Unintended Doggy on My Parasol

Do you see the cute little doggy? I hadn't intended on creating him but I was so happy to see him appear when I finished doodling on my papaer parasol and then closed the parasol up. An unintended but super wonderful surprise.

 

When the parasol opens, the doggy goes away. See?

When fully opened, you can't even imagine that a doggy would be anywhere near ... but all the other doodles come to life.

I made this during a class at French General, taught by my pal Pam Garrison. It was a wonderful afternoon with lots of great students who all did some very creative work making their unique paper parasols.
Check out this one that my pal Amy Hanna made ... a letter for her daughters, filled with warm, loving words. It was fun to watch her make it.
Here we both are with our parasols.

And here's a final photo that I really adore ... warm, kind of mysterious, and surrounded by art friends and parasols.

To Paint. To Teach.

Thought I'd show you one of the paintings I recently made. Actually, I made it during Christy's workshop, titled Her Heart.

Here's the other one I made, titled Tango.

They both came pretty fast and I'm super happy with them.

I want to thank Christy, Chrissy, Jodi, Jen, and others in the class who were so enthusiastic about these pieces and my painting process and have encouraged me to develop a workshop that teaches my approach to painting these types of works.

I sort of couldn't believe my ears when I received this feedback. So nice to hear.

So I guess with this post, I'm letting the universe know that I'm thinking about it ... trying to see if I can put together a workshop where I actually teach painting (in Studio CRESCENDOh, of course). Never in a million years did I think I'd consider something like that ... but here we are.

Her heart.

My heart.

I'll keep you updated on how that develops. :)

Announcing :: Art Walk Studio April 6th (tomorrow)! See ya there!

So excited to announce that tomorrow night, Saturday, April 6th is Studio CRESCENDOh's Art Walk Studio! Yipee! Featured artists who will be showing and selling their beautiful art include: Lisa Engelbrecht!

Lisa Loria!


and Stephanie Ackerman!

Also present will be Christy Nimeh who will be doing a live painting demonstration. If you haven't seen Christy's works, you're in for a treat as you'll be able to observe how she makes her decisions to make her canvas come alive with color and imagery.


Also present will be Lisa Guerin (AKA, The Art Whisperer) who will be facilitating a FREE make-and-take activity.

And if luck is on our side, I'll be performing a couple of songs with my daughter, Monica.
(Knock on wood.)

Be there or be square.

FREE EVENT: Art Walk Studio in Studio CRESCENDOh
DATE: Saturday, April 6, 2013
ADDRESS: 207 N. Broadway, Suite L, Santa Ana, CA 92711 (In the Santora Building)
TIME: 7-10PM

Metered parking on the streets. And paid covered lot parking on Broadway & 3rd. Parking's a bear so just be prepared.

All together now: Twinkle lights, wine, cheese, and good conversations with art-loving people. I say we get dressed to the nines and have ourselves some fun as we buy art, make art, and make friens. See ya tomorrow!

Monica's Northern CA College Tour

From Santa Ana, Monica and I jetted straight to Bakersfield so that I could do some quick childhood reminiscing while we grabbed a quick lunch. From there, it was straight to Davis California where we stayed at The Hyatt located directly on the campus. Great facility and great alumni staff. The next morning, we soaked in the beautiful UC Davis campus. Monica loved it. Every bit of it. The campus, the surrounding city, the people, the buildings, the housing options, the stature of its academic programs. A campus with so much character.

And let us not forget The Craft Center! A truly comprehensive craft center, which is part of their Campus Rec department. So very cool.

Before leaving Davis, we jetted over to Sacramento to hang with my dear friend, Dori Barrett and her three lovely children for a brunch. Dori ... my friend who can make me laugh until milk comes out of my nose ... who listens so well and gets me so deep and listens some more and understands and loves so deep. 

From Davis, we traveled to Berkeley, CA. Oh Berkeley, beautiful Berkeley. We stayed at The Hotel Durant. My favorite place to stay in Berkeley. It's in the lobby where this sign was suspended—with my favorite line from my favorite musical of all time: To love another person is to see the face of God (Les Miserables).



How did my daughter get so beautiful and brilliant was the question running through my mind that night, as we wound down and prepared ourselves for the next day's tour of the campus.

UC Berkeley.
Magnificent.
What's there not to love?
It was a sight to behold ... to witness my daughter fall in love with the campus.
Our tour guide was sweet. Matthew. Transfer student from Modesto. Evidence that even if you don't get in straight from high school, you can work your ass off in community college and then transfer into one of the greatest instituttions in the entire world.

