Artiscape 2015 - The Weekend (Part III)

My Weekend at Artiscape Artist's Gathering.

(Read Part I: here and Part II: here)

Saturday was a pretty relaxing day. I was not teaching any classes that day, and the workshop I was taking did not start until two. I got up at my regular time of 6:30 – 7 am and went down to get another wonderfully made omelet. I then just hung out in the room for most of the rest of the time until lunch. I wrote much of the first part of this post while I lounged around the room. It was a much needed respite!

For lunch I wandered down and had some chicken salad and fruit from their little snack shack in the center of the lovely atrium. I enjoyed eating my lunch with arty friends I've known for years.

Soon enough my class time rolled around and I headed for my Let's Brooch the Subject metalworking class with Jen Crossley. While I had done metal etching before, I had never done cold connections and jewelry sawing. It was a fun class and I learned a lot. When I went to sign in on the class roster, I saw a name that I recognized...the ever-talented Linda Cain! I looked around the room, found her, and called out her name. Linda is an amazing artist who, if you are not already familiar with, you must seek out. Her work is fabulous. I had the privilege of publishing several of Linda's works in AlteredArts magazine. She has since been on Tim Holtz's and Finnabair's design teams, among others. Follow her blog for regular infusions of “amazing-ness.” 

Linda Cain and Cyndi Duncan at Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015.

 

Jen Crossley and Linda Cain in Jen's class Let's Brooch the Subject.

Jen Crossley is a hoot, too. She hails from Australia and has a wonderful sense of humor. Of course she is fun to listen to; she could read a phone book and I would sit enthralled by her accent.

After Jen's class I had about a half hour to go and get ready for the evening's banquet.

While we were waiting for the dinner, we milled about at the evening's happy hour and set about to relieve ourselves of our trades. During this time something happened that has never happened before requiring me to point out some Art Trade Etiquette: If someone asks you if you have trades, and you do, you TRADE with them! You do not say “Yes, what do you have?” then look at the trade and respond: “No, I'm sorry, that's not my style,” or “Thank-you, but I wouldn't be able to use that.” If I had heard what happened to the two women in front of me, I would have never proffered my own trade. I have to imagine that the woman in question just didn't understand how it worked. I wish I wasn't so floored, or I might have asked her if it was her first time trading and kindly explained trade etiquette. I didn't pick my jaw off the floor until much later.

The banquet was a Jules Verne dinner and featured Cirque-de-Soleil-like performers that were fabulous. The food was good, as it always is at these dinners at the Embassy Suites-Dublin. I sat with my roommate, students from my classes and new friends. My roommate retired early and I sought out others who might want to go to the bar for a drink. While we never made it to the bar, I did insert myself into a group of people I did not know, and had a wonderful time learning more about them. It was the perfect ending to an amazing day.

Lisa's attention to detail always makes Artiscape super special.

My friend Mary and I at the Jules Verne Dinner Bash at Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015.

Performers at the Jules Verne Dinner Bash at Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015.

Stay tuned for the final installment of my series on the 2015 Artiscape Artist's Gathering.  Follow my blog by email and you won't miss it.

~Cyndi

5-1-2015:  The name of the performers is The Amazing Giants.  You can read more about them on their website:  http://www.theamazinggiants.com/

1-19-2017:  In linking these pages up to my 2017 Artiscape class offerings, I reread these posts and realized that I never finished the series, lol.  For those of you waiting on pins and needles: I don't remember what I did on Sunday!  Ha, ha, ha. I think I took a class, checked out, attended the Mad Hatter Tea Party and took my exhausted body home. At any rate, I'm sure the series gave you the flavor of the event, even if I didn't get around to finishing it. 

Artiscape 2015 - The Weekend (Part II)

My Weekend at Artiscape Artist's Gathering

(Read Part I of this series here.)

