Withdrawal from Art Unraveled 2008

Had an easy trip home from AU 2008 - Elvis was at the door to greet me (no...not that Elvis - my orange kitty Elvis Bear) and Vinnie (my gray boy) gave me that look - you know the one - I'm going to act blase' at your homecoming because I told you I didn't want you to go but you went anyway look - and of course the yellow duckies were just where I left them!

Elvis & Vinnie lounging





My rubber duckie collection on my bathroom window!

Will post details later but wanted to begin to update my thoughts and art work -

First a very special "thank you" to Linda Young and family for a wonderfully organized and well planned week - and once again a thank you filled with gratitude for asking me to be the keynote speaker to start things off - I enjoyed speaking and had lots of comments throughout the week that led me to believe that people were actually listening! :)

Chuck & Linda Young, Art Unraveled Creators/Producers

"Yours truly" delivering the "keynote" speech - Art Unraveled 2008 8/03/08

Had a special surprise when my name was called and announced that I won 3rd prize in the art contest - the first time I ever entered my artwork anywhere - and it was especially rewarding because it was a piece that I had created to teach in a class in LA earlier in the year - thanks so much!

Art Unraveled 2008 - 3rd Place winner - 1st panel of my 4 panel Freedom Banner

4 panel Freedom Banner - paper, acrylic crackle paint, collage, stamps, inks, ribbons - (click on photo to see close up)

2008 Art Unraveled Art Contest winners - 2nd place Cecelia, 1st place Geri and 3rd place Reva at Awards dinner

To all my new and old art friends - I send out big hugs and want you to know how much your friendship means to me - as I unwind and slip into sadness that AU is over I know that I will have many conversations with all of you until our next meeting in 2009 - the Yahoo group and our "get togethers" keep me going - I agree with all those who said they wished life could be like AU - it's nice to be in the company of like-minded talented creative folks -

Thank you to all the wonderful instructors this year - what a difficult choice to narrow down the classes I wanted to take this time - but a very special thank you to my teachers - Anne Grgich, Robin Dudley-Howes, Jane LaFazio, Carla Sonheim, Leighanna Light, Raina Gentry and Michael de Meng - it doesn't get better than that! Each class took so much planning and each was wonderful in it's own way - Most of my projects I worked on are works-in-progress (okay, I didn't finish them) but am posting them as they are today and will post them as they are completed - I did finish my work in Anne Grgich's class, Michael de Meng's and Carla Sonheim - I am very pleased with all three -

Instructor/artist Jan La Fazio - Sketch & Watercolor class

My first ever sketch and water color attempt
2nd attempt a flower from class


Robin Dudley-Howes holding finished Tassle- what I hope mine will look like one day!


The under "skirt" and base of my tassel - I painted the blank wooden cup

Outer skirt and weaving of my tassle - the weaving took forever! The underskirt and painted wooden cup are under the outer skirt -


Instructor/artists - Carla Sonheim and me - Drawing class


My first attempt at drawing class - we chose a picture from a magazine and drew it - using pencil, charcoal, and water soluble crayon - My lion -



Instructor/artists Leighanna Light and me at the end of her Metal Deck class - thanks for introducing me to metal and all the fun it holds!


These are the metal cards in my deck - I have only started with semi-completed backgrounds - next I will add the embellishments like buttons, etc that I will wire (not glue!) onto the cards


This close-up shows the blank metal card before anything has been added - the only thing done to this is that I snipped the corners to round them -



The fabulous Michael de Meng - could students and traveling be too much for him in this photo?


My assemblage (with a French accent!) piece from Michael's Outlet class - The rooster at the top I found at Hannah Grey's booth and the round letters say "Shalom"


My 'work-in-progress' from Raina Gentry's class - my first painting class

From Anne Grgich's class - can't figure out how to turn it right side up :)


A right-side up view but bottom of piece cut off in photo :)


My 2nd piece from Anne Grgich's class - love her classes!



My new friend Amy from Simi Valley and I are starting an AU art group for the LA area - we are fashioning it after the successful one in Phoenix - watch for an announcement about our first gathering here in LA -

Tomorrow I'm going with Kara and Terrill (AU friends from LA) to Pasadena to Harbor Freight to look at power tools - a phrase I never thought this "nice Jewish girl" would be uttering - but I must say I'm excited and can't wait!

Will be in touch with all those I met but for now this blog will have to do - I got home to a stack of DVDs to view for voting on the Emmy Awards - so have my work cut out for me - and will be doing some work for Shirley Jones (yes - Partridge Family Shirley Jones) who we work with regularly -

Also am offering a free tele-coaching session to anyone who attended AU - students and instructors - just e-mail me and we can set something up - am looking for a couple of full time coaching clients, so this is a good way to see if you might want to sign up - to find out more about coaching check out my Scribe Wizards website -

Stay in touch - continue to make art - and see you next year in Phoenix!