New Work and Projects

I have been a busy bee. I was asked to make 2 journals for a mom who wants to journal about her kids growing up. And also a shadowbox for a little girl's room. The theme was ballerina's and lots of pink. I decided to put a picture of the little girl in the shadowbox as well.

Then I made these for my mom for Mother's Day.

Lastly, two of my pieces have been included in Suzi Blu's Book "Suzi Blu's Student Art Gallery."

It is very strange, but super cool to see my artwork in a book. If you are interested in getting a copy, you can order one here. The artwork in the book is amazing.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

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.

Artfest....Day One

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post about my trip to Artfest in Seattle, but my head is still spinning from all of the wonderful people I met and great classes I took.

Fort Worden is so beautiful and historic. I just loved being there, but I wish I had more time to walk around and explore the grounds.

The Castle: According to the legend, Reverend John Alexander built the castle for a prospective Scottish bride in a style reminiscent of his native country. In 1883, he acquired 10 acres of land near Point Wilson and constructed the building known as Alexander's Castle. Alexander intended the building to serve as a home for him and his bride. Traveling to Scotland to get his bride, Alexander found that his bride-to-be had married another. He returned to Port Townsend alone and used the building as a temporary residence.


Closer to the center of things were the bunkers. This is where I stayed. Luckily I didn't have to haul all of my crap up those stairs. They had these wonderful young men to help us with our luggage. I shared a room with two other ladies and our windows were the two on the right just up the stairs.



This was the beautiful view from the grounds.


First Day/Class: Jesse Reno. Wow, what an inspiring artist! He paints mostly with his hands and then uses a few oil pastels and a big black pencil. He is so intuitive and passionate about his paintings; you can really tell that he loves what he does. He taught me so much about letting go and not getting too attached to a piece and to be willing to change the whole thing if necessary. He suggested I "attack" my piece by painting over the left side of the face and do something else with it. I am still working up the courage to do that. I've decided that when I grow up, I want to be just like Jesse Reno (minus the dreds).

Here is what he started with...


And here is what he ended with...


Here is my piece. I think I finally understand why he suggested I get rid of the left side, but it took me the end of the day to really "get" it. By that time, I had worked so long on the piece, that it will be hard to change it.



Stay tuned, I am going to post more soon. I have lots more to share!!!

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!!!

I Am Freaking Out!!!!

I can't believe Artfest is next week!!! I just went to Michaels and got the rest of the supplies needed for my classes. Now I have to get some winter clothes. Living in San Diego means I don't really need to dress real warm in the winter, so this will be interesting. I'm not even sure I will be able to find warm clothes (it seems like the summer lines are out in the stores right now). Anyway, I am so excited I think I'm going to pee my pants...Not really!!


Here is another page I just finished for my journal... Have a great week everyone!!!!

XOXOXO,

Shonna

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

I thought I would share some of my recent journal pages...

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these two pages. I may just journal on them.



This page was inspired by Anahata Katin. The top says "You don't have to be like everyone else."
This journal is going to be passed down to my son, so I try and think of things I want him to know about life.

Remember her? Now she is in my journal...

I also want to thank each and everyone of you who take the time to comment on my blog. You mean the world to me!!!!

Amber Dubois and Chelsea King

I feel compelled to take a break from my normal "art" post to bring up something that is happening in my community.

February 13, 2009 at about 7:04am in the morning 14 year old Amber Dubois was walking to school (she lived on the same side of the street as her school, about 5 blocks away). Amber never made it to school that day. There was initial speculation that she ran away with a boy, but her parents knew better. Amber was very excited about going to school that day. She had saved her money and was about to purchase a lamb as part of the school's FFA (Future Farmers of America) program. There was never any doubt that someone had taken this shy, quiet girl who loved animals and books. At around the same time that day, I was driving my 15year old daughter to the same school. I wish I would have noticed something was wrong.

Fast forward to a little over a year later...

On February 25, 2010 not far from this High School (the next town over), 17 year old Chelsea King drove her car to a local park. This park was next to a lake and had many trails for hikers and runners. Chelsea, a straight A student, peer counselor and long distance runner for her school often went running on these trails. This day she left on her run and didn't return. When she didn't return home, her parents went looking for her and found only her car.

Not again...

A massive search was launched to find Chelsea and the community came together in support of her family. Almost a week later, Chelsea's body was found not far from where her car was parked in a shallow grave. A registered sex offender who's mother lived by the park was linked to Chelsea by DNA and was arrested.

Chelsea's story had brought about new questions and light to Amber's story. At the time of Amber's disappearance, this registered sex offender lived not far from where she disappeared.

About a week after Chelsea was found, the police, acting on a tip, found Amber's remains. She was located about 10 miles north of where she disappeared, in a remote location. The police are looking at Chelsea's alleged murderer as the same person who murdered Amber.

This sex offender had been in jail for 5 years for attacking and molesting a 13 year old girl. And other's have come forward saying this person also attacked or tried to attack them.

We need to change the current laws in place to protect our children from these violent predators. I do not personally feel that these people should have more than one strike. If you agree with me, please take 1 minute to help get the Dubois-King Act set in place. I have included the link here

Rest in Peace Amber and Chelsea. We will do all we can to bring you justice and keep your lights shining.