more Art in the rough, 2010

What can I say about Art-in-the-rough? it was magical. it was like being back at girl scout camp, only funner because i got to enjoy it with my son. We were fed well - every meal was well planned and delicious. there was a campfire every morning and every evening. we had hot showers and plenty of room to do our art and in our tents. there was a delicious lobster bake one evening where they cooked the lobster in a traditional Maine way in which they also cook still in its stalk, corn on the cob. yummy! there were snacks in between and desserts at every turn. i taught a jewelry class one day and then took a banner class with taryn the next. we finished off the evening with silly photographs (quite fun to see know!) and then dinner and a movie in the barn (Alice in Wonderland). the planning, details and menu. everyone walked away with a door prize, even dillon. i give an A+. this group worked hard to show us a good time in beautiful Maine and it was perfect.

more from Art-in-the-rough

I'm back home from Beadfest. we had a wonderful time, great shopping, fun classes and lots of laughs. I thought i'd continue on posting my pictures from Art-in-the-rough, since there are so many great ones to still see.

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In other news, i am getting ready to enter what i refer to my "busy" time, with several retreats and shows coming up. so I'm going to change Flea Market Friday's to the first Friday of every month. so the next one will be Friday, September 3rd and of course, i will post reminders as we get closer.

sent by colleen to her art friends

i found these thoughts to be quite lovely. it's a great mantra to repeat to ourselves when we are being too self critical and forgetting that what we have to offer others is just as valuable as what we might learn from them.


may today there be peace
within. may you use your gifts and
pass them on. may you be
content with yourself just the way
you are. let this knowledge settle
into your bones & allow yourself
the freedom to sing, dance, praise
and love.

Art-is-you 2009

i began my journey to Art-is-you on a very gusty and overcast day. driving in Tucker's big econoline van, packed to the gills with art supplies, class kits, display stuff for vendor night, stuff to sell on vendor night, luggage and my 2 favorite pillows. the wind was so bad, i had to death grip the steering wheel to keep the van from being whipped around. it was a little stressful to say the least. so if you were driving behind me, i apologize for going so slow!
i taught 4 classes; all of them so different from the next. i did a sewing class, a jewelry class, a soldering class and a collage class. i loved everyone of them and received so many compliments from my students after class was over. we worked very hard and all left with an almost completed project.
there were many friends to see and new ones to meet. i ended up spending a lot of time with di, taryn and jane and we bonded over silly things, interesting people and our similarities.
i found people to be extremely helpful and for the most part, everyone, although tired, wore a constant smile on their face.
i wanted to thank all the vendors who were so helpful to me with selling my stuff or watching over it while i was in class (scott, lenny, terri, linda and the bead girl). it was sad to say goodbye as that close knit, "girlfriend power" feeling of art camaraderie just does not happen enough. but i know we will get to see each other soon and i look forward to it.

(click on image to see enlarged photo)

country living fair

here's just a few of the things that are headed to CLF with me in Sept. Country Living Fair is in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 18, 19, 20. hope to see you there. i'll post my booth # once i receive it!

charlotte doll heads

a package finally arrived today from far away. i couldn't wait to unpack it. it's from Germany, from Thomas! it was an ebay win, a LOT of those highly sought after and coveted Charlotte doll heads. since i am teaching a few classes where we use one of these heads as the focal point, i needed to get some in stock to get ready. i don't know if i'll be selling any of these since i use these alot in my projects. when i am almost ready to leave for Country Living Fair, i'll post some pictures of some wonderful things i have created using these doll heads. until then, you'll just have to be patient!

paper mache bird in cage

i found this birdcage at Michael's and decided it needed a little birdie to live inside of it. the bird is paper mache and she is sitting on a wire nest i wove. the nest is sitting on a kid's wooden block, "B" for bird! her feathers are real feathers found in my very own back yard. i learned how to make the bird while in Hampton, from Jan Harris. my goal is to make them smaller and smaller and eventually have some little ones to use in jewelry.