April Fools! (a little late!)

We have been busy as usual, which is great! I have discovered over the years, that the busier I am, the more I can accomplish. I don't quite understand that, but try and go with it. Seems I love the "deadline" feeling. You know, when I look back on some of the positions I've held over the years, most of them involved meeting a deadline. Newspapers, magazines, package design, offset printing, screen printing, customer service, even waiting tables - they all involve deadlines. Hmmm, maybe that's just what makes me tick...

So, we've been to two weddings:

Tom and Heather

Trevor and Raven

Congratulations to both couples!

I did a demo at North Raleigh Christian Academy on collage techniques and painting and decorating papers and fabric. We had our opening at Artist Alley for the CMMAG M4T Challenge. Here are some photos of my piece in progress:

Lots of fun and definitely a challenge!

Here's the finished piece hanging in the show...

If you're in Southern Pines, please check it out at Artist Alley. It will be up through April.

Last Saturday, I had a workshop at Jerry's. More fun with collage - Creative Collage Techniques. The students did some great work and we had lots of fun!  Well, I searched for the images on my work computer and this one in my home office...maybe they're on the studio computer??? I'll post them once I find them...
Next we judged the Duck Stamp Competition. This is my third year doing that. It is always a treat to see the work of young artists! The competion was for Kindergarten through 12th grades. Here are some photos:

Judging the Elementary School participants

The judges (excluding me, the photographer!)

One of the finalists (high school)

The winner going to Nationals.

The original is much more vibrant than this photo!

Congratulations to all participants! Jerry's Artarama will be providing tons of prizes for this talented group! Thanks Jerry's! All participants are from all over North Carolina. Great Job!

Christina came over the other night and we are making a belly dancing outfit for her! Yikes! This is quite the challenge working with new fabrics and lots of embellishments and such, but I think it will turn out pretty fantastic! Here are a few shots of the beginning stages of our creation:

Here's Christina inserting elastic...

And here's me starting on the belt...

Lastly, for this post anyway, Joe and I are heading out this morning to judge the Young Artist Exhibit at VAE. This is another of my favorites. I just LOVE seeing young artists' creations! They are always such a delight to view and experience. I won't tell you what the results are, but that these are some of the finalists of the middle school competition and others are the winners of the Jerry's Artarama Awards for high school. The show at VAE is a MUST! Check it out...