I woke up in the morning on Friday, had the amazing free breakfast, and then headed to my encaustic class with Serena Barton. This workshop was titled: Waxing Literary with Charlotte. While the techniques presented were not new to me, this was the class that spoke to me the most from the brochure, and I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed the workshop, and Serena and my table mates were a joy to get to know.

Student work in Serena Barton's Waxing Literary With Charlotte class at Artiscape 2015.

My artwork from Serena Barton's Waxing Literary With Charlotte class at Artiscape 2015.

Immediately following Serena's class, I was to teach my five-hour Tons of Techniques II workshop, so I had to leave a few minutes early to get my supplies together and to try and grab something to eat. My friend, Stacey, graciously agreed to help with this class, and she was indispensable! Having taught Tons of Techniques I a few years ago, I knew that I would fall over dead if I didn't have a helper. (Maybe not literally, but it would have felt that way!) This time around we learned about 15 different techniques or technique variations, and I demonstrated two more. We did all of that in FOUR hours! That means each technique took about 10 – 15 minutes before we were on to the next. After four hours, we stopped the fast-paced craziness and set about turning our technique samples into the sampler book that students could use for reference after the class.

 

Tons of Techniques II by Cyndi Duncan at Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015

Tons of Techniques II workshop by Cyndi Duncan at Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015.

By the time the end of the class rolled around, I was so exhausted and drained that I could barely think or move. After Stacey helped me clean up and pack the supplies back into my van, I had such a splitting headache, too, that I was soooo grateful for the evening happy hour. I'm sure I am not the only one for whom wine is a miracle cure. Seriously. My headache was so bad my eyes were crossing and I could barely drag myself to the bar, but moments after sitting down with my wine and sipping at it, I glanced up at my arty friends and said, “It's a miracle!” I felt almost back to normal. I think this is because my bad headaches are tension triggered and the wine acts as a muscle relaxer. I don't know...but it sounds good. All I know is that it works. Wine is medicinal for me. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

That evening I sat with my arty friends, some former and some brand-new, until shortly before the event's Kick-Off Party began.

The Kick-Off Party is a marketplace preview accompanied by sweets, and snacks, and beverages. There were several demonstrations going on during the evening, as well. I had a wonderful time and spent WAY too much. I actually thought to take a picture of the haul for you, but then decided I didn't want proof. 

Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015 Kick-Off Party

Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015 Kick-Off Party

Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015 Kick-Off Party

I bought so much good stuff that I had to force myself to stay out of the marketplace the next day! Of course I hadn't yet seen the wonderful goodies at the outsider art fair...my pocketbook would have been much happier if I had skipped that, too. If I had skipped it, though,  I would have missed out on all the wonderful artist-created goodies I got. It's all good...right?

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I hope you're enjoying my series on Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015.  Stay tuned to learn about the rest of the weekend.  If you follow my blog by email, you won't miss it!

~Cyndi

Artiscape 2015 - the Weekend (Part I)

My Weekend at Artiscape Artist's Gathering

During the fun and entertaining opening Kick-Off-Party, Lisa Ohmer, the organizer of Artiscape Artist's Gathering, and I mused about how long we had actually known each other. Lisa reminded me that we had met about twelve years ago at an altered art event sponsored by Stamp Art Jubilee in Atlanta, Georgia. It's funny how that event seemed a lifetime ago. I was there promoting the then-named Altered Book Club (now The Mailbox Muse, under new ownership) that I had just begun. I don't even think that the magazine had been born yet! As a matter-of-fact, I believe that the club had not even sent out its first kit yet. Anyway, that invitation by Lisa has led to many years of participation in the amazing event that she sponsors.

During the twelve-or-so years that I have known of Artiscape, I think I failed to participate on just a couple of occasions. Most of the years I attended I simply had a booth in the marketplace. During the first few years, the event was held in a very quaint Ohio canal town called Roscoe Village. At one of those first events I was able to squeeze out some time to take a workshop by the original altered book Diva, Beth Cote. It was a wonderful workshop on color theory and collage.

