Taking Time to Play...

If we think about the last time we actually played with paint and pencils and crayons and stamps — with no expectations and no judgements about our work — it was probably like... when we were 7 or so? I know for myself... I can't even remember what it was like to not make an icky face at my first attempt at anything!

Which is why I felt it was so absolutely necessary to take Mindy Lacefield's Play Journal workshop at the Art & Soul Retreat recently. She teaches... nay... preaches... living from your authentic childlike self and her fun and whimsical attitude is contagious!

Her work is so playful and visually stimulating in a witty, lighthearted way... that I just needed to be a part of that type of creation face-to-face...

That's why even though I've taken her classes online for almost a year now, I still felt compelled to learn with her in-person in a 2-day workshop. And I am so very happy that I did!

We started off with some warm-up exercises... drawing on deli paper with our non-dominant hand (we'd use that later in our journals). Once we crafted our journals (it was easy peasy!), we jumped right in to putting paint on paper, which is still always exciting and scary for me each time I do it!

Painting. Stamping. Mark-making. Drawing. Gluing. Lettering. These are things that just bring pure joy when there is no end result in mind. And it was fun! I gave myself permission to let go.

And it was so cool to watch my pages as they progressed. I ended up disassembling my journal because I wanted to add elements to multiple pages and my 7 year old self couldn't wait for them to dry (who am I kidding, that's the impatient me today!). I was so overcome with excitement and the desire to add more and more (and more!) that I found myself shoving lunch into my mouth faster than I could chew it... just so I could get back to the classroom more quickly. Come on! Hurry up! So you can have more fun!!

We had a fabulous group dynamic in our class and we all fed off of each other's energy. We journaled and shared stories, got a little teary-eyed, laughed a lot, shared some more, got ideas from each other and evolved as a group. At the end of day two we had a little show-and-tell. Everyone did such a great job and each person's creations were uniquely their own. It was a blast!

And after I returned home, the party didn't stop! I was obsessed with mark-making and doodling and painting and finding just the right piece of epemera to complete an empty space. I was kind of cracking myself up over cracking up. Is my therapist on call, I wondered?

But I finally came down a bit, off of the major adrenaline high I was on, and just enjoyed the whole process. I found that after Mindy's workshop, I was more free to make marks, really letting go of the fact that they might get covered up. I had more confidence that I could make those marks again if need be, or take the technique and use it as a new tool in another way on another page. And yes, I will be making like a gazillion more of these journals!

In fact, this mermaid is the result of what I created over that background above. I covered up a lot of marks and painting and drawing and little bits of ephemera. But I love this page oh so much. And I made sure to document it before I covered it. So anything I had, I'll know exactly how to re-create it again for another page.

To be honest,  I wasn't sure how much I'd learn from an in-person class from a teacher I had studied with online. But to my surprise, the person that signed up for that workshop and the person who came home from it ... well, they're two different people. And it's hard to find words that express what a wonderous time I had, and how much my art has changed as a result of it. I am over-the-moon excited every day knowing that all I had to do to move forward, was move backwards... and revisit my childhood self.

I'm so happy I remembered how to play. Makes life (and art) a lot more fun. Wheeeeeee!

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!

On Safari... A Ticket To Adventure...

You know, sometimes my life isn't about making art... it's about making graphic art! Yes, my actual background is in Graphic Design and although I don't talk about it much... it definitely has had a tremendous impact on my art.

Recently, I designed this logo for Art & Soul Mixed Media Art Retreats, showcasing their 2013 theme of "On Safari". The challenge arose when I was asked to create tickets for each class that will take place at the retreat. I wanted to utilize the animals and other elements from the original logo... but how? Well, in this digital age it takes only seconds to Google the words "jungle + safari" and get fodder for all kinds of ideas! Gone are the days of scouring hoarded copies of Print and Design magazines for just the right "look". Ahhhh, technology.

So I took my ideas and created a look-book on Pinterest and then tried a few for myself. The silhouettes of the animals had the best effect and a sunset-style graduated background color topped it off quite nicely. I love using elements as text and so I borrowed the Acadia Tree to use as the "I" in SAFARI. I created 4 different tickets with each of the animals I used in the original logo to create diversity and collectibility.

