Bits of the day...

I just saw this post at the site of Roben-Marie (whom I met at the Artful Journey Retreat) and she linked to this post because the idea of "snippets of life" was so intriguing to her she tried it out on her site and she has inspired me to do the same; here is my abbreviated version:

Outside the window: the sun is going down and the day is drawing to a close...

I am wearing: my "Taking Flight necklace and a pair of pink pearl cluster earrings I bought from a vendor in Ventura yesterday

I am hoping: to find another job and SOON!

On my mind: terribly discouraged and defeated by job; luckily, making things helps =-)

I'm Creating: items to sell in my soon-to-be etsy shop - I hope to launch sometime in MAY!

Plans for the rest of the week: working on my "mystery project", creating special one-of-a-kind items that people will be happy to buy

Grateful for: wonderful people who come to visit this blog; awesome, amazing, fantastic and fabulous blog buddies!; my Life Coach and good friends who always remind me of how much I really am doing to create a better life for myself when I forget; my dear sweet boyfriend...

What are some bits of your day that stand out in your mind? I'd love to hear about them!

A page from my Office Art Book...

I've taken a day off from work for some "extreme self-care" today, but I thought I'd share a page from my Office Art Book as a way to continue with Nina Bagley's Self-Portrait Fridays.

I added the story to go with this image that is a page in my book, which is growing quite thick with pages! Here it is...

image from StayNegative.org from their free HIV test campaign...I cropped the original image

image and text before gluing together...

text glued to back side of page...

You may be able to read the text if you click on the image but here is my story about the image...

***   ***   ***

The Story of "Stay Negative"

It had been a bad day (of what would become MANY bad days) and another bad drive home. I was driving along Vine Street when I thought I saw the words "stay negative" out of the corner of my eye. I did a double take and found this public service announcement on a billboard. It was a striking image and the words "stay negative" were hard to miss.

I had to chuckle to myself knowing this was a message from the Universe letting me know it was okay to "stay negative", when people in my life were telling me otherwise...telling me to "be thankful you still have a job", "there are no jobs out there", "don't be so negative - it will bring more negativity in your life!".

None of it was helping me, but "Stay Negative" did.

***   ***   ***

Yes, it's been another hard week at the office, but I manage to make time to work on my Office Art Book*. In fact, I got inspired when I discovered this fantastic book about Jimi Hendrix at the local bookstore, Eso Won Books.

I do love the music of Jimi Hendrix, and I love interactive art books even more! So you can imagine how excited I was to discover this book and going for a great price. There are envelope pages with pull-outs and the idea of envelope pages got me so excited, I ran back to the office (can you believe that?!?) to start making a few envelope pages for my OAB...

I don't have those pages to share yet, but I'll share some other pages as they can be viewed in the book itself, since I don't like to leave folks with a "negative message", though if I gave you two negative messages, could they equal a positive one**?!?! ;)

 images from an Alvin Ailey Dance Company flyer...aren't these women beautiful in their grace and strength?

Hope you'll be having a creative weekend!

* - it may be given a title one day, but for now it's Office Art Book (OAB)

** - paraphrasing from Woody Allen "Stand-Up Comic", "Summing Up" section of the recording =-)

"Sneak Peak" Revisited...

Does anyone remember a 'sneak peek' I showed you of a project I'm currently working on at home?? Well, here's a few more peeks...

red coral pendant bought at gem show by my mom on a matching necklace made by me...bought red bracelet

pendant gift from my mom...garnet earrings gift from dear boyfriend...coral earrings gift to myself!

all green jewelry made my me: olive jade earrings, jade necklace with silver charms, glass bead bracelet

earrings made by me: olive jade with silver; jade with silver

blue chalcedony and silver bracelet made by me...yes, it was time-consuming to add each bead! but i love it...

I'm still working on this "mystery project" so stay tuned for more "sneak peeks"!

