The Rest of My Artfest Experience

Here are some more pictures from the beautiful grounds at Fort Worden.

This is the guard house that is supposed to be haunted. You can read the story here.

Day two was Sunny Carvalho's class. We learned to use Genesis Oil Paints which dry when heat set. I am going to get some of these paints so I can practice using them. I had such a great time in Sunny's class, she is a fabulous teacher and if you ever have an opportunity to take a class with her...do it!! This woman is super talented!! She paints, sculpts, spins her own yarn (seriously), crochets, makes jewelry, purses, dolls and cuts wood (she made the little stands for our project from materials she found in the woods near her home...seriously!) Not to mention she is the sweetest person with the cutest little southern accent!!

Here is Sunny's painting (isn't it so adorable?)

Here is my work in progress...

Here is what it looks like right now. I added a bird at the top, but I still need to paint him to make him stand out more. I also need to add the wire and beads to the sticks holding up the painting.


When you flip the painting over, this is what you see.

That night was the Iron Artist contest. The teachers participated in a competition to create something with tools given to them to use (they got to use some of their own materials as well). They had only 45 minutes to complete their piece. Look at the amazing work these talented teachers/artists created. I think after 45 minutes, I would still be trying to figure out my color scheme...lol!
The Iron Artists pieces were raffled off and guess what? I won one of the pieces!! Here is what I won. The artist/teacher is Theo Ellsworth who is a very well known artist in Portland, OR (I am ashamed to say I had never heard of him, but I LOVE the piece I won). I put it in my son's room and he thinks it is so cool!!!

Day 3 was Misty Mawn's class. I was so excited for this class. I have taken both of her online classes and loved them. I really think taking her classes have helped me grow a lot in my artwork. She was a great teacher with a very calming way about her.

We were supposed to make a little book with several pieces....umm, this is the only one I got done that day (It appears I forgot what I learned in Jesse's class the first day and went back to my old perfectionist ways).

That night I went to dinner with these lovely ladies!!! We toured downtown Port Townsend and went to Jesse Reno's art exhibit at the Underground Coffee Shop (actually underground).

My Artfest experience was simply amazing! I learned so much, but by far the best part was all of the lovely ladies I met. Here are some of them (and some with the wonderful art they made).

Look for another post soon, I have some more art to share!!! I've been pretty busy.

Happy Easter! Are You As Excited As This Kid?

Wishing you a wonderful Easter Sunday!!

I will be posting again soon. I have so much to tell you! Artfest was AMAZING and I have so many pictures to share. When I came home from Seattle, my family and I went to the Mountains for a relaxing 3 days at a cabin. Lots to share, so stay tuned!!!

Artfest Is Near!

Artfest is going to be my very first art retreat and it is coming up at the end of March. If you haven't heard of Artfest, it is a 3 1/2 day art retreat put on by Teesha Moore with tons of very talented artists teaching a variety of mixed media classes. It is held on an old military base in the city of Port Townsend near Seattle. I am getting so nervous because it has been ages since I have traveled alone. After I land in Seattle, I have to rent a car and drive another hour and drive onto a ferry to get to Port Townsend. Thank goodness for GPS!

But, I am extremely excited!! I got all of the classes I wanted!!! On the first day, I will be taking a class with Jesse Reno. I hear he is a fabulous teacher and if you ever get the chance to take one of his classes, you absolutely must! The second day I will be taking a course with Sunny Carvalho. I am excited about this class because she is going to teach us to use Genesis Oil Paints. These are oil paints that dry with a heat gun. They have the blending abilities that oil paints have, but you don't have to wait forever for them to dry! My last class is with the lovely and talented Misty Mawn. I didn't originally get into this class because it was full, but I was put on a waiting list. I got an e-mail from Teesha a few weeks ago saying there was an opening...Yes!! Misty was the reason I wanted to go to Artfest in the first place, so yeah, I was just a little excited! I have just completed the second of two of her online workshops and she is such an inspiration!!!

I have also signed up for a few trades (which I hear is a must at Artfest). The first one is called a "Fatbook." I had to send 55 4X4 pages with the theme being Artfest or Fairy Tales. I collaged a print of one of my paintings of Alice from Alice in Wonderland. When I get to Artfest, I will get a book with about 50 pages of everyone who participated's entries.

The other was an ATC trade. For this one I had to make 33 ATC's. I used my newest painting "Girl with Flower hat." The theme was fairy tales or the number 5 (because it is the 5th year of Artfest). I chose 5 and that is why you see the #5 on the bottom right hand corner.

I am sure this will be a wonderful and exciting adventure for me and I can't wait to see how I will grow from the experience.