Sea Monsters, ArtFest, Trip to Pt Townsend and 3rd Place

"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels." Goya, famous painter

Artfest

I have been happily playing with Photoshop again and created the above ATC (Artist Trading Card) for trading for Artfest 2009. The theme is undersea monsters which I was not overly enchanted with, however, this particular image which I colorized captured my attention... so yes, I did finally do a monster. Maybe my inspiration had to do with the recent postings about the ghostly underground history of the old Fort at Port Townsend where the Artfest event takes place. It was surprising to find out that the Schoolhouse building where we artfully play was once a hospital with a morgue in the basement... so creepy...

As with every year, I am going over the supply lists for my 3 workshops, beginning to gather and prepare, making trades, hopefully making 2 items for the gallery, and generally getting excited about another retreat with about 500 artsy crazy beautiful women who will show up Wed thru Sun gleefully retreating in the stunningly beautiful and sparsely appointed camp-like lodgings open to trying out all kinds of clever art techniques, reconnecting with old faraway friends, and making new ones. Truly, maybe this is the "real" world!

Here are some of my photo's from previous Artfests I have attended: 1) my spartan dorm 202 room arted up a bit with color (I always take a colorful scarf or 2 to brighten it up), 2) the dining hall/commons on the left looking west towards the tower, and 3) a peek of the water view/dorm 225.

Local Art Dates

I initiated a circle of women about 2 years ago because I wanted to carry over throughout the year the happy artmaking with nearby like-minded souls. After a few months of collecting all the locals I ran into that attended Artfest and similar artful events (Artfiberfest, Art & Soul, Art Unraveled, etc., you can google these), I now schedule regular Art Dates at nearby 3rd Place Bookstore in Lake Forest Park which has a food circus and a "commons" area with large tables. Though I have a long list, a nice group of about 4 to 10 will show up to play on whatever project they want, no rules.... It has been a wonderful time of getting to know these creative women and sharing artwork with each other. And it is in line with my view that it is important to give yourself "down time" away from obligations and "to do's" to engage in non-directed play, that is, working on your own ideas and projects and experiments, and enjoying the company of other artists. If you live in the area and are interested in joining, please email me.

In addition I continue playing in several other local circles, mostly needlework and painters.... experimenting with machine embroidery techniques in one group... making a crown in another group... hand stitching.... self learning more Photoshop and digital art.... painting and mixed media experimenting... Not to mention on-line groups... And organizing my workshop offerings soon to come...

All this creative play and things to come, I will save for posting another day.