Happiness is a Retreat in Minneapolis!

Well, our Minneapolis Art & Soul event was fabulous! The attendees exceeded our expectations and we exceeded theirs. And if I had to choose one word to describe our first Minneapolis retreat, happy would be the one that makes it to the top of the list! We had happy students...

...who loved their classes and enjoyed time away from home and the craft studio (or dining room table!) to delve into their artistic selves, create something new, and have fun in the process!

The extremely talented Carol Spohn in her Watercolor Workshop.

We had happy teachers! And I must say it takes a special group of people to teach. People who love watching people learn new things and enjoy the process of seeing their students shine.

Mindy Lacefield teaching students how to paint like their 7-year old selves.

Our instructors are just such people... with big beautiful hearts, and we are so lucky to have them as a part of our Art & Soul family. That makes me happy!

Happy colors! Man, oh, man... were there some fantastically colorful student projects at this event. Just look at all these yummy scraps of fabric from Liz Kettle's Voyage to India class.

And the drippy goodness of colorful Alcohol Inks used to make these stunning designs in Kathy Taylor's workshop.

And, well, it wouldn't be Art & Soul if Doris Arndt didn't give everyone the bird in her class of the same name. Now if that ain't colorful, I don't know what is!

Happy pattern-making! We had so many opportunities at the Minneapolis retreat to create pieces and parts to use in projects and to use pieces and parts to create new projects! Like these decorative components made in Caidtlin Dundon's Translucent Triptych workshop.

Some folks enjoyed making patterns on metal that would be turned into wonderful new pieces of jewelry in Jean VanBrederode's Manipulating Metal class.

And speaking of metal... can you believe all these deliciously rusty metal parts....

...made these amazing patterned fabrics in Chad Alice Hagen's Resist Dyeing workshop?

And just look at these pretty patterned examples of fabric made using torn collaged papers in Suzi Dennis' class. The ladies in this class were in the zone!

Happy shoppers! Our on-site store, Blue Twig Studio, had everything a mixed media maven could possibly want... and more! Not only did Deb bring everything and the kitchen sink, but she made shopping for class supplies — before and during the event — so much easier for our attendees.

Our Vendor Night pop up art and supply shopping event was a veritable cabinet of curiosities with a most important ingredient... curiosity seekers! With original mixed media artwork from our very own teachers to one-of-a kind bits and bobs, and lots of fun goodies and supplies to use in our next project... it was an enchanted evening all-around!

Well, what can we say except the I's have it (or... the eyes have it!), our first Minneapolis event was a smashing success! Tons and tons of thank you's to Marie, Karen, Liz and Deb who worked their hearts out before, during and after this event. And a big thanks to our amazingly talented instructors and all of you who joined us in this new location! Thanks to everyone... WE WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR! May 3rd-8th. Mark your calendars! We made lots of connections with lots of key people in all facets of this event that will allow us to enhance your experience even further for 2017! Woot! Woot!

Hugs,
Glenny xoxo