Fantasy House Portraits, Irvine edition

Seriously, I need to get a grip on my distractions! I'm like some 15 year old trying to do homework with the television on and the remote on the coffee table...And a stack of unread magazines...And a cup of Yerba tea...And the painting commission someone still hasn't completed that keeps whispering in the middle of the night...And the pretty birds that just flew across the lake...

Oh wait. That really is me, give or take a couple of 30+ years. 

Needless to say, moving and unpacking and renovating, and an 80# lab puppy, all are conspiring against me to keep me from writing! Lawd, now I'm distracted again. What was I writing about? I do this a lot. 

Must   

Focus

one of my original samples. 

Houses. Fantasy House Portraits class. On Thursday in Irvine, a couple of weeks ago now, I taught the house portrait painting class. This was the first time I taught this class to this many people all at the same time. I think it went well, although, to be honest, some people could have used more time and I think moving forward I am going to provide smaller boards for people to use.  I've been using 16x20 and 14x18 but I'm dropping that down to 12x16 for the future. And next year I'm tweaking the class a bit further by making it all about cottages and using 12x12 boards. I think that by narrowing the scope a bit it will help people focus beforehand and will allow everyone to finish up in plenty of time. 



Here are a couple of student pieces. I think you'll agree that they did a bang up job. Several people emailed me after class to tell me how much their husbands enjoyed the finished paintings but weren't looking forward to the new "honey do" lists inspired by the artwork.

such a cute piece that really deserves a much better photo than the one I took!

one of my favorites from the class. She combined a stone cottage with her own ranch house.

cute beach house

I really need to take better photos of the student work!

That's all for now. Back to unpacking boxes and fixing up this lake house for real instead of on canvas.

Color me focused

Staci

Carved Birches

Wednesday evening I taught a 3 hour workshop titled "Carved Birches. No knives required." This was a short simple workshop that turned out to be quite a bit of fun.

this gal's husband bought her this set of Sennelier pastels. I actually drooled on the box!

a work in progress

We started with 12x12 canvases for this class. It was a nice manageable size and easily packed to return home at the end of the conference. Here are a few pix of the finished pieces. I love how the trees turned out so colorful!

check out how 3d that heart looks! awesomeness

great texture on this tree

what's not to love here?

a softer pastel tree here. sweet

Time for me to paint my piece for the Dead Musician's Project.

color me happy!

staci

Floral Teacup Bouquets

The first workshop I taught at Create Irvine was a new offering, floral teacup bouquets." This project was one I'd designed a few years ago for a tiny little show at a local Augusta hangout. The pieces are made on 9x9 museum wrapped canvases from Blick. Originally I used old wall paper in the backgrounds of my pieces and then collaged fabric and papers to create the bouquets.

here's the piece I used for an example during class.

For this class I made an 11th hour change to the process and gave everyone a half sheet of Arches 140# cold press rag paper and let them create their own wall paper to collage onto the backgrounds. I really liked the results everyone achieved thru stamping and painting and I think it was a good exercise to loosen everybody up so early in the conference.

a student laying down the background

A big Thank You to the folks who donated the cool stamps as part of our gift bags. (Once I find mine iI'l post the manufacturer:-) 

Once everyone created their papers I had them donate half to the class kitty and several people took advantage of combining different designs.

another student work in progress. she later added mica chips to the silver basket!

My only regret is that the Pens I ordered for the class were garbage. Half of them simply wouldn't write and the ones that did wouldn't work on damp surfaces. Back to find that pentel oh so fabulous writer I used ages ago. If you've got suggestions, Please!! Let me know. A white pen would be great also. 

some of the gals from class. Job well done, Ladies!!

Color me floral
Staci

Great Week!

Now that the dust has settled and I'm unpacked...(Ok. Maybe 1/2 unpacked:~)...

I had such a great time in Irvine. I don't even know where to begin. I guess today I'll just start with an overview of the Create Retreat. This was my second time as an instructor and I'm looking forward to Create Somerset in July and Create Chicago in August. The hotel was very nice and I had the most comfy bed. Which was a good thing because I was so off due to jet lag I went to bed at 5 on friday evening and slept until 5 the next morning!