Fast forward a few years, and I finally decided that, being a teacher by trade and passion, I wanted to submit classes. That was about four years ago. My first classes were very well-received, and so I was invited back for more. This year I taught two workshops: A three-hour class on book folding and a five-hour techniques class. I'm thrilled to say that both of them sold out.

In the years that I have been associated with this wonderful event, the class with Beth Cote had been the only class I was ever able to take myself. I was either too busy with the magazine/club or vending in the marketplace. That changed this year! Because the magazine is on hiatus, I did not have a vendor booth this year which allowed me free time...time I could use for MYSELF!  As soon as the classes were announced, I eagerly signed up for three amazing workshops.

To help you get a better feel for how the weekend feels and progresses, let me lay it out for you chronologically. I will skip the time I used for class prep and present it to you as an attendee.

I signed up for three workshops, as I mentioned before. One was an encaustic class by Serena Barton, another was a metal jewelry class by Jen Crossley, and the final was a metal soldering class by Shari Replogle. While I am an artist that dabbles in a multitude of mediums, I tend to work mainly in paper arts...and more recently, beading. The jewelry and soldering classes were definitely outside my normal sphere, so I knew I needed to pay particular attention to the supply lists there. Jen Crossley's class required several tools and materials that I did not already have. A friend of mine, also attending Artiscape, offered to let me borrow a couple on the list, but I had to go and purchase the remaining items. This process was kind of fun, in that it got me more excited about my upcoming classes, as I perused the supplies on the internet. I started this process about three weeks before the event.

At about the same time that I began shopping for supplies, my wonderful packet from Artiscape arrived. It contained this lovely name tag and pass for the weekend, along with other important information.

Having attended so many of these wonderful events, I knew that a good portion of the enjoyment was to be found in participating in the artist trades and collaborative auction. So, I set about creating my trades about two weeks before the event. On Sunday of the event there is a Mad Hatter Tea at which the ladies wear hats...many of which they have hand-made. Wanting to add even more fun to the weekend, I also created my own fun little fascinator-type hat, as well. 

Bead Embroidered charms.  Art trades for Artiscape 2015 made by Cyndi Duncan.

Fascinator hat by Cyndi Duncan for the 2015 Artiscape Artist's Retreat.

This was the first year that I stayed in the host hotel, the Embassy Suites-Dublin. I shared a room with a woman from my art group. I have to say, staying at the host hotel is another added bonus to the weekend. As a hotel guest, we were treated to daily happy hours with snacks such as chips with several dips, hard cheeses, and other snack foods. This wine lover absolutely adores that fact that the happy hour included one free beverage - wine, and cocktails included! Additionally, each morning the hotel guests enjoyed an amazing hot breakfast bar which also included an omelet station. Of course, being right in the thick of things also had its obvious advantage. It was nice being able to go back to the room to rest, change, or grab a supply that I forgot or someone else needed.

Attendees who stayed in the host hotel received this lovely gift upon check-in.

Thursday night were the preconference workshops. I arrived a couple of hours before they began, and as I was actually teaching one, spent part of that time setting up and settling in to my room. My class went wonderfully. I am always treated to wonderful students; this class was no exception.

The wonderful students in my Folded Book Sculptures Class at Artiscape 2015.

Tired, but energized for the weekend ahead, I drug myself to bed.

I hope you enjoyed Part I of my series on Artiscape Artist's Gathering 2015.  Stay tuned for Part II.  (Pssst.....If you subscribe to my blog by email, you won't miss it!)

~Cyndi

Beautiful Things From Scraps

Last week my art group met.  The project we did was inspired by projects by artist Eunice Pittman that were featured in the Sommerset Studio Gallery Winter 2011 issue.

As we crafted these lovely little works of art, I was reminded of how we all have the supplies with which to create art.  Really, we do!  Look around your house. Grab up scraps of this and that.  You can put them together to make something really lovely.

