Art and Soul Project #1

May I introduce Steam Punk Lily.

I started off my Art and Soul experience for 2010 with a class taught by the amazingly talented and super nice Julie Haymaker Thompson. Originally, when I was planning out my 2010, I had not penciled in a trip to art and Soul. Then I wnet to visit Julie's blog and read her post about joining the Hampton Schedule for teaching. Well, that announcement changed my plans completely!! That very day, I scheduled my trip with Julie's Steam Punk Lily being my first choice of classes! Isn't she wonderful!! We ahd sooo much fun and there were only three of us in the class. This will be the first and LAST time that Julie's classes will be so lightly attended!!! When i walked inot the dining area carrying my LiLy, I was swamped with eager questions and many hands trying to touch. Lily was freshly glued so I had to beat people back and ask them PLease,Please to look with their eyes not their hands!!! I am not sure just how man times I explained the process or how many times I raved about Julie and her talents and teaching abilities, but no one should plan on getting into her classes with ease. She is going to become an extrememly sought after teacher!!!!

For those of you who are not exactly sure just what the Term STEAMPUNK refers to, here is a definition from Wikipedia click here. I was not at all sure of the exact definition but I knew what the style looked like and once I saw Julie's class sample of Lily, I was hooked.

Lily was created by wrapping sheet pewter around a craft store bird form and then embellished with all sorts of bits and pieces and perched on a collaged wooden egg. Julie taught us how to use all sorts of metal based paints and oxodozing agents to achieve that authentic steampunk grunge look. We each added our own touched by varying the trims and stitching patterns that we used. We also had a chance to play with Paper Clay containing volcanic ash. We used the clay to create various hat styles .

As I was thoroughly enjoying the class with Julie I realized just who she reminded me of. I felt like I ahd known Julie for along time and then I realized that she closely resembled my good friend Trina of the Paper Flea Market. As nit happened the super talented Trina would be attending Art and Soul begining on Saturday, to take a class and to be a vendor at the Bazaar on Saturday night. As it happened Trina's table at the Bazaar was immediately behind Julie's table. I was so right- they do look like long lost twins!!! The resemblance was really uncanny and the two quickly became fast friends. Here you can see for yourself with Trina on the left and Julie on the right!! After we had all broken down our booths from the vendor sale, we met up at the Hotel Bar and had a good visit and debrief. It was all very necessary after a very hectic and noisey three hour sale.
The ART and Soul Retreats are so much more than art classes ! Theya re amazing gatherings of like minded artists and creative people who all speak similar art languages and are driven by the same desires to create. I have decided that these trips are my versions of a week at a Spa. This is my place to recharge my enthusiasm and regain my excitement about the creative journey that I am traveling. I will be forever grateful to all of the wonderful people that I have met and the teachers who have shared their time and talents. The amount of validation that I recieved as an artist is truely empowering!!!!
Stay tuned for the next several blog posts in which I will reveal the rest of the classes and projects created at Art and Soul 2010.!