Chicago adventure

Here we are just soaking up the excitement of the game
at Murphy's Bleachers for a quick burger and
some pre-game celebration. If
any of you have been to a Chicago Cubs game
you know what I mean. You can't go to
Wrigley Field without stopping at the local
establishments like the Cubby Bear Lounge
on Addison right outside of Wrigley Field
front entrance. Hey Hey Hey== Go Cubs Go.Here is where the red line L drops you off
as you stumble off the train feeling a breath
of fresh air after being squished in with
hundreds of people trying to get to the park.

Yes, the cubs have their own band right outside
the gates at clark and addison. Ok Ok
I am a little crazy and I still think that I
am 30 yrs old, but at a Cubs Game at Wrigley
Field.... I AM!
Only those that have been there
and experienced all of this can understand.
It's been 14 years since my last game
and it was time to get back into the
swing of things with the band.
Go Cubs Go.
Go Cubs Go.
Cubs are gonna win today!!!!
and...
they did!

Material Matters

Along with 4th of July activities in Columbus (upper arlington) Ohio, the Material Matters
quilt show display was at the Columbus Museum of Art.
"Quiltmaking in the 21st Century".

Trip back home... Chicago

The city looks better than ever , especially with the addition of Millennium Park
and Navy Pier. Although the park has always been at Randolph and Michigan
it has been greatly enhanced since we lived there 14 years ago. Below is a pic
of the Lurie Gardens located in the park. Truly amazing was the sharp contrasting
textures and colors of the prairie flowers with the amazing architecture of the
the surrounding areas. The flowering perennials and grasses cover a large area
of the the park and pleasant paths allow for quiet and peaceful walks through
every nook and cranny of the area.
At night we wondered about in Streeterville, an area located along the Chicago River from
Michigan Ave to Navy Pier and took fabulous photos of every possible building and skyline
including the new trump tower that Bill from the apprentice is working on. We even stopped into that hotel along the way to lunch. The building is not completed, but interestingly enough
the hotel area is open at only $695 a night for a basic room. Every day the building grew a little more as we watched the cranes hoist i beams, lumber, glass and more to the very top.

Topping off the week was a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Even
though we didn't have tickets we boarded the heavily crowded, body to
body, squished in Red Line L to the ever famous Addison stop. Everyone
piled out of the train and into the ever popular bars in and around the filed.
We, of course, did the same at Murphys and the Cubby Bear at Clark and
Addison.
Just like the "olden days" we looked for tickets only to find out that
#1 - scalping tickets is LEGAL now
#2 - there were plenty of tickets available on the street
#3 - the price isn't $1. anymore, for bleacher seats ; try $100!

Happily for all attending, except the Cinci fans, Cubs win, Cubs win, Cubs win!!!!!!!!
And I guessed the total attendance... 41,360! A win for me, too. (only cubs fans will
know what that one means)

Buying trip

What have we all been waiting for since last September? You knowwwwwww.... the ATC wizard
templates from European Papers. I had to drive all the way to Columbus, Ohio to their shop to get them and of course the other bonus was getting to see Lisa Ohmer, the owner of The Columbus Center for Book Arts & European Papers. Knowing that she had a Miniature Book show in the gallery here gave me additional
incentive to make every possible effort to get here to see her shop. I met her at a
international hobby show for retailers several years ago and wanted to reintroduce
myself to her, see the show and shop shop shop. With a 3 year old grandson in tow
it was difficult to get as much time in the shop as I wanted. So this little bit of
magic was enough to hold me over until the next trip.

What a joy that was to explore, if only for a few short moments, this gem hidden in a quaint carriage house in a great little artsy area of Columbus.Not only was I able to carry back a supply of ATC wizard templates, Lisa told me
all about an ATC Swap that she is doing with some playing card type atc's that
are pre-printed and ready for you to do your magic. Anyone interested in joining
in can stop by and I will give you a set of these cards to work on.

I have more details on this that will be posted when I get back, so stay tuned
and if you want the cards, please let me know asap. I will save you a set.

Space available this Sat. June 28th

When Kristi unveiled to us, this past February, her fused fabric & paper booklace we knew immediately that we had to get her on the calendar to come teach in Saluda. Finally the time has arrived. This Sat. June 28th Kristi will be in Saluda for a full day workshop and she promises... that we can complete this in one day.