For this project, we utilized scraps of lace, beads we had on-hand, wire and other embellishments.  I'm not sure where the faces I used came from, but you could use scrap images for those, or search free graphics for small faces.  We used punches to punch them out.  The circle embellishments could be bezels or even bottle caps.  We did use Glossy Accents from Ranger to make the faces look like resin, but you could try applying a thick layer of Mod Podge or clear gel tacky glue...whatever you have on-hand.

Some of my favorite artworks are those that I created from scraps.  If I'm suffering from a creative block, sometimes I will simply take a plastic bin and walk around my studio putting "stuff" into the bin.  I'll include some collage images, embellishments, fabric scraps, something I have and have been wanting to use for a while, a couple of colors of acrylic paint, a couple of adhesives, and paint brushes.  I will then take that bin and make myself create something from just those items...nothing else. 

Next time your muse seems to have flown the coop, see if forcing yourself to create from just a few items on-hand brings her back.  I think you may be pleasantly surprised.

Have a wonderful day!

~Cyndi

A Little Ramen and Another Letter

With my oldest child in college, and my source of income on hiatus, I've been pinching pennies everywhere I possibly can.  I often buy a pound of ground beef and divide it into four, and use it in four different meals.  Mac and cheese is my base for a LOT of casseroles.  I'm constantly on the lookout for inexpensive recipes, as well.

My family and I have made the following recipe for years. I'm sure I got it on the internet somewhere, but I would be hard pressed to tell you the original source.  I just now found three or four locations for nearly identical recipes. 

Anyway, in my never-ending endeavor to stretch my grocery dollars so I can bring my daughter home for Christmas, or send her a little cash (or pay one of our medical bills!), I discovered that I could feed my family of three for only $2.64!  When my older daughter was home, I used to serve this dish to all of us, but would add something else like a salad.  With just the three of us, we don't need anything extra.  There is plenty of food, and it has starch, vegetables and protein.  If I were going to add something, maybe a cut-up banana for dessert.

Ingredients:
2-3 oz.  packages of Oriental Ramen Noodles (20 cents ea.)
1/4 lb. ground beef ($1.15)
Bag of veggies ($1.09)
2.5 C water
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

Boil the water in a large sauce pan.

Crush the ramen noodles with a can or rolling pin, etc., before opening. Remove the seasoning packets and dump the noodles from both packages into the boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes.

Turn the heat down on the noodles a little and add your bag of frozen veggies, one seasoning packet and 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. (If you do not have ginger on-hand, it will also be tasty without it.)

In a skillet, brown the ground beef and add the contents of the other seasoning packet.  When the beef is done, add it to the noodle mixture.

Serve.

Optional:  

I have changed this recipe up, depending on ingredients on-hand, by adding any or all of the following:  peanuts, water chestnuts, pea pods.  While my version of this recipe calls for 1/4 lb. of ground beef, if you have more on hand or are not needing to pinch as many pennies as I, go ahead and use more beef.  The rest of the recipe will remain the same.

*******
I got a nice little text from my college daughter today.  It simply said, "I got my mail today!"  I asked, "Brown or green?" She replied, "Both!!"  Translated that means that she got both the fall mail art envelope I shared the other day and the green one I will share now.  I would like to think she did not get both today as I sent them nearly a week apart.

Closeup of the "A".  The stamp image is from Stamper's Anonymous.

The pink flourish outline was made using Sepia Accents from Ranger.

Closeup of the flower on the back.  The flower image is from Northwoods.

Enjoy this wonderful day!

Please share my blog with your friends and pin my images to your Pinterest boards.  Thanks!

~Cyndi

 

Hosting a Halloween Art Party

My art group...  I LOVE my art group.  We have been meeting together for several years now.  Some people have come and gone, but the core group remains the same.  I blogged about them just the other day.  I wrote an article about them in the winter 2011-12 issue of Altered Arts magazine.  They mean a lot to me.

Next month I get to host the Halloween edition of our art group.  As I was thinking about it, I was reminded of Halloween art group meetings of the past.  What fun!  Even if you don't have your own art group, consider gathering like-minded, arty friends for a fun Halloween party.  It may be just what you need to get your creative juices flowing again.