I just love a good theme and I'm very happy with the way these tickets turned out. Playing around with graphics is always an adventure for me. What can I say... sometimes work is fun!

Let's Go On Safari...

I'm so excited to introduce a logo I designed for Art & Soul Mixed-Media Retreats and their 2013 On Safari theme! When Glenny Moir asked me to create the logo for next year's theme... I was ecstatic. That little hamster wheel in my brain started going a mile a minute. What should I do? Maybe a Survivor themed logo... Outwit, Outcraft, Outlast? Maybe an animal print logo... like a zebra or a cheetah? But when it came down to the actual design, I ended up just gathering as many jungle and safari images that struck my fancy until the ultimate idea came to fruition.

Playing around with the mixed-media theme, I thought it would be fun to silhouette a bunch of animals that you'd see on a safari... using the many types of papers, fabrics and ephemera I love to use in my own collage work! So I searched through my own papers, books and even random pieces of fabric to find just the right look for each animal. After creating a pleasing composition for the animals it was time to design the logo for the theme.

I knew I wanted to use the Acadia Tree and once I had that in place, everything else just seemed to fall together. Even when I'm doing graphic design, my process seems to be very organic. I get inspired by the serendipity of the moment... and I just go with it. For example, using the tree as the '1' in 2013 just kind of popped into my brain... just like having the giraffe eating the '&' just kind of happened. So I ended up with the perfect combination of clever and whimsy, and I must say...

I'm wild about it!

Letting Go...

I recently got the opportunity to attend a two-day painting workshop with Jesse Reno at my all-time favorite Virginia retreat... Art & Soul. I absolutely love his primitive style and his methods of painting intrigued me to no end! Painting with your hands, graffiti-style markings, and layers upon layers of acrylics, shapes and symbols was something I wanted to explore for my art.

Jesse himself is his own canvas, covered in marks and images that tell his own story and remind him of what is important in his life. He openly shared many of those stories with us, and showed how sometimes disparate events seem to come full circle. He's come along very far on his own journey of quiet, reserved artist to the extremely deep, acutely aware master he is today. It was an honor being part of this storytelling process.

After creating a few samples of backgrounds for our art, Jesse picked up a couple of the students samples (anonymously) to critique them for the class. Of course he picked mine up first and inside I was secretly blushing with excitement! However, he actually wanted to show the class what not to do! My piece had too many same-sized areas of paint and pattern, and was mostly all mid-tones. A few years ago I would have turned bright red, flushed with embarrassment, and felt like nothing I ever do is right. But this day, I was excited and thought to myself... Oooooh! What can I do to fix this? That's a huge step for me. Making mistakes has been the bane of my existence. Could this be a whole new Michelle?

After spending quite some time reworking our initial efforts, we switched gears and did some drawing exercises on plain white paper. This was so we could get an idea of what we were creating without a busy background to distract us. It's funny, but this is still one of my favorite pieces. I haven't gone any further with it. But I think I like the contrast of the white and how the faces stand out.

The next day it was the big leap. drawing on the backgrounds we created. One of my pieces started out like this, but it changed... alot! Jesse taught us how to step back and look at the things we like and the things we don't like. He showed us how we could change up the boring areas and higlight the interesting areas.

So then turned into this. But by this time I had gotten to the point where I wasn't afraid to change things. (Just take a picture first, and) Move on! I liked my little deer cat thing in the bottom left corner, but he just didn't make sense there. The eye to the right was looking like a fish, so I changed it up again.

...and so my piece finally made it to this after I returned home. I feel like it's okay, but it's not as "me" as it could be. At one point I had walked around the classroom looking at everyone else's art and getting a little jealous. Many were doing Jesse's techniques, but in their own style. So I stepped back and realized that because I'm a "recovering perfectionist", it takes me time to execute new ways of doing things. And that I was mimicking his style so that I could learn what I needed to and then I could apply it to my own style later on.

In fact, this piece I did awhile back — having been inspired by Jesse's paintings — is more me than anything I created in the workshop. But now I have the tools, as well as the perspective, to be able to look at what I don't like... and fix it. And I'll remember the most important advice from his class... sometimes you just need to make a move. It doesn't always matter what you do... just do something and the next step will reveal itself.

