I've day-dreamed about attending Art-Is-You Retreats, knowing it would never happen. These retreats are not cheap and then add airfare, hotel and food. Forget it, not in our check book. But I did sooooo want to gooooooo. It's not just learning how to make all this cool stuff, and take art to the next level, and earning credentials, I also wanted to meet these fabulous artists like Rice Freeman-Zachery and Pam Carriker.
Then I saw an ad in Where Women Create,
Art-Is-You comes to Nashville, thirty minutes from home.
You can't do anything without Friends. The Friends of the Linebaugh, where I've been a board member and former President, offered to be a partial sponsor in exchange for some Craft Workshops at the Library and bits of blogging and Facebook time for them. Well, of course, I'd love to do that and I'd even add in hundreds of photographs to boot.
My fingers couldn't type fast enough to figure out which sessions are more amazing than the next.
What would a Bookist Attend?
Leighanna Light had me at Relic Journal. The Archivists' Relic Workshop was a one-day class but really needs to be two, and I think Leighanna is looking into making it two.
Look at her Journal.
Of course, I had to make one. I was sooooo excited, I woke up at 5 a.m. drove to Nashville, sweating through traffic and getting lost, rolling my cart full of requested tools around the lovely enormous hotel.
When I find the right room, it's heaven. The place smells like glue and paint, and is filled with stencils, heat guns and heavy metal tools.
Earl Zachery, Rice Freeman-Zachery's husband stops in our class to take photographs. They are working on an Art Retreats book. Rice has five books published (we'll get to his cool pants in another blog). But, Earl, please feel free to put me in "that there book" of yours.
We learned the lovely art of Gesso over stencil and then ink the Watercolor Paper. This will definitely be part of one of the session I do at the Linebaugh library. It's fast and easy and makes a "right perdy" picture in a short amount of time.
The most important thing I learned - It's pronounced Jesso!
What a rookie to come in saying G-esso.
But then, these teachers keep saying "You Guys." I had to correct them, it's "Y'all"
My watercolor-pages represents the story of a sunrise after a big storm.
Another artist's beautiful stencilled pages ripped to size.
Leighanna Light came all the way from Taos New Mexico. I told her some of the cool places to see while in Nashville like the Parthenon and the American Pickers Antique Archeology store. She found a relic of her own though.
Leighanna Light is a very patient teacher. I was comfortable with the glue and paint, but was nervous about using heavy metal punchers. Perhaps, we could skip that part and just glue it down?
She talked me through it!
Clamping, punching, banging, hammering, popping holes with strong tools. Yikes, This is where we could have used another day. This is a classmate's book - I love it!
I'm thrilled to finish one. Next time though, I'd change to a less shiny and lighter metal, but I do like the rusty plate on the top layer and the old ink quill. Can't wait to go Yard Saling and finding cool flat pieces of metal now that I know what to look for.
Some of Leighanna's Bird Work.
Please, please, please, can I take this class too!
Alas, it's not to be, there are only so many days for the retreat and so many art dollars.
And, the next day I'm scheduled for Pam Carriker's Busting Out!
OMG, pinch me.
Well, not when I'm holding this treacherous metal punchers.
Enough Said.
