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

When the mood strikes...paint!

Hey Happy Tuesday! We intended to pop in and say hi yesterday but we really lost track of time. We were completely immersed in several projects and we simply couldn't get ourselves to stop. As usual we were jumping from task to task, balancing work stuff, house stuff, studio stuff, life stuff. Some cleaning happened, some organizing happened, some more trim was painted, walls were patched and sanded, furniture got rearranged...yeah one of those days. And on top of that we were going over ideas and lesson plans for our upcoming classes that we are teaching at Art Is You in May! We are so excited  about them! We blogged about them here, and we'd love for you to take the time to check out all the details...and by all means...sign up and join us if you can! 

I'm not a gal who self promotes a whole lot, but when it comes to these classes, I have no problem shouting it from as many mountain tops as I can. Because I KNOW that you guys will absolutely love your experience. I KNOW that you'll learn a lot and laugh a lot. I KNOW that you'll whole heartedly impress yourself and unearth talents you didn't know you had. Come on down to Dixie to get your hands messy, expand your creative repertoire, and make some fabulous artwork in the process!

Artwork that's similar to what you're seeing in this post. You'll explore the many facets of mixed media...you'll learn all about layers and shading...experience first hand how to render cute girls' faces...create fun and fabulous backgrounds. It's an in-depth course...and "in-depth" doesn't mean that it will be hard. Nope, just the opposite. "In-depth" means that you'll get to take the time to really figure out what works for you. We won't ever quickly skim past the details. We'll stop, slow down, and offer you every bit of our 20 years of professional experience.   

Ok, end of sermon...lets get back to yesterday's fun project! 

We love combining our cute girls with textured and layered backgrounds. When it comes to creating backgrounds and layers, you'll notice that most artists have their go-to colors and textures. We're no different...we work within our own little comfort zone, we've got our special "tool box", our specific color palette that works for us. Very often we'll collage our backgrounds because we just love the extra bit of texture that patterned papers will bring to a piece. But yesterday's piece was all about paint. 

I honestly didn't have anything planned. I just let it all happen. Maybe the only thing I knew for sure was that there was going to be some black. Just like in our decor and my wardrobe. Black is necessary. Black balances our candy colors and sweet pastels.  

So...this piece was a lot of fun to work on. I rendered the girl all on her own...as you can see in the first pic at the top of this post. And as you can see, this girl has come a long way from that first photo. She started out as just a pencil sketch on water color paper and initially her coloring was very subtle. I had painted the canvas with a vague idea of how much space she'd occupy and approximately where she'd be positioned. I brought the background and the girl to a certain level of completion, and when the time was right I brought them together so that they could be completed as one cohesive piece of artwork. Doing it this way is a lot of fun. It's kinda exciting when you combine the two elements and see that you've got this whole new piece of artwork. After I adhered the gal to the canvas it was like starting all over...which really was fun. I added more texture, layered on some mediums, splashes of paint, sketchy pencil work...lots of stuff. 

Here she is hanging up. I like how it looks almost as if that is a window behind her...a glimpse of night sky. 

After painting this piece yesterday we got so excited about our upcoming classes. One of our classes focuses on abstract painting. And the other will feature portraits like this. We'll spend an entire day teaching all the techniques, tips, and tricks, so that in the end each student will have at the very least a go-to set of skills...a head start for future paintings. 

And once you've got your go-to "artist tool box" the sky is the limit! Whenever in the mood, you can paint a pretty girl, create a vibe, conjure up a dream world, and make fabulous artwork. 

Here is another painting that I worked on recently. A perfect example of what will be covered in our Abstractions class. I can't describe the joy I experience, starting with a blank canvas and building layers, creating movement, expressing a specific mood. I'm telling you...it's addictive, 

I really like how soft this piece turned out. Aaron says its his new favorite painting of mine. But seriously, he says that about each new one I do. He likes to point out his favorite areas of my paintings. What we refer to as "the sweet spot".

And now that the house is coming together we are able to hang art. It has been so long and we are really excited about it. Here are some of our personal favorites. Some are mine and some are Aaron's. Can you tell them a part? The two of us stay within our shared color palette which matches our home decor. But if you look closely you may be able to tell the difference between our respective paintings. We work in completely different styles, and in our classes we will both be teaching our personal methods..our favorite techniques and styles. It's fun to see how students drift toward either Aaron or myself based on the commonalities they sense in their own style. With abstracts it's all about two things...method & color. You wouldn't believe what a world of difference color makes. Imagine the above abstracts rendered in jewel tones, or earth tones even...with each student there are endless brand new possibilities. And this excites us so much!

It's not too late to sign up! Come for both classes or just one! Stay over night or just make a day trip of it if you are local enough! We can't say enough good things about Art Is You Art Retreats. Any fears you may have...seriously, throw them out the window! These are full day classes...One on One instructions! Plenty of time to learn, practice, create, and chat. You will leave confident, armed with new skills, and ready to create.