This is how she describes her one of a kind "booklace"


Take some of your favorite fabrics, add bits of old papers, mix them together in a fanciful collage, top off with your own hand embellishments, bind all into a beautiful book, wire on a wonderful chain and you have a captivating booklace!

Learn how to use new fusible products to create your booklace base. Tips for striking collage combinations and thorough adhesive information are demonstrated. Hand embroidery stitches are explained as well as ideas for adding yummy embellishment details. Play with tinting techniques for colorful book pages, then learn how to bind them easily together. Simple wiring methods are explained for adding your favorite charms and beads to the metal booklace chain.

You will be proudly wearing your dear creation home with ideas dancing in your head for the more enchanted booklaces.

Call or email to register for Saturday's class.
828-749-1165
The cost: $95
The time: 10-4
Includes: pastries and coffee at 9am
a full day instruction with Kristi
a catered lunch
a supply kit
and...
a guaranteed full day of fun and creativity!

Can you feel the magic?

Gifts, Thank You's & More Pics

Thank you Katie Kendrick for
this delightful creation. Is it a fish?
A doll? A worm? A funky folk art doll?
No matter what
it is, I love it and I SO
appreciate Katie's thoughtfulness.
This will find a good home in
my studio.
While Katie was here in Saluda she taught
a Funky Folk Art Doll workshop
which included her quick & easy
lessons on how to paint these unique faces.



Above is Meg Fowler's completed
doll, although her creation is a
not really a doll, it's Sunshine,
a local raccoon that finds
food and shelter on top of
her mountain near Saluda.
There's plenty of stories about
her raccoons that she is happy to
tell including the one about this
sad little gal that lost part of her
tail recently... poor baby.
I think that Meg made up for
that loss with the multitude
of beads and baubles that
she hand sewed on this one.

Below is Sharon Kolbye's
interpretation of the Folk Art Doll.


Sharon Kolbye attended Katie's class
class as well and completed her
blooming creation the very next day.
Really really cool Sharon.

LAST MINUTE ADDITION:
Go to Lynn Roberts' blog for
more pics & news about Katie's classes

Jean Moore of Asheville brought along
one of her sweet little paper doll creations
(Look closely, she put my name on this one)
that were published in Artful Paper Dolls.
How adorable is that? What a good
idea as a place setting for a tea party
or a bridal or baby shower.

It was an exciting weekend here
with artist Katie Kendrick from
Belfair, Washington.
Her 14 x 18 piece above was sold
before it even arrived here. All
she had to do was put it on her blog
and Meg bought it!
(check out Carol Sloan's Blog for more pics
and projects from the weekend)

Katie launches into the day with
some basic information on
blending Golden paints to achieve
flesh tones for the faces.

Jean Moore (L) Lina Olson (M)
and Joyce Berger (R) look
very intent as they proceed to do
their doll faces for their folk art doll.

Angela Rand from Fairhope, Alabama
creates her unique face on canvas for
her wall hanging.

This is one of Mary Bryan Roberts'
faces that she completed in the
Fabric Wall Hanging class.

Betsy Libbey works on her face for
the Folk Art Doll.

She was quite proud of
her results.

This was the first time for many of the
participants to draw and paint faces.
Happily for everyone, we weren't into
realism.

NEW DATES FOR PATTI BRADY

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
A miscommunication between us has occurred. Oh well...
just change the dates for Patti's , GoldenPaints
workshops
from "friday and saturday"
to
Saturday August 23rd and
Sunday August 24th
in Saluda
at the Senior Center.
This is Patti Brady's second year here at random arts!
She is the Golden Working Artist Program Director
and last year we just couldn't bear to have the day end
so we scheduled her for this 2 day big event.

Here is the description of this 2 day event. Yes, it is a 2 day workshop inclusive.

In this two day workshop we will explore a multitude of surfaces created with gels and grounds. I'll cover new digital grounds that allow you to print images on a multitude of flat surfaces: non-porous papers, acetate, acrylic skins, even aluminum foil. We will cover some of the technical challenges of working with inkjet printers and explore ideas for incorporating these images with gels, in a textured collage. Explore inventive combinations of images and acrylic gels in unique and surprising applications. This workshop will be all about "ideas" not necessarily creating an end project.

Our space at the Senior Center is big, it's well lit and it's air conditioned.
and... there's a catered lunch every day and
there's pastries and coffee early at
the shop.


