Portland Excitement! We're Almost There!

Are you ready to get messy... be creative... learn something new... get inspired... and hang out with like-minded souls? Yeah, us too! Portland Art & Soul is literally right around the corner and my heart is skipping beats already. We've got lots of exciting activities planned for you... so here's a sneak peek to get you excited.

Art & Soul Portland

Red Lion on the River

September 30 - October 6th, 2013

The Opening Night Party — sponsored by Spellbinders — will be on Sunday, September 29th from 6:00-9:00pm. Many of our instructors will be available to chat with, autograph books, and even take an up close and personal look at their class samples! Everyone will also receive tickets for a complimentary beverage and scrumptious snacks.

Every day during the event, we'll have Demos and Make-n-Takes in the hotel lobby — you can't miss us! This area will also be available for you to work on your project, visit with friends (and make some new ones!), and enjoy an evening cocktail... or two.

Wednesday evening, October 2nd, Patti Haltom from Stamp-a-dee-do-dah will have a special book Make-n-Take. This session is limited to 20 students so be sure to sign up in the office when you arrive.

Thursday evening, October 3rd, Spellbinders is sponsoring another night of Make-n-Takes and demos from 5:30-8:30pm. Come join the fun!

Friday evening, October 4th, artist and editor extraordinaire Jenny Doh will have a book signing and wine sampling event. Join her from 6:00-6:30pm (right before her Keys to Publishing workshop), for this intimate gathering.

Throughout the event, we'll have lots of giveaways and you'll finally get to see the "special objects" decorated by our wonderfully creative students for this year's On Safari theme! And maybe we'll have a few surprises for you too. You never know what impromptu get-togethers will pop up with this crowd!

And of course, our Vendor Extravaganza — Saturday, October 5th from 6:00-9:00pm — is free to registered attendees and is open to the public for only $5 at the door. We will have dozens of vendors and your favorite workshop instructors offering finished artwork as well as art supplies, vintage findings, fabrics, jewelry, collage items, assemblage — something for everyone! A no-host bar will also be available to enhance your evening. So come shop you little mixed media heart out!

We're looking forward to seeing you at our Portland event!!

Let's Keep In Touch!

Want to keep up with the latest Art & Soul news? Do you want to be the first to know about new classes? Exciting opportunities? Special offers? Be among the first to register for workshops? Do you want sneak peeks of upcoming events before anyone else? Want to know who, what, when, where, why and how-to? Then you'll definitely want to join the Art & Soul Mailing List! You'll get hot-off-the-press news about all our mixed media art retreats — delivered right to your in-box. Be the first to know and sign up today!

Been to Art & Soul? New to Art & Soul but want to find out what it's all about? Then join our Yahoo Group. You'll be connected with like-minded souls who share your enthusiasm and adventure for creativity. You can share photos and stories and pose questions about upcoming retreats. Our staff and decades worth of Art & Soul'ers will be here to welcome you with open arms — even if they are filled with art supplies!

Can We Peak Your Pinterest?

We're so excited to let you know about a new feature we've added to our website class listings... a Pin It button for project photos! Now you can pin all your favorite classes to Pinterest for your own boards... and you can help us spread the love... all at the same time!

Here's how it works... when you're on the workshop description page, like the one above, simply click on a photo...

The photo will pop up as a larger image... and in the bottom left-hand corner, you'll see the Pin It button...

Click on the button to add it to your collection of pinboard interests...

And a dialog box will come up that looks like this. Underneath the photo you can add any pertinent information such as... the instructor's name, the class name, the retreat name, location and dates... and any other pertinent info like what type of workshop it is... journaling, art doll, jewelry making, painting, etc. Then just pick the Pinterest board you want to add it to (like, Classes I Want To Take!) and voila! You've got a visual reminder of all the classes you like.

If you are not yet familiar with Pinterest... you should definitely check it out and then join! With a name derived from a "pinboard" of "interests" this site lives up to and exceeds the idea of a vision board. It's the one place in this world of social media that is pure inspiration. And it's so much bigger than that cork board over your desk. You can Pin up an unlimited amount of wishes and dreams of all shapes and sizes! If you consider yourself someone who loves mixed media art and attending retreats to increase your creative skills and learn new techniques... Pinterest can be one of the most valuable tools in your art box!

Happy Pinning!!

Portland 2014 Registration Is Open!

Art & Soul Portland 2014 is now live and ready for registration! We are still waiting for a few instructors to send us some class info and project photos, but we were so excited about next Spring that we just had to let you in on it!

P.S. Remember... Portland will be in APRIL next year and Virginia Beach will be in OCTOBER. We started in Portland in the Spring of 1998 — 15 years ago!— so we're getting a little nostalgic and going back to our roots.

