Michael deMeng - hotter than ever!!!

With his 3rd year of workshops here in Saluda,

Michael continues to be a very hot commodity

and a very very popular teacher.
( notice the palette of Michael's "ushze" Golden Paints colors)



Day 1: Assemblooks
Belinda started this day by having
an encounter with a very sharp exacto knife.
After a quick trip to the Saluda Medical Center
and 5 stitches later she was back at it
creating her version of the "assemblook".
What a trooper!


The very talented Eleanor Love from
West Palm Beach, Florida arrived early
on Thursday to "get ready" for her
big weekend with Michael.

Michael & Jen's sister, Flavia
discuss paint washes on her
geographical maps that
she used in her book.
Just look at the cover that
she chose...

Since Flavia is a geologist and has a background
with animals it only made sense to her
to use her "ushze" materials.
and look at the notes that she
keeps...

Leslie Hamlin used a vintage
camera face that actually "clicked"
when she pushed the little lever.
How cool is that?
Does Jen look happy or what?
Michael shows everyone how to use
matte medium to transform the colors
and textures of his "ushze" washes on
Wholey Paper.
Greta's box of materials proved to
be a work of art in itself.

Eleanor Love's partially completed
Morpheus Box begins with
her covering the surface to
create a rich patina texture.
When all was said and done, it was all about the
process of creating and our mess
proved that to be "oh so true".

Savannah does it again!!!

8 grateful participants were pleasantly surprised at the
end of their
book class last weekend
with Savannah. After a "grueling" day of creating a
coptic stitch book and a nesting box .
10 shining King Tut original models were created
by photographer and artist Nancy Gruber
using professional rubber molds. Each were hand
painted and gold leafed.

Savannah and Nancy performed the ultimate "planned" surprise...
a handcrafted, original casting of King Tut to complete the book cover.

Savannah (L) and Nancy (R) show their complete King Tut
Egyptian Coptic Stitch 4 needle Book Project.
Left to Right
Cheryl Prose, Nancy Gruber, Savannah Canfield (aka queen of zirconia)
Marilyn Prudhomme, Libby Miller, Janet Hince (back) Betsy Libbey (front)
and Bob Libbey

Back from the Eastern Shore

No, not a beachy vacation but a working one at Art and Soul Retreat
in Hampton, VA. Wouldn't a nice leisurely stay at a sunny beach
resort be just the thing?
Instead Joyce and I packed up the Matrix with "assorted goods
for creative mindfulness" and headed to the Eastern Shore of VA.
Hitting a few exciting spots along the way made the trip a little less
trying. First stop: Trader Joes in Charlotte, then Chipotle in Greensboro

then on to the show.

Arriving in Hampton meant unpacking the Matrix and loading onto
a cart for an interesting ride up to the ballroom in a freight elevator.

Unpacking and getting our booth set up was another story. Between
taking classes
all day Saturday from Stephanie Lee and LK Ludwig

we rushed back and forth arranging our "goods" in just the right places
in our booth.
Low and behold and lines formed outside the market area, we completed
our last minute tasks and the crowds poured in.

After all was said and done
and we finally packed up
what was left, had a good
nights sleep and prepared to
head back home.
A quick breakfast at the embassy
suites and great conversations with
Crystal Chappell of Charlotte
helped reinforce our plans
for the upcoming year and
give us the momentum for
more successful events.
We love Crystal! What a joy
to interact with a like minded
soul who "is what she is" and has "purity of intent"

Armed with coffee and snacks we began our road trip back to Saluda with
a few intentional stops along the way that included Whole Foods in Durham,
an antique mall in Burlington, Trader Joes again in Charlotte for
Crystal's recommendations of peanut butter filled
pretzels & chile spiced mangoes. Last but not least
a "must have" Frappacino at Starbucks to hold us over.
It was a great weekend meeting new people, learning new things and
brainstorming about the future of Random Arts with new classes,
products and teachers.
It's going to be a great year at Random Arts with a few surprises, both
big and small as we make some important changes here.
Until then... the clues and secrets will be revealed a little at a time.

Sometimes it just happens....

We can't be in 2 places at once, as much as we all
have tried to make that happen. Somethings gotta
give, so the shop in Saluda has to be closed this Sat. May 3rd
because we will be at Art and Soul in Hampton, VA.
Everyone there will be so excited to see us selling
our "assorted goods for creative mindfulness".
Live in the area? come by and see us form 7-10 on
Sat. night at the Embassy Suites on Colisseum Drive
in Hampton, VA.
Look at them, they are all looking through our 50¢ stacks of scrap fabrics!!!
It's a 3 hour frenzy of frantic shoppers
looking for the unique and out of the
ordinary "assorted goods" that we have become
known for. Do ya think that they will find something good?
In the meantime, don't try stopping by our retail shop in Saluda 'cause the doors will
be closed for the day... that's Sat. May 3rd, 2008. See ya when we get back.