The Story of "Art Currency" - III

Many thanks to those of you that left such kind and supportive comments on my last post which included the 2nd picture of myself in one week! Though "beast" is in the name of this blog, I try to keep the beast in me in check here, because I know it's pretty ugly...in my head!! ;) Of course, I also know how "beastly" it is to be an artist and stay true to that. Especially if one encounters a potentially sticky situation such as "copyright infringement", which leads me to the next chapter of "Currency of Strength" and how it nearly came to a screeching halt!

 ***   ***   ***

As I mentioned in my previous chapter of "Art Currency", I had been working on assembling my currency bills when it began to dawn on me that I might be working with images that were "subject to copyright".

I usually work with original photos of people that I purchase from flea markets, the occasional estate sale or paper ephemera shows, that are not subject to copyright in any way, so I was unfamiliar with the area I was potentially moving into. I mentioned my concerns to my dear boyfriend, who looked up a few sites for me to read through, because I was now debating whether to submit my work at all, let alone sell it...

The primary site I read through is Funny Strange, a site that has extensive information regarding copyright for collage artists. It was the most informative site, but it was not the most reassuring...

Luckily, I found another site with information that helped me to decide whether or not to submit my artwork to the gallery. It was Ask Harriete, and this post made me feel much better about submitting my artwork. There was also this post that introduced me to Fair Use laws but then the bizarre magnitude of this issue began to open up when I found this story of "Molotov Man/Joywar" at wikipedia and this hilarious video about Fair Use...is your head spinning yet?!??

One of the things I found most interesting among this research is the idea (found at the bottom of the "Fair Use" page at Funny Strange) that collage artists are now being hit harder due to the work of rap artists that 'sample' the work of other musicians, which is a form of collage, only using music. I happen to like a lot of sampled music, such as the Verve Remix* series, but recently I had been listening to someone that would now become my personal 'Fair Use Hero': Pogo**! Then, on the day that I would submit my artwork, I heard about World Fair Use Day, which took place in January this year, but I eagerly await the next Fair Use Day when I will celebrate by playing Verve Remix and Pogo all day long! ;)

After all the research, I did make a few changes to many of the designs of the 'bills', in accordance with the concepts of using portions of the original images. I also made the decision to not sell the work, though a few friends supported me to do so, but truly, this concept had been tucked away for so long and the end result of the currency turned out so beautifully, that I wanted to keep this work, though I do have same plans to expand on this concept...

"Currency Of Strength" in progress...some of these designs were re-worked after reading about Fair Use...

Now, there was only thing left: to actually submit the artwork! And this created a few problems as well...due to the request to send the images at 300 dpi (dots per inch), this made the scanned image files REALLY BIG!! And my dear boyfriend was helping me to submit it all at the eleventh hour - literally! I had finished on the due date but because the image files were so big they eventually had to be submitted one at a time, just before midnight!! I sent a message to the curator about what happened, continued to submit each file, though many would arrive after midnight, but I hoped that the message explaining what was happening should have gotten through before the midnight hour. I then submitted my entry fee and we finally went to bed near 1:00am...

I checked my e-mail the next morning to be sure nothing came bouncing back - it didn't! All there was to do now was to attend the Artful Journey Retreat and await the news to find out if my work got into the show and as we all know, it did...

The artist with her work...and Nina's necklace! Photo by Doug =-)

***   ***   ***

WHEW! This has certainly been a long post and yet there are still a few final details to share, such as the Artist Statement I originally submitted, but had to pare down to 100 words or less, and of course the evening of the reception itself. 

The issue of Copyright Infringement is a big one and I certainly didn't want to run afoul of the law. Also, I'm happy to share what I learned in the process of creating this work (which is a LOT!), especially since collage artists can be affected. I hope you find the links I provided to be helpful, if you think you may be treading into copyright infringement territory. I believe "Ask Harriete" was the most helpful site and she has a lot of great info for professional artists in her sidebar, not to mention her blog on the whole. Go check her out!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll stay tuned for the "Artist Statement" - the message is an important one for women and you won't want to miss it!




