Virginia Teacher Spotlight: Eric Scott

We love having Eric Scott teaching at our events! He is one half of the Journal Fodder Junkies, and he's dedicated to helping people discover their artistic potential and cultivate their creativity. He is a mixed media artist, an educator, and an author. He provides workshops, presentations, and seminars all across North America on the visual journal and mixed media art.

For Eric, the visual journal is vital to his mixed media art. As a place to explore and experiment, to document and reflect... he sees the journal as a testing ground for ideas, techniques, and imagery. All of these ideas and notions ferment in the journal before they begin making their way into separate pieces of art. Eric is an expert guide into the unknown, and he'll make you feel comfortable and free there! Check out what he has planned for you at Art & Soul Virginia this year...

Luminous Liquid Layers
In this full day workshop, you'll be pushing your creativity as you delve into the world of liquid acrylics. You'll explore a multitude of exciting techniques as you paint, drip, scrape, splatter, and stamp. Sure, that may sound like the basics, but you’ll also learn to use a wide range of unconventional tools and materials to create exciting textures and luminous layers. You can even throw in some of your favorite images and personal ephemera to add a mixed media flair to your work, or you can simply focus on building your painting skills. Either way, you’ll learn to open yourself to a new painting process as you build texture, embrace color, and develop rich layers. You'll definitely get to see how easy it is to develop dynamic images as you work, and you'll walk away with vivid pieces of art ready to hang on the wall.

Monster Maker Workshop
Eric's 3-hour evening class will help you unleash your mad scientist. You'll bring a variety of creatures of the imagination to life in this fun mixed media workshop! You will learn how to conceptualize and create cute & cuddly, or scary & menacing monsters with pencil, ink, paint, and collage. Build your creations from stock parts or invent your own. Customize your monsters with a variety of details, textures, and accessories, and walk away with your own menagerie of little beasts. Evil laugh is optional. Muah-ha-ha-ha!


Stencil Savvy
Stencils have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and we all look forward to the latest releases by our favorite mixed-media artists. But what if we could design and make our own? What if we could use our art, our handwriting, and our photographs to make personally meaningful stencils?

In this hands-on evening workshop, you’ll see just how easy it is to create your own distinctive stencils and templates. You’ll start the day by working with simple shapes and designs, and wrap up with using more complex artwork and photographs. You will leave with a variety of unique stencils and templates ready to be used in all of your mixed-media endeavors. That's pretty awesome!


So whether you love journaling, stamping, painting, drawing, stenciling, or just want to be brave and try something new, Eric has something for everyone. The great part is that everything you learn can translate to your own mixed media practice. What a great way to uplevel your art! For more information about Eric's classes and our Virginia Beach retreat, visit our website...

Virginia Beach Art & Soul

October 1-6, 2018

Virginia Beach Resort Hotel

As a former public school art educator, Eric Scott frequently travels and provides workshops on the power of art and the visual journal to schools and education organizations. In 2005 he officially teamed up with friend and artistic accomplice David Modler to present at a variety of venues, conferences, and retreats on visual journaling and the importance of authenticity in art education. Eric is coauthor of the bestselling books, The Journal Junkies Workshop (2010) and Journal Fodder 365 (2012), both released by North Light Books. He lives in Purcellville, Virginia with his wife and their menagerie of animals. You can find out more about Eric by visiting the Journal Fodder Junkies website.

New Instructor Added to Portland! Introducing Rebekah Meier...

We are so very excited to announce the addition of one very talented instructor to our Portland Art & Soul roster... Rebekah Meier!

Rebekah is an established author, designer, and teacher in the mixed-media and fabric collage community. Her books, magazine features, and product development exemplify her signature style of combining fabrics and fibers into beautiful collage assemblages. Rebekah is the author of the best selling books, Fabric Art Collage, 40+ Mixed Media Techniques and More Fabric Art Collage. 

Here's what she's offering this Spring at our 2015 Portland event. Check out these lovely layered cloth and paper creations!

Collage Fabric Painting - Friday, March 6th 

Students will learn techniques to create their own custom designed fabric. Layering the applications of color, texture, design will be covered. Instruction will also be given on how to create foam stamps and using found objects for printing. The one of a kind designed fabric will then be used to create a no-sew wallet.

Ripped, Peeled, and Dripped Paper Relic Collage - Saturday, March 7th

Students will create a canvas wall art collage. Techniques will be step by step, allowing students to build up textures and interesting designs. If you like ripping, peeling back layers, and random application of paint, then this class is for you.

