Art and Soul - Virginia Beach - iPad as Photo Art Studio

As I said earlier, the size of the item makes a lot of difference when you are traveling by plane.   Something else that enters into the decision for me is 'do I have to wait for the item to dry or cure in some way before I can pack it?'    The last evening I was there, I signed up for iPad as Photo Art Studio.    I must say I was a bit luke warm on the issue.   I have an iPad and an iPhone and love them; take a lot of photos and like to post them and have some printed   Really didn't have a clue - not a clue - as to how I would create art on an iPad.   Oh well, I wouldn't have an item that needed to dry and I had the time so I would take it.   It was not  late addition to my classes, but a conscious decision that it would be a good way to spend my last night there.  

 

Well, I must say I was absolutely delighted with the results.   Learned more about my iPad than I thought was possible and the apps recommended were absolutely delightful.

 

I googled this morning to see how many apps are out there and apparently it is somewhat over 700,000 apps today - I'm sure more tomorrow.

 

Catherine Anderson recommended a bunch of apps and I ordered all that she recommended and my total cost was under $15 and a few were free.   Very little cost for lots of possibilities. 

 

I will not list her recommended apps because she has gone to lots of trouble finding and learning to use apps and teaches those classes and I believe her class recommendations are proprietary and I will let you either take her class when you have a chance or browse the app store for ones you want to use.  

 

If you get a chance, take her class.

 

Here are some of the things you can do.   (I'm not a professional photographer, but a real excited amateur).  

 

 

The original picture.   My son in high school  

 

Made a post card from the original picture. 

 

Highlighted my son from the picture.  

 

Original Key Lime picture I took so I could do an oil painting from it. 

 

Same picture made to look very old. 

 

Same picture with "Key Lime" all over it. 

 

Same picture made into a post card. 

 

A very nondescript picture of two of my corgis.   Really blah!!!!!

 

Same picture cropped and highlighted.   Still not a fantastic picture, but much better.  

 

I feel I have just scratched the surface on what I can do, but for the investment in time (about 3 1/2 hours), I certainly go my money's worth!.   Very good class and I would urge you to take it if you get a chance.  

 

I certainly have enjoyed sharing my first Art and Soul Experience with you.   Everything was wonderful.   A special thank you to Marie Kennedy who was waiting for the restaurant to open on my first day of classes and asked me to join her.   It was a delightful meeting and if I wasn't excited enough about the event, she really fired me up.   Thanks Marie.  

 

Art and Soul - Virginia Beach - Winsome Treasure - Lisa Kaus

As I mentioned before, I adore Lisa's work and when I had an opportunity to take her 2nd class, I jumped at it.

This is what we started with.   A wooden box like item about 6 inch square.   

This is what I ended up with.   I'm so sorry about no pictures during the process.   I guess my brain was taking a little vacation or something.   Just didn't pull out my camera.   

I love stamps and I love hearts and that was the basis for the front.   The little hearts at the bottom are water soluble crayons.   Again, I didn't know what these things were or how to use them.   I think they will be a staple in my supplies in the future.    The little car was just something that I thought fit. 

Two wooden watermelon slices and one drawn slice.   Again, the water soluble crayon does a wonderful job. 

I like maps and had to fill more space than just the map and again the little green dots look really cute.   I liked the little 'home' at the tip of the mainland.   I live in Key West.  

Here was the other side. 

 

This was such a fun project.   To keep from having the box sit directly on a shelf, there are little wooden buttons on each corner to keep it raised up a bit.

 

Okay, we are 5 classes down.   The 6th and final class I attended will come tomorrow.   

 

 

 

 

Art and Soul - Virginia Beach - Tin Dreams Pendant - Jen Crossley

How does one decide what classes to take.   First, remember my chant YOU ARE FLYING HOME when looking at the size.   I also love jewelry and anything that could fall under the category of 'funky'.   Well, Jen Crossley's work falls into that category and I thought it would be great fun.   So my 2nd night, I went to her Tin Dreams Pendant session.    What a session.   I would have sworn that everyone started out in the Boardroom because twice they broke out in song.    Knowing that I hadn't seen any of these lades upstairs, it must have been the atmosphere.   Great fun.

Jen getting ready to start the class.   Doesn't she look happy.   What a great way to start a class. 

 Samples of her work.   Aren't they great. 

 My two completed pieces.  

I loves these little old fuse boxes.   They are so cute. 

 

I love the above piece.   I learned how to burn the paint off the box without, I repeat WITHOUT, setting myself on fire or burning down the building I was in.   Great ease in doing it and a great finished result. 