* - I say, if the jazz remixes get folks interested in listening to the original recordings GREAT!! More people should be listening to Jazz, if you ask me! ;)

**- I unfortunately got Pogo confused with DJ Pogo, in an earlier post, who I'm sure makes great dance music, but it's the work of POGO that I have really been digging these past two months =-)

Nina's Self-Portrait Friday Challenge...

I debated whether to participate in Nina Bagley's "Self-Portrait Friday" this week since I have have not had a great day, but when she wrote:

 ..."document your feelings, your aging, your wisdom that comes with the experiences and years. document it all without fear..." (emphasis mine)

...well, I knew I had to take her up on that. So I ran outside to take this picture of myself (yes! another picture of myself this week!), wearing the necklace I bought from her, of course...

"Itching to be Stitched...with much-needed Laughter"

Does my "fed-up attitude" make me look fat in this picture?!?? ;)

It's been a difficult week at work for me, but it has been so for the last two years. The only thing that keeps my spirits up these days is when I work on my "office art book". Each page represents a part of myself or part of the story of my burn-out. It's a collection of the images, notes and quotes I've kept at my desk to keep up my spirits, but there were a few 3-D items that I wanted to include but are really too bulky to add, so I've taken photographs of them such as this little statue...

"May all your dreams come true" statue currently stands in the windowsill near my desk, as the image shows

There are some parts of the story that I'm not yet ready to write down, but there was a quote I made note of, that I found in my Environmental Science book that I felt really described the situation I eventually found myself in. Here is the page I created around that:

photo of tree in the local park where I work taken by me, with text added...

Here is what the quote states:

"...trees may be draped with vines, enveloped by strangler figs, and loaded with epiphytes (orchids and other plants that grow in trees), such that trees occasionally collapse under the weight of all the LIFE they support..." (emphasis mine)

Isn't it interesting how a description about tropical rain forests can also describe a work situation?? I was particularly enamored of the phrase "strangler figs"!

The "office art book" has been a great project and I also have a project I'm working on at home that has absorbed my evenings. Here's  a sneak peek:

jewelry made by me...

I'll tell you more about this project soon and I'll also be continuing with the story of my "Currency of Strength", so stay tuned!

Many thanks to Nina for challenging us to show ourselves without fear, warts and all. She is an amazing Wise Woman!

The Story of my "Art Currency" continues...

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my portrait and my hat-making! It truly warmed my heart =-)


Some of you have sent messages or made observations about the fact that I hardly post images of myself on this blog and it really isn't about shyness since I am quite comfortable being on a stage and in front of a camera, as well behind it. I just feel that this blog is about the work I do and create and also about encouraging others toward creativity...but I do know how important it can be to have a "face" to go with the "name" so I will post pictures of myself from time to time for your amusement! Now back to my story about the "Currency of Strength"...

***   ***   ***

Well, Dear Blog Readers, I began to tell the tale of how my artwork came into being and I've explained it's origins. I suppose I can now begin to tell you about the process and a challenge I encountered...

When I first had my idea to create a new currency using images of American Women, I knew of a few figures I wanted to use. They were women I read about as a child and I revered them highly: Wilma Rudolph and Helen Keller.

preliminary sketches, blank 'currency' templates and notes for "Currency of Strength"

I remembered the "fore-mothers" that my Wise Woman, Janet, mentioned to me and I included one I could remember: Nellie Bly. I also remembered reading briefly about Jane Addams, and I had recently learned about an amazing woman named Ida B. Wells, who actually crossed paths with Jane Addams! I added Amelia Earhart and I now had six "bills" that would tally up to the six bills of currency we have in our American money: $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100. My currency would not have a monetary value, it would have a "quality" or a "legacy"...a character value, so to speak.