And speaking of going back to our roots — once more we'll be rolling back class pricing!! Yup, we're doing it again.  If you register for our Portland 2014 Art & Soul before November 15, 2013, your classes will be the 2007 price of $135!!  So don't hesitate. Register today to make certain you reserve a spot in all your favorite classes. With our easy payment plan and different payment options, it makes Art & Soul the most affordable retreat for you.

Art & Soul Mixed Media Retreat

Portland 2014

April 7-13, 2014

Check out our website for additional information on our Portland 2014 event! You can browse by workshop instructors, class listings, or by project samples. Either way you look at it... it's going to be tough to decide! Happy browsing!

Fondly,
Glenny and the Crew

What's Your Re-Purpose?

Flea market find. Bizarre bazaar. Junk junkie. Picker. Hoarder. Magpie. Pack rat. Rusty gold. Roached. If you've ever taken a workshop at Art & Soul, you're probably familiar with some of these terms. Because, when it comes to mixed media... well... there's just something about recycling pieces of the past!

Rummage sale. Yard sale. Garage sale. Estate sale. Thrift shop. Salvation Army. Goodwill. Heck... how about the garbage! We'll go just about anywhere and pick up anything that strikes our fancy. I know some days I've found more goodies in the trash or on the ground at the flea market, than I've purchased from actual vendors!

Grungy. Grimy. Patina'd. Rusted. Scratched. Dented. Worn. Well-used. The bigger the story an object tells... the better. We seem to love that about the items we covet. They just look like they have a tale to tell. And the way Art & Souler's upcycle these beauties in our many classes simply amazes me!

And whether you use your vintage goodies for collage, journals, assemblage, jewelry, art dolls, sculpture or something else... your creativity makes my heart smile.

So tell me girls and boys... Where is your favorite place to shop for retro recyclables? What's the coolest thing you've ever stumbled upon? How do you like to upcycle your fabulous finds? Do share!

Portland-Portland!

No... you're not seeing double! We actually just wanted to bring you a sneak peek of some Portland Art & Soul workshops for 2014... but we realize you're probably shopping for supplies for this year's Portland event as we speak! This little Portland-Portland overlap is going on because we've moved our flagship event back to the beautiful Oregon springtime... when we originally had the mixed media gathering. As I was looking through and choosing classes for next year, I got really excited about what we have coming up... and so I thought I'd share a few of the workshops with you!

Kate Thompson
Fabric Art Book
Kate is a new and exciting artist who combines teaching you how to make a 6" x 8" fabric 4-signature book with a wood based front and back cover. You will be learning a unique coptic loop binding technique which will be used to attach the covers. You'll get to work with gesso and plaster to cover fabric for the pages and discover how to make lace, fabric, and plaster borders to trim your pages. Yum!

Clarissa Callesen
Gut Instincts
Okay — I know it sounds gross — but, oh my gosh what you will do in this 2-day class is fabulous. You'll learn to create strong translucent panels filled with inclusions of found objects, transparencies, string, wire, and fabric. The first day you will be working with sausage casings in their wet state (hence, the gut part!). The next day you will be embellishing the dried gut with writing, paint, stamps, and sewing. The panel pieces will be formed into a wall or window hanging and accompanied by a talisman string of small objects.  I mean, come on — how cool is this????

Suzanne McNeill
Treasures Unearthed
When Suzanne taught this class in VA we were flabbergasted!!  The finished items looked exactly like relics from the past.  Do not miss this opportunity to create these 'unearthed relics' from reactive brass, copper, bronze and iron materials, adding patina treatments to produce amazing colors. Learn to patina metals that 'bloom' overnight into rich colors... iron to rusty orange, brass, bronze, and copper to verdigris.

Jen Crossley
Looking Glass Book
Many of you have taken classes from our fabulous gal from Down Under.  This one is very unique. You will  learn how to make a glass and metal book...  you will discover a metal binding technique... metal etching and glass effects. Learn how to drill a hole into glass safely. You'll discover patinas, paint and a distinctive yet simple binding technique.

Susan Bezek
Santos Crown
Who doesn't love or deserve a crown??  These beautiful art crowns were inspired by Susan's love of anything Santos! The crowns can be made in any size by enlarging or reducing the pattern. Embellishing is the key here — and the fun part. The more the better!

Ruth Greening
Copper & PMC Hinged Pendant
A great combination of copper sheet and PMC embellishments, assembled with cold connections and wire! Use those silver 'orphans' that have been on your work bench or create something especially for your creation. It will be a unique piece! You'll learn to cut, texture and form the copper, work with PMC, ball wire and make cold connections! Add patina to copper and silver, wow what a full day of fun and a beautiful pendant!

So I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of our 2014 Portland Art & Soul retreat — which will be taking place April 7-13, 2014. We'll keep you updated on all the important event dates, like when classes are up on our website and when registration begins. Enjoy the rest of the summer and we'll see you very soon for our 2013 Portland Art & Soul retreat, September 30th - October 6th (P.S. it's not too late to sign up)!