And we are offering a special discount! If you use a limited time promo code you can get $60.00 off your Art is Dixie purchase price!  When you register for either of our classes enter HOLIDAY (all caps) into the Event Code box on page 2 beside the package of days selection, and you will get $60 off your total registration.

Hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks so much for popping in! 

Love from NJ!

xo Jenny...and Aaron says hi!

Take a class with us in May...in Memphis Tennessee!

As far as art goes, our absolute favorite thing to do is to get out there, travel to fun places that are filled with other creative peeps like us, and make art with our friends, new and old. And lucky for us, there just so happens to be a stellar venue for doing just that. You may have heard of it...it's called Art is You Retreats. And this April 30th, May 1st and 2nd we'll be there! Very near to Memphis Tennessee, at Art is Dixie! 

On Wednesday we'll be at the huge vendor fair ("Art Trunk") with a bunch of our artwork, class kits that are exclusive to the event, custom stickers, prints, signed copies of our book...and lots of other stuff. And we're teaching two very awesome all day classes...one on Thursday and one on Friday. And the great thing about Art is Dixie is that it's an a la cart art event. In total there are seven days of classes...and if you want, you can stay the whole week and make art until your hands go numb and vision blurs...or you can simply take ONE class!...or two or three and so on. There is always great food there...it's always set in a very nice hotel...the teaching space is ample...the environment is so darn welcoming, encouraging, and you are bound to make lasting friendships. We sure did! 

If you are anywhere near Memphis in May we'd love for you to join us. If you live close enough and you don't need to stay overnight, you can do that...just make an awesome day of it...or maybe stay with a friend. Or...if you'd like to board a plane to come make art with us...by all means...we'd love to have you! All of the hotel info is on the site...there are great rates for event attendees.

And here's the kicker...right now, if you use a limited time promo code you can get $60.00 off your Art is Dixie purchase price!  When you register for either of our classes enter HOLIDAY (all caps) into the Event Code box on page 2 beside the package of days selection, and you will get $60 off your total registration.

Here's a look at our classes...beginners are Totally welcome!!

EXPRESSIVE ABSTRACTS

Thursday May 1, 2014  10:00 am - 5:00 pm
It’s surprising how intimidating a blank canvas can be…especially when you’re setting out to create an abstract work of art. We can both recall our first forays into painting abstracts. We were more than a bit apprehensive…maybe even slightly scared. But in art, it is persistence and confidence that will bring you to that breakthrough moment. And in this class that’s exactly what we’ll do…we’ll give you your moment. In painting abstracts you get to tap into the purest center of your artistic soul. We’ll put our inhibitions aside and free up the colors and textures that reside inside all of us. And what’s so exciting to us…(and hopefully to you guys!)…is that the two of us…(Jenny & Aaron)…have such vastly different styles when it comes to painting abstracts. And yet…when the two of us collaborate on a single canvas the styles can sit side by side seamlessly. You’re bound to find common ground in one, if not both of our unique approaches. Over the course of the day you’ll develop your unique “marks”, identify your personal color palette, complete smaller “studies” to take home with you, as well as your very own large format masterpiece.

Students will need:

1 inch flat brush
#8 round brush
#14 round brush
# 10 painting knife, Bob Ross brand
Pencil
Optional:

(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 stamps
Archival all surface ink pads

Sign up here.

Painting Girls and So Much More - a Mixed Media Celebration

Friday May 2, 2014  10:00 am - 5:00 pm

The star of the show will be your very own cute girl portrait, but there will be so much more to it than that. Working with a wide array of mediums and techniques you’ll create a work of art with layers, lots of color, and texture. Everything from creating dimensional patterns with molding paste and stencils, to stamping, speckling with paint, some doodles here and there, color washes, collage and paper piecing, and of course…hand painting.

We plan on taking you as far into a mixed media wonderland as possible. And at the center of it all will be your cute girl portrait, which we’ll teach you how to render, step-by-step, from scratch, in our signature style.

And for those of you who might find this idea daunting…fear not…we’ll be closely assisting you every step of the way and we’ll also provide templates of our own girls that you can use as “head starts” in your pieces. You’ll also get to use a whole bunch of our original artwork. We’ll provide high quality prints of our best painted imagery…some cakes, cupcakes, flowers, and more…all on collage sheets that you can cut, paste, and seamlessly incorporate into the “worlds” of your own canvases. Each student will create one large masterpiece, as well as some smaller pieces or “studies” rendered along the way.

Students will need:

    Scissors

    Pencil

    Eraser

    Matte finish mod podge or gel medium

    Molding paste

    ¾ inch flat brush

    #1 round brush

    #6 round brush

    #8 round brush

Optional:

(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.)

    Favorite patterned papers

    Ephemera

    Buttons

    Ribbons

    Stamps

    Stencils

    Acrylic paints

Sign up here.

 Don't forget to use code : HOLIDAY for $60.00 off!

We hope to see you there! 

xo J&A