Art Workshop at Jannie Camp 2009

Hello all,

Haven't been here in for a few. Hope you've all been well. I was up in the mountains celebrating Jannie's birthday at Jannie Camp. Happy Birthday Jannie!

She invited me up to Helene's cabin along with Wanda, Sara, and Diane for this relaxing, tranquil event. Jannie, in all her sweetness asked if I would give one of my Art Workshops during our stay up at the cabin. I gladly said, yes. It's beautiful country up in the Sierras, and rare for me to visit this part of the California. The air is so clean up there. We stopped at a few fruit stands along the way and got some amazing peaches, nectarines, cherries, apricots, and watermelon. Yummy time! So fresh! Our car caravan left on Thursday and returned on Sunday.

It got very hot up there. But that didn't stop the relaxation on the deck, that looks out into the woods, where you have to crook your neck so far back that you almost fall over to see the top of the trees. Having great talks and discussions with one another and just hangin' out. Or sleeping under a blanket of stars and watching a few of them shoot past you. So quiet and serene. Awakening early in the morning to the sounds of birds singing and the sun shining high above you. No cars, no trains, all peaceful. I never made it to Alpine Lake to cool my toes in the water with the rest of the bunch, it got too hot for me. But that was OK, I took a nap instead. I was a happy camper (you saw that coming, right?).

I gave a two day workshop on Dream Boxes. Preparations of pulling and packing for the class started the Sunday before....this is the condensed version...preparations really started months ago. The traveling classroom consisted of five banker boxes filled with tools and supplies, an over sized crate and a 28 quart tub filled with more class supplies. Two tables, and a 10x10' canopy, which by the way was wider than the deck and Helene's husband, Randy had to do some infrapilating to accommodate its setup (see slide show), thank you Randy. The classroom was setup outdoors, on the deck. And I got a lot of help with the classroom set up/breakdown. What a great group of women!

Class started on Friday morning taking us through most of the day. We started with tin punching on Coke cans, creating windows and doors for the dream boxes. We also explored techniques with alcohol inks, masking tape backgrounds, emboss resist backgrounds, crackle medium and "what if I" experiments. Diane was up at the crack-o-dawn and in the classroom on Saturday morning and Sara was not far behind.

As we settled into the morning class, we explored other areas of creativity. Wanda decided to create a beautiful journal cover instead of her Dream Box. Jannie and Sara took a break and created some ATC's experimenting with watercolors, masking tape, Sharpies, and crackle medium. Diane and Helene continued in the beautification of their boxes. It was wonderful to see everyone so enthusiastic in their creating. Giving themselves permission to be playful, and open to their muse. I think I will stop here and direct you to the slide show. Here it is Wednesday, with the classroom still in boxes needing to be put away! To all of the awesome and amazing women that came out to play, I say THANK YOU! It was a pleasure creating with you all. Will see you July 19, at my next workshop!