Art Is You (Stamford) recap

We are back from Art Is You (Stamford CT) and my goodness was it a GREAT time! Every time we do Art Is You we are once again reminded that it is just such an incredible event! Sallianne & Ellen (the founders of Art Is You) do an amazing job, the teaching faculty is so diverse and so talented, and everyone there is just so generous and kind and we are so honored to be a part of it all. We taught at Art Is You in Memphis back in May and were so excited to see all of our friends again, and to make new friends of course! We normally teach a few full day classes, but this time we opted for just one nighttime class, which is about half the time of our normal classes. So instead of the usual 6 hours, we had to design our project to fit into a 3 hour time frame. It was a Friday night class, and it worked out great! And then early on Saturday we set up our table at the vendor fair. 

For the vendor fair we made some cute little plaques and pins with my new favorite mantra. My take on the Saul Bass quote. 

I'd like to think I speak for us all…the lovers of cute and fun. Whether it is our art, paintings, art journals, aprons, our decor at home, or the outfits we wear. 

 We may add some of these cute talk bubble pins to the shop soon. 

We always like having some sweet favors for our students, and these cute aqua lollipops were perfect! I just stamped some quick little tags to tie to each one using our new cakes stamps.

Yep! They are in the shop and available for pre-order in case you'd like some of your own! 

One of our favorite things ever is when friends that had never heard of Art Is You, hear about it from us and decide to come! I was so so excited when my friend Lizzy aka The Connoisseur of Cute, messaged me on Facebook to say she wanted to take our class! She had never been to one of these events, and would be driving all the way from Rhode Island for it! She didn't even stay over…just drove there…made art...and drove back. That is so hardcore.

 It was just her birthday and I had found the most perfect gift for her. I was so excited that I'd be able to give it to her in person! We met through Instagram this past year and totally hit it off Instantly.

How adorable is she? She posted this pic on instagram earlier on Friday...all dressed and ready for Art Is You! Look at her Barbie and Midge suitcase! And the girl is brave for wearing white to a painting class! ha! 

My brother Walt drove us and dropped us off at the hotel...which was only an hour and a half drive. When we arrived we weren't in the lobby 2 minutes before the adorable and ridiculously fun Kim and Kiki ran into us! Kiki is queen of magical selfies! This pic was sparkling on Facebook within minutes! 

The Stamford Sheraton is pet friendly! How great is that?! So of course Lieutenant Dan came! Look at how tiny he looks on this big big bed! ha! You can see his little trail leading to his spot…it looks like tracks in snow. Doesn't he look like a tiny deer? Carlos stayed the weekend with his grandparents. 

And here he is in the morning without his bow tie…a little nudie! HA! 

The hotel had a great area for walking the pups. There was even a bag dispenser for picking up after them. 

And here we are just before leaving our hotel room to go down to teach our class Friday night. 

The class we were teaching was Ancestral Abstracts. Abstract/mixed media paintings incorporating old photos…or new if you prefer. 

Class was so much fun! Everyone jumped right in! Some gals were pros and some gals had never used some of the materials or mediums before. We provided a few portraits for the students to choose from but some brought their own ancestors or instant ancestors (flea market finds). How great is this dapper fellow in the top hat?

Lt. Dan couldn't get enough of Sandra and Liz's table. If he wasn't asking to be picked up, he was making a bed of a purse. Ha!

It was so great getting to walk around and see the canvases coming to life! And getting to chat with gals we had only known on online like Pamala. She is a sweetheart! 

And in the background I can spy Lizzy and Nancy…who are most likely talking about Rhode Island or handlebar mustaches…what a coincidence that they happen to sit next to each other and both hail from the same place and have a thing for manly facial adornments.

Everyone really knocked our socks off! The colors and unique textures they achieved using the knives were fantastic! 

One of our fave duos are the Totire's…Katie and Aleta. It was such a pleasure having them in class again! We had met them a few years back at Art Is You and have been fb friends. We love that they brought their own photos to use. This little guy is too adorable 

And here is again! Older and serving our country! 

A shot of Pamala, Aaron, and Francine working away.

And here is Lizzy working on a bright, colorful and fun canvas.

Lt. Dan napped most of the class in his "good boy bed". And yes his water bowl is a pink vintage melmac teacup. 

Here is an in progress shot of Maureen's beautiful piece. You may recognize this trio of friends. We used this photo in our book! In our "Sweet Spot Necklace" project! 

And here they are finished! Wow right?! All so unique!

Look at that texture! and color!

Francine's gal is on the left with the shimmering shoulder! That's german glass glitter embedded in the gel medium, which will eventually tarnish and have a fabulous look to it! 

I just love seeing them all together! What a great time we had! And we were pretty psyched that we all finished within the three hours! 

Here's Lt. Dan and daddy hanging in the lobby on Saturday. We had such an amazing time! Artsy people every way you turned...conversations in the elevators, getting coffees, everywhere you looked there were people making incredible art, catching up, and trading stories. If you've never been to an art retreat and have even the slightest interest…GO! Seriously! they are sorta life changing! 

