I spent May 21 through 27, 2018 in a Master Caning Workshop by Carol Simmons in Missouri learning and doing many firsts.  First I have never taken a week long workshop, exhausting, but I learned so much.  Thank you Carol.  I also made the largest cane I have ever made and lived to tell about it in polymer clay.  It was a lot of work but the rewards were wonderful and beautiful.  Everyone in the workshop had great results too.  So exciting all the activity and the finished cane and projects.  They are even continuing after we all returned home.   I was fortunate to have won a scholarship from the International Society of Experimental Artists which helped pay for a great part of the workshop.  I was so fortunate and do appreciate them honoring me with the scholarship. 

It is truly amazing how fast 5 weeks can fly by.....that is what happened with the colored pencil class I just finished teaching yesterday at Ouachita Artists Gallery and Studio in Mount Ida, Arkansas.  Nine lovely women created some really FINE pieces and here is a collage of just some of their works.  Good job girls and what fun we had just working together and sharing good times, stories and laughter.

A lovely warm Saturday in May I traveled to Pine Bluff, Arkansas with my wax in hand and photos of flowers and introduced to the group (Pine Bluff League of Artists) taking the workshop how to paint flowers in a different way.  I also managed to introduce a few other mediums like colored pencil and oil pastel.  
​Take a look at the group experimenting on May 5, 2018.  Thanks for having me come.  I enjoyed you all.

It has been a while since I have taught a weekly class but I want you to know I am enjoying teaching a group of ladies at Mount Ida, Arkansas (Ouachita Artists Gallery & Studio) what I know about working with colored pencils.  We are in our second week and yesterday they did their first composition and I am pleased with their works.  I brought some fruit and they tackled the task using the techniques we learned the previous week.  Next week we will draw and design a composition of a flower.  They seem excited about this process to take with them in their travels.  Take a peak at some of their activity.

  Yes, five beautiful women painted 5 beautiful flowers this past weekend in watercolor in the lovely town of Mountain View, Arkansas.  I certainly hope they all returned home refreshed and relaxed as I did.  There is something about that little mountain town that whispers or should I say "sings" tranquility in your ear. 
  A big thank you goes to the Arkansas Craft School for sponsoring the workshop.  Such a nice facility to teach in.
  The ladies worked hard at creating their own special flower with watercolor not being a very familiar medium to work with.  I think if you look through the photos you will see they accomplisheda lot in just 3 days.

Well I am playing catch up on this blog.  My last workshop for the year was at Mt. Ida, Arkansas with some really great people at the Ouachita Artists Gallery.  They had the full studio area covered with mixed media and they had a ball digging and creating with artist materials, learning new processes, and using found objects in their artistic designs.  

This year was one busy year.  I counted up 13 workshops I taught in 12 months, judged and juried 2 shows, demonstrated in a number of venues all over the state.  No wonder I am exhausted and meeting myself coming and going......but to look back on this year I must say I have enjoyed myself and especially getting to share the creation of art with others.  Thanks everyone for a wonderful year.  Keep designing and creating.

​Take a look at creativity in a mess below........

I am still recovering from an exhausting workshop but a good tiredness.  What a great group of pastel artists at all levels eager to learn and share their experience.  That is what workshops are all about, SHARING, which I think as artists we need to do so others can enjoy the medium.  We worked on skyscapes and they all worked in their own styles and accomplished some FINE pieces just take a look at the slide show below.  I took a lot of pictures and makes it exciting to see their progress.
​Thanks 4 State Regional Art Club for sponsoring the workshop and letting me demonstrate at your meeting. 

What can I say....Polymer Clay is just fun especially when teaching others.  This was a two session workshop October 16 and 23, 2017 at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock where hopefully the students learned to not fear making canes.   They made some beautiful blends of color to die for and got just as excited as I get when I see color mix.  They jumped right in and created the basic canes with no difficulty even though 3 were total beginners with polymer.  I took pictures along the way so be sure to view their progress at assembling more complex canes to make the project.   I just regret I did not get a photo of all the little bowls they made other than their group picture.  Wonderful job girls.  Hope to see you in the spring maybe.  Thanks AAC for sponsoring this workshop.  See slide show below.

What have I been doing the last two mornings....well one of my favorite things teaching.....and one of my favorite thing to teach watercolor collage using oriental papers.  When you have a variety of oriental papers they are just so luscious to look at and to touch and then fun to tint and design color on them.  That is just what we did the first day with watercolor.  They were dry the next day and the collage began, tearing and cutting and of course pasting shapes into creative designs.  So proud of all the students.....some were totally new to art.....yeah!  Hope they will love it like the rest of us.  They concentrated and worked really hard....and it is hard to do all this in just 6 hours but I do believe they have gotten the nack of it and MY wish is for them all to try it more at home.  Send pictures you all.   Take a look at them in action below!

Thanks National Park Community College Continuing Education and Coronado Center for sponsoring the workshop

This was a 6 hour two day workshop in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas sponsored by National Park Community College Continuing Education at the Coronado Center in the Village.  Had a great group of woment who really did a wonderful job wrapping and designing.  We even started a "tree of life" piece they will finish at home and I hope they send pictures.  The participants not only came from the Village but also from Hot Springs and surrounding areas.  A mother and Daughter came from the northern part of the state too.  What fun is that!?!?!?  The majority of the ladies had not wire wrapped before which always makes it exciting to teach a new creative process to someone.  Take a look at their accompolishments  in the below slide show.   Thanks NPCC and Coronado Center for letting me teach.