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.

Diva Reunion photos

Just adding another photo of our fabulous and creative
adventure here in Saluda . 12 of us gathered together
again for a 2 year reunion with Kristi Steiner
here in Saluda at Snails Pace.


The weather was certainly
in our favor as several of us took a short hike
to Pearson Falls right here in Saluda.
Along the way we gathered interesting fragments from
nature to inspire our afternoon journaling and collage.

An ATC a day... .continued

No, not mine but that of Gerard and Amanda from
Wilson, NC. Check it out. They are amazing and
talented, just like us. Every day
he creates a drawing on an ATC
and gives it to her.
Follow their blog to see their
newest additions.

It's finally here!

Cloth Paper Scissors® Studios
This special issue is dedicated to creating beautiful, inviting, unique, and functional studios for making collages, quilts, handmade books, and other types of fiber and mixed-media art. You will enjoy a full color zine with fascinating looks at studios and spaces of artist such as Cheryl Prater, Debbie Crane, Beryl Taylor, Tracie Lyn Huskamp, Judi Coates Perez, Lesley Riley and many more. They graciously open the doors to their studios and show us
where "the magic happens"

STUDIOS
" A Spa for the Creative Soul" from the publishers of Cloth Paper Scissors

• 10 projects to personalize your creative space
• Budget storage solutions
• 101 ways to organize your art and fabric supplies
• Extreme studio makeover with Patricia Bolton, Editor CPS

and much, much more.
Available now at Random Arts

Cleveland County Arts Workshops

9 enthusiastic participants joined me in Shelby, NC at
the Cleveland County Arts Council this past Tuesday night.
Each person created their own interpretation
of a self portrait...or not. Some chose to do
favorite animals, or very abstract images.
From glossy magazine pages to
a complete "work of art" -
a fun time was had by all.
Thanks to everyone who
attended and thanks
to Ellen Yunker for asking me
to be a part of their awesome facility.

Look who's here!

A surprise and unexpected visit from Barbara McGuire, PMC & polymer clay artist, author, craftsperson, teacher, TV Star and more.....

You all know her, right? You have seen her books, read her books, seen her name in all the publications? She called to say that she was in the area and she had heard all about our shop and wanted to come by. We had a fabulous time visiting and catching up on who's where, who is doing what in the industry. Anyone interested in doing some extraordinary classes in polymer clay please let me know. We have an accomplished artist near by who is anxious to be a part of our shop.

Saluda Shelf

Update on the shelf
Yes, the "Q" went missing the day after it was placed on the shelf
but we sort of expected that. See.......................it's gone!
We are just wondering what is going to show up next.
Each day another piece of art, nature, frivolity, garbage, what?
Who is going to add the next item? Follow up to continue with YOU
as a participant.

Look at this... Last week I cut some branches off of my

flowering quince and forsythia shrubs and brought them
into my kitchen. This is something that I had always wanted to do
but for some reason I either cut them too late or I was too early.
This year.... perfection.

Unexpected visitors to Random Arts on Saturday...
Gerard Lange -(check out the portfolio on artist books)
Art Professor at Barton College, Wilson,
NC and Amanda, a High School Art teacher overjoyed me
with their presence and shared their stories, journals and
ATC's with me. Gerard creates an ATC each & every day....
He draws these with fine art pencils on 2ply water color
paper & is inspired from his beautiful relationship with
his fiance, Amanda. One day it might be a shopping cart
drawing from their trip to the market. Next time it might
be the calculator they used & the next day it might be
a drawing of her jeep. She has kept each & every one of
his ATC's in 3 separate wooden boxes that she obviously
treasures more than anything. She teaches her high
school art students, among other things,
altered books and he teaches photo shop
at Barton College which includes transferring the process
into journals. Both of them have done such amazing work
as you can see from her journal pages.
I could not help but be inspired by all that they
shared with me... including their loving
relationship...aaahhhhhhh. I think I might have
encouraged him to do a blog of his ATC's so I will
keep you posted on that. They are incredible & Amanda is sure
that his work will be published some day and I think that
she might be right.Be sure to check out his web site.

Diva retreat update...

As promised, updates and photos from our Diva Retreat will continue.
Linda just sent a few awesome pictures so I wanted to included them
for all to see.

Have you seen it?

A mysterious shelf, attached to a telephone pole,
right here on Main Street in Saluda has found it's
resting spot. Some call it a shrine, an altar, a drop
spot or work of art waiting to be.
From what I hear, people are visiting and dropping
off all sorts of "personal treasures" on this shelf.
Some may choose to "take" from it instead of
giving, but that too is part of the universal process ---
to add, to subtract --- to give---to take----
to create. Let's just observe and see what happens.