Virginia Beach... Wowzers! All This And More?

Liz Kettle's Magical Stitches workshop

Hello all my mixed media mavens! I hope you are enjoying the summer season and getting your art on. I just wanted to pop in and remind you to sign up for our Virginia Beach Art & Soul Retreat coming up this fall. Woot! It's jam packed with tons of exciting classes, teachers, activities, events, and lots of happy people from your soul tribe will be there. Here's just a little bit of a perspective on how grand this event will be...

Susan Lenart Kazmer demonstrates transparent layers in resin

We have 25 amazingly talented instructors, who between all of them probably have been published in more art magazines and books than we've read in our entire life! Many of our instructors have even published their own books, so you know they've got some incredible things to teach you and help expand your creative repertoire.

Mindy Lacefield's Inner Radiant Child workshop

This year in Virginia Beach, we are offering 96 unique workshops during 6 gloriously artistic days! Choose from full, half day and evening classes... it's all up to you. Choose as many or as few as you like. Choose something you're familiar with or something that's totally outside your comfort zone!

Learn Ribbed Forms of Expression with Nancy Prichard

What type of media do you like to work with? Well, we've got classes that work with metal, PMC, fabric, fiber, acrylics, watercolors, natural & found objects, paper, ephemera, clay, inks and dyes, enamels, wax, resin, tools, stencils, photos and images, and even the business side of art. Whew!

Kitty Miller and her class Endangered Encaustics

And if that didn't seem like enough of a variety, here are the types of projects you'll be making with all that stuff... You can try your hand at jewelry, collage, assemblage, dollmaking, sculpture, home decor items, clothing, quilting, sewing, stitching, painting, journaling, bookmaking, symbolism, encaustics, cold connections, soldering and brazing, stamping, image transfers, and how to sell your art online! Whew, again!

Ruth Chandler helps you Wrap It Up with a custom carryall

And if that wasn't enough, we've got an Opening Night Party, impromptu pajama parties, our mixed media Vendor Night shopping extravaganza, trades, swaps, demos, play stations, an on-site store and much, much more!!

Virginia Beach Art & Soul

September 26 - October 1, 2016

Virginia Beach Resort Hotel

So visit our website and get more information about our Virginia Beach Event... our relaxing beachfront hotel... the creative workshops we have to offer... and our fabulous instructors! Then sign up today!

I hope you'll come join us this Fall for our Art & Soul Mixed Media Retreat. We'd be so happy to have you. It's time for a creative playcation... you deserve it.

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

Get In Touch With Your 7-year-old Self!

One of Art & Soul's favorite new instructors is Mindy Lacefield. Her whimsical approach to mixed media painting is indeed a draw in itself (pun intended!). But her thoughtful attention to her students and her laid back instructional style are what make her classes so very popular... and FUN!

Mindy will again be teaching at our Portland venue this fall with 3 new classes! Check them out and then sign up! Her former students are still raving about her workshops and how their art has taken a looser, more lighthearted approach because of them!

One With Nature
Thursday, October 3rd • full day workshop
You'll explore nature and it's oneness that empowers you. It becomes a source of creativity and harmony with the spirit. Learn to release your separateness, be truly connected and inspired and make art from this source.

Wonderlove Affirmations
Friday, October 4th • full day workshop
Join Mindy as she leads you through exercises to loosen up and paint from the heart of a child. You'll be gently nudged to embrace your vulnerabilities and welcome happy accidents. Because therein lies the magic. They are first set as an intention and through PLAY they become us, personified.


Mermaid

Sunday, October 6th • full day workshop
Get ready to release your inner Mermaid!! Let the moon over the sea be your muse as you dive deep into oceans of blues and greens. Let loose and allow your inner child to take over while getting messy with paint. Symbolism will play a big part of your background and Mindy will show you how to tap into your own story... building up layers of marks, color, words, and numbers.

Awesome, right? So go ahead and grab your whimsy, a few brushes, some favorite paints and your inner child.... and take one of Mindy's amazingly fun workshops this October at our 2013 Portland Art & Soul event.

An Event Planner's Gotta Play Too!