From Berkeley, we traveled to Stanford.

No denying that the campus was beautiful. But definitely different from Berkeley. Super manicured. No rough edges. No homeless on the side. And ... er ... um ... The Hoover Institution omnipresent at every angle. Impressive campus. But not one that captured Monica's heart. Nor mine.


From Stanford, we traveled to Jack London Square and had arguably one of the best meals of our lives at a new restaurant named Forge. Roasted vegetables. Killer salad. Amazing steamed mussels. Great service. Great ambiance. Great night.

The next morning, we traveled to Aptos, CA to meet up with Monica's cousins, Gabriella and Juliana, and their family.


A great night we had with everyone as we ate delicious food repared by Lily, caught up with what everyone was up to, including Victor and Estella's newest baby miracle.

The next morning, before heading to UCSC, I had a blast working out with Gabriella and Trainer Joan who worked us hard on these stairs.

And then it was quality retail therapy under the leadership of Gabriella and Juliana's mom, Migdalia, who introduced us to some amazing shops in the Aptos/Santa Cruz area. So much fun.

And then there was UC Santa Cruz. The tour was SO well organized. I really appreciated all the work that the staff and students did to make everyone feel so welcome. The campus was nestled amongst magnificent trees that took our breaths away.

There's a lot for Monica to ponder right now. We have other campuses to visit still. Will she go directly to a 4-year college from high school or go first to a community college? Will she go far from home or stay close by? Will she know anyone when she gets there? Will she make new friends? Will she find her voice? Will she?

Yes, she will.
Of that, I'm certain.
My beautiful daughter. I blinked just once to find her all grown up ... beautiful, brilliant Monica.

Hair Update :: Pigtails!

For SO many years I've had short hair and loved it. And then one day not too long ago, I decided that I'd try something different and start growing it out. Just like that.

Today marks almost 2 months since my decision to start growing it out. I'm sort of thrilled that I can put my hair in pigtails! I love it.

My hair is still in an awkward state but it's gotten less awkward than just a few weeks ago when I was asking myself what I had gotten myself into. And then soon after, I learned that I can sweep the upper half up with a comby clippy thingy and I like that very much, but not as much as my new pigtails. :)

In terms of whose hair I'm aspiring to, it would say the way Kate Winslet is wearing hers lately in the photo below. So beautiful, I think.

Who knows. Maybe I'll not have the endurance to grow it out as long as hers but that's where I'm aiming. It'll take a year or more I'm sure. Lots of discoveries along the way which I'll keep you updated on. Cause I know you want to be updated on things like that. :)

Oh, this happy life filled with discoveries, complications, tangles, curls, intrigue, friendship, love, and changes.

Always unexpected changes.

OCSA :: Stars in the Making

So the other night, Monica asked if I'd read and give her feedback on two short plays that she had written because she was going to submit them to see if one of them might be selected for Orange County School of the Art's (OCSA) annual Play Fest.

When I read them, I was literally moved to tears. SUCH characters. SUCH smart dialogue. I gave minor technical feedback ... but mainly, I told Monica that I wanted her to eventually develop the short plays into full-length plays because I couldn't wait to see the entire story of both plays unfold. Finally, I offered her reassurance that if the selection committee had half a brain, one of her plays would definitely be selected for the Play Fest. I'm her mom. I'm allowed to say things like that. :) And guess what? It turns out that Monica submitted 3 short plays and the one I didn't read got selected! And so when it was time to go to the Play Fest this week, I was curious what I'd see being played out on stage since I hadn't had the chance to read it beforehand.

Her play was titled Scar and she cast two of her friends (above) to play the two characters in her play. The actors did a phenomenal job as they brought to life the message of the play, which had something to do with Harry Potter and a lot to do regarding the pain of growing up.

It. Was. So. Good.

The play reminded me that no matter who becomes our rescue fantasy hero that we idealize, at the end of the day, there is no one who can rescue us except ourselves. And no matter how much we want to be in someone else's story, it's our story that we get to construct ... with experiences both good and bad, sometimes wonderful, sometimes tragic.

Do you see the star in the photo above? It's the new logo for OCSA. It takes a minute but once you see it, you see it.

Another play that was selected and performed at Play Fest was written by Rachel Do, one of Monica's best friends. Shown below is Monica, Rachel, and Antonia (another one of Monica's best friends). Rachel's play was titled Your Epidermus is Showing and it was also fantastic. Really excellent writing and great character development. 

At the end of the night, they had all the playwrights go up on stage to take a bow. I look at the photo of these young people and think to myself that these are our leaders. These are the people who will be doing amazing things in the years ahead like writing plays, curing diseases, accepting Oscars, and helping people. True stars in the making.

