March Art Romp in Seattle

I had the pleasure to spend a whole glorious week hanging out with a great group of artists in Seattle last week at the Art Romp sponsored by Teesha and Tracy Moore. From the time we got picked up at the hotel (9am) until drop off after dinner (usually around 9pm) we made art, watched demos, tried new things, and explored Seattle. Working in Teesha and Tracy's studio was liking spending time in nirvana, I had my own table with a window looking out into the trees. I had access to all kinds of great art supplies that Teesha uses to make her wonderful journal pages (and I got to watch her work on her visual journal too!)


I definitely had Spring on my mind with so many things starting to bloom in Seattle. Here are a few of the art journaling pages I was working on while I was there. (More to come in my next posts).

Artfest: Day One- Wednesday March 28, 2012

Still trying to overcome my jetlag, here are my overdue recollections of the last Artfest, hosted by Teesha and Tracy Moore at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington. I flew in from New York to Seattle on Tuesday, not leaving it up to chance that I might miss my shuttle to the Fort on Wednesday (which happened to me last year). I took the shuttle from the DoubleTree Hotel by the airport (very nice too- love the warm chocolate chip cookies at check-in!) back to the baggage claim to pick up the Hogwarts Express Artfest shuttle at 2:00 pm. Two and a half hours later we made it to the Fort and checked in at the Commons.

After I got my stuff into my usual room (this is my 6th Artfest and for 5 of them I've had the same room- Dorm 202 Room #16) I gathered up my trades and went back to the Commons for what I call the Trading Frenzy in the lobby before they open the doors for dinner. I didn't last till the end, reaching my limit with trades to spare for trading in classes and other activities. Here are some pictures of all the trades I did get over the five days of Artfest.

After dinner we went to the opening ceremony at the Pavilion. Teesha and Tracy gave a little speech about how Artfest has been a part of their lives and how they are looking forward to the next artistic endeavor. Teachers were introduced and then the crew that helps make Artfest work. At this point Tracy made a special introduction of David who came down from the audience as a teacher? and proceeded to propose to Tracy and Teesha's youngest daughter Trista (and she said yes!). Lots of standing ovations for Tracy and Teesha. Jesse Reno wrapped up the opening with a rambling talk on creativity and following your gut and being creative. After this I left the pavilion and picked up the fatbook 4x4 collaborative project I had contributed to. It was an incredible collection of work by Artfest artists to commemorate this last Artfest.

The other collaborative project I contributed to and picked up at Artfest was hosted by Penelope Harris "The Book of Faces" which was an awesome project inspired by classes we had taken with Roxanne Padgett. Penelope had requested people send her drawings of faces (I submitted four to the project and all were included!) What a fun thing to have and play with!

Live Out Loud

Day three of the NaNoJouMo Challenge. I would have posted this sooner, but my computer seems to be fighting me on these scan then post activities. But I persevered. I just have to stop procrastinating on working on the page so late into the night.
This page was inspired by watching the Teesha Moore videos on how she journals, which she's got posted to her blog and over on YouTube. I am learning quite a lot about integrating collage elements to make the page more cohesive (something I've avoided in the past.). I like this experimenting. I have a couple of new books on journaling that I could use to try different techniques this month during the challenge. Sounds like a plan of action to me.

Day 2 of the NaNoJouMo challenge. I am up way past my bedtime to finish and post this, but I was working a bit on tomorrow's page also, so maybe I'll get the hang of this yet.
I highly recommend heading over to YouTube and doing a search for Teesha Moore. She has posted videos of her journaling process. It's a dream come true for me...I've always wanted to look over her shoulder and see how she journals. Now I can with these videos. They are great. She is awesome. I learn so much from her, and the other journal artists I got to take classes with and hang around with at Journalfest. I'll have to post some of the things I did there later in the week.
Have you worked in your journal today?

Journalfest: Lost a Pin

Well I'm back from Journalfest and still recovering from the time change. I have yet to unpack my artwork and art supplies, since I've had laundry and other chores to see to and of course I had to go back to work on Monday. I did notice that I am missing something very dear to my heart. A little pin that I had on my journal bag, which I've drawn a picture of above. I've had this pin for at least 20 years. I lost it on Saturday at Fort Worden, somewhere between Dorm 225 and the Commons area I think. I loose pins all the time, but this one was special. If you have found Jasper, please let me know. I would really like to arrange a homecoming for the little guy.
I will start posting more about my adventures at Journalfest in the next few days. I had a really great time. My world is a better place thanks to Teesha and Tracy Moore, and all the great folks at Journalfest (and Artfest).