Art Is You Art Retreat (Memphis TN)

 

This is another long long overdue post. But despite the passage of time we still feel plenty of excitement about our trip to Memphis for the Art Is You Retreat. Above you can see a couple examples of the classes we taught. We spent one day painting girls, and another day painting abstracts. Every student did an amazing job!

We've been a part of the faculty for a few years now, and as far as retreats go Art Is You feels way more like a giant family reunion than an art retreat. We get to see so many people who are our longtime friends, and every new person we meet fits right into the Art Is family seamlessly. It's definitely an event that welcomes every person equally. Beginners work side by side with masters and it seems like there's never a moment when a person feels out of their depth. Me and Aaron can't say enough good things about Art Is You.

Jeez, I never expected to wait this long to recap our amazing time. I originally planned on doing a recap as soon as we got back, but within 24 hrs of being home we lost our little Jack. We were so crushed, but also so thankful that we had just come back from such a positive experience. It definitely worked as a dose of medicine to pull us through such a hard time.

 

 

Here we are on our way to Memphis, waiting for an early morning connecting flight in North Carolina. The NC airport is great, and huge, but not intimidatingly so. There's a bit of southern charm with white rocking chairs all throughout the terminal.

 

 

 

So here you have Aaron kinda looking creepy, but what he's really doing is praising the breakfast that Ellen is serving us on a silver platter. It was a little inside joke. Leading up to the event it seemed like we were emailing Sal & Ellen (founders of Art Is You) with way too many questions. We know that Sal & Ellen are waaaaay way busy in the weeks before the event, getting everything organized with the attendees, instructors, and hotel. Aaron felt guilty about bothering them with so many trivial questions, so he self deprecatingly sent an email sorta illustrating this point. He jokingly requested a south facing window in our room, and asked about the pile of the carpet, and the exact thread count of the sheets. So, as a rebuttal, Ellen brought us a fancy breakfast on a silver platter.

 

 

In the above little Instagram video you'll see a typical sight...us in our hotel room prepping for class. We're filling little treat bags with some Salt Water Taffy. Our way of bringing a little Jersey Shore to Memphis. And yes, as a tribute to our locale the soundtrack is Paul Simon singing Graceland. When I was a kid my dad played that album constantly.

 

 

When you attend Art retreats your hotel room serves as your makeshift studio. And it's not just the teachers doing their last minute preparations...so many students continue working on their class projects back in their rooms. 

 

This is what our hotel bed usually looks like at Art Is You.

 



 

We seriously love setting up for class. We're filled with nervous excitement. Getting ready to welcome our students...some we've never met before...some may be facebook or Instagram friends...some are longtime blog readers whom we have never met in person. And the students all possess different levels of experience. Some have never ever painted...but there ready to learn, practice, try new things, make new friends, and have fun!

 

Our first class was Expressive Abstracts, being that is was a full day class we decided to split the day into two parts. In the morning session we worked mainly with a palette knife on small canvases that featured a vintage photo portrait. We'll be teaching another version of this in October at the Connecticut Art Is You! It will be a shorter evening class. This was so much fun, and everyone loved how their canvas turned out.

 

 By lunchtime everyone had developed some favorite techniques and strokes, using the palette knife.

 

 

The second part of the day was about loosening up and using brushes. Above are some of our class samples. Can you tell which are mine and which are Aaron's? 

 

Brit was working large! And we loved watching her layer on more paint and more textures. She definitely did well because she remained cool as a cucumber. Staying loose is key when working in abstracts. We met her at a previous Art Is in Connecticut. And we've now been at three events with her mom Deb...who we absolutely Love!

 

It's always a thrill to see how easily our students take to something that they've never even tried before. So great to know that they're going back home with so much brand new art experience under their belts. 

 

 

 

Our Second class was paintings girls and so much more. We once again did two separate projects. In the morning we did a smaller portrait that focused on the basics of step by step face painting. Cute, cartoonish girls with candy colored hair.

 

 

 

I really just have to mention Becky and her husband John. Becky is a great artist with years of experience doing a lot of the things me and Aaron have done over the years...decorative painted crafts, furniture, gifts. But she's got one up on us because she can do it all without full function in her hands. She's fully capable of rendering whatever she wants, but it might take a little longer. So being that the classes are time sensitive. her husband John sits in and helps her out with the more mundane parts of the process. like tracing the lines of the portrait onto tracing paper. 

 

 

I think she's telling John to hurry it up a bit in this pic! ha! They are the sweetest couple. Like us, they're high school sweethearts. We got to spend some off time with them and shared so many great life stories with each other.

 

 

 

Would you look at these?! And this was just the progress before lunch break!

 

 

The second part of the day we worked on larger mixed media canvases using our techniques learned earlier in the day, but we incorporated paper piecing, collage, using mists, stencils, textured mediums etc.

 

Art Is You is definitely not only about the classes. I feel like it's the little moments in between and all the extras that leave such a lasting impression on everyone. Even just running into someone in the hall and striking up a conversation can spark a lasting friendship. We love peeking into other classrooms and seeing what everyone else is working on. And doing that is a great way to pregame for the next event, and decide who's classes you'd like to attend in the future.

On one of our quick trips through the lobby I decided to do a little Art Abandonment in the seating area where lots of people would gather. Michael DeMeng started the trend. The idea is to make some art and leave it for someone else to find...just make sure to sign it. attach a note letting the finder know that it's theirs to keep...and include your contact info so that they finder can get in touch if they want. 

