Have you registered yet?

Deadline for meeting me in Orvieto, Italy is only 6 short weeks so it's time
to get in touch with Kristi Steiner and get your packet of information describing
the trip.
Best of all is that I will
be teaching there in Orvieto
from Sept 21- 27th.
Join me for imaginative
paper finishes using the
inspiration from what
see, touch and smell in
and around Orvieto.


Adventures in Italy marries cultural immersion and creative expression to provide
rich, real, learning, Italian Holiday.

By slowing to the Italian pace, feeling the rhythms of the day, you appreciate the
seductiveness of the dolce vita- sweet life. Your art of craft helps you see Italy
even more acutely, providing a powerful way to filter what you are experiencing.

LIFELONG LEARNING
3 OPTIONS
• Creative Expression with hands on learning
• For a Companion enjoy cultural aspects of the trip
• Culture, Wine, Food with a hands on approach

Look what I have!

Look close! 3 new, vintage labelers!
Count them, 1, 2, 3.
All different sizes, shapes & styles
and all a gift from Virginia Barrett of Texas
This beautiful and thoughtful woman gave
me these at Inspired Artist in Concord last
weekend. Yes, I have already used the
large 1" label for my "wholey card"
shrine that I created while I was there.
There is even one with "cursive" that I
have yet to try out. I need to get busy
and make something. How awesome is
this and how awesome is Virginia?
Thank you so much again and again.

INspired Artist Photos

Jen & her sister, Flavia drove up from the
Charlotte Quilt Show and brought Joyce & I
a yummy dinner from Maggianos. I was so
happy that she got to be a part of some of those
"magicical moments" at Donna Downey's
Inspired Artist in Concord.
Speaking of moments...
Paolo Liloc recorded each and every one those
with his professional photography last weekend
and here it is - an absolutely fabulous SLIDESHOW.

We're Back!

What an amazing weekend in Concord with the INspired Artist retreat.

Words cannot express the positively engaging relationships with everyone
there. You MUST go to Donna Downey's blog and watch her talk about it.
Her and her husband Bill pulled off an incredible event that "inspired" me
beyond belief. The energy of the group was so amazing and each and every
person there, was there for the right reason.
Here's a picture of a "shrine" that I created while demoing
some of the Tim Holtz crackle paints and our newest
Vintage Triptych wholey Card books.
Are we signed up for next year? You bet we are! Our space is picked out
and I will be teaching again, thanks to the encouragement of my students
who took the mica and transfer classes.
Oh yes, are we tired? Yes and no. After working the booth and teaching classes
all total we worked about 12-14 hours a day for 4 days. A little rest, a little
massage today and I'm good to go.
More pictures will be posted in a day or two.

Iron, steel, metal...it's all the same?

Ask sculptor, Ralph Berger that question because I sure don't know
the difference. Maybe there is none, but when I look at what he does
with it, I see ART. His blog is
filled with new pieces that he
has created from "found objects"
bigger than our version of
found objects... bouys, enormous saw blades, pressure tanks and whatever. Check it out. It is truly amazing esp. when I think of all the work that it must take to finish these.

Working with Gouache

One of the older issues of Cloth Paper Scissors inspired me to work with Gouache as a medium for resist and since I had never used it before I thought I would give it a try.
It's pretty interesting in that it washes off a surface, unlike acrylic which is there forever. I guess that means if I get it on my clothes, it will come off. hmmmmm - a bonus already.
The process started with a pencil drawing, then a wash of water color and then a coat of white/or any color you wish, actually all over the piece.


After it's dry, paint white gouache over the whole thing, but do not cover up the pencil lines.
When dry, you give the entire surface a coat of black india ink. Now, that's scarey because you see all of your work disappear under this black surface of ink.



When that's dry you take your piece to the sink and wash off all the india ink to reveal your images again. Let dry and then... work your creative magic to add color, embellishments, journaling, and more.



This whole idea of this came from Lauren Grant at our Kristi Steiner Diva Retreat in February although her process was a tad different.... using white acrylic paint, but that's a story for another day.
Meg Fowler and I sat down last Saturday on that cold and rainy day and did our thing with the gouache and are results were amazing. I like this so much I think that it just might become a class that you will see on my schedule.