How could you ask for more. Don't miss out on
this 2 day event. You're bound to learn a whole
bunch of stuff that will be jam packed into 2
days! The cost? Only $195. for 2 full days.
You can register by calling us at 828=749-1165
or you can email us to register
or....
you can paypal the amount to us.
at:
randomarts@charter.net
First come first serve! Register early to be sure that you are IN!

Now showing....

I just love the faces that
Meg Fowler does.

Each one so expressive,
so intuitive, so much
passion and personality.


Amazing things come
out of this woman and
i always wonder why I
can't do it.
I try doing faces but mine
never come out as good as hers.
She rocks the art world and yet
she doesn't get the recognition.

I have seen her gourd art,
her sewing projects, her
painting, her beading,
her sketching, her embroidery,

her jewelry and on and on and on.

Is there nothing that this woman can't do?
Oh yes, her books. I forgot about
that. She is an incredible book artist as well.
I have said for a while now that
I want to do a show of

Meg's work and I am
quite sure that I could fill an entire room
with all the amazing pieces that
she has created.

My favorite ATC's

I just loved these 2 ATC's that were created by
Bobbie Kittner from DC.
Come to find out, she is a graphic designer!
She used our wholey paper as part
of the process however it's the
the design and composition that
intrigued me the most. First of
all she used a very heavy 300#
water color paper as the base
and then created her collage in
the center. Her color choice is
warm and it all seems to
work really really well.
An antique glossy finish
was applied over the top
giving it a cohesive & well
put-together work of art.
Imagine these as a huge wall hanging
either in fabric or paper.
One would never know that these are
tiny little 2.5 x 3.5 ATC's.
Thank you, for being so generous
with your work.

Below right and left
are two that I created after
admiring her work for the last few weeks.
My artist friend, Sa Smith, created the one
in the center. She is a water color artist
and teacher and working with this medium
challenged her somewhat, although you
would never know it!

Another happy artist!

Carol Sloan from Atlanta writes:

Hi Jane!

My friend, Paula, and I came in to the shop yesterday and we LOVED it! And you were right, I think that Jen DID have bells on! What an awesome "gal" she is, a gem for you I'm sure. She was so helpful to us. And so excited about a couple of things that we got excited too!

But I just wanted to let you know how very much I enjoyed shopping there. You really are unlike any shop I've ever been in...it's like Dr Frankenstein collided with a mixed media truck or something...oh, I know, how about this

old+new+art=Random Arts

or

Carol+Jen+Paula+Random Arts = Damn, I spent a lot of money!

lol...

All laughs aside, you have an awesome shop! I did have one question burning in my head though...where in the world do you have room to hold classes at?

Thanks so much and do tell Jen thanks as well!

Deadline for Orvieto Italy approaching.....

I will choose my flowers carefully...
each petal as special
as the other
each petal imperfect
each petal a wonder
with these in hand I place
them on the sill in my room
Sharing my thoughts of the
day, wandering through the
narrow streets of Orvieto.

I am getting so excited about teaching in Orvieto Italy

this Sept. and I wanted to share a few hints of what you
can expect from this awesome experience.

Notice the rich colors,
the rusted wholey paper,
the marriage of texture & design.
It's all about Orvieto.

It's all about
the journey that we will take for those
5 days through the streets and into the
caves and through the vineyards.

Imagine
yourself sitting in a 300 year old
convent, peering out the aged glass windows
or feeling the breeze blow through the open
doors. Inside you are creating with abandon.
You are doing what you love in this magical place
called Orvieto. You are here with special
people who share your interests in art,
living a full life and being true to who you
really are.
Imagine bringing an olive tree leaf
into our classroom and using it for
an impression on our ever so famous
"mystery foam". Using colors
to make that impression from what
you see outside your space... bringing
it within and feeling free to create
in a nurturing atmosphere.
I am so looking forward to seeing you
in this special place.
Kristi Steiner and her husband Bill
coordinate this event perfectly for
each and everyone of us and are happy
to answer any questions you may have.
Please feel free to email her with your
questions about Orvieto, the classes,
companion day trips and more.
It's an Adventure in Italy to say the least!

mystery arrival

OK who sent this to us?

a package with no return address... no note,
and our only clue is a Charlotte postmark.
Yes, there is another clue... it arrived right
after the quilt show in Charlotte.
Anyone have any more clues as to why
we received this in the mail?
Any ideas as to why someone would send
us a package containing about 20 "artgirlz"
pewter charms?