 

 

 

 

At every Art Is event there is the Art Trunk...a vendor fair where you can get some artwork, vintage stuff, clothing, sculpture, jewelry, books, art supplies, etc. In the above video we're getting our table set up, and we also got a couple shots of our neighbors, including our friends Kecia and Sarah. Being that we had to ship so much class stuff down to the event we had to go light with our Art Trunk offerings. We mainly brought our supplies, sticker packs, paper collection, and books. We plan on bringing lots more art and jewelry to the next event in October in CT.

 

 

 On our flight home, just as we were landing in Jersey we passed through a rainbow. At the time we had no idea that this was little Jack's rainbow.

 

 

In the latest issue of Mingle there's a story on Art Is You, written by the fabulous Rice Freeman-Zachery. This is so exciting for our art community...for all the instructors, attendees, future attendees, and especially Sal & Ellen. Art Is You is their baby and it's so great to see it get the exposure and accolades that it deserves!

 

None of the amazing experiences and lasting friendships would be possible without the tireless efforts of Sal & Ellen. They work so hard and keep everyone smiling. They have giant hearts and me and Aar are thankful every day for knowing them. They host Art Is You retreats pretty much all year round that span the globe. From our fun down in Dixie, to way out in Petaluma CA, then down under to Australia, and then very near to us on the east coast in Connecticut! 

 

 

 

 

If you can...we promise you'll have a great time and so much more! Join us this October! We are teaching a Friday night class! Which will be Ancestral Abstracts. Think vintage photos, lots of abstract paint techniques, some stamping, color washing, layering, glazing. By all means, if you're thinking about it, we've still got room in class for you! We'd love to see you there!

Ok, I'm so thrilled that I finally got to share all this. Hope you enjoyed! Stay Cool on this fantastic Holiday weekend! 

xo, Jenny & Aaron

These kids are ready to go!

Umm you see these two kids?...crazy beard and myself...well these two are actually ready to go. Yes, it's very rare for us to not be rushing around before a trip out of town. But this time we planned well I guess. Plus it's Springtime...and everything works better in Springtime. And for the Spring sunshine I've got a fresh pair of new sunnies...which I just adore. They say "Cross My Heart Hope To Die Stick A Needle In My Eye". I Totally remember saying that as a second grader on the playground. I saw these about 6 months ago on a fashion blog and was searching all over for them. Then one day I was very psyched to see them pop up on Instagram. There's a few color ways and they're available in the Lucky Cupcake Hairclips shop. Get 'em while you can!

So, we're leaving in the morning for our teaching trip down to Art is...You in Memphis. And right up to the last possible shipping day we had been working like mad to get out as many orders as possible before we left. Well, we are pretty happy with the amount of boxes that shipped. Very heavy towering loads went to the post office all week. We took the above pic just before our trip to the p.o. on Friday. We walked there since the weather was nice and Aar's shoulders ached from the weight of the boxes. One thing that rules is that the boxes that we shipped down to Memphis have arrived there safely. They're full of our class supplies and samples. Irreplaceable stuff. As teachers it can be pretty nerve racking when shipping all that important stuff.  

I can't believe we are officially all packed. I have lists of lists. And then more lists telling me to look at those other lists...(not kidding). And even with all those precautions in place I still have that feeling that I'll be forgetting something major. And by the way, Aaron's suitcase looks like he packed the same clothes as me, minus the leopard print.

We are so so excited for our classes. It is going to be so much fun! We worked on some step by step samples of cute girl faces that each fellow artist can use as a starting point for their own mixed media piece.

It is going to be so much fun seeing this template in the hands of each student. Of course no two paintings will be the same...and I'm not just talking about hair color choices. Each painter wields their paint in their own way. What we did here was try to break a girl portrait down to simple steps. This girl will be for a smaller warm up canvas. And then we'll all move on to a larger mixed media piece with all sorts of layers and texture. 

And here is another version of the same gal...but a bit outside of our natural color palette. After class we plan on abandoning her somewhere in the hotel. I know...that sounds much more cruel than it is. We're abandoning her as part of Michael DeMeng's awesome Art Abandonment movement. It's easy, just make art and then leave it somewhere so that a new owner can find it and keep it. Just include a little note letting the finder know that it's theirs to keep and maybe put your email in there so they can contact you if they want. I wonder who is gonna find her?

We even had time to make these pretty girl brooches for a couple of very special gals. These gifts are only a drop in the bucket of what these gals deserve for their friendship and dedication to the art community. We love them!!

It really does feel like I'm forgetting something even though the house is clean, the bags are packed, and the lists are checked and rechecked.  But I'm pretty sure we're all good.

And after checking everything off the lists we made an early dinner that was amazing! So light and healthy and energizing. We made the  Nourish + Glow Miracle Bowl from Oh She Glows. Besides being vegan, raw, and packed with veggies, it's also got a homemade sun dried tomato hummus, a faux tuna salad that's actually made with almonds, and a creamy lemon dill dressing...and the "cream" is actually cashews that were soaked and blended smooth. Wow is the dressing good! Fresh dill smells so amazing. And then we topped the bowl with pepita and hemp seeds. We love so many of the recipes from Oh She Glows. 

To wind down the rest of the night we're going to watch maybe 2 or 3 episodes of True Blood. Then we'll be up early for our flight. We promise to take lots of pics, and we will do our best to pop in here or facebook, and definitely Instagram! 

Cannot wait to see our Art Is...You friends and family!

xo Jenny & Aaron