Laguna Playdate Set!

The playdate at Summerland Cottage Studio in the beautiful town of Laguna Beach has been set!
It will be Sat, Sept. 25 from 10 am - 5 pm.

You will be in awe upon entering the enchanting brick wall of the historical cottage grounds. This charming cottage has it's own old Hollywood history but I assure you it's not the history that will charm you. It's the artistic talents of it's current owner, Paulette Adams that will keep you enthralled thru out the day.

We will begin our day with a 3 hour ceramic class. Don't worry. there will be no wet, messy clay involved here. It will be pure painting pleasure with Paulette and you will take home a beautifully decorated ceramic item for your home. Her ceramic pieces are pure eye candy.

We will break for a gourmet box lunch catered by the Cheese Cave in Claremont. Between all the delectable goodies we will chat, laugh and share creative secrets on the lawn overlooking the ocean.

Back to another 3 hour class where you will create a much layered, finely detailed mermaid collage taught by me! I will be teaching lots of collage layering techniques that will inspire you to come up with your own projects whenever your creative spirit arises. At 5:00, our day of creative bliss will be finished but feel free to stay and do the town that evening. It's just a few short blocks away! Nothing like keeping the creative fever blazing than food and drink with new friends!

We have incredible...and I mean incredible goodie bags for all!

The cost for alll this? Just $200 per person. $100 deposit due by Sept. 14. Please email me for info regarding how to make the payment. artsyfartsy25@hotmail.com Thank you!

Please feel free to visit Paulette's blog to view her stunning artwork at http://www.summerlandcottagestudio.blogspot.com/

pLAyDaTEs Are Not Just For Kids

I think playdates are important. One day last week I went to Laguna Beach to spend the day playing with my friend Paulette. We brainstormed ideas for art, classes and retreats. Revisit my post "Two Brave Souls"to meet her. I can't even begin to describe her home. This historical seaside cottage is just blocks away from the charming village of Laguna. Paulette's talents as an interior designer are very apparent as you walk through this delightful home but it's her gift as an artist that just makes my jaw drop. The cottage is like a candy shop. You don't know if you want to look at the pink candy or the green candy. You don't know if you want to taste cherry, lemon or lime. There are so many flavors you just simply don't know which way to turn. One thing is for certain. you are filled with inspiration and you want to go back for seconds and thirds. As we sat at the studio table, I created my paperdoll banners and had this most beautiful view of the Pacific. Even better was all of the delectable ceramic pieces she has created. You can see some of them in the background. We talked of art, crafts, workshops, and the inspiration that comes between brave souls who come together in the name of art.

 

I am pleased to announce that we will be hosting an all day playdate in September. Put the 26th on your calenders...more details to follow later in the week.
I can tell you there will be wonderful food, wonderful workshops and of course the most wonderful party favors in a most wonderful place where only creative brave souls dare to meet! Stay tuned...playdates are important!

Does Your Art SpEaK to You?

Do you notice the exact moment your art speaks to you? This is the first glamour girl of a collection for some upcoming art shows this fall. I am doing Chateau de Fleuers in Sept. and Glitterfest in Oct. Both shows have a vintage glam feel to them and called for a different feel to some new pieces. Last weekend I was given some paper from a student in a class I was teaching in Claremont. One of the great things about teaching classes is people are always giving me amazing paper scraps. You can read more about this class at http://www.coutureovercoffee.blogspot.com/ This is Beth Livesays blog who is an editor at Stampington Magazines. She was in the class and as exciting as that was, I was nervous! She was a lot of fun and I had a great time with her. She is filled with so much talent! Anyway, I was given this paper that was pink and a sort of mustard paisley on a gray background. Not colors I would normally choose but I found something striking about it. I found other paper to compliment it and set out designing my glam girl. I painted the background gray (I have never done that!) I tore lots of different papers into thin strips and adhered them to my canvas with Modpodge. I felt the background was too bold so I paainted a very light wash of white across the entire piece. Wanting more white in the background, I turned to one of my favorite techniques...printing with bubble wrap. Once satisfied with the background, I set out to make the girl. I wanted her old Hollywood glamorous. She's wearing a draped, I'm sure it's the finest silk top, bearing a lot of back! Her skirt is flowing to her ankles just ready to move into a waltz with the most handsome man in the room. It was about this time that this piece started speaking to me. She was not old Hollywood at all. She wasn't even American! She was decidedly French. It was like she whispered it in my ear! So French she was. It was then I thought she needed a chandelier in the background and jet black hair with a touch of gold highlights. I'm thinking I like doing glamour girls...at least this week!

Here Comes the Bride

I was asked by a good friend if I've ever done brides before. This has been something I've wanted to do for a long time but just haven't gotten around to it. I even saved wrapping paper from my neices bridal shower to do one for her. Now that my book is done (yay) I can focus on trying new things.

My friend, Darlene sent me a photo of her daughter-in-law and I was instantly inspired. Not only did her dress have TONS of ruffles, her hair was in the usual upsweep but had a little sprig sticking up that was absolutely ADORABLE. I had to do this piece!