Fiber Art Tapestry - Sunday, March 8th

Students will learn a layering technique that incorporates both fabric and paper. Each student will go home with a small sampler incorporating embroidery and lots of texture.

Pretty awesome stuff, huh!

Registration is now open for Portland Art & Soul 2015, as well as all of our 2015 events! For information and registration, visit our website at www.artandsoulretreat.com.

We Felt It! Chad Alice Hagen is Coming to Portland!

The amazingly vibrant, vivacious and colorful felting aficionado Chad Alice Hagen — who has instructed workshops at our Virginia Beach retreat — is coming to teach at Portland Art & Soul in March of 2015! And we are tickled pink, and blue... and orange... and yellow.... and green, and purple, and.... wow!

Chad Alice Hagen has been happily and intensively exploring resist dyeing and surface design of hand felted wool since 1979.  Textiles, fiber, fabric, material, felt, cloth – these words are more exciting to her than “You have won the lottery!”  Starting from a textile history background, she has supported herself through her BA and MS from University of Wisconsin and MFA from Cranbrook by weaving rag rugs from thousands of pairs of corduroy pants.  Why?  Because of the color!!  When she discovered feltmaking and the way the wool felt absorbed color through dyeing in the late 1970’s, there was no turning back.

Chad Alice has written extensively on art and feltmaking and her artwork has appeared in and on the covers of Surface Design Journal, Fiberarts and Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot Magazine. She also is the author of three books: The Fabulous Felt Scarf (2007), Fabulous Felt Hats (2005), and The Weekend Crafter: Feltmaking (2002) all published by Lark Books. She has taught hundreds of classes and workshops since 1979 throughout the United States and Canada, England, Ireland, Holland and Germany - from the early felted boots through hats and scarves and artworks.  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. Chad Alice maintains a full-time felt and book studio in Asheville, North Carolina. Take a look at what she's teaching at Portland Art & Soul in 2015...

Mokume Pin Shaped Resist Felted Scarf 
Join Chad Alice for a fabulous workshop where you will make a full size fine merino scarf using needle-punch batts and learn an ancient Japanese resist stitching method called Mokume to create a bark-like design and texture.

Wrapped Resist Dyed Felted Journal
Create a perfect sized (4.5" W x 3.5"H x 1") marvelous hand bound Journal from your very own hand felted and resist dyed felt.

Resist Dyeing on Hand-Felted Wool
In this class you will first learn how to felt and full fine Australian Merino needle punch batts, and Dye Master Chad will show how to set up a safe and workable dye kitchen. Then, using hundreds of weird and fascinating resist tools, you will be guided into the world of resist dyeing on felt – very different from anything else!

Pretty amazing stuff! So check out what Chad Alice has to offer at our Portland Art & Soul event. Whether you love the process or are swooning over the textures you'll create... we know you felt something that will make you want to sign up! So happy for her to join our creative family!

For more information and to register for Portland Art & Soul, visit our website at www.artandsoulretreat.com today!

Art & Soul Radio... Interview with our Host Lesley Riley, Mon. July 22

Lesley Riley, the host of Art & Soul Radio for the past three years is the guest on this, her final show.
 
Artist, surface designer and former show guest, Jane Dunnewold, turns the tables on Lesley and conducts the interview of this multi-talented artist, instructor, writer, craft book author, artist coach & mentor and soon to be former host of this Art & Soul Radio show.

Lesley 's books include: Quilted Memories, Fabric Memory Books, Fabulous Fabric Art with Lutradur and Create with TAP Transfer Artist Paper. She is currently at work on her 5th book. She is the creator of, TAP Transfer Artist Paper the state of the art in transfer paper, and winner of CHA's 2011 Most Innovative New Product award.

Lesley teaches workshops internationally and online. After having conducted 76 interviews over the last three years, Lesley is stepping down to follow her own advice that "art is what you make it".

 

So please join us as we turn the tables for this inspirational chat Monday. And remember that all our episodes will still be available in the archives!

Art & Soul Radio featuring host Lesley Riley
with Lesley Riley
Monday, July 22
7:00pm EST
blogtalkradio.com/art-and-soul-radio




Want the opportunity of a lifetime? 
If you're interested in taking over the hosting of Art & Soul  Radio, promoting our amazing retreat, getting the opportunity to speak with talented workshop instructors, and providing exciting and interesting content for our mixed media audience, please contact Glenny Moir with your credentials!

We'll miss you Leslie!