Wow... Loved the Art Retreat ......

I had the most fantastic time at the Art Retreat run by Artistic Journey! Amazing tutors and surrounded by so many talented people!!!!
The Art Retreat began for me with a class with the wonderful Ro Bruhn... an altered book, fantastic fun! Unfortunately I dont have photos of my book as yet, but will post them as soon as I do so. If you get a chance to do a class with Ro jump at the chance, it was such fun and very inspirational. I will do a post on that class as soon as I take my photos.
On the Friday I had a class with Misty Mawn. I had been looking forward to this for ages as Misty's art was my introduction to mixed media... I was drawn to her wonderful backgrounds and the ethereal figures in her art. So much fun learning to do these backgrounds myself and then having a go at painting my own figures (lots of practice needed yet!). Misty is very quiet and unassuming and the most wonderful teacher.
Saturday was a journal class with Traci Bautista.... lots of fun techniques, vibrant colours, lots of doodling... sort of anything goes when making your own collage pages for your journal. Loved learning to put the journal together and making the fantastic fabric binding.
Sunday was spent with the wonderful Nina Bagley. I thoroughly enjoyed this class too (after much concern about not being able manage the "Nina Knot" and other intricacies of jewellery making). I need not have worried, Nina made the class such an enjoyable experience. Nina makes everyone feel very confident (and clever!!!) and we all achieved so much in this class.


This is a photo of the necklace I made in Nina's class. I was thrilled with it and I am sure to be wearing this often. As you can see.... I sort of managed the Nina Knots (I rather like the naive look of my knots...I think).
The colour here is a little washed out. The piece at the bottom is a piece of jade (you'd never believe it the colour it has come out in the photo!!). It is very special as I bought it at a flea market when I was on holiday in Rome, so it is lovely to now have it in a piece of jewellery that I have made. Nina helped with me with that beautiful little pearl at the bottom and the idea of using the ribbon.

Above is a photo (sorry its a bit blurry) of Nina and myself. Isnt she soooo cute. Nina is not a very tall person, 5'2" she tells me..... shows how short I am doesnt it.... all of 5' nothing. I'm glad I made her feel tall though. She is such a warm and generous soul. Nina was very sick with a flu virus throughout the weekend, but it didnt dampen her enthusiasm for her students.

I had just the best time in her class...hope she is coming back next year for the Art Retreat as I will definately be booking in for that class!!!!

I was up early one morning recently and took this photo of the sun rising (this is the view from my kitchen window). It was chilly and misty, but the sunrise was eerily beautiful. I am glad I raced in and got my trusty little camera to take this shot...I'm not normally up to see the sunrise.

Anyways, will finish this post now, but will have more of what I did with the other tutors posted soon for you to all see, plus some photos of my arty online friends that I got to meet in the flesh at this retreat.

Hope you have enjoyed my photos from my class with Nina...

Out of action......

Hi all, I have been out of action this week with a yukky cold/flu virus (just pleased I had it last week and not next week when I have my much anticipated Art Retreat !!!). But, alas, no art was created this week so you will have to make do with some art I created before I began my blog..... The above are three bird ATC's that were made as part of a swap hosted by the talented Jo Wholohan last year for one of our Yahoo groups. Each person made 3 bird themed ATC's per month and sent to each person on the list. It was a one of my favourite swaps and I received some beautiful ATC's through out the swap.
The above piece is one of the first felted pieces I made when I first bought my Clover hand felter. I made quite a few of these Funky Felted birds for friends and had lots of fun playing with my new tool..... mmmmm must get back into some felting.
Anyways, sorry no new art this week, but just wanted to make sure you had something new to look at if you visited my blog.
My dear friend Shirley, whom I met at my first Art Camp last year in Perth is coming over on Friday !!!! Shirl is doing the Art Retreat in Melbourne with Dot and I.... we girls are going to have FUN, FUN, FUN.
Next week I will get to meet Jo Wholohan, Debbi Baker and a few other bloggers I have met online and through Yahoo groups when we all get together for the Retreat so there will be lots of news coming soon.
Take care and hope you all have a wonderful week.

.

Fireflies in the secret garden...

This is the fabric page I have just finished for Martha's "Secret Garden" fabric book in our round robin swap. Martha's book inspired me to make these funky fireflies as I could just imagine them buzzing around excitedly once they had found their way into the secret garden. I did try and get a close up of the details in the background, but I am not the best at close up photography (they always turn out blurry...mmm need more lessons). Just zoom in for a better look. I hope Martha likes this colourful page. This is the back of the page for Martha, note the more muted colours this time ..... There is an organza pocket which holds a beautiful laser cut silver tree, which is actually a bookmark that Martha can either use later or leave as a hidden treasure in the pocket of her book.
I had a lot of fun with the fabrics and stitching for these pages.....Now onto the next one. Today my pages arrived for Patti G's book...... I am sure you will all love it and I am looking forward to working in it very soon, more fabric pages coming soon (and these are a beautiful shape).
Have a wonderful week......

Lovely art received....

I cant believe my luck.... I won this beautiful collaged paperweight after visiting Lani Kents blog, Healing Expressions. It is the most beautiful paperweight, click on the picture to take a closer look at all of the wonderful detail. Thank you Lani, I love my gift!!! Lani creates beautiful art, so please visit. This next piece of art I purchased from Baumcat. I purchased this from her etsy shop as it really struck a cord with me when I saw this piece. I was taken with the four interlinked celtic hearts... you see, we are a family of four, my husband Paul and sons Matt and Sam. I loved the title too "Rejoice". Thank you Baumcat, I love my mini quiltie... so beautiful and so special. Lots of beautiful hand stitching and embellishing on a quilted background and the celtic hearts are the perfect finishing touch.
Next I thought I should share some of my art.... but as I have nothing to show from my efforts this week I thought you might like to see some 4" x 4" collages I made last year for a swap on a Yahoo group. I love green, so when flicking through my old photos and these caught my attention. It was a fantastic swap and I received back some gorgeous pages....mmmmm will have to take a photo of those too!
Its not that I havent been creating this week..... I have ! Just a couple of things I cant show for a while as they are for friends. Plus I have been working on another fabric page for Martha Browns book, The Secret Garden and also a journal page. They will soon be finished and will then have something current to show you.

