LIFE BOOK 2015: January

I splurged and signed up for an art class Life Book 2015. 

 I was so excited to jump in that I printed off the PDF and failed to watched the video.  Hence why the face is a lil darker than my complexion :). I was using acrylic paint bs watercolor crayons.  Needless to say I had some work to do. 

Hence the transformation went from one extreme to another. And finally ended by using Kate Thompson's stencils, Take 10 January Kit stamps, and alcohol inks. 

Oh yeah...And some gold glitter nail polish :)

My Beacon of Light...I love it!!

The next bonus video was a tag so I created this sewn one with an old film slide, Ashley G stamps, and word stickers.  

The Wordsmith class was next up and this was my result. 

Then came the Girl On the High Wire. 

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go."

And the final week contained two classes: dream catcher and affirmation feather.

HAPPY SUMMER!

Swim into the unknown....

DISCOVER its beauty. 

INSPIRED ARTIST: Day 3

Ok, so I was a little late today....and Michelle did beat me to class (and she even ran 6 miles)

So I plopped myself in my chair and geared up for a lesson on Pan Pastels.

I honestly didn't like the technique at first, but then truly love how Donna inspired us with her demonstration and the samples she acquired for us to use as reference.  The end is a more abstract point of view...which I am trying to strive for....LET GO OF ALL THE FINE LINES, ETC.

Some new friend I made at my table. Such great artists.

My first attempt with Corre Alice image.

(as you can see Michelle and Laura were ahead of me due to my tardiness,

but they were more than kind to catch me up)

And this was the result before blending...

And then after...

and now time for a few details and lines.

It was very abstract, but it grew on me...

and now I love using Pan Pastels.

So I went for another page with them.

Using Karen Keiffer's image.

And then...yes, ANOTHER LESSON WITH ANOTHER MEDIUM.

Water Soluable Oil Pastels.I went with the face, to get out of my comfort zone.

Not sure who the artist is of the above image, but they are great.

I couldn't get her forehead right, but still love the end result.

It is amazing how the white add so much. I added neon to her lips.

Who would have known?!?

And then it was Buffy's turn to show off her knowledge and talent in the Watercolor arena.

(Can you see how you can be blown away from all this information and plethora of materials?...

IT WAS AWESOME!!)

masking fluid, watercolor, salt

watercolors, saran wrap

And then while those dried, and we waited for our LIMO....I played around in my journal.

I took the idea of the stamped face and hair from Michelle.  She is so inspiring....and you should see her Oil Pastel girl.  AWESOME!!

AND THEN IT WAS TIME TO EAT....well ride..then EAT.

So much fun getting to know everyone and laughing and chatting and meeting new friends.

It sure is a small world when 2 gals from Salt Lake City come to Huntersville, and end up knowing one of my friends from back home.  Such sweet beings.

And who can resist a Lemon Drop Martini

(or rather Vodka with some sugar and lemon...so strong but good)

Meal was Blackened Chicken Alfredo, Strawberry Cobbler.

YUMMY!  (I failed to take a pic of the Spicy Crab Tomato Bisque)

And then the day was over with full hearts and full bellies!

INSPIRED ARTIST: Day 1

For the LOVE OF ART!

It's INSPIRED time with Donna Downey. LOVE HER!

And who wouldn't with such goodies waiting for us upon arrival..and great participants ready to dig in.

After a ANOTHER delicious meal from Grandma Cookie, we went through all kinds of mediums, materials, and plethora of information by the lady in pearls, Donna.  Such a wealth of information and one of the 5% who knows how to mix paints. :)  I felt so overwhelmed with all the information and materials in front of us, so I told myself....JUST DO WHATEVER...GO WITH THE FLOW AND LET GO!

And I DID!!!

The first step was to apply gesso to all sides.  And once again, a genius idea from Donna to use a mini paint-roller to apply.  So much faster, easier, and hardly any drying time. YAY/

And then it was just time to

PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!

I can't believe how much we all did in the time we had.

And this was just the first layer to the pages...Wait to you see what they turn into.

CRAZY!!

It was lots of stencils, tar gel, pumice medium, matte medium, heavy gesso, black lava, neons, Golden Fluids, glass gel, fiber paste, gold mica, and on and on.  Donna carries so many goodies in her shop

And then it was time to go home and decompress while planning on what to do tomorrow, what to try out....hence I was up until 4 a.m. with my mind going. So I went ahead and used the Molotow white marker to doodle on the Moleskine from class.  Love it.

And I snuck in my 2014 One Little Word...HELLO