Creativity Weekend

My friend, LD, and I held a creativity workshop that we called Relax, Create, Rejuvenate.  We were lucky enough to be allowed to use a friend's cabin by the lake. Eight women attended our weekend long event and it was a wonderful learning experience for everyone involved.

The house where we taught had an amazing
view of a lake covered in snow.

Creativity can be messy.

Backgrounds done on multiple pages.

This completed page became part of a signature.

One of the completed books.

Another completed student book.

I learned new things about being an art instructor, especially realistic expectations.  I don't know if we will hold another weekend retreat because it was a lot of work, but I am very proud of the job we did on this one.  Thanks to my friend, LD, for doing it with me.

-christina

The Lettering Continues

I am a little more than halfway through the Artful Lettering online class from Joanne Sharp.  I have enjoyed her daily lessons.  Admittedly I am not spending tons of time on them because I have other distractions.  I am skipping some lessons entirely with the rationalization that I will go back and do them later (probably not).  All in all, though, I like the class and I like her as an instructor.

Here are 3 of the lessons that I have completed.

Joann calls this the "letter vortex."  I think I should have added more letters, especially smaller ones toward the center, to give it more of a vortex look.  I used my Tombow markers and it was good practice.  I love the bright colors.

Who doesn't love a Word Cloud??  I make these all the time using the website Wordle but this is the first time I have made one by hand.  I really like the way this turned out and I plan to make more of these.  Joann suggests using the same color family so my next one will probably be all blues . . . or reds. . . fuchsia, maybe. . . .

This lesson was all about creating a "masterpiece" using tiny brush strokes.  I would like to repeat this a few times using different sized brushes and trying different degrees of blending the colors.  It was difficult to know when to stop working on this piece.  That's a problem I run into frequently.  I'm not the only one who has that problem, right?

-christina

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

These cards decorate my office.  It's not that I love Valentine's Day or even the heart motif.  I guess I like the idea of exploring the V Day card in multiple ways.  Plus I like red.  

Most of these cards were made by my sister.  I hope I get to add another one this year.

-christina

Artful Lettering

I just started an online class called "Letter Love 201" offered by Joanne Sharpe.  She is the queen of markers, as far as I am concerned.  She knows everything there is to know about all varieties of markers and pens.  Along with her seemingly limitless knowledge, she also creates beautiful lettering, fonts, and alphabets.

Check out Joanne's website called Whimspirations but beware!  You will leave with an uncontrollable need to own more pens.
-christina

Handmade Ornaments

These are the ornaments I made for the holiday this year.  They are not really Christmasy, so I can hang them around the house anywhere and anytime.  I got the idea from items created by Alisa Burke.

I used leftover pieces of painted muslin that I had lying around, as well as stamps and ribbons.  These were very "instant gratification" which is a good thing.
-christina

Mural 2012

For Christmas 2011 my sister gave me a giant canvas and told me to paint on it over and over again.  I hung it on my living room wall for a whole year progressively painting it, turning it upside down, and painting some more.  I invited my guests to paint on it as well, although very few took me up on the offer except my BFF (she rocks).  I think it was too much pressure to be creative.

Here is a montage of the stages throughout the year.

In the beginning . . . .

My daughter added the red dots.

My son added the alien spacecraft in the center.

Hugs and kisses (XO) were added to encourage my friends to paint big.
They added tiny stars and the tree of life.

I added my favorite quotes in Sharpie.
My BFF left her mark too - "love",  "Paris" and more.

Going upside down and having a circle frenzy.

The final version of "Mural 2012."

The mural is rolled up and put away now.  I have another piece of canvas and am contemplating another mural.  Perhaps it will be "Mural 2014."
-christina

New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve, my friend and I went to a painting party at Bottle & Bottega.  This is a franchise that holds private and open painting parties where the participants copy a piece of art under the direction of an art instructor.  I don't really like the idea of recreating an existing painting, but it seemed like an interesting thing to try and we could bring our own champagne to the event.

Here is the picture that we were painting.

My photocopy

And here is my painting.  I had to change something so I used a different color scheme.

My version of the painting

I apparently have trouble with straight lines since the stem of my glass is crooked.  I must remember that in the future.

It was a fun evening, mostly because I enjoyed being with my friend.  Happy 2013, everyone!
-christina