AU is over and real life has hit

"Peaceful rest"

"The Shepherd"


Well, I still feel like I'm hung over from my whirlwind week at AU! While I didn't have classes every day, I was at the hotel with the girls every day. I had such a blast with my girlfriends!

Saturday was vendor day and for the firs time, I stayed the whole time! There were some great things to buy! My most favorite purchase is a handmade hat that was hand-dyed by Lorri Scott with L.A.S. fibers. Her pieces were beautiful but the hats made me squeal with delight! Lorri did the dying and Jennifer somebody... sorry, I don't know her last name( so Lorri, if you are reading this, fill in the blanks for me, will ya') made the hats and are they darling! I LOVE hats but often have difficulty finding them to fit properly because I have a small head. Add hearing aids into the mix which make a squealing sound if anything gets too close to the microphone, meaning a hat that comes too far down on my head... these two things make finding a great hat really, really hard. I almost died when I put the first hat on in Lorri's booth. It fit perfectly and OMG, was it ever cute! It was more than my budget at the moment but I did tell Lorri I want one but in any shade of brown so I can get a ton of use from it. However, I did buy one a little less expensive in a gorgeous moss green and I got a zillion compliments on it that day. I bought it as soon as I walked into the vendor space and wore it the rest of the day. I will have my boys take a picture of me in it so I can show you guys. These hats are to die for, I'm tellin' ya'! Everything Lorri had in her booth was so beautiful. It has a modern victorian feel to it and the hand-dyed stuff is luscious.

Anyway, I had Katie Kendrick's class called Poetry in Motion all day Sunday. Photos are in the beginning of this post. This class really challenged and stretched me, which is why I took it, but it REALLY challenged me! I felt like I was floundering most of the day. We painted layers and layers and layers waiting for a image to "emerge" from the painting telling us a direction to go. Well, let me tell you, my images were slow as molasses showing themselves! After making squiggles, finding nothing, repainting, more squiggles, finding nothing, repainting, etc.... this went on for hours... I finally found these images. And, since they are now sealed in wax, there's no goin' back so "it is what it is". Done.

My boys started school yesterday and I ended up going fabric shopping with Fran, Joanne, and Lorri. Fran and I took them to our favorite hot spots. Joanne broke the bank... maybe more than one. She got herself a new embellisher on a smokin' sale. And we all got lots of stuff at our favorite store, SAS, which is a huge warehouse type fabric place. I'm gonna' be making some fun skirts. Lorri treated us to a yummy lunch and then I had to run and do mommy stuff. I'll miss all my buddies!

Today has been a lot of cleaning. This is the condition of my studio at the moment. Scary and paralyzing, I know. This will be my next big project because something has to happen so I can start working again!


After my class with Judy Wise last week ("So you want to sell your art"), I will be making some changes to my Etsy store as well as my blog. The blog will no longer have anything on it unless it is art related in some way. I will create a new blog just for personal, family type stuff. I want to get some more art done to put in my Etsy store, including some prints of my work! So, be on the lookout!

Well, back to work for me. I'm beat and could fall asleep in seconds but I have to keep going.