The folks at Interweave have been doing these retreats for a few years now and if you ever have the chance to attend, please treat yourself and DO! I met so many wonderfully creative women. I had everyone from gals who are instructors in their own right to women enjoying empty nesting and looking for a new creative hobby as well as every level of expertise in between. 

I took far too many pictures to put up in just one post so I think what I will do is write a separate post for each workshop I taught. There were 5 in all and I came away with something new from each group. 

I promised my students I'd get better about posting regularly so I promise I'll be back tomorrow with the first of the class reviews. Meanwhile, this is where you can find me, relaxing by the lake. It's glorious outside today.

Create Orange County

Day 1

The adventure began today. After getting up at the crack of dawn, 3:15!, I made it to the airport on time and even managed to park in a decent area close to the terminal. But when you're hauling a mother load of art supplies in your back like some colorful Atlas, even a short walk feels like a mile. Insert stylishly sensible shoes ad for www.Anthropologie.com here! 

I had a quiet flight to Dallas and with narry a minute to spare then hopped my flight to Irvine. Oh my goodness! The weather! 

Fabulous!!

Enough, Staci. No one wants to hear how you've landed in paradise and are staying at a lovely Hyatt and are currently sitting in a nice bar lounge enjoying an overpriced glass of Sauvignon blanc and grilled shrimp so succulent it would make you weep ;-)

Where was I. Oh yeah. Rock star moment. So I get into the shuttle at the airport to head to my hotel and it happened..."who was it?!!" You ask. "Who did you see? Brad and Anjie? Lyle Lovett? Who!!"

Get this. It was me. A lady on the shuttle recognized me from online and said she is taking all of my classes. I was speechless. I know, right? When am I ever at a loss for words? I was so flattered. It always amazes me when people will spend their hard earned pennies to hear something I have to say or teach. Or to purchase a piece of my soul to hang in their home. I'm just the girl who walks around in pajamas until noon or talks with spinach in her teeth. 

So the trip's off to a good start. Stay tuned. 

The universe is kind. 

Smile at your neighbor. 

Color me Humbled. 

<3 staci

I could just hug you

Started a new series this week. Based in hugs. Or 'embraces' if you are finding yourself in a more romantic mood this February. Also experimenting with sap green and a few different yellows. I like the warm earthy brightness to it. So mellow yet so sweet. Like bread and butter pickles from Sconyers BBQ here in Augusta.

Ok. Probably not so great to equate my sincere paintings to the flavor of a pickle but its Friday and I'm in a great mood.

Here's a picture of the first 'hug'. A little timid perhaps but ripe with possibility.

out for a stroll

I always imagine my life unfolding online as if i'm having a conversation with one of my neighbors. i'd be out working in the front yard garden, someone is walking their dog and happens by, she (or he), stops by and leans over the fence to ask what's coming up this time of year. we continue to have witty conversation about the weather and how beautiful the sky was this morning, all peachy pink over grey which made the greys all blue and purpley. (it was actually. did you happen to see it?) but she is the witty one since i have trouble putting two words together on my best days and i usually veer off in some other direction inside my head after getting distracted by some flaw on the yard art, or an errant blade of grass that's caught my attention. i'm 3 month old puppy that way. my best friend, jen, is the wittiest person on the planet. that woman can pull a smart retort out of her ass faster than anyone i know! i'm alwasy left standing there scratching my head thinking "dammit! too slow again swider."

back to the sky...

it truly was special today. like i mentioned, it was all glowing with an overcast of peach and pink on all of the colors. all of the whites on the cars and street signs and buildings looked like they were soft sherbert. and the cool winter grey sky was softest lavender. i seriously need to get to work painting something with those tones in it. maybe a painting with an angel and a little pink house. or a field with pink and purple cows grazing in the early morning light.

wish i'd of taken a picture. thanks for stopping by to chat. i've got to get back to the garden now. and later i'll start working on that painting we talked about. thanks for the inspiration. i couldn't do this without your help.

until i get that new morning piece finished, here's a little house i did this week. enjoy. give my love to the kids. smooches