Woot! Woot! Next Stop... Virginia!

Yeah, yeah... I know. Most trains go Toot! Toot! But this year at Art & Soul, we're aboard the Orient Express... a clever and creative locomotive, heading right for your favorite mixed media workshops! Our theme for this year, Orient Express is a great analogy for our events... with so many exotic workshops to offer, over a week's worth of time... you'll be on the fast train to uplifting your creative spirit like you took an artistic vacation. Woot! Woot!

And the next stop on this amazing journey is our Virginia Beach Event. Filled with such a variety of classes in all types of categories, you won't want to miss this Art & Soul in October. Here's just a sampling of what we have to offer this year (and a special offer at the end of this article)! Check it out...

Julie Haymaker Thompson's whimsical approach to jewelry makes this Full Metal Jacket workshop fun and easy. Using cold-connection techniques and tons of layering, these beautiful baubles will adorn you by the end of class!

Okay, seriously? This looks like something you can find in a high end interior decorator's store. But Tory Brokenshire can teach you how to Light Up Your Life all on your own, from wire form to finished lamp! How cool is that?

We've altered everything else at Art & Soul, so why not your jeans? Sandy Lupton helps you do the Hippy Hippy Shake as you alter and embellish your favorite comfy blues. The results are pretty adorable.

Do you Zentangle? Well if you have, you know... but if you haven't and you try it, you'll never ever stop! But how could you with such gorgeous results as these. Join Suzanne McNeill as she kicks it up a notch with color, not to mention some style and pizazz!

Are you a queen? Yes you are! So you totally need to make this stunning French Beaded Crown with A Gilded Life's girls Shea Fragoso and Debbie Murray. And you don't even have to bring a thing to their class! Now that's being treated like royalty.

Cathy Taylor takes you where very few have gone before... inside your electronic devices! Why? Well, it's for the purpose of repurposing circuit boards to create whimsical collages. Don't worry, your brain won't Short Circuit in this workshop, as Cathy is the most patient of teachers.

Get whisked away to a magical forest in Judy Porter's Woodland Whimsies workshop, as you learn to sculpt your own fairy, elf or troll in polymer clay. A fun and unique class that will surely appeal to your fantasy fetishes.

And there's really so much more that we have to offer this year. When I was reviewing all our workshops for this post, it was so hard to choose which ones to showcase. We've got amazingly talented instructors, with stunning projects and techniques to teach you.

Virginia Beach Art & Soul

September 29 - October 5, 2014

Virginia Beach Resort Hotel

Virginia Beach, VA

So check out our classes today. And, if you register before May 31st, you'll get 10% off all workshops. Simply use the code SPRING VA for your special discount! For more information on workshops, you can browse our website by workshop instructors, individual classes, or even by project photos. So grab a cup of your favorite beverage and have a look around.

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)!