What better respite for myself and my trusty sidekick Marie Kennedy, than to attend ArtFest, which takes place in Port Townsend, Washington, at an old military base. We got to meetup with old friends, make some new friends, and play, play, play! A much needed distraction after our very successful Virginia Beach event.

We got to take a class with Mindy Lacefield called All A-Flutter. She'll be teaching at our Portland event later this year, so it was exciting to actually be in a class of hers as a student! I just love Mindy's whimsical style and her childlike approach to art. Remember when we weren't afraid to try anything?

We got to spend some real quality time with friends and seasoned Art & Soul instructors Ty and Marcia Schultz. They are such dear friends and to be with them in such a relaxed and playful setting, well... it does this girl's heart good. Here's Ty passing the time with a bit of journaling... always up to something creative.

And hello, dolly! Or should I say... goodbye, dolly? Marie took a class called Steampunk Sally with Clarissa Callesen. This is a picture of her doll before and after... what a difference! Looks like she spent weeks on it. Too much fun.

We ran into Andrew Drydahl, who will also be making his Art & Soul teaching debut at our Portland event. He'll be teaching how to make these whimsical rag dolls and some gorgeous steampunk journals. It was great to have some time to get to know a new instructor. It's not very often that we get the opportunity to do so. Typically it's lots of e-mails and phone calls and paperwork going back and forth. So some real face time (and what an adorable face it is!) was a welcome change.

So, needless to say we had an amazing time here. It was a little bittersweet though as, after Artfest's 13 year run... this was their last event. The talented and artistic duo that put on this retreat — Teesha and Tracey Moore — are moving on to something new. It was time for them. But as we all learn together when we attend these wonderfully inspirational creative retreats... there's always something new to learn and discover about ourselves. Cheers to that!

Glenny
xoxo

© photos by Marie Kennedy

We Are So Pleased To Welcome Artist Mindy Lacefield to the Art & Soul Family!

When you discover something great, you want to share it with everybody! And that's how we felt when we discovered Mindy Lacefield, right in our midst at the Art & Soul Virginia Beach event. And although she was there to take classes, we heard it over and over, "oh you have to have Mindy teach at Art & Soul!" So we were lucky enough to book her for our 2012 Portland event. Woohoo!

With such a vibrant, sparkling personality, Mindy's art is a whimsical reflection of her own outlook on life. I mean, seriously folks... look at her photo... can you imagine not having fun in her class? But really, a lot of her inspiration comes from seeing through childlike eyes — and the heart of a 7 year old — and that's exactly what she'll teach you to do!

Working quickly, letting go, and allowing spontaneous splashes of color just happen has been her approach to facing the blank canvas. Being in the moment and enjoying the process of painting with no specific plans of the outcome continues to thrive as Mindy's method of creating. She revels in exploring the duality of nature — the dark against the sweet side —  watching them evolve and marry together, awakening that dreamlike state that resides in the layers of her soul.

In a conversation with Mindy, we came to find that she developed her style by not listening to her art teachers! When she had let go and learned to be free... it did not conform to what was required by the "standards" of art. So... she stopped listening to them and started listening to that little 7 year old girl and the rest is history! Her style is uniquely hers and can be seen in many of today's mixed media publications. What a great find Mindy is!

She'll make her Art & Soul teaching debut at our Portland event later this year — which takes place October 1-7 — and will be offering two full day workshops....

Animal Guide - Tuesday, October 2nd
In this class, you'll discover how the animal you've always been drawn to will  help you discover more about yourself. Mindy will show you how to create your animal totem girl using intuitive mark making and beautiful color as a ground for the body and cloak. She'll show you how to use color to give depth and dimension. You will build luminous layers within the face to reveal a road-map of emotion and journey.

Twirl Girls Journal - Wednesday, October 3rd
In this journal class you'll use simple materials such as cardboard, ribbon, and craft paint to create fun, magical journals. No measuring involved which means you will let loose and have fun with the process of painting. Free-form, intuitive mark making and color blocking will serve as your backgrounds, with  full spectrum splashes of color! You'll become enamored with the process and tactile feel of the painting!

Mindy is a full time artist living in central Arkansas with her hubby and two pooches. When she’s not in the studio, she loves to watch independent films and is inspired by the movies of Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stanley Kubrick.