I began to research the history of each woman to determine what qualities and legacies they left behind for women of today. I learned a lot about these amazing women and the unifying bond they share is that they all accomplished many great things in their lives BEFORE they married, if they married at all. I was so excited to see that many of these women achieved a great deal before men entered into their lives, and for most of them this was a huge accomplishment considering that virtually all of them lived in a time where they were EXPECTED to be married and raise children as the sole purpose of their lives.

I found several images I wanted to use for my collaged versions of "bills" that I made copies of and I began to paint backgrounds on watercolor paper for a base. I began to assemble the bills...

But then, a few days before the submission date, I had a realization:

Many of the images I was using could be subject to copyright issues! Oh, NO!!

***

Stay tuned for the next chapter of "Making Art Currency", where I learn a LOT about Copyright Infringement and Fair Use laws and discover a 'Fair Use Hero' whose presence had been surrounding me before I realized it...you won't want to miss it!

A Little Celtic Spirit for You...

Because it's Saint Patrick's Day and because many friends have mentioned that I don't post pictures of myself, I'm giving you a little taste of my Celtic Spirit...

portrait taken by my dear boyfriend Doug...

This portrait was taken by my dear boyfriend Doug a few years back at an event hosted by The Celtic Arts Center, which is where we met...as you can see, Doug takes GREAT pictures!!

And yes, I designed and made my little cocktail hat =-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Giveaway Winner!

With the assistance of my dear boyfriend, I have a giveaway winner and a disc of music made up; since I've been experiencing computer technical difficulties recently, I needed to enlist his help to make the disc of music! I also asked him to choose the name of the giveaway winner from a dish containing the names.

I will now announce the winner of the 100th Blog Post Giveaway (though the 100th post was a few posts back!). The winner of one of unique recycled t-shirt scarf (in red), a set of "The Basics" affirmation cards and disc of "Music for an Artful Journey" is...

Katrina, author of the blog I Saw You Dancing!! =-)

Congratulations, Katrina! Please contact me with your address so I can mail out the goodies sometime this week...

***   ***   ***

It's been quite a weekend having seen the film "Alice in Wonderland" (awesome! go see!!), going to Ventura with my dear Wise Woman, Janet, to visit Cindy of Tea by the Sea and have a special viewing of my artwork, plus taking today off for errands and a visit with my knitting buddy Jane, I'm a bit worn out! However, I know many of you have been curious to know about the artwork I created for the gallery show and so I will "start at the beginning", because that is where all good stories start...

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful and magical show about art called "EGG: The Arts Show" and it could be seen on your local public television station. Being an avid public television viewer, I would watch this wondrous show as it aired every Friday evening; this is before the Dear Boyfriend came into my life and I had no dates!

One night there was a profile about a "currency" artist by the name of "J.S.G. Boggs", who creates "art bills" and trades his bills for meals, books, clothing, anything that can be bought he will use his "art bills" to "pay" for. His concepts of the "value" of money and of art were fascinating and challenging. During the show, images of his "art bills" were shown and I noticed that he used images of women in his work. This piqued my interest as American bills do NOT have women, we have images of the American Forefathers and presidents.

I began to have an idea of creating a new currency that contained images of "Fore-Mothers" for American currency and I asked my own Wise Woman, Janet, who she would like to see on a bill if we could have women on our American currency. She wanted to see Nellie Bly and Clara Barton and I took notes and filed it away...for over seven years...

In December 2009, I received the "call for artists" for the gallery exhibit and didn't really consider participating until Janet asked if I would. That is when I began to think of creating a new American currency using American women of amazing achievements...


So that is the beginning of the story of "Currency of Strength" and it's origins. I do hope you will check out the history of JSG Boggs because his work and story is quite amazing and I truly appreciated that he used images of women, historical and allegorical, in his art bills. I'll continue with more of the story of the creation of "Currency of Strength" since it does contain a challenge to be overcome, as so many good stories have, so stay tuned!

Self-Portrait for today...