Take care in blogland and happy creating !

Kelly Rae inspired collage ......

This is an 8x10 collage, inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts techniques in the last issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. I am taking part in an exchange organised by Marilyn Rock. You were required to do a collage using Kelly Rae's methods and it had to include two quotes.
The above are two of my favourite quotes, especially the Sark quote "first comes action, then inspiration". For me this is so true (and has helped me get started soooooo many times). I tend to mull things over for too long and then start doubting myself and procrastinating. The end result of that .... no art. So, I often refer to these two quotes and have them displayed in my art room... just begin!

I also finished this autumn toned icicle. She is for a swap on Altered Art Obsession (yahoo group). We were all given a partner to swap an icicle doll with. I hope my partner likes these autumn tones - very apt in Australia at the moment with all the trees leaves turning beautiful red and russet tones.

I had a lovely lunch with my patchwork girlfriends today. There are four of us who have been meeting once a month for over 19 years. They are the loveliest friends and I just love catching up as we always have so much to talk about... not the least quilts and art !!!!

Then I arrive home to fantastic art mail...yaayyyy!!! I received a gorgeous mini quilt I purchased from Baumcat (will post a picture shortly). Also received Martha Browns Round Robin fabric book to work on.... it is amazing, there will be pics to follow soon as I have to make my pages for her book. And, last but not least my copy of Quilting Arts and some funky felt ribbon arrived. I know what I will be reading for the next couple of days. I have had a quick peruse and now have to read in depth. Love this magazine.

Bye for now and happy arting ......

Flying .......

Will you look at what flew in today !!!! These two amazing Icicles arrived from my blogging friend Jill (Plaidpepper). We decided to do a swap, 2 for 2. I think my two are just sooooo special. They are made from upholstery fabric and beautifully embellished!!! I LOVE the little twigs each one holds. There's a little copper bell on the autumn tone Icicle with beautiful amber flower beads....And the sea toned icicle has a little felt pod (beautifully beaded) with a wonderful little fabric note , which you can see peeping out of the top, just for this photo. It is hidden inside the pod and wrapped around another little twig. The detail is just amazing and Jill I just adore these two girls, I feel very spoilt. Thanks also for the gorgeous beads and threads you enclosed in my package...lots of fun coming up with those. You are such a generous and talented lady. This next photo is of seven fabric birds I made for a bird tota swap we are doing on one of my Yahoo groups. Today they headed off to Elizabeth in the USA to be swapped out and very soon I will be getting seven back to make into my very own bird tota for my art room.
This picture shows them a bit closer (although you can just zoom in I suppose !!!). Will definately show you in a later post the birdies I receive back.
I just have to share this photo of my darling little Amelia doll that I purchased from Dots etsy shop. Isnt she divine!!!! I just adore her, with her beautiful embellishements (very much a Dotee trade mark) and that cute little face. I am quite partial to this pink and yellow fabric combination and I just love the Tina Givens fabric range. I am going to visit her blog and see what she has been creating this weekend.
Art for this week ..... must do a journal page for Journal Chix and start some paper birds for another bird tota swap.
I also have to start getting myself organised for an Art Retreat in May in Melbourne. I am soooo excited!!! I will be doing classes with the talented Misty Mawn, Ro Bruhn, Traci Bautista and Nina Bagley....it will be wonderful to have classes with these super talented ladies.
I will also get to meet some of the lovely ladies I have met via blogland... dont worry, we will take lots of pics.
Thanks for visiting, ciao for now .......

I would like to thank Linda Vincent for the following award. It is so nice to know that people visit your blog and enjoy your art - now my turn to choose 5 of the many blogs I visit for this award.

Special People

There are lots of people I would like to mention here, but I've had to choose 5. Here are the rules regarding this special award:
1. You pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribution to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. The award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. So....... here goes!

My first award goes to my very dear blogging friend Dot Christian. Dot has a fantastic blog, always lots of eyecandy and always very ispirational !!! There is always lots of news of family and friends (furry ones included) and lots of sharing of Dots wonderful art! Her blog is visited regularly by many fellow artists and friends, we love seeing what she has been up to.

My second award is for the very talented Belinda Schneider. Belinda has been the source of much inspiration for much of my art too. Love her flair for shape and colour and the many different techniques she uses (and shares) in her art. I particularly love the backgrounds she designs with her handcarved stamps. Always an interesting blog to visit.

My third award is for Sara Lechner. Her blog, The Fabric of Meditation is just awesome. Sara is a wonderful textile artist and shares so much of her art on her blog (also her beautiful studio!!!) I love her textile art and have a few pieces in my collection. Sara's work is truly inspirational.

For those of you who love journalling your will enjoy my fourth award.... it goes to Zorana. I love visiting Zorana's blog to see the wonderful art she creates. Lately Zorana has been posting a lot of art from her journal...amazing. Check out the whimsical cats she created recently. Wonderful artist and another very inspirational blog.

My fifth award goes to Kelsey. What a truly inspiring and informative blog. Kelsey is such a generous person... she shares so many techniques and products etc. on her blog. Lots and lots of pics. and always very interesting.

I hope everyone enjoys visiting these blogs as much as I do....