Here I am with both of my pendants.   Generally I wouldn't wear them both together, but I didn't want either one to think I was showing favoritism to the other so I wore them both.   

Great fun and very soon I am going to start burning paint off other boxes.  Hopefully I will have great results here too. 

Art and Soul Retreat - Viriginia Beach - Lisa Kaus - Gridlock

I have been following Lisa Kaus' work for years.   I love it and have even tried to imitate it.   Since she lives a long way away (Oregon) , I figured I would never get to take one of her classes.   Although I knew she did classes for Art and Soul, that remained a bucket list item for so long I wasn't sure it was going to happen.    When you see work and read articles about an artist, it isn't really close to seeing them work in person.    I wasn't sure that the wax she uses to cover her work would work here in Key West with our high humidity and year-round high temperatures.  I found out later that the was is a lot more stable than I ever thought.    When I first did try her style, I did a few pieces that I really liked and you can see that HERE.    When I finally figured that I would get to an Art and Soul Camp and saw that she was teaching 2 classes during the 3 days I was there, I signed up for both of them.  

The first was entitled GRIDLOCKED.   It was certainly fun. 

 A rough idea of how I was going to lay out my piece. 

 A little color added. 

 Lisa showing us how to add depth with water soluble crayons (I didn't know there was such a thing). 

 Had to use a Mary Englebreit paper doll on this piece.   Isn't she a cute little red head! 

 Making headway.   I like it.  

 Watching Lisa show how to add the embellishments.   

 Showing off with Marie Kennedy in the office area.   I really love this piece. 

Set up in my room so I can admire it.   (Along with some of the pendants I made).  

I am really so glad I could take Lisa's class.   It was fun, I learned lots of new things and tried a lot of new products.  

Just as a point of reference; Key West has a Ben Franklin and that is the only craft store within about 125 miles.   There is a Michael's just before you get into greater Miami and the Hobby Lobby is about 250 miles from me.   Most products I use are ordered mail order or I convince Ben Franklin to order it.    It is such a treat to be exposed to other products and see how they work. 

Art and Soul Retreat - Viriginia Beach - Steampunk Pendant

Yesterday we talked about Steam Punk.   I like it although I don't fully understand all that is included in that description.    My 2nd class of the 1st day was also by Erin Keck and it was called Miniature Dimensional Steampunk Art.   Yesterday you saw the clock and you also saw a piece that came out of an antique travel clock that wasn't used in that clock.   Here is that piece.  

 I tried and tried to find a place for the piece in the clock.   The more I moved it around, the more I thought it might work as a pendant and not a piece of the clock.  

 Look at all the gears that I found and all sorts of mini pieces of clock and watch works.  

 Here is the pendant.   The little fuzzy part of the photo is a tiny little bird that is attached to a post so it will move.   

 

This class was so much fun.   I really enjoyed making it and I enjoy wearing it.   

 

Stay tuned, we will get to Lisa Kaus' class.  

Art and Soul Retreat - Virginia Beach - Steampunk Clock

Oh my, whatever is steam punk.   Hard to describe, but I like it.

When I decided to go to Virginia Beach, I kept chanting - REMEMBER YOU ARE TRAVELING BY PLANE.  Lots of classes that would have required me to go to a UPS Store (I didn't want to rent a car) to have it mailed home and the time I was doing that would prevent me from creating art.   Lots of choices on what to take and most would fit inside a suitcase.

My first class was with Erin Keck and the class was entitled Deconstructed/Reconstructed Steam punk Clock.    The basis of his clock was an antique travel clock that we took apart and had all the little screws, springs, gears etc.   Many weeks after I had signed up there was a very short little video of the project and I was delighted I had signed up for.

Here was my place with my materials laid out.   I had the antique travel clock, a bag of laser cut gears, glue and other little goodies.

 Here is my antique clock dismantled.    Looks kinda sad.  If anyone has any ideas for the case, let me know.  

 This was the piece that sort of held everything else together.   You won't find it in the finished project, but don't forget it, you will see it again.  

 Don't you love this little glass cabochon.   It has a clock glued behind it.   Had to do it early to allow for the glue to dry. 

We had our choice on clock works.   This kind that is totally self contained and just fit in the hole in the laser cut gear or one with hands.   Now I knew getting this home would be a chore, so I picked the self contained clock as the hands would be sure to get bent out of shape.   My past experience says they don't fix easily. 

 He is after several hours work.   Lots of gears put together.     I loved these laser cut gears.     

 Kinda done adding gears and looking for locations to put the metal gears. 

Here is the finished project.  You can see metal gears added, the black spring (be careful with them, they want to cut your fingers off when they spring back at you) and there are  few gun shell casings.  