I've been dealing with frustrating technical difficulties this past week, primarily at work, which has been quite a let-down after the recent excitement of returning from the Artful Journey Retreat and the artist reception in Ventura, CA for the gallery exhibit, "MARCH: Women and Strength". But I have done quite a bit of CLEARING around my office desk this week, in the hopes that it will make space  to allow a better paying job, close to home into my life...and it's an experiment in seeing what my desk will look like when I have vacated this job ;)

So when I read Nina Bagley's self-portrait challenge today, I thought I'd submit this image taken from my desk, since I feel it represents my current state of affairs and sometimes a self-portrait can be figurative and not literal...

"Darth Vader" with a dried flower in his helmet! hee, hee!

It does seem as though there have been bad forces ruling my computer this week and there isn't even a Mercury Retrograde happening!

I admit I've been feeling the pull of the power of the "Dark Side" lately, but I like to think the little dried flower represents that glimmer of hope tucked into a hidden corner of myself that keeps me from losing ALL hope that I will ever get out of this crazy job! (and keeps me from throwing my computer out the window!!)

Besides clearing my work space, though, another thing I'm doing is making an "art book" of all the little images, quotes, notes and random ephemera I've had around my desk. Then it will be in one lovely portable place. I have to say this project has been quite fun!

another figurative self-portrait: "office art book" in process...the cover is to the lower left...

...other bits of ephemera that I kept at my desk space will now go into my "office art book"...

I'll post pictures of the final book when it's complete...

Remember there's a giveaway happening at this blog and the drawing will take place on Monday, March 15. You can read how the giveaway works here and you can leave your comment at the end of this post.


And I will post about the gallery exhibit soon - there was lots of great stuff happening that night, including having an "Intuitive Drawing" made for me by a local artist! That was really cool, so stay tuned!

Because we can and DO...

 

starting notes for "Currency of Strength", my recent artwork currently showing in Ventura, CA...

This past weekend was quite a busy one but to be honest, the past few weeks have been crazy-busy, what with creating artwork for the gallery show in Ventura, preparing and packing for the Artful Journey Retreat and then preparing for the gallery reception upon my return home and delivering the work safely to the gallery...it's been quite a whirlwind to have gotten all that accomplished while working a day job that takes up much of my day in commuting, has not given me a raise in two years and recently gave me a pay CUT that started last month...it reminds me of a quote that I love:

"There's nothing a group of women can't accomplish before lunch!"

...and accomplish they have, time and time again, despite bigger obstacles than those I've been facing recently.

I had hoped to share some images of my artwork, "Currency of Strength", in honor of International Women's Day, but due to my poor overworked brain becoming forgetful these days, I'm unable to share images I have but I WILL share them as I begin the next story series on "Currency of Strength", which became quite a learning experience...

I will leave you with this (if Blogger can actually save my writing this second time around!): the quality I see women exhibiting over and over again is:

ADAPTABILITY

• we adapt for the benefit of our families
• we adapt to low wages and poor employment opportunities
• we adapt to violence in the home and in our neighborhoods
• we adapt to messages that tell us we are not beautiful enough or thin enough

Of course we can also adapt to:

• giving voice to our opinions
• speaking up for what's right
• speaking up for others who are unable to speak for themselves
• stepping into our own power, strength and goodness!

Will you honor the amazing that you are RIGHT NOW? How will you do it? Please share here - I'd love to hear about it!!

Artful Journey Chronicles - VII

Show and Tell Night

Talent Exploding!

Because "Pictures paint a thousand words", and there are not enough glowing words to describe the amazing talent that came out of the many classes that took place at this wonderful retreat, I will let the images speak for themselves...

From the class taught by Nina Bagley:

necklace, spoon and elements of a necklace in the making...

"Not all who wander are lost"...stone pendant necklace

This is made by Stephanie Thiel who gave me the lovely thank you gifts for her apron:

I believe this may be have been made in the class taught by Lesley Riley, but don't quote me on that!

