Since I have in Camp Runamuckus, Artfest had a much more "camp" like experience then last year. I love camp. I went to camp as a kid many many times. I loved it for all the arts and crafts we did....yes that might be where this obsession started. Then as an adult in college in the summers I was a camp counselor. So camp for me is like heaven.
My first class was with Lynne Perrella called Going Baroque. This was a class focusing on texture gesso backgrounds with lots of color and then using a large image and developing the story around that image. I choose Ludwig II because he was such an interesting guy and had some great castles to throw in the mix.Lynne is a great instructor and has been doing this for years. She was great with suggestions and explaining techniques. There were some moments of touchy feely stuff I could have passed on but what was the class going to do while the gesso dried.
This class I really got the chance to explore textured gesso with all sorts of things, using stencils and reintroducing me to portfolio water soluble oil pastels.
I love the piece and I am so impressed how much it looks like a painting and not a xerox copy. This piece is not finished for me. I plan to stencil the word "vision" on the bottom and embellish it more.
My second day was what I called my branch out day. I was doing something I am not familiar with and don't really know how to do it. The class was called Getch your paint on but really should have been called getch your caulk on since we drew with bathroom caulking to make cool raised out lines. Michelle Allen was the instructor. Michelle is new to teaching and so at time had moments where she had a hard time articulating the techniques, but was great at demoing them. At times, I was explaining the basics of stamping to her but she was great with suggestions and her whimsical technique was so fun. I always loved caulk as an adhesive but now I will for sure use it to draw with.
I do not do a lot of painting, so this class was really a stretch for me. I took the leaf and flower motif from my doodles during staff meetings and just expanded them. I really liked how Michelle encouraged us to use contrasting colors. That got me out of usual color pallet. I never have done anything so vibrant before. I am still not sure I like the piece. All the artwork from Artfest hangs in my office and this piece is the one everyone comments on and praises....go figure.
The last day I purposely choose a class that would come easy to me and was right up my alley. Collage a Trois with Linda and Opie O Brien. I love them, so much so I wish they would adopt me and I could live in their art world with them. I choose this class, because by the end of Artfest I knew I would be brain dead and needed something that I could do without too much thinking. I have never worked in tin and really this class was collage with tin. The tin was nailed to a wood base with finishing nails. Sarah, from Camp Runamuckus was with me and she is a hoot. It made the class so much more fun. Both of us finished in about 4 hours. I named my piece the butterfly dancer of New Orleans and I just love it. I think I will do tin collages for mother's day gifts if I can find some brass finishing nails.
Artfest was so awesome once again I am just counting down the day til I can sign up for next year. You should join me.
I want to give a shout out to a great crepe place in Port Townsend, Water Street Creperie. Food was great, services was supreme and the prices were very reasonable. If you are ever in Port Townsend try them out. (The don't seem to have a website, so I can direct you there. So come on boys who own the creperie get with it so I can send peeps your way.)