Now - did it make it home well.   I found a box that I put it in, and then put bubble wrap around it.   One shell casing came off and a little glue put it right back on the clock.  

Now about glue.   I have all sort of glues and I found a new one.   Rhino glue.   Just a little bit will bond metal to wood, metal to metal and probably anything else including finger to finger.  

Love this clock.  

Stay tuned for the use for the main piece not used in this project.  

Art and Soul Retreat - Virginia Beach - Trades

When I first decided that this was the year that I would go to an Art and Soul Retreat, I kept finding mention of 'trades' on their website and also on their yahoo site.   Well, I kinda believed they might be like swaps in the miniature groups I belong to, but wasn't sure.   Bases on their frequently asked question section, they described trades as:

Trades are typically small items made by you (or packets of goodies that you put together) that you bring and trade with others who have made things. They’re not required, but are a fun way to share your art with others. Trading can take place anywhere and everywhere at the retreat—just ask if anyone’s trading, and you’re sure to get a response!

Well, that didn't seem too hard, but how many do you make.   Well, that was a fairly frequent question and the most repeated answer was 25 trades.   Okay, that's doable - but what to \make.   I love wire wrapped beach glass and thought that would be what I would do.     However, the closer I would get to the retreat, the more concerned that I would not have enough so I made some charms and some carved wine corks that work for lots of stamping needs in art projects.

I packed everything in little zip lock bags with my blog and email address.   I gave everyone a choice and I was actually surprised at how popular the carved corks were.   I know I love all the ones I made (hearts, squares, crosses, etc).   My little red sheets say 'Made in the Raggedy Kingdom" by Sheila A. Barker.   I work where all my Raggedy Ann are displayed.  


Okay, I am armed and ready to trade.   Well that is a bit imtimidating.    I was also surprised at the number of responses of "I didn't know what to make".   Well, that is part of the purpose of my post.   About anything is acceptable.

 The above is four trades.   A pair of earrings, a collection of things to use in creating other things (rhinestones, beads, compass, etc), an animal print dust cover for your cell phone and a magnet.

 Four more trades.   Peacock Hair Clip, Book Mark, Artist Trading Card with Charm and a collection of other items to use. 

 Four more Trades.   Artist trading cards, stamps to use, and a collection of little treasures. 

Here is a wire wrapped pendant, a fabric flower,lots of animal charms and stickers  and a little book.  

I traded with 16 people so I brought some of my trades home - not a problem, I will use them next Retreat.    

Just about anything is suitable for a trade and not all artists do the same types of art so you are bound to please a lot of people and not so much with others.     All in all I was very pleased with the trades.   I also gave some trades to each of my instructors and to others I met at lunch.   Hopefully the next time more people will want to trade.   It was great fun.

Art and Soul Retreat - Viriginia Beach - Charms

Well this year I am crossing off some of the 'bucket list' items that I've always wanted to do.   The Art and Soul Retreats have always been high on the list and one thing after another has put it off.   It moved up a lot after I retired, but it still has taken me nearly 7 years to get my act together with time and commitment to do it.   This past week, I went to the Virginia Beach Retreat and had an absolutely terrific time.    Over the next few weeks I will post information on my time there and the classes I attended.

 

Before the event I found out that there was a charm group that were doing a Safari Themed charm exchange.   Well, I knew that was something I would enjoy so I signed up.   The group hovered around 12 for quite some time, so I made (after MUCH deliberation and consultation with friends) 14 swaps.   Not a problem.   Imagine my surprise that the swap closed at 19.   Made 6 more, thought I should keep an extra.   Got the 19 mailed off.    

 

The distribution was to be at a time that I would not be there so Julie gave them to me a day earlier.   It was very entertaining in my room going through them.    

 

I wondered how I would display them - Surprise!   How about a charm bracelet.   They are all ready to wear except one that is being mailed separately due to a couple of mix ups by the post office (but that is a whole different story).

 

Participating in swaps is very thought taxing.   What to make???   Will it measure up to other participants' work???   I have been doing swaps for miniatures for years and when joining a new group, those questions can almost be crippling.   The following picture was my first thought.   A tribe of very primitive people discovered on a safari. 

 

Like it, but it needed more.   Add the 'shell' feature.   Primitive tribal people use shells.   

 



 Sent the above pictures to one of my very gifted friends and asked her opinion.   She said to add the shell, more is better.  
14 charms made.  

 I was very happy with them; even happy with the others I had to make to come up with the 19 swaps.  

It was a very fun swap and I'm delighted that I participated.   Jumping into the mix is sometimes the hardest part of the project.