Art Is.....

.....You, Me, a whole bunch of people.  After months of looking forward to my six days in Stamford, here I am home again, wishing I could take off for another week of art.  Without a doubt, it was the best art retreat I've ever been to.  The venue, the classes, the caliber of teachers, and most of all, the warm and sharing environment created by the organizers made for an amazing experience.  I've heard the words "life changing" many times before, and if you hear it to describe this event, it's not an exaggeration.

To borrow a well worn phrase, they got me at hello.

Each and every participant received a handmade name tag (a necklace with a little storage pouch), and they were all different!  I can't even begin to imagine the amount of work that entailed.

My first class was painting with encaustics, and I'm glad it was my first, because it was the only one I was not thrilled with, so I got my disappointment over and done with early.  I won't go into all the specifics, and though I know I wasn't the only frustrated student, most people did walk away with nice pieces.  Not, me, but that's OK.  Here are some photos of a few.  No, you won't see mine.  I did do one, but every time I tried to take a photo of it it came out fuzzy.  Hmmmm....even my camera recognized a disaster, LOL.



I want to point out that the first picture in the last set of paintings above, was done by my friend Cheryl, who was not only painting with encaustics for the first time, but was painting her first portrait in any medium.  I think she did an outstanding job.

One evening we had a Day of the Dead event with Michael DeMeng (much more about him in a later post), and we all decorated sugar skulls and plastic skulls to create a colorful display that was up for the duration of the event.  Lots of fun.  And lots of glitter.

Cheryl did an alien-like skull.

Mine had one eye and one flower.

Michele's sported a bird in a nest.

Pat's was very colorful and had a little green hat.

The display and close-ups of the skulls.

 

 

I took five full day classes and one evening (three hours) class.  The short class was with the very wonderful Sandi Koterba, and we made geodes with the wet felting technique.  What a fun activity, and I love my little geode.

 

Here it is ready for the big reveal.

 





Sandi making the cut.

 

 

Ta da!

 

 

This is the one Pat did.

 

 

 



My next post will be all about the fabulous assemblage class I took with Michael DeMeng.  Stay tuned!