Meet Our Team!

It takes a village... isn't that what they say? Well, when it comes to Art & Soul it's a tiny village, but when that group is considered more than just employees, you've struck gold. I'm so very lucky that all the people that work with me are friends and confidants. Not only do they help to keep Art & Soul running smoothly, but they help me keep my sanity! There isn't too much better than that when you're running a business. So, if you don't already know us, here's a little bit about the people behind the scenes at Art & Soul...

Glenny Moir - Event Owner & Producer

If you've ever been to an Art & Soul retreat, then you probably already know me. Being an independent woman business owner, I'm kind of everywhere... all the time! How did I get to this place?  Well, I'm actually no stranger to event planning. Prior to A&S, more than 20 years of weddings, anniversaries, bar and bat mitzvah’s, theme parties and festivals kept me busy, busy, busy. During that time, I sought an outlet for my artistic endeavors and discovered a few small venues for creative learning. When I realized that I could take my passion for creativity and education, and create a large-scale event for mixed media… Art & Soul Retreats was born!

I enjoy scouting for the most sought-after instructors as well as discovering up-and-coming artists and art trends that attendees find inspiring. In fact, several popular mixed media artists of today got their start teaching at Art & Soul Retreats. Besides the delight in running such an event, I love to watch the attendees push beyond their comfort zone and create something magnificent. The smiles on their faces as they walk from the workshops — projects held high — is all I needs to remind me that I'm on the right path. Today Art & Soul the longest running mixed media retreat in the country.

I live in Boring, Oregon (no, it’s not boring) with my furry, four-legged friends and just a few closets full of art supplies.

Marie Kennedy - Assistant

Having evolved creatively over the years, Marie has dabbled in everything from quilting and scrapbooking to collage and art dolls. Her official involvement with Art & Soul as my Assistant, began in 2009. She has become my right hand (and oftentimes left as well). Her never-ending enthusiasm for the success of Art & Soul was only part of what led her to be working side-by-side with me today. Marie is a great problem solver and someone who enjoys the challenges brought to her each day. She hopes that everyone who attends Art & Soul is able to fill their soul with friendship and love for the art process. I totally rely on her skills and judgement and cannot thank her enough for all that she does.

Marie lives in Novato, California with her husband, John. Her days are spent watching her darling granddaughter, Callie, and trying to teach her how to use all the art supplies.

Danial Powers - Social Media Coordinator

 

Danial has just joined our team as our Social Media Coordinator. As many of you know, I am clueless when it comes to promotion on all Social Media venues. When I started A&S, we didn’t even have Blogs....and I remember Leslie Riley telling me that I had to come into the internet century. I eventually did, kicking and fighting all the way.

Danial moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2000 from Michigan. She lives near Seattle with her husband, son, and three cats. By day, Danial has worked as the Director of Admissions at DigiPen Institute of Technology, a small college located in Redmond Washington, for the last eight years. Previously, she worked in the marketing department of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) promoting PSE’s energy efficiency programs.

Outside of regular work hours, Danial is a mixed-media artist. Her work was featured on the covers of body image zine Love Me, Love My Belly #001 (Porkbelly Press, 2014), and My Own Strange Beast (Porkbelly Press, 2017). Danial discovered Art and Soul in 2016 and has been attending the Portland retreat every year since.

Michelle Bernard - Graphic Artist

Michelle Bernard was already a longtime attendee of Art & Soul when we asked her to design the 2009 Rock & Roll themed logo. I liked the design so much, I brought her on as our permanent Graphic Artist. Michelle’s unique perspective and approach to advertising and promotion have helped to keep our attendees excited and engaged. When she’s not designing for Art & Soul, Michelle loves working in all facets of mixed media including painting, collage, assemblage, jewelry, sculpting, sewing, art dolls and anything else that gets her creative juices flowing.

As the former Art Director of Ranger Crafts, not only has she co-taught a few of our opening night classes in Virginia, but her exposure to innovative art products has helped bring her own mixed media works to a whole new level. Having started out doing craft shows and selling her creations online, Michelle now shows her work in multiple galleries and retail establishments. And she loves to let everyone know where it all began... at Art & Soul!

Michelle lives in the quaint Victorian seashore town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey with her 2 kitties and a house full of art supplies and found objects.

Virginia Teacher Spotlight: Chad Alice Hagen

We are so happy to have Chad Alice Hagen as part of our Art & Soul family! She has been happily and intensively exploring resist dyeing and surface design of hand felted wool since 1979, and delved into the amazing world of Bookmaking for the last 12 years using her resist dyed felt as the covers. She loves teaching how to use textiles — new and found — as the covers of journals and sketchbooks using different binding techniques. Textiles, fiber, fabric, material, felt, cloth – these words are more exciting to her than “You have won the lottery!” Here's what Chad Alice has in store for us at our Virginia Beach Art & Soul Retreat this year...

Miniature Book Necklace
How would you like to rite your secrets and daily thoughts on these adorable little books?! In this workshop, you’ll have the chance to make 2 tiny books, professionally bound in leather or paper. Each miniature book will have about 50 pages, and will feature a different binding style. You will learn how to tea stain paper, add ribbon bookmarks and two different closures, and finish your mini books with chains for wearing.