Class taught by Albie Smith:

 

a finished journal...

 

...amazing, handmade papers covering two tables...

beautiful, colorful, one of a kind - those words could also describe the talented women who created this amazing paper...

I wondered if these strips of paper would actually be made into a beautiful fan for a hot summer evening...

From the class taught by DJ Pettit...

Holly Carson - Revisited...

Here is a page from the exquisite book created by Holly Carson, whom I mentioned in my first chronicle...

I believe Holly will start making time to make art for herself from now on...

Beth Nicholls

 

 Here is Beth Nicholls with her favorite page from her book; scattered through her book are special notes of love for her own dear boyfriend who writes her a love letter every time she travels afar. Beth has recently taken the leap to start her own blog which you can find here. She is a wonderful writer and I can't wait to see where she goes with her work!

Danielle Fraser

 

The back of Danielle's book has a great imperative:  

"There are no mistakes so get busy and paint!"

Danielle began her own blog not long after she completed the Artful Journey Retreat, not to mention the gallery exhibit she is in for the month of March AND a reading of some her short stories - I can't wait until she starts to sell her work so I can buy some of it!!

 

It was so wonderful to be a part of the retreat and see how so many women really emerged as artists after it was over. So much bravery, so many rewards for taking risks, so much honoring of the female spirit and the creative artistic spirit. I am so fortunate to have been a part of it all...

I do hope Cindy will continue with this wonderful creative event  because I know I will want to be there to watch it all happen again, whether it's one day or three.

And it's a great way to connect with blog buddies!

Cathy (aka Tinniegirl) proudly showing her favorite page from her beautiful book

Thank you, Dear Blog Readers for following my chronicles of the Artful Journey Retreat. I hope you enjoyed reading the stories as much as I loved sharing them. Now it's time to open up the comments for the giveaway for my 100th blog post!

Just leave a comment* on what your favorite story was from the Chronicles, including the 100th post. A winner will be chosen by Monday March 15. I'll be happy to send the giveaway items to any winning reader from overseas - in fact, I fully anticipate a winner from overseas, since it appears many of my readers are from across the pond!


Thank you all so much for visiting my blog and leaving comments. It makes me happy to know that some of you have been inspired by my work or my stories of the amazing women who honor their creativity. Let's honor ourselves and each other in time for International Women's Day!

Oh yes, I'll be sharing my artwork that was accepted to the gallery exhibit with the theme of "Women and Strength" so stay tuned!






* - if you have any difficulty leaving a comment on the blog, please e-mail me at the g-mail address you can find on the side-bar and that will be included for the drawing while I work out any comment snags taking place on my blog - thank you!

Artful Journey Chronicles - VI

The Last Day - Morning

Wandering the Grounds...

The last day of classes I awoke a little earlier than usual for me and since I had some time before breakfast, I took time to get a few 'snapshots' of the grounds at the serene and lovely Presentation Center...

 

The Pueblo is where I stayed and our class took place in this building. The community room was in this building and a courtyard...

 

Mati hosted the spray paint techniques in one area of the courtyard but this is a quiet corner of the courtyard in the Pueblo...

 

This area for prayer was atop a small hill between the Pueblo and the dining hall. I loved the intimacy of this space...

 

...another building on the grounds of the Presentation Center; I loved the look of the faded red paint. Just beyond this building around the stone wall was this...

...a lovely religious statue in a large scale 'altar'...

 

...tree blossoms on the grounds...spring was beginning to bloom...

The last day of class was about assembling our Funky Chunky Coffee Table books and taking pictures of classmates and new friends. Here is a picture of me with Cathy and Chrissy - it was so great to finally meet them in person and work alongside them as we created our books...

 

Cathy (aka Tinniegirl), me (aka The Creative Beast) and Chrissy of "cul*ti*vate" - 3 fabulous artists!