This here is a gift from our other fave duo…The Gabels! Another mom and daughter. Brittany and Deb! We met Deb way back when we taught at The Creative connection in St. Paul, Minnesota! We told her all about Art Is You and now she and her awesome daughter Brittany are part of the Art Is... Family! They were in Memphis too! Both are total crack ups! Also generous, kind, and funny! You wouldn't believe the costumes they were in this weekend! I wish I had a pic! They really went all out! I'm cracking up right now thinking about it! This adorable necklace was a gift from them. It's hand sculpted and painted by Doreen Kassel. Doesn't it look so so much like our little Jack? Oh my gosh… all he's missing is the bit of orange. It melts my heart! I love it so so much! Oh it's quite big too! 

These tiny adorable handmade book pins were a gift from Aleta. She made one for me and one for Aaron. Using our scrapbook papers! This photo doesn't do them justice at all! Oh and ignore that paint covered thumb nail. I had been making lots of art! ha! And Katie baked us the most adorable and delicious sugar cookies…which we devoured as soon as we got up to our room…sorry no pic! ha!

Oh and this is funny…way back at one of our very first Art Is Yous, Katie and Aleta had taken an Art Journaling class with us and Aleta borrowed this paint brush. She has had it this whole time! Years! She was patiently waiting to return it to us! ha! And she presented it to us in it's very own chalice. We told her over and over that it was no big deal...to keep it. But nope...she brought it to us this Friday! So funny!

And Lizzy brought me the cutest gifts (ya know…because she's the Connoisseur of Cute). This vintage honey bunny soap on a rope, and sweet pink plastic nut cup! She knows me so well! So cute right?

And our sweet online friend Terry, who we met for the first time this weekend, gave us these cute pins she had made using vintage scrabble tiles. And yep...she made sure to add some pink and aqua glitter! 

I bought this these great old portraits from Kim and Kiki at the vendor fair. I can't wait to use them in some future projects! 

We had such a great time! It all went so fast! We wish we could have stayed longer, and maybe taken a class or two. We both vowed to do so next time! We've been saying it forever, and we have to make it happen! We'd love to take a class with Andrea DeMeng or Jodi Ohl. or Kecia. Oh geez…we'd wanna take everyone's class!! So hard to choose! 

There are so many more pics over on fb! Be sure to like the Art Is You page!

Thanks for catching up with us!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi!

Come take a class with us! "Ancestral Abstracts" this October in Stamford CT

Yesterday we spent part of our day working on a couple canvases in anticipation of our Ancestral Abstracts class that we're teaching this October at Art Is You, in Stamford, Connecticut. We hope to be able to take time each weekend to work on new class examples and techniques in preparation for Stamford. Painting free and loose is such a great change of pace. And we love the idea of bringing the pieces together with a favorite vintage photo. 

So much of this class is based on working in layers and creating depth an texture with paint and other mediums. We love that we can work on opposite sides of the room, but in the end our pieces will bear so many similarities.  

These are the types of pieces that you can't fully appreciate through photographs. There is so much depth, and most of it is achieved with layers of transparent mediums. I love floating color directly into a thick swath of clear gel…when it dries it's like the paint is trapped inside a chunk of amber. 

We had a lot of fun teaching a condensed version of this class in Memphis, and for Stamford we plan on going much more in depth with the process.

I feel like beginning a piece is just as rewarding as finishing one. There's a little thrill that goes along with laying those first marks down on your canvas. 

If you've got even the slightest urge to join us, please do. Sign ups will be closing fairly soon, and class size is limited. It's so awesome that ours is a Friday night class…from 7-10pm. And the next day we'll have plenty of our artwork for sale at the vendor fair. 

We've included all the info below. In addition to us, there are so so many great teachers who's classes we know you'll love. We'd so love for you to join us!!

We will be teaching at Art Is...You Art Retreat in Stamford CT!

ANCESTRAL ABSTRACTS

Friday October 10, 2014  7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

"Instant Ancestors" are one of our favorite collectibles. These are our prized vintage and antique photographs or cabinet cards of handsome gentlemen or striking ladies, who we have no relation to, but they are family all the same. Collected over the years from flea markets, antique and junk shops, hidden away in old shoe boxes...they put a face to our love for vintage treasures. And we love to create artwork using these time worn, tattered, and sepia toned portraits.
This class is all about pairing the old with the new. You'll create a mixed media abstract painting with layers and layers of color and texture, using a wide range of mediums and tools, and as a focal point you'll incorporate an enlarged print of a favorite antique or vintage photograph. Your resulting Ancestral Abstract will be a gorgeous and very personal piece of portrait art.Painting abstracts can be intimidating, but we'll help you free yourself to develop your own style and color palette, and to identify what your special "marks" are. We'll show you what mediums work best to create depth and texture. And that blank canvas that was once so intimidating will be your own personal playground by the end of this class.  
Students will need:
1 inch flat brush#8 round brush#14 round brush# 10 painting knife (Bob Ross brand is our favorite)PencilOptional:
(We will be providing a whole lot of supplies but if you have favorites of the following that you’d like to use feel free.)
Patterned rubber stampsArchival all surface ink padsGood Quality enlarged prints of vintage & Antique portraits/photos 
Sign up here.
xo, Jenny & Aaron

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