A Book About Death

In November I received a message from Michael Harford. In it he said that if I was up in the Seattle area to stop in and see the exhibition A Book About Death at the Quetzalcoatl Gallery. I soon found out that in addition to his wonderful submission; there were also submissions by others that I knew.

A wonderful train ride up (now one of my 8 favorite loves of 2011), plus one taxi ride and we were at the gallery. The gracious Kathleen McHugh and Al met us at the door and introduced us to the owner Almendra Sandoval.

And soon we were in, seeing all the great submissions of Michael, Kathleen, Sonja, Nikki, Michele and Lorenzo and all of the others.....













I leave knowing that I have met a kindred spirit in Kathleen. And leaving I also know that I will be visiting my two favorite stores in Seattle before climbing back on the train to Portland....



sitting next to a very handsome man, drinking white wine and eating the best dang mac 'n cheese!



Thank you Michael for suggesting that trip up to Seattle and thank you Kathleen for being so welcoming.

Back home I receive in the mail a fantastic Christmas CD from Michael along with his and Lisa's art books to add too, which I will do after the first of the New Year.




2012 is going to be a fantabulous year!!!!

Paint Nights With Master Po

A couple of months ago I emailed Destree and asked if she would be willing to meet with me once a month, to show me art techniques that she knows and that I admire, ..... and she said yes! So once a month, we meet..... for an evening of me being "Grasshopper" and she being "Master Po".

The first month was brushes and paints and eyes and eyelashes! (I'm not quite ready to share that one yet :)

This month was blending and contrasting and the wondermous STABILO! We decided to do our hands (still being a work in progress)!




She had also ask that I bring my canvas of ME that she had sketched back in April. Before I could leave our painting session she said that I needed to add a splash. A splash of anything...I just needed to begin. And so I did......







Thank you Master Po.....



..... you were right. I was ready, I just didn't know it!

A Weekend of Artful Play

About a month ago Dayna invited me to be her guest at a weekend retreat that she and her Portland Art Collective group go on each year at Menucha.

Already giddy with excitement I knew the weekend was going to be the best ever when I turned to drive in. My love of trees and art and a room full of inspiring women...



It was also Dayna's birthday and I think she loved her presents!!




And we all got our fortunes!



A room full of artful women, each creating such wondermous things, each so embracing and inspiring and funny.




A couple of the ladies taught classes - Tory taught us how to felt soap.





But the greatest part of the entire weekend, even after working on my art projects.....



.....and sitting across from this adorable lady every day



was that she made me pinkie swear two things. One....I can NOT tell anyone what her pajammies look like and Two....that I could no longer refer to her as my teacher, I could only refer to her as my friend.

Thank you Dayna for inviting me to one of the best weekends ever. And thank you for being my friend!

A Boat Load of Caribbean Goodies

It's been a month since I went aboard the Freedom of the Seas to bask in the sun and do art with Tim Holtz. I have just now finished putting away the mammoth amount of art supplies given to each participant. Each class would yield more and more until I was at the point of being totally overwhelmed.



Upon arriving in Florida, there was a four hour wait to pick up our luggage due to lightening. It's always so laughable that when you are going somewhere fun, there's pretty much nothing that can bring a frown.




Once on board, we found where the classes were to be held, our room and met our dining mates (and women I would be sitting with in class) and of course, the infamous Tim Holtz!





Our Ports of Call included CocoCay, Bahamas





St. Thomas





And the best time ever on St. Maarten











Meeting wonderful fun people......







.....and the cutest newlywed couple ever ~ who now have my Angel and know its story.



And of course, no trip is complete without meeting my "Hot Guy" (and this one definitely was!)!!!!



A week after getting home I received in the mail a beautiful acrylic book made by Brenda, my art buddy that I sat by each day, the one who took me under her wing and showed me what to do.



Thank you Brenda for making my trip so much more enjoyable, for my beautiful book and for your friendship!