After the excitement of Friday’s Studio Sessions, Orca sighting, and Open Studio, everyone greeted Saturday morning’s hot breakfast with gusto.
Seaside Sessions Saturdays are usually quite relaxed, with ample time for our Creative Explorers to complete their projects, take walks on the beach, soak up some sun, and participate in the Saturday Salon. This year’s Salon topics centered on how to create a website and how to enter art festivals to sell work. We were able to answer questions, give resources and feedback, and generally cheer everyone on about reaching the goal of getting their work “out there”. Resources we explored included: Squarespace for websites, Square Up (similar name, different company) for online selling portal, CAFE (Call For Entry), and Zapplication for directories of art shows and festivals. All are free to explore, with Squarespace offering a free 14-day trial before requiring payment of a yearly fee for your website.
“Behold! I proclaim: this is my stick.”
The afternoon was spent working on finishing touches of our canvases, the claiming of sticks for hanging (see Jill T. proudly declaring ownership of hers at right), deliberating and sometimes collaborating on final details, and excited exclamations of “I’m done!” were frequent occurrences. All of this was prepared our Creative Explorers for a somewhat mysterious final evening event.
And what an event it was! Our first ever Gallery Hangout was held in the game room on the lower level, where each completed Canvas of Curiosities was hung along the walls. We enjoyed dessert and a tasty Prosecco, toasting each other; the magical, artful experience we’d shared; friendships made; and to the wonders of the beauty surrounding us.
Below are some images of the finished pieces and the artists who created them.
With sadness, we realized that this was our final night together, but we looked forward to the possibilities of next year’s event: Seaside Sessions 2026! Each Creative Explorer enthusiastically agreed that she was interested in returning to our idyllic art haven by the sea, and we were ecstatic that everyone had so enjoyed our time together.
Our final wrap up post will be tomorrow, with some tantalizing hints of what may be in the works for next year, so stay tuned!
