CREATE 2013

My experience at CREATE Mixed Media retreat last week in Somerset, NJ was just as I had expected: inspirational, exhilarating, and just a bit exhausting. As they say in sports, I left it all out on the field. Between Friday at 9am and Sunday at noon, I taught 4 workshops and participated in the Artist's Fair, selling my wares. There is nothing quite like spending that many hours focused on art with so many people who are just as passionate about it as I am.

I think the following images speak for themselves...and they definitely say CREATE!

Community

jane, me, and kecia

joanne and jen

michelle and i

photo by michelle ward

kari

Workshops

we did it!

artist in action

making layers

dark and beautiful

gonna give you my awl

photo by andria kaskey

can you play the accordion?

shift

it's all good

guilty of making art

guiltier of making art

guiltiest of making art

let the sunshine in

future art

photo heaven

pure joy

Artists' Faire

the view from my table

jenn and maggie from interweave/cloth paper scissors

stencil debut

from a distance: my tables

shop till you drop

Got Class?

In the next four months, I will be attending three art retreats. If you have been to a retreat already, then I know I am preaching to the choir. But if you haven't yet attended an art retreat...believe me when I say that it is an experience not be missed. Not only do you have hours of uninterrupted time when your only job is to make art (!) but you get to do it surrounded by a group of peeps that get ya. I mean really get ya. I enter every retreat with excited anticipation and I leave every retreat with memories that inspire me long after the art party is over. Not to mention many new friends! Every retreat has its own personality and unique highlights. And truly, every retreat is an adventure to remember.

I would love to meet you at one of the retreats I will be attending:

First up is CREATE mixed media retreat in Somerset, NJ, which runs from 7/17 to 7/21. I will be teaching 4 classes and selling my artwork at The Artists' Faire on 7/19.

Later this month, from 7/29 to 8/6, I will be at Art Unraveled in Phoenix, AZ for the first time. I will be teaching 3 workshops, selling artwork alongside over 55 (!) over vendors at the Shopping Extravaganza on 8/3, and am thrilled to be hosting an artist panel as part of the opening events on 7/29.

Later in the year, from 10/10 to 10/14, I will be at Art is You in Stamford, CT. I will be teaching 3 classes and vending at a special faculty vending event on 10/11.

reCREATE

I had the time of my life at CREATE NJ Mixed Media Retreat last week. The experience of being with hundreds of people who just get it is very special. If you have never been to one of the big art retreats, now is the time to give it some serious thought. And if you need a reference guide, you can always check out Destination Creativity, by Rice Freeman-Zachery.

I taught three workshops on two back-to-back days. 

1. A Box of Dreams

Happy people

A work in progress

Some of the crew and their finished boxes

2. Mixed Media Dossier

Yeah...this is fun

Hurry up and dry

It is all about the texture

Deb's amazing 50s-themed dossier

Job well done

3. Text Tiles

Background complete

Love that color combination

Now that is a lot of layers

Starting on panel number 2

Something we all need

The definition of art!

I participated in the Artist's Faire vendor night but happily I was too busy (and exhausted) to take many pictures

My table before the rush

My favorite part of the retreat was catching up with online friends that I had already met, meeting some special online friends for the first time, and being introduced to so many amazing and talented artists who were taking my classes or attending the retreat. Already I cannot wait until next year!

Sending out thanks to Jenn Mason and Cate Prato, along with Maggie, Bev, Beth and Rebecca, for organizing such a fun, well-run and seamless retreat. 

Lousy picture of Maggie and Jenn at the Artist's Faire raffle