ANAC Conference

We had so much fun...so much success...and so much rain in Aurora, Nebraska last week for the Association of Nebraska Art Clubs Conference!  My friend, and fellow member of The Art Society, Tina Simeon won Best of Show with her drawing of three young boys looking through the fence at their upcoming rides for the Mutton Busting contest (the sheep rodeo for kids, so popular  in county fairs around here).  Susan Hart, a friend from Cozad, won the Museum of Nebraska Art purchase award.  

View from classroom at The Leadership Center

The juried competition is a highlight of this event, and Paul Leveille had the difficult task of choosing 24 pieces of art for the show that will travel around the state throughout the year, as well as 24 honorable mentions from over 300 entries.  Paul drove all the way from his home in western Massachusetts to teach portraits in oil, watercolor, and pastel.  All those art supplies wouldn't fit in the limited luggage allowed on an airline!

Art is a Verb by Linda Jorgensen

I taught classes in altered books and collage, and am so pleased with the student results.  We worked on history, composition, criticism and techniques.  They got an overload of Patti Digh, and other people and things I love!  This painting shows the Patti influence. We were able to frame several collages by Saturday.  What a thrill to take something home, ready to hang! 

Now it's time to clean my studio so all those traveling supplies can fit back in!  This was an amazing growth experience for me.  It was overwhelmingly intimidating to be teaching my peers.  The situation required overtime planning and preparation, which led to success.  Can't wait to figure out what comes next!  

Send One Blessed E-Mail to Whoever You're Thinking Of

Thank you Patti Digh for sharing this wonderful poem.  And thanks to TED for content that matters.

Connect / Out of the Box

last week

Sunflowers Out of the Box

It's been an amazing week with so much creative inspiration and seren-dipitous activity.  First, as I showed you before, I am taking the free online Recycled Journal Pages class with Pam Carriker.  Her idea of using photo copied images from your old paintings jumped me into salvaging an old painting.  I actually put that improved painting into a frame, but had forgotten to sign it, so I took it all out again and while signing, decided to do some Zentangle doodling in the squares...something else I've been experimenting with after reading blogs from other Journal-istas.  This also led to outlining the flowers with the brown marker, which gave definition and depth to the flowers. (Click on the image to see it larger.) You may disagree, but I think Sunflowers Out of the Box is much better than it was last week! 

Then, also from exploring other artist's blogs, I found a great one called 37 Days, by Patti Digh, from North Carolina, who has a new book, Life is a Verb.  The next day, I saw on Facebook that she was doing a workshop in Nebraska!  I commented on it, and the day after that I got a message from the local organizer telling me of another workshop in March!  The world gets smaller...

Then, on Tuesday, I read an email from Ariane Goodwin, who was giving a free registration for smARTist Telesummit 2011, to the artist who comes up with the longest qualified list of phrases referring to art, artistic endeavors, or creativity – but were used in a more every day sort of way.  My mother helped me, and we won!  (Thanks Mom, and Ariane!)  So, I'm also spending the next few weeks immersed in information from fabulous artists and business coaches.  This is already influencing the way I'm painting and thinking of what's next.... 

And, since I'm going to visit my daughter in North Carolina in February, I wanted to include an art class with the trip.  I found Joe DiGiorgio, teaching a class at Jerry's Artarama in Raleigh, and signed up....  I've already finished a painting inspired by one of his online videos.  Can't wait to connect with more artists!  

I've come up with my focus word for the year:  Connect...with artists, buyers, family, self.

2011 is definitely off to a great art-focused start.  It's only three weeks until the Governor's Mansion show goes up.  Yikes!  Time to connect with my lists and PR folder.