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.

What a treat to return to the Eureka Springs School of the Arts a second time to teach Polymer Clay.  This was a three day workshop were 8 students  worked me hard and I worked them hard creating canes, a free form box and fun little bugs!  Of course there is always one who wants to do something else which he accomplished well too.  Thanks Eureka Springs School of the Arts for allowing me to teach once again.  Take a look at all the activity of the students below.

May is such a beautiful time for a retreat in the country but also a very unpredictable weather time.  Our phone weather alarms went off a number of times during hard rain, lightning, wind and tornado warnings, my continuous wheezing and coughing.... but we all survived with laughter, fun and creativity!

Ivey Jeans Ozark Farmstead was such a relaxing location to have an artists retreat.  Between Ann and Cindy they made it just a perfect weekend to long be remembered.  There was good eats, laughter and sharing of ideas, hard work at creating and learning, oh yes I could go on and on.  Take a look at what went on here.  There was more than photos could express.  Two instructors Darlene and Marlene....what a combination!

Thought you might like to see the International Society of Experimental Arts.  I have a piece in the exhibit which I am proud of.  This was the largest wall hanging I have ever done.  I am challenging myself to do more large pieces so look to the future to see if I am really going to do it.  Check the exhibit out HERE