It was quiet hectic for all the classes as we all completed our projects for what would be "Show and Tell" in the evening, which would take place after dinner. Dinner hour came around and I left the classroom with a finished book and small pieces of one of my pages that would be shared and exchanged with fellow classmates as a token to remember each other by...

When I finally ran to the dining hall for dinner, this is what I saw...

A dining hall brightly lit, filled with fellow artists, camaraderie and friendships I would always cherish and remember. Definitely great reasons to come in out of the cold and into the warmth of fabulous women!


The last installment of the Artful Journey Chronicles coming soon: Show and Tell Night...stay tuned!

Artful Journey Chronicles - V

Day Two -  Awesome Demos for "Girlies"

The workshop was in full swing and the best demos from Mati Rose and Kelly Rae took place today...

Mati showed us how to sand down gesso for distress textures and use gel medium to thin down our paints. She also showed us how to use transfer paper, also known as graphite carbon paper, to trace existing drawings into a painting...

When she gave the tracing demo she told us of the time she learned this technique in an art class and thought to herself:

"That's cheating!"

I piped up:

"It's not cheating - it's TIME EFFECTIVE!" ;)

  

A view of the class from the "Teachers Table"

Mati also gave a demo of adding silhouettes into a painting by either drawing an outline and painting it or cutting paper shapes to glue into the painting and a demo on using gold leaf.

In the afternoon, Kelly Rae gave a demo on making "girlies", the figures that are prominent in her work. It was my first time with Shiva Paint Sticks, or using oil paints of any kind. They have a wonderful texture when working and blending them with your fingers on the page - very creamy!

Before you knew it, "girlies' were taking shape...

  

my 'girlie' in the beginning phase...

  

my finished 'girlie' with a message inscribed in her hair: "she dreamed of far-away travel..."

  

here's Danielle with one of her 'girlies' from her book - they are SO cute!

 

  here's Chrissy immersed in making her duo of 'girlies'...

It was fun to see how our 'girlies' looked similar to ourselves or our personalities!

This was the night that a bonus class of Soul Collage was taking place. I was not going to participate since I wanted to focus on the class I came for and avoid artful overwhelm! It looked like a fantastic class though, so I wrote down the book name so I can get a copy to work with at home for making my own deck...or maybe Cindy will add Soul Collage as a three-day workshop for creating a whole deck! (hint, hint Cindy!)

I was going to use that time to work on my 'girlie' while the room was a little quieter and try to catch up by making more pages for my book. Also, I asked some new friends to stop by to show them something special I had been working on prior to the retreat...

More Fabulous Artist Women!

 

 3 Scorpio Women! From l to r: Diana, myself, Gwynnie

Here are two fabulous and amazing jewelry artists I met during my time at the retreat: Diana and Gwynnie*.

I sat with them during lunch and they seemed as though they were the best of friends for years, but they had just met at this retreat taking Nina's jewelry class - it was like that at the retreat! Everyone was your friend since we all had the common bond of being artists...

I told them about a project I had been working on that I submitted** for a gallery exhibit just before leaving for the retreat and I would not hear whether my artwork made it into the show until the end of the week after my return home. I had in fact brought it with me to share with Cathy and Chrissy, and I shared it with Danielle and Mindy too, but Diana and Gwynnie were SO enthusiastic about my concept at lunch that I shared it with them that night while Soul Collage was taking place. They love, love, LOVED my art piece! They wished me the best of luck getting into the gallery show...

...and get into the gallery show I did =-)

I will share the story of my artwork when these chronicles are over, but so you know, the artists reception takes place Friday March 5, 2010 in Ventura, CA. I will share images of my work on Monday, March 8, in time for International Women's Day, which is fitting for the concept I created.

Yes, it's been quite the whirlwind at the home of The Creative Beast!

Stay tuned for the last few stories of the Artful Journey Chronicles...

* I love that Gwynnie is very eco-conscious in her silver work...She and Diana are awesome Wise Women, also!

** the creation and submission of this artwork was quite an odyssey and you will definitely hear all about it next week!