Each year I try to learn something new by taking a class, usually it is art related.
Some classes I take on line and then sometimes I go to an art retreat.
In the beginning of the year I did both with the same instructor, DJ Pettitt. I took her Online Image Editing Workshop...using Photoshop Elements 8. Then a month later I did her Mixed Medley class at
The Presentation Center in Los Gatos, CA.
I loved everything about An Artful Journey ,the location, the many wonderful women I met, the instructors, my class with DJ Pettitt and last but not least Cindy Woods O'Leary the organizer of the event, who said in her bio on her blog.
"I'm a mother of two young men, a Nonni to two precious little
granddaughters, a good and loyal friend, a seeker, a leader, an
organizer, a gatherer, a nurturer. I've transitioned into a new phase
of my life, and am open to the possibilities. It's all about the
journey..."
She is all that and more.
The surrounding were lovely and peaceful. All around us there was beauty to be seen. Inside and out.
DJ's class was great and I learned a lot. I take classes from my favorite artists to learn technique and about materials...so that later I can create a piece, with my own imprint, using what I have learned.
Here are a few of the pages I created in class and later at home when I returned from the retreat.
Many of the fabrics and laces that I used came from my stash much of which was inherited from my Mother-in-law, my Grandmother and the Aunts.
Some of the members of the class gave sandwich size bags full of ephemera, laces and fabric as gifts.
I used many of these gifts on my pages.
On the inside front page I have the signatures of each one of the members of the class.
In one of the bags was a photo frame that I used around my two little Grandchildren Julie and Victor.
The front cover is a painting I have now done three times. Each time it comes out a little different.
I first painted it on canvas, then I printed it on fabric and repainted it to use in a mini quilt (that now belongs to my Son and his wife and lives in Denmark) and this time for a front cover for the book. I think I shall retire her now :)
I hope that you will have a chance to go to An Artful Journey...I highly recommend it...you would not be disappointed. I would go again in a heart beat.
