This past week I've been so blown away by the amount of inspirational creative expression that has come my way. It's out there, free, easily accessible for those who seek exposure to it. Here are my three favorite places I've found creative nuggets of inspiration:

1. Coachella - No, I didn't experience it personally, but there are many bloggers and websites that shared the love from this California music festival. There was something for everybody: screenprinting, body painting, felting, sign making, you name it. The Coachella Art Studios enabled fans to make something tangible to take home from the event.


2. Alisa Burke's blog class, Finding Your Muse - Where do you find your inspiration? This FREE class helps you discover the importance of finding what rows your boat, creatively speaking, so that you can make art that is not cookie-cutter, but authentic and fresh and individual.

3. Heidi Klum's full body paint for Color Celebration -

Experiencing Artfest 12

This was my first and maybe last time to attend Artfest. I say 'last' because Teesha Moore says this is the last one, at least for Port Townsend. Stay tuned--you never know. I went to Artfest to learn more about mixed media, to meet other creative women, and because it was in Port Townsend, a place I visited once when I was sixteen years old. I hadn't been to an art retreat since 2008, and I was more than ready to get started. I took three classes; one in collage, one in plaster techniques, and one in metal and resin jewelry making. Here are three examples, one from each class, of what I came away with:

Various collage techniques

Plaster techniques

Resin jewelry pendant

Even with the continuous drizzle of rain that kept my hair in bendy curls and having my luggage go missing for 24 hours, it was an amazing time. Here is the officers' house where I stayed with 6 other women. (This is the view from the backside.)

This is view I from my little room upstairs. Just to the right was an awesome view of the ocean.

My first class was a collage class with Misty Mawn. She is an amazing artist, blogger, author, etc. She demonstrated many of her favorite techniques for building background pages and creating focal points.

Some of the stencils she used were stained from being used over and over again. I thought they were quite beautiful this way. As I was taking pictures of them Misty commented that she has several stencils like these hanging up at home because they are so pretty. My best take away idea from this class: when you are clipping and collecting ephemera for a collage, keep them gathered in color palettes like blues, nudes, reds, grays, etc., because it is so much easier to build your collage. At Vendor Night I ended up purchasing several of these stencils from Mary Beth Shaw.

Here are two of my house mates, Tally and Lisa. I met Tally several years ago at Art & Soul in Asilomar, CA. We kept in touch via our blogs, but I had no idea she was going to be at Artfest until I walked into the officers' house the first night and saw her. She and her friends had reserved the house and I somehow ended up with the last room. It was meant to be. We all had a great time, even going into Port Townsend a couple of times for dinner.

Day two, I took a plaster class from Stephanie Lee. My table mate was Heather.

Here are the plaster tiles I made on wood and burlap. After we painted our tiles we applied hot wax and burnished them with the palms of our hands. I LOVE this and want to do more.

Below are the ladies that I rented a car with at the Seattle airport and we then drove two hours to Port Townsend. Jamie, me, Christa, and Adeola.

Each evening after our classes we would bring home our newest art project and display them in the dining room, either on the mantel or the table. Here's what I made in my last class on day three with teacher Susan Lenart Kazmer. It's a combination of metal work and resin on paper all put together to make an unusual statement necklace.

Here are a couple of projects made by my house mates.

This large gray hanger is where they had Vendor Night. It's where all the artists' sell books, art, tools, jewelry, etc. It was so thick with people I could barely see the tables!

Above is the Commons building where we would have our meals. Below is a view of the dorms.

Many of the participants at Artfest were repeat attendees, some were devoted followers of many of the teachers there. I can see why. Artfest and venues like it offer inspiration, friendship building, business networking, and a block of precious time for creative people to just be creative. I would definitely do this again!

Brighten Your Day

Just another dose of body paint to kick-start your summer party!

Festival Paint by Free People

Festival paint by Free People from FreePeople on Vimeo.

Body art is getting more and more mainstream. So get inspired! Summer is almost here.....the sun is shining, skin is showing, and there is so much creativity to express! Body art is hotter than ever, and is another extension of fashion to be enjoyed. Get your body paint here.

Catch Up

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. I didn't mean to be neglectful. And I wasn't abducted by aliens. I have just been really busy.

Here's what I've been up to:

1. I worked for a solid week on trend boards for a sales presentation for Walmart.

2. I attended the very last Artfest in Port Townsend, Washington. I was there from a Wednesday to a Sunday. What a fabulous experience! It was held at Fort Worden State Park Conference Center. I shared an Officer's house with 6 other women. We had such a good time. I'll share more on this adventure later.

3. I returned from Artfest to work on trend boards for a sales presentation for Michael's that is taking place tomorrow. I was told that the Walmart presentation was quite successful, so of course we had to offer Michael's an equally creative experience.

4. I spent this past weekend catching up on laundry, cooking meals for my family, and celebrating Easter with family and friends.

5. Today it's back to my normal work day. Then after work I am heading to the movie theater with several friends to see The Hunger Games.

It's a busy, creative life!