I'm thrilled that I got to take this class. It was an amazing experience at just the right time in my life. I'm looking forward to how my art will evolve because of it! Hurrah!

Thoughtful Thursdays: Graphic Design!

You may or may not know that my original creative background was in Graphic Design. I studied Advertising and Marketing in High School, and liked it so much... I chose it as my major in college. Before I quit my job to make art full time, I worked for several companies in an Art Directorial capacity. In-house design departments, ad agencies, publishers, and a little bit of freelance. I've designed everything from business cards to books, magazine advertising to marketing materials, point of purchase displays to packaging.

These days, I still have one long-standing freelance client — Art & Soul Retreats. I started as a very enthusiastic attendee at their mixed media events way back in 2005 and befriended the owner Glenny Moir. Eventually she asked me to design a logo for one of the retreats, and that led to a few teaching gigs as well. Fast forward a few years, when they were in need of a new Graphic Designer... and the rest is history.

I always have a great time designing the ads for Art & Soul, as the subject matter is... well... my favorite! Funny thing is — even in this day and age of computers — I love to sketch out the ads just like I did in college. It's a habit I never got out of. I mean... computers are fast and all... but not that fast. And I enjoy looking back at my sketch when the ad is finished. Sometimes it's pretty darn close!

The Circus Has Come To Town...

Come on in folks...

Now, don't be shy! Right here under the tents you'll find arcade toys and clowns and visual illusions of all sorts and kinds. You'll encounter oddities and freaks and things you've never seen before. So step right up for the spectacle of all spectacles... it's Yesterday's Trash!

Whew! In the past two weeks my life has been a little like a circus! First, mom and I took a trip down to Hampton, Virginia to sell some stuff at the Art & Soul Retreat's Vendor Night. Usually I'm an attendee, but I thought I'd try my hand at selling now that I'm a full time "Maker". But I didn't only bring my art...

I made sure to put plenty of junk in my trunk... well, because it's that kind of crowd. It's fun to see everyone sifting through the bags of antique baubles, vintage game pieces, jewelry bits and tons of ephemera. Because... that's what I'm usually doing!

On the way home, we hit at total of 6 flea markets, antique stores, goodwill buildings and this little lean-to-turned-antique-heaven that would make Mike and Frank from American Pickers proud! We're going to go back soon and do the whole circuit again (just the junkin' part)!

And if coming off of one show and getting ready for the Music & Arts Festival in my home town this past Saturday weren't enough... I decided to start and finish a pair of Ruby Slippers for a gallery show!

Then back to the business at hand... creating more business! This weekend's Festival brought perfect weather, a diverse group of artists, and lots of interested shoppers! Being in a beach town and living near the boardwalk, my style of art definitely touched the hearts of many attendees!

And because my art was different from most... I landed myself a video interview by Ocean Grove's very own Blogfinger. They took a shining to my Sideshow Banner and had me talk about the inspiration behind it. Fun!

But I must say, now that I have those art shows behind me... I'm looking forward to finally getting back to "work" and also being able to clean the house. The circus life ain't easy, folks... but it sure is fun! Ta-daaa!

Thoughtful Thursdays: Rejuvenating The Soul...Getting Away!

Sometimes there comes a time when you've had enough... when the hustle and bustle of everyday life drives you a little bonkers... where you've come to the point that you can't even think straight, never mind do the things you'd love to do. And when that happens, it's time to recharge those batteries. Let go a little. Get out of the house!

It's time to get away...

I know for me that it's tough to think about going on a vacation (or even a weekend getaway) when there is so much stuff to do. But it's because there's so much stuff to do... that we need to get away! We go and go and go and go until we are an automated robot of ourselves on auto pilot. Time to change the scenery...

This is one of my all time favorite places to relax and unwind.... the stream behind the Woodstock Inn, Woodstock, NY. It's just so amazingly beautiful and you sit in these giant Adirondack chairs as you listen to the water trickling by while the sun shines on your face. At first it is hard to sit and do nothing... but you get used to it really fast!

Taking a break—no matter how long or short—really does rejuvenate the soul. It clears out the clutter in my mind and makes it easier to be inspired when I get back home. What rituals help you to recharge?