Decide on a time for your gathering.  Our art group always meets during the week.  We find it works best to avoid the weekends as most people have family plans on the weekends.  Give yourself ample time for your meeting, especially if you plan to do a project.  We have found that 3 1/2 to 4 hours is about the right amount of time.  If you have any guests traveling longer than 15-20 minutes, you should plan on starting around 6:00 pm.  That way, you can probably be done around 9:30 and have them home before 10.

Determine the guest list.  This is essential.  To have a fun and creative time, make sure that you invite only arty, creative people.  We all have fun friends that do not have the least desire to make something creative with their own hands. Invite them to something else...not your art party.

In years past my art group created AWESOME Halloween bags for our gathering. Each participant would create a bag for everyone else in the group and then fill them with crafty items that were mostly already in their stash...so it wasn't a big cost burden.  It was more about the fun and creativity of it.

My gift bag creation.

 

Lorel's amazing gift bag.

  

Jane's fantastic art.

Melani's gift bag and goodies.

Gift Bags or Not?  Decide whether or not you will all create Halloween gift bags to share.  Be sure to give everyone on the invite list detailed instructions as to what to include in the bags and how to decorate them. They could be thematic: walking dead, spiders, ghosts, shades of graves, etc. Or, they could just be whatever "Halloween-y" thing that the creator desires.

Will there be a project?  Of course, since my art party was part of one of our regular art group meetings, we not only exchanged our fun and fabulous gift bags, we also worked on a project.  At the meeting I have pictured, the project was not Halloween-themed, but it could have been.  If you are hosting, you can present the project yourself or ask someone else to come up with it.  For our regularly meeting group, we each take turns presenting a project and the person presenting usually provides most of the supplies. You could, however, present the project but provide a supply list to your guests.

Determine the Bill of Fare.  I adore hosting the Halloween gathering at my house because it is so much fun getting creative with the food.  Last year I bought dry ice and had a spooky Halloween cocktail served in a cauldron.  You could be as thematic with your food as you wish.  You could also tell your guests that you will provide a main dish and ask them to bring other parts of the dinner.  Or, maybe just cocktails and hors d'ouevres are more in line with your party vision.

The fun cake Lorel made for my birthday.

Don't you just LOVE the rats crawling into and out of the cake?!

Perhaps you are interested in learning more about starting your own art group?  You can check out my article in the winter 2011-12 issue of Altered Arts magazine for more information on how my art group came to be, and how we do things.

I would love to hear about your Halloween art party.  You can share your Halloween art party pictures on my Facebook page:  www.Facebook.com/cyndiduncanarts.

Be sure to follow my blog by email so you don't miss my creative musings. 

~Cyndi

My Oasis of Sanity

Have you ever noticed that it is so much harder to get something done when you do not "plan" it into your day?  You may think to yourself, "I am going to do thus-and-so", but unless you actually PLAN the time...set it aside...you will likely not get to it.  I am definitely that way.  It's true of everything that is not critical in my life such as:  running, exercise class, creating art, reading, etc.  I have planned reading into my day, so it is one thing that usually gets done.  I always go to bed with a book.  The other stuff...not so much.

One little oasis of sanity in this mix is my planned monthly art group meeting.  Notice that it is p-l-a-n-n-e-d.  There are seven of us in my art group (sometimes eight), and we rotate between houses with each one presenting a new technique or project.  My group meeting is this week and I am soooo looking forward to it!  With the craziness of summer, we didn't meet monthly as we normally do, and I am overdue for another art group fix.

Several months ago one of the members presented this project which was inspired by Christy Tomlinson's "She Art."  We used stenciling, drawing, collaging, and modeling paste to create these 8 x 10 canvases. This is my piece:

Would you like to start your own art group?  I wrote an in-depth article about my art group in the winter 2011-12 issue of Altered Arts magazine.

~Cyndi