Art and Soul, Asilomar - Part I

First of all I need to apologize for not posting for an entire month. Time has just gotten away from me with such a full calendar of events, family illnesses and company. I now have some time to breathe and will post several posts to catch you up on what has been happening in my life. Mid-April I had the pleasure of attending Art and Soul in Asilomar, Ca. (a three-day mini mixed media art retreat). Asilomar, in Pacific Grove, is near Carmel and Monterey and is such a beautiful area. The conference grounds are so peaceful....you say "hello" to the grazing deer as you walk to lunch, or take a nature walk along the Pacific Ocean, or just sit and listen to the many different birds seranade you. I needed the break as my design schedule has been very hectic for the last three months getting ready for the Remnants of the Past Antique Faire which took place last weekend.....a recap on that to follow in the next few days. I enjoyed the smaller retreat atmosphere, meeting up with art friends, and learning new techniques.

I took two classes from Stephanie Lee - Art Excavation and Junkdrawer Metalsmithing. I loved both classes. Stephanie is such an excellent teacher and artist. In Art Excavation we created assemblage collages by pouring plaster onto canvas boards or into boxes, carving into the dried plaster, embedding found objects, casting with plaster and attaching an assortment of collage elements onto the plaster with beeswax.

The top two photos are of the two pieces I completed in class. I had never worked with plaster as an art form before or beeswax so the class was both challenging and so enjoyable. Creating dimension in this way was eye-opening for me.

Stephanie's "Family Nest Egg"

The next day, I took Stephanie's Junkdrawer Metalsmithing class. Stephanie has so much to share ....this class was rich with all kinds of metalsmithing techniques ranging from making bezels out of a variety of metals, copper pipe, and other materials found at local hardware stores to engraving and etching into metal. Stephanie uses all things "unearthed, discovered, salvaged, reclaimed". I purchased her new book "Semiprecious Salvage" which has a wealth of information and projects I can't wait to start. A definite suggested read to anyone who is interested in creating found-art jewelry.

Here is Stephanie's new book with the four bezels I completed in her class (the house shape, heart and two round bezels).

The "Family Nest Egg" (a name I gave to this lovely art piece) was a gift to me from Stephanie. It holds a special place in my studio and reminds me of the lovely person who so graciously gave it to me. I really want to take more classes from Stephanie, I love her teaching style, her approach to art, her great personality, her loving nature and willingness to share so much of what she knows about mixed media art.

Now I must get ready for work at Old Edna. Hopefully I will have a chance tomorrow to write the next chapter in my "getting caught up" posts. Have a great weekend!