New online classes!

I am excited to announce that I will be offering a new series of online classes, beginning in July at the "A is for Artistic site".

Each class is offered individually or ...at a savings...as a series. The classes begin with my technique of sculpting and painting a head and face. Each class of the series has about 4 to 6 lessons with full instruction and colored photos, showing each and every step, and in every class there is an online forum where we can talk...critic if you want....share tips...share photos and just get to know each other.

The next class will be on to sculpting and painting the hands and arms, then on to sculpting and painting the legs and feet. The next class will show you how I create a torso, how I attach the previously sculpted arms and legs and how to make a stand. The whole series then culminates with the class on Creating a Hardscape. When I moved to Hawaii I found, because of the heat and humidity, velvets and antique laces did not work so well.

From walking the beaches and discovering sea glass, and found objects, to incorporating abalone shards and mosaic class, I developed a costume that I call a Hardscape.
This is the way I created the piece that I have been posting about here on my blog...
"My Lady of Guadalupe".
So the last class will be on how to create her costume!

I'm excited about these classes and I do think taking classes online is a brilliant idea!
I know I have taken many classes from felting to jewelry making, and I very much enjoy being able to create my own studio, at my own time, and yet learn something new.

I hope I see you in class..... in cyberspace......creating, creating, creating! :)

My Lady of Guadalupe

Well, it might not be THE lady of Guadalope but it's MY lady of Guadalope.

Blue mosaic cape.....

I finished my blue mosaic cape for my online "Hardscape Class".
This has been a fun piece to make and, not be one who can let things alone, I have an inspiration to make her into my version of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Stay tuned for more developments! :)

Working on her hood.....

I spent yesterday creating the hood of her cape. Blue mirror tiles and micro beads.....
Today the rest of the cape. ..... Off to the studio ......

Hardscaping......

I'm putting together a new class called "Creating a Hardscape".
Years ago, after moving to Hawaii where silk velvets and lace just don't do well, I began creating costumes with apoxie clay and embellishments and no fabric.
I call these "Hardscapes" and they are great fun to create.

I have a series of classes now offered at That Creative Place that begin with how I sculpt and paint a face, how I sculpt and paint hands and arms, legs and feet, how I create a torso and put together the arms and legs and build a stand. ( not up on site yet ) And now the culmination of those classes will be "Creating a Hardscape." Since I've been so lost in my Blessing wall pieces, it's been a while since I did a Hardscape and I am loving this process!

Here's a few photos of some parts of the class....the undergown, the hood and today will bring a glorious cape!

If there is any class you would like me to offer, please let me know.

Hide and Seek class

My husband and I took a watercolor painting class this weekend.
I knew nothing about water color and he knew even less, but as of today, I'll never look at a hibiscus in the same way. It's amazing how gaining new knowledge shifts and expands one's perspective. What a great thing!

Patrice Federspiel has lived here in Hawaii for about 10 years now. I met her when she first moved here and was just learning the art of watercolor, having mastered oil painting. She was part of the group of women who, not knowing each other initially, gathered together in my studio once a week, because of the love of creating.....and the beauty of Kawela Bay. We met each week, over many many years, and while the group has since disbanded, it's fun to stay in touch and relish in the new directions that we have found ourselves. And the love of creating still holds us together, at least in our spirit.
She has a lovely web page and a great eZine that I highly recommend.
The Art of Aloha.

In these past 10 years, Patrice has become a master in the art of watercolor. Her style and technique are thrilling and inspiring, and her use of bold color is exciting and fresh.
The technique she taught this weekend was called "Hide n Seek" in which one lays gauze, string and such down on the paper, adds paints, lets it dry and then discovers the painting within. Right up my alley! It keeps one in their heart and out of their head and adds such a fun element of mystery.

This is what I found hiding in my painting!

Here's my husband's hibiscus..... very cool, I think . :)








Patrice Federspiel The Art of Aloha

Blue Madonna.......

New Reiki wall pieces are ready to ship to Santa Fe.
This first one is called "Blue Madonna"

This is called "Grasshopper Guidance"


And this one is called "Buddah Blessings"

Jumping for joy...in praise of mothers...

‎"Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.'
We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground."

The passion and possession of inspiration....

Sometimes I can feel utterly possessed by the energy of inspiration.
It's my favorite state of mind. "I" disappear and there is only the intense focus of creation.

I can't stop making these "Blessing Art" pieces. They are calling to be created!
I run across to my studio in the morning and I'm there all day with so much energy flowing through me that today I had to put the Dalai Lama's healing mantra just to ground me.

I love that I get to share the treasures that I have collected over the years....and saved...like rusted keys, Buddha heads, glass bubbles, and bones. And it is important to me that these pieces contain Reiki healing symbols and that these symbols are mysteriously...and respectively... hidden, although the energy remains.

Here are a couple new pieces.
I have to figure out how to photograph them better......
Since they are selling so well in Santa Fe, I now want to find a gallery in Sedona and perhaps one more....somewhere else.
Any recommendations or suggestions would be much appreciated!










These next photos are of pieces that will have grout added to them tomorrow.
The grout will tone down the colors and add a look of age.
It offers a real transformation. And of course, in the process, I could ruin them....

For this image, I took a photo of a piece I had created years ago and did color xerox of it...
and then placed it under glass.
The result was kind of haunting, I think.

This is another piece, in blues, that will change quite a bit when grouted.
This one has bubbles of glass, a metal grasshopper, an antique mirror alter thing and a rusted antique key. I have no idea, right now, what this piece is about, but when it is done and I place it before me, a story or meaning usually presents itself.