I set off to shop for papers. I was lucky...most of these were at Joanns because they were basic white on white bridal stuff. Then off to the scrapbook store for the special stuff. I found a paper with this beautiful lace heart and the "Lovely" diecut. Her bouquet was white roses with hot pink and orange mixed in....gorgeous! I found this hot pink paper, probably left from Valentine's Day that had tiny little hearts and words written in the prettiest script. I cut out the words, happiness, love and laughter and have them sprouting out from the bouquet. These are words that marriages live by and if you can just remember the laughter in good times as well as tough times you shall succeed in this marriage thing. I suppose I can say this, my 28th anniversary is next month and I know a thing or two about it! I really like the way she came out. I hope Darlene likes it as much as I do.

Here is the next one I did. The picture is not too clear on this one. This is my neice. She used navy blue in her January wedding and it was stunning. I love the background papers for this piece. Her dress was a simpler line than the dress above so I thought I would be a bit more dramatic with the background. I wrote with a white chalk marker "And after the beautiful bride said I do, they lived happily ever after." This will be her Christmas present this year and I will make a print for her mom as well. These were so much fun to do. I can't wait to do another! Thanks Dar, for the inspiration!

Letting Go

I have had a totally uninspired August so far. I finished my manuscript on July 30th and have had a kind of lost, now what feeling since. I do have lots of things planned out for fall but have had that feeling anyway.
Since I have not had those artistic feelings I decided it was time to do some work on the house. This is my tiny powder room downstairs. I painted the sinkbase probably 12 years ago when I saw these darling pottery benches in the accessory displays at Nordstrom. I loved the color combos but knew my little house could not possibly use another piece of furniture so I decided to paint the sink base instead. My husband was away for the weekend climbing Mt Whitney so I figured that was the time. It's always easier to do projects when he's gone so I don't have to hear "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Well, I remember having my son saying "Are you sure dad's going to be alright with this?" It's never easy making a decision to completely change something in the house, especially something mounted to the walls! I loved the way it came out tho, and I still love it to this day.
Our walls were papered during the 80's wallpaper age and when we tore the paper down we had the walls professionally painted. We have always done things ourselves but we were doing pretty good financially when we decided not to paint the kitchen and bath at that time. After 2 years the paint started chipping like crazy. I think they didn't get all the wallpapaer paste off or it could have been cheap paint, but whatever, it was a mess! So I papered the walls 3/4's the way up with a green and white stripe and did a black and white checked border above it. It was adorable but time took it's toll on the wallpaper and having 2 males in the house didn't help matters! I have been putting off redoing this because I absolutely loved this room and didn't know what else to do with it. Peeling, chipped walls or new wallpaper that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? I just didn't want to let go.

So, last weekend I tore off all the paper and sanded the walls as best I could. I primed and painted. There were still some crackels and damage lines from an old chair rail (again the 80's!) I decided to just go with it and washed some white over the new vintage green color. I wiped it with a sea sponge and at times the white became chalky looking settling into the crackels, lumps and bumps. While doing it I wasn't sure I liked it and felt totally defeated on my already uninspiring mood. When I went back in and tore off the blue painters tape and put some things back on the counter, I just stood back in ahhh. I loved it. Here is the finished bathroom. I still have to do some finishing work. The color is a bit lighter than this picture. The mirror? My first attempt at mosaic.Its made with broken dishes and has words woven throughout with those little alphabet beads. There is half of a tiny flower pot with a bluebird sitting on the edge. The bird broke off my son's piggy bank that I bought while pregnant. There are also these cute little ceramic duckhead knobs (oh those 80's!)  on there that I can hang things on. The plate? my little creation that I love! As soon as I put her in her place, she sold on Etsy this morning! I think I will go put some more things in here that's in my Etsy shop!

Making Beauty From BrOKenESs

Just finished a two day workshop teaching mosaic on pots. I forgot how much fun this was. I was cleaning my studio and really needed to make space to be better organized and decided to get rid of all my mosaic supplies. I had really burned out on this a few years ago and knew it when it took a year to finish a commissioned piece. Instead of tossing everything, I decided to teach some classes to get rid of all the odds and ends.
The process of mosaic is very calming. We used broken dishes, seashells and lots of small tiles. As we were piecing it all together I couldn't help but notice how this process mimics our lives and my own spiritual walk. As each broken piece gets glued to the pot, you are in essence, trying to make something beautiful from brokeness. Isn't that exactly what God is trying to do with each one of us every single day? In the process, some of the pieces fall off just as we do striving for perfection in our lives. Just like the pieces of glass, we get picked up and put back onto that pot and try to hang on only to fall off once again. Perfection in these pots, just as in our lives is not possible but after finishing, we found we had indeed made something beautiful from all the broken pieces.
I could have thrown out all of my shattered shards but I'm thankful now that I didn't. Our God doesn't do that with us...no, He makes us into something beautiful no matter how many times we fall. Ok, so it's Sunday and I'm feeling a bit spiritual, what can I say?
The pot above was not made in the class. I did a more basic teaching of the craft. Each pot came out so unique to each personality and it was an enjoyable experience getting to know these women this weekend. The pot above took a bit of intricate cutting and planning to get the face. The rim is filled with shells, coral, buttons, sea glass and much more. She has enjoyed her stay in the yard this season filled with chamonmile. The herb is fading and I think her new hair will be made of succulants.