I've Got Class!

I am very excited to announce that I will be teaching my first full day class at Art & Soul Retreat in Hampton, Virginia next April. I've been an attendee for years, and I have also taught the opening night class a few years in a row when I worked with Ranger Industries. And so now it's time for the student to become the teacher.

I'll be teaching a class called Do You Do Voodoo? where you'll make an extremely detailed and aged-looking Voodoo Doll Kit that looks like it was created decades ago and happily discovered in the back room of your favorite antique center! And you'll accomplish this using many items and craft products you already have at home!

The class is from 9:00-4:30 on Friday, April 29th. I will also be part of vendor night on Saturday, April 30th... so even if you don't take my class, stop by... say hi... and check out my mixed-media creations, dolls, jewelry and flea market finds. For more information, visit the Art & Soul website. Registration for the Virginia Retreat is now open.

Art & Soul, Portland... A Retrospective...

Wow, what a spectacular time in Portland, Oregon! But I always know I'll have a blast at Art & Soul... no matter which venue I go to (did you know they have retreats all over the country?). I got to see so many of the instructors I've become friends with over the years... make new friendships with people as nutty as me (we're a special breed)... and learn from some of the best teachers from all over the world. Not too shabby, ay?

I decided to man-up and take a class called Yes, I Want That Drill Press & More by Tory Brokenshire. We got to learn how to use all kinds of power tools including a drill press, belt sander, jig saw, chop saw and nail gun! We were building our very own shadowbox from raw lumber. Our manly helper, Gil, was very encouraging...

Tory liked my finished assemblage so much, she encouraged me to want to make more! I think I see one in every color scheme, hmmmmm.... maybe starting with pink? As I worked on my piece everyone kept noticing that my art was matching me. Funny.

Next was Mechanical Flying Bird with Charley Slaughter and Kerin Gale, where we got to make an unconventional automaton-style assemblage with a bird that really flies! Here is a little video I made so you can see it in action (please pardon my awkwardness, I'm still trying to figure out how to record from my computer - it flips your image backwards!)

This full day workshop was a lot of fun and Charley and Kerin were so attentive and helpful... as making a moving bird is no easy "feet"! Didn't everybody do a fantastic job!  We all got to sculpt our birds and "dress" them up so very personally. What a lineup...

Next I went to Julie's World, where students joined whimsical artist Julie Haymaker Thompson to make quirky little characters out of paper clay. She taught us a few tricky assembly techniques and a bunch of interesting painting techniques that I'll be using in my own work moving forward...

Judy Wise taught Let's Make Dolls... a fun and relaxing adventure into making a folk art style doll in under 6 hours! We worked with Sculpey—a bakeable clay—which was new for me. I usually work with paper clay, which air dries. I really liked the immediacy of creating with Sculpey. Make a head... bake it. Start the body... head's done. Attach it. Bake that... make some arms, legs, a dress while you wait. The possibilities were endless. And seeing what everyone else was creating gave me even more ideas! It was funny, but I had trouble naming my creations this time. When I made this one, I was creating her fingers and they kind of "fell" into a peace sign. So I think I'll call my little hippie chick Summer... after the Summer of Love!

The workshops were great, but having never been to Portland, I couldn't very well spend my entire time inside the Embassy Suites! Sometimes it was nice to just get outside... grab a few rays of sunshine... and watch the planes land. We were very close to the airport!

I also got to spend some time in the city, there was plenty to do...

I walked around and looked at all the beautiful downtown architecture...

Then made my way to the Portland Art Museum... two buildings worth of art from ancient times to modern contemporary. It was very inspiring...

Made my way to the Pearl District which has all the old warehouses, buildings and such...

I even got a chance to get over to Hawthorne which is a funky little area outside the city with cool shops, galleries, and eateries. They served coffee here... I swear!

Did lots of perusing... bought some interesting vintage clothes... and saw lots of art everywhere. On buildings...

And even on a retro VW bus...

All-in-all a fabulous trip. I am creatively inspired... finally well-rested... and ready to make my own creative dreams come to fruition. Thanks for joining me on my trip! Until next time...