Have you ever been drawn to the art or style of an artist and then when you meet them in person it all makes sense…because they are their art?  That is what it was like for me meeting Tangie Baxter in person at her Artspiration Studio in Mesa, Arizona.   This studio is like a living art journal that is inviting, creative, and comfortable-  a dreamy place to teach my workshop, The Stenciled Journal.

Here we are all working… I was a slave driver at one point but they all handled that 30 minute time limit like pros!

Marva used the deli wrap just as I do.  This is what deli paper is for in my world…

Then something very very unexpected happened at lunch.  Liz used deli wrap for a sandwich…she had a messy lettuce wrap sandwich for lunch so she actually used the deli wrap as deli wrap to hold her sandwich. Crazy crazy idea!

Charlotte got those fingers into the paint as we explored colors, getting ready to work with wet paints and a stencil.

Cindy created such a vibrant color palette!

Once the stencils came out, the hands really got colorful. Sandi’s got the proof!

Karen took the leap and used her fluorescent paints.  Those bright colors add a wonderful pop to designs!

Diane built her layers and worked at lightning speed!

The dry climate of Arizona had things drying faster than I imagined, but never fear, we worked quickly! Jan used that “third hand” to hold her paintbrushes.

Andi’s had such wonderful color on her gloves after her stencil fun.  Those gloves  ended up as a part of her journal!

Sylvia played in the most wonderful desert colors and after sightseeing in Phoenix, I must confess, I am looking forward to seeing how the desert influences my art journal.

Laurie explored the most scrumptious pastels in her stenciling…next time you see me use a pastel color, Laurie, it is all your influence!

Once our layers of color were down, it was time to build the journals, the rebel way.  No measuring and no careful precision for stress free binding.

The glee on Liz’a face when she had her journal bound summed it all up!

Thank you to each and every woman in the workshop for making this such  a day of play!

For my East Coast friends I will be teaching in October at Art Is You, and there will be plenty of stencil fun paper making happening in that class too!  You can check out all the details here.

There was something fishy about the story that my muse popped into my head as I was playing.  So fishy in fact, that I began to think about the plausibility of the story.  My logical left brain jumped in while I was playing.  That did not go so well until my inner teenager with ample attitude jumped in…

It all started here, a tag where I had been testing out the colors of some Distress stains.  It seemed harmless enough…

The tag just became a playground as I let go and played.  A stencil from Michelle Ward, some scribble writing, some stamping with one of Kari McKnight Holbrook’s polymer stamps. No logic. Just play.

The messing around continued with whatever was around on my counter.  Better to use it than put it away…

Suddenly, a story  about London and sightseeing fish touring the town popped into my head.  I could almost hear the fish ohhing and ahhing over the architecture.  Really? This is what my muse was sending me?

The left brain lawyer jumped right in and began interrogating the story. Fish sightseeing?  Fish don’t sight see or tour famous buildings anywhere, let alone London.  There is no scientific evidence of fish ever being impressed by architecture.

That obnoxious teenager inside of me decided to prove that left brain lawyer type in my head that this was perfectly plausible in art!

So I grabbed Aidan’s School of Fish stencil and set them to swimming in London.  And they can swim wherever they want to get the best possible view of Big Ben!

I decided to really irritate the left brain, so out came Maria McGuire’s borders for a few waves.  Because there are crystal blue waves suitable for surfing in London…take that left brain lawyer….

Granted, this story will not be the basis of a Pulitzer prize winning novel, but it was fun to make.   It was a big reminder that my play does not have to be reality based or “make sense”, it just has to be fun!

I’d love to know if the stories you create in your art real or imaginary or something else?