Studying With The "Masters"

I'm so excited to share that I'm going to Art & Soul Retreat in Virginia Beach this weekend to paint and play with my own personal, modern-day Master... Mindy Murphy Lacefield! Yippee! I'll be taking her Play Journal workshop where she'll coax students to let out their inner child and play and get lost in the process of painting, writing, and journaling.

If you follow my blog, I'm sure you've seen a lot of the paintings I did from her Paint Your Story online workshop...

And then mixed media pieces inspired by her True Free Spirit class online...

And maybe a few from the mini Frolic class she offered virtually! But there's not too much better than studying with someone you admire — in-person — for two days straight! I've met Mindy Lacefield and her spirit is just as colorful, whimsical and tenderly sentimental as the work she does. She is such a loving, approachable person and everyone I know who's life she's touched is more playful today... in part because of her.

Now that's what I call a Master!

Lollipop Circus...

Whew! It's been a long time since I've been able to paint. I've been kind of busy with things lately, but it's funny how my brain doesn't stop "painting" throughout the day (and night)! I imagined this stick-like figure of a girl before I had begun, but after that... the rest was up to my imagination.

I painted and thought and played... and painted and thought and played some more. It was hard. I didn't know where to go with it and those old "being afraid to commit" ghosts kept showing up. With encouragement from my Facebook friends... I decided to be brave, go with my gut, and whatever happened... happened.

I was loving the brightly neon, obnoxious color combinations and so I tied them into a few favorite themes of mine... the circus and candy. I added a tent in the clouds and a pinwheel lollipop garden... and this dreamy canvas was born. You can't really go wrong when you paint what you love.

Lincoln Had a Twin?

Junking. I love it. Especially when you find something that you've never seen before. And what do Mike and Frank say? The time to buy something unique is when you see it! Well, that's what happened after stopping in an antique cooperative out in the middle of nowhere'sville. I was seeing double when I came upon these twin Lincoln porcelain doll heads. I had NO freaking idea what the heck I was going to do with them... but they intrigued me tremendously.

I walked away, as they had no price tag... but I kept walking back to visit them. I tried to justify purchasing them in my own little hoarder brain (do you do that too?), so that I could take them home. I thought so many things...

Eh, maybe they're out of my price range for not knowing what I'll do with them.

Maybe I'll just buy one. Yeah, that would make sense and probably fit my budget. But how could I leave one head behind? Which one would I choose? Ugh.

Maybe I can use Lincoln's head as a part of hybrid animal assemblage?

Or maybe I'll make a really, really tall rag doll.

Perhaps I can gather up some of my tin items and have a Tin Man Lincoln?

Ooooh! Maybe I can use their heads on a carnival style assemblage.... like some weird ride or something... with giant Lincoln heads on top of the "building"... and teeny arms beckoning the children to come inside! Yeah, that's it!

SOLD!

And, you know what? When I trepidatiously brought them to the counter and asked their price... the kind-hearted gentleman behind the counter said...

Five dollars.

I said, "each?"

Nope, $5 for both.

So I walked out with my twin Lincoln heads, smiling all the way home. Now to just find some time to bring my wild idea to life!

Do Me A Favor?

Recently, I got to utilize my crafty and graphic design skills to create favor tags for my little brother's upcoming wedding! He and his fiancé are getting married at a local venue on the water, so I wanted to incorporate something seashore-ish. The wave made the perfect statement and went with their navy blue theme. The bride and groom were very happy with how they came out... and I am so very happy that my brother is marrying such a lovely young lady. With this wedding I am gaining a wonderful new sister and a great friend. We're all very lucky!