Perfect Little Notebook
You may not realize it, but most of the paperback books you handle in your daily lives have a glued binding, and to Chad Alice Hagen, that’s the perfect binding. When used in a handmade notebook, it becomes extraordinary. In this workshop, you will make a “Perfect Little Notebook” using this quick and marvelous binding technique as well as learn how to tea stain paper, create a cover from your favorite fabric, and make a ribbon & button closure.

My Favorite Perfect Sketchbook
There are sketchbooks and there are sketch books, but this particular one has become Chad Alice’s favorite... and we bet will be yours too! It opens totally flat, can be made from easy-to-find materials, and is finished with a textile cover. In this workshop you'll be making a 6" x 6" sketchbook with 120 pages of multi-media paper. You'll learn all the book making basics and then some...picking the paper you want, folding and tearing sheets with knives, gluing, piercing, sewing, all the fabulous bits that go into making a well-made, useful and enjoyable sketchbook/journal.

Whether you are a book lover, enjoy journaling, or having a unique way to jot down notes throughout the day, making your very own sketchbook from scratch with Chad Alice is going to be so very rewarding! So be sure and check out her classes and our entire Virginia event for this Fall!

Virginia Beach Art & Soul

October 1-6, 2018

Virginia Beach Resort Hotel

Chad Alice has written extensively on art and feltmaking and her artwork has appeared in and on the covers of several well-known books and magazines. She’s taught hundreds of classes and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Holland and Germany.  Her large scale felt work can be found in major collections including the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, NC, The Knoxville Convention Center, TN, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. B.F. Goodrich Corporation Collection. She maintains a full-time felt and book studio in Asheville, North Carolina. You can find out more about Chad Alice Hagen by visiting her at chadalicehagen.com

Our First Colorado Retreat!

Wow! Our inaugural event was everything we could have hoped for! The vibe was incredible and everyone attending was as excited to be there as we were to bring our unique mixed media retreat to them. The location was picturesque and calming. Colorado Springs embraced us with amazing weather and beautiful scenery.

The range of workshops we were able to offer at this new location made me so very happy, and the students as well. We are just so lucky to have the caliber of instructors that we do. Professional on every level but at the same time so down-to-earth and nurturing. What a perfect venue for these generous souls.

Students enjoyed the wide variety of workshops and created some stunning works of art. I loved the immediate camaraderie of the attendees and how they recognized they had found their tribe of like-minded art souls.

And while each student had their own personal experience, the chemistry among attendees overall... was palpable. I know Colorado Springs is a magical place, but it was more that that. It was getting to watch these adventurous and creative individuals have a necessary play date with their inner child.

From the wide variety of workshops, all kinds of whimsical creations were made... like these tiny houses from Ruth Greening's Precious Metal Clay workshop.

And this adorable bunny with a little bit of attitude, from Helen Shafer Garcia's Animal Crackers class.  

And these visually poetic, Juicy Affirmation Cards made in Jennifer MacLean's class. But for me... most of all... it's the smiles on the happy faces of our attendees that make my heart sing. I applaud them for taking the time from this hustle-and-bustle world to give back to themselves. They really do deserve it. You all do!

The classes were so enticing, even the instructors took some time from teaching to have fun and learn something new... like Erin Keck did, when she made these gorgeous earrings in Mary Johnson Hettmansperger's class.

And, our instructors, well... they love to have fun! As much fun as their students. It's their ability to laugh and play and be lighthearted in their approach to teaching, that they are hand-picked to be a part of the Art & Soul family. And we hope to include more local artists in next year's lineup (yup, we're definitely coming back). Many of us visited the Cottonwood Center for the Arts as well as the gallery crawl and were blown away by the exhibits. So we'll have lots of talented artists to choose from!

Let's not forget to mention our amazing on-site store and the pop-up, one-night-only Vendor Extravaganza. It's wonderful to have these amazing shopportunities come right to our doorstep to satisfy our needs for those art supplies and one-of-a-kind items we absolutely can't live without!

I must say that it was a genuine pleasure to have our event at the Hotel Eleganté. The staff went above and beyond to take care of us. Classrooms were cozy and had great lighting. The food was excellent. And ummmm... how many of us hit the Sweet Shop for ice cream? I won't tell how many times if you don't. I loved that the Hotel is surrounded with greenspace, especially the tranquil pond — complete with mama and baby ducklings. There were lots of places to sketch or just relax, and many attendees took side trips to see Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods and hiking! I'm anxious to return and spend more time in the area. 

At the Colorado event, there was inspiration everywhere, in everything. That's how Art & Soul retreats are. It's where we honor the creative life we want to live full time. It's where we get little glimpses of how to do that, so we can bring it home with us and start the process of filling up our souls.

And yes! We will be returning to Colorado Springs next year, so... mark your calendars. You'll definitely want to be a part of this relaxing, inspirational, creative retreat next year. We hope to have classes available on our website by the middle of July. Watch for a newsletter announcement coming to your inbox soon!

Art & Soul Colorado Springs, CO

May 29 - June 2, 2019 at the Hotel Eleganté

Thanks again to all of you who attended and everyone who made this first Colorado event such a great success! See you soon...

Glenny
xo