Art on the Beach

I had a total blast today. The weather was perfect. I was at Victoria Beach and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

And the best part? I was with a fabulous group of friends: Amy, April, Pam, and Christine. Here they all are ... on the sand ... getting their art on.

One art product that I learned about from Christine is this Art Graf that comes in a cute little tin. Watercolor graphite is what it is. Totally fabulous. Can't wait to get some of my own! Learning about cool new products is one of the MAJOR benefits of hanging with artists, in my opinion.

Here I am trying to get an aerial shot of some of the beautiful art that was made. I like this shot because it looks like my hair is actually getting long-ish ... which is my aim right now.

And here's that aerial shot.

I didn't want the day to end. The sun, sand, and water were delicious. The company was great. I'm looking forward to more of it all this coming spring and summer in beautiful southern California that I'm so lucky to call my backyard ... with friends who are oh-so-talented and fun.

Book Signing at Glitterfest's New Location :: March 9th

Have you heard?
Glitterfest has changed venues! Yup. The fantastic event that has been masterfully nurtured by Sheryl Simpson and Diane White has finally outgrown its Santa Ana Elks Lodge location and they are now going to be holding their events at the Business Expo of Anaheim located at:

1960 S Anaheim Way, Anaheim, CA 92805 from 10AM to 4PM

Here's a photo of the location and its spacious parking lot. :)

I am honored to be joining Sheryl, Diane White, and the Glitterfest team on March 9th to help them break in their new location as I sign copies of my new book, Creative Lettering. Hope to see you at Glitterfest where I know you'll enjoy all the fantastic vendors selling their handmade treausres.

I hope you'll stop by, say hello, and in honor of Creative Lettering, share with me your favorite letter and your favorite pen/pencil that you like to use when you letter. I'll be sharing the results of my field study about lettering in a future post. :)

See you at Glitterfest!
:)

Huffington Post {Hearts} Journal It!

One night last week, I was having this really interesting conversation with my daughter, Monica. She's an aspiring writer. Actually, she is a writer. One of the best writers I know. Anyway, we were both saying to each other how awesome it would be if either of us could one day write something that would get published on The Huffington Post. "Yeah, total bucket list wish," I said.

And then off to bed we went, as the evening wound down for both of us.

The next morning, I received an email from Lark (my publisher) about an invitation from The Huffington Post that came in, asking if I'd write an introduction for a feature of my latest book,  Journal It! for The Huffington Post's Books Blog.


Hootin' and hollerin' we did, Monica and I. Just like that. From bucket list to reality.

In a matter of 48 hours, and with the help of my secret weapon copyeditor Amanda Crabtree Weston, I turned in my piece, crossing my fingers and toes that it would happen.

It did! Here's the link with the complete article that features Journal It! I'd say this is one of those rockstar moments for me. And the fact that the moment introduces the topic of art journaling to such a large and mainstream audience makes my heart soar.

For those who you who have not yet tried visual journaling, let me give you the official nudge. It's one of the most wondrous art forms I've experienced and one that I have become passionate about. If you're afraid you'll mess up the blank paper staring at you, don't worry. It's just paper. What matters is your point of view, your creativity and your story ... they are truly worthy of artistic expression. I hope you'll pick up a pen, maybe some paints, and any old journal (plain or fancy) and give it a try.

Learn more about Journal It! here.

Oh yeah, if you're in southern, CA, join me and contributing artist, Belinda Fireman to celebrate Journal It! at Studio CRESCENDOh on December 1st. This is a FREE event. No need to RSVP. Just show up. Wine, cheese, twinkle lights, interesting conversations. What better way to enrich the holidays? See you soon. :)

Rockin' the Art Journal with Dina Wakley

Check out this face that I sketched on my new journal page. I did it with Dina Wakley's guidance from yesterday's class that she taught in Studio CRESCENDOh.

How to sketch a face is just one of the MANY things that she taught during the class, including her AMAZING scrape and rub method, which was simply fabulous. Here are some of the other pages I made:

I just can't wait to go back into these pages to continue doodling and journaling in them. So cool!

Each student ended up finishing an entire book made up of pages dripping with painted, stenciled, printed, silhouetted goodness.

Dina was a masterful teacher who packed every nook and cranny with killer content.

And the good news? She'll be back! We are aiming to bring her back two different times in 2013 so stay tuned to our master studio calendar. For those who missed this one, you'll wanna definitely get in on Dina when she returns. Truly a fabulous and inspired time had by all. Thankyou, Dina.