I actually love this time of year. I (thank God!) don’t have any issues with pollen (knock on wood), so Spring is just a fabulous time of year for me. I love it because that is when our customers sort of pick up the pace in taking workshops, and being creative and sharing their talents after a long winter’s nap. It’s also the time when you can open the windows (well, except for this week, as the pollen is SO THICK!) and let the fresh air in the house, put the plants outside and get going on a couple of those outdoor projects.
I tend to lose track of all my projects I have at any given moment. I like to write lists and cross things out as I go. Then I lose the list, only to find it stashed away neatly in a new file that I forgot I had taken the time to make. This is when it gets fun! I can actually look at the list and be totally amazed at the things I accomplished even with a missing list. Funny how organized I am when it feels like “unorganized”…
At the end of February and the beginning of March, Joe and I traveled to Key West to visit my sister and her family. I just love Key West. After having lived there in my twenties, I have fond memories of the place. I was fortunate to have spent lots of time on the water sailing, snorkeling and diving. My nephew took us out on his boat to Marvin Key. OMG! That place is absolutely beautiful. Marvin Key is basically an island of mangroves and sand surrounded by beautiful ocean. The water is deep enough to maneuver your boat close enough without dragging the ocean floor, yet shallow enough to hop right out of the boat and walk with your stuff to shore. Here is a shot from the boat:
And here is a shot of my “installation” – the Bowline knot project:
Basically, there was a random rope from a lobster pot sort of wrapped around the drift wood. So I thought as opposed to taking the rope, I would add some art to the scene. So there you go…
I had a fun three days of encaustic: Thursday, March 8th, I taught a class here in the store: Introduction to Encaustic with five wonderful students eager to learn what fun it is!
Then Friday, March 9th, I was part of the Festival offered at the North Raleigh Christian Academy. There were six artists who had the opportunity to share our talents with both middle and high school students. It was such a great day! Here is a photo of part of my second session...I forgot to take any photos in the first one:
Afterwards I got to spend some time with some of the (crazy) artists: Penny, Jodi and Ophelia for lunch at the
Uppercrust. Thanks Meghan and Mariea for putting up with our loud laughter! Way too much fun! Then after that, arted with my friend
Penny Arrowood in
my studio until I had to go lay my weary head down for another round of arting at
Jerry’s Artarama! Saturday, Penny taught a book binding class from 10am-1pm and
Jodi offered a journaling class from 2pm-5pm. I plugged the encaustics in one more time and offered a demo in the store. Man, I really love this medium. I just can’t seem to get enough of it!
Ophelia Staton is one of our instructors here at the store. She is also here just about every weekend to demo for you yet another supply that we offer here at Jerry’s. She is another one of those gals (like me) that likes to collect all kinds of stuff for our studios. Then once in a while, we clean it out and share with others. Well, this time, I was the lucky one to be on the receiving end and was gifted with a full bag of hand dyed fabrics from the fabulous Ophelia. Oh my! I’ve only gone through the very top portion and became so inspired, I needed to stop and start creating. Here is the piece I ended up with:
We’ve had lots of classes running at the store this March! So much fun!
Here are a couple of photos:
Jodi Ohl’s Class:
Michelle’s Class
Dan’s Class
This past weekend, I was able to spend Sunday with some of the girls from my art guild: Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild. We all traveled to
Liz Miller’s studio – just a “to die for” location on Sawmill Road in Raleigh. Lots of windows, lots of space and Sunday – lots of wax! Not encaustic wax (this time), but paraffin wax for batik and Tjaps! Thanks so much Liz for sharing this fun technique with everyone. Like I need another art addiction! Here’s a shot of Liz doing a demo:
And here is one of my creations of the day:
Now, one more time – Tuesday, March 20th to be exact, I offered a demo to the VAE members in guess what? ENCAUSTIC! Here's a photo from that event:
Then Thursday, the 22nd, I had a workshop at Jerry's Artarama: Carving Stamps and Painting on Paper. Here's a few photos from that class:
And lastly, here is a photo I took this morning of my tulip magnolia. Nice.
Busy busy March!!! And still more than a week to go.
Happy Creating!
