Something to see...

I don't often check out youtube for things to watch, but it's a great place to go hunting if you have a song stuck in your head that you want to hear, often accompanied by some interesting home-made videos. This particular video caught me off guard. It's just edited movie clips, but beautifully done.

Enlightenment in less than a week

I went to ArtFest without any intentions or expectations. Nothing aside from the knowledge that I'd have three blissful days of uninterrupted art and some much needed decompression time. Little did I know that the way I approach art would make a drastic change.

I spent two days with Traci Bautista; painting, collaging, and playing with a wide variety of techniques and materials. Traci's style is so free and playful, very inspiring. I adore the huge book I made in her class and will continue to work on it until it feels complete.

The last day of classes was with Theo Ellsworth, an artist who draws with the most incredible detail and has imagination more vast than any universe you could think of. Listening to Theo speak about his way of experiencing the world was like someone defining the things that I already have in my own head with incredible clarity. I would never in a million years be capable of explaining the feeling of ease that I had during the entire class and how I drew without thinking . Put pen to paper. I felt at the end of the class like I had taken a very pleasant nap and kept that feeling well into the next day.

The most valuable lesson I brought away from Artfest is that I need to stop being so cerebral about my art and just create. I can go on that journey without a planned destination...just knowing that I will eventually end up *somewhere* is enough of a destination in itself.

Back to reality....sort of.

I'm feeling a little lonely today. No classes to attend and artful discussions to be had. No walks on the beach. I have a laundry list of things to do today but can't get myself out of that quiet head space that I've been in for the last five days. I will post again later with more details of classes and such. I just need a little time to wrap my head around it. More photos will be available in my Flickr gallery.

I'm so excited to see what I can do now with what I've learned. I feel like a changed person after attending Artfest and look forward to attending next year. Until then I will think of all the people I was so blessed to meet and the experience of existing in that beautiful and enveloping community of artistic people.

There's a tremendous comfort in being home and looking forward to developing my art. The best part of coming home is that I woke up today in my own bed , kissed my husband and cuddled my son as he watched cartoons and played with his bear. That is the most beautiful place in the world.

Ready for Artfest!

I'm leaving for Artfest in the morning and I couldn't be more excited! I've finished all the trades I'm going to make this year. Over 80 charms, several mini-journals, moo cards and a few photo prints of some of my favorite art will be up for swapping! I can't wait to see what others have to offer!

Pulling supplies together has been quite a job....I've only made it worse by procrastinating. I made my final supply stop to make copies at Kinko's today, which hopefully means I'm done!

I'll post photos of Artfest and my creations when I get home!