that soon.

Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on another book for the "Art Camp For Women" retreat this June in Colorado.

I'm using my own rusted fabric/fibers on this one and adding a really cool embellishment on the cover.

I've also been introduced to a new type of paper to use in bookmaking (thanks Denise!).

I'm not going to stop using my fav (Wausau Exact Vellum Bristol) but this new stuff is SO easy to put into a book.

I'll let you know more about it as I do a little more experimenting, okay?

I'm hoping that all of you are having a peaceful holiday season.

We have a new year coming up, it would be a good time to reevaluate your goals and dreams.

I plan on thinking about those things too. 

I'm also thinking about where I want to go in the coming year - not in a physical sense but "where is my life going" sense.

I'm feeling a little unsettled - like I'm missing something or not doing something that I'm supposed to be doing.

Do any of you ever feel that way?

It seems that things were so much more simple when my son was young.

My focus was so clear then. But it was also on him. 

Now it's time to think about what I want...really focus on where I want to go/what I want to do with the time that I have left on this earth.