It's Been a Minute!

Hey, hi, and hello!

We look back with complete amazement at the fact that the world changed immediately after our inaugural Seaside Sessions event in 2020!? Our attendees heard news from home about folks clearing the shelves in the grocery stores, but it was hard to comprehend all that awaited us upon our return home. Thus ensued 2.5 years of distancing, isolation, and uncertainty.

Like most of you, our routines were no longer routine. Big changes were happening, and it was easy to feel lost and disconnected. We have treasured our online connections during this time of upheaval, and we revel in being able to share some very exciting news for the coming year.

Seaside Sessions is BACK! …bigger, better, and more breathtaking than before! As always, our events are first available to our Kaleidoscope Circle and Newsletter subscribers. If you are not currently one of these, it’s an easy fix to become one. Click the banner link, above, to subscribe to our (embarrassingly) low-volume Newsletter - so you’ll be in the know on all things Your Creative Connection related. To join our Kaleidoscope Circle, visit the Our Events tab and grab your spot today! Make plans now to join us in beautiful Surf City, NC March 22-26, 2023. It promises to be amazing, and we would love to welcome you to our haven by the sea. Note that space is limited; as of today, just 6 spots remain.

It feels GREAT to have something fun to look forward to, doesn’t it? We are happy to oblige. We look forward to more of that moving forward, and having YOU with us to join in the fun.

Until next time,
- Penny & Michelle

Friday Feature: Spotlight on Michelle Davis Petelinz

My Studio Session will focus on a variety of ways to create surface texture and pattern with paint and ink.  In my own mixed media work, many of my texture and pattern discoveries come about from my asking questions:  "What if I combined...?", or "How can I create...?"  Intricate, multi-layered, and multi-hued patterns resonate with me, and I often include them in my paper, paint, and clay work.  I am excited to share what I've discovered with our Creative Explorers, and I can't wait to see what they will create during our time together.  Penny, Jeanne and I have been working on our content for Studio Sessions, and below is a peek at what I've created so far in preparation for mine, including embellished monoprints, tape transfers, hot glue and foam stamped prints, 3-D elements, and painted papers.  

Here's what I've got planned: 
Creating texture and pattern with custom tools:  I've found that to make my work truly my own, I had to create my own, custom-designed stamps and texture tools.  I will show you how to design foam stamps, hot glue stamps, texture plates, paper combs and masks, 3-D elements, and whatever else we can dream up to put your own, unique stamp on your work (pun intended); we'll let our imaginations soar!  

Getting the most from your Gelli prints:  using your new custom tools and a variety of techniques, we'll create fantastic monoprints on our luscious Stonehenge paper.  We'll be layering, transferring, embellishing, and adding natural elements to our prints for use as stand alone works, or as components of larger pieces.  If you've never used a Gelli plate, you're in for a treat (it's truly engrossing), and if you've worked with one before, this Studio Session will offer you new ways to use an old favorite.

Exploring composition:  once we've designed, created, and experimented with our new tools, it'll be time to put them to use in your compositions.  Tips and tricks for effective compositions abound, whether you're looking to enhance your paintings, to create 2-D or 3-D mixed media work, or to complete the pieces you'll display in the Your Creative Connection show.   Oh yes, there's going to be a show...and next Friday, Penny will complete our June "Friday Features" series with a look at her Studio Session content and more details about the show.  Stay tuned.   

If you haven't done so yet, Register now, to be sure you'll be able to join in the fun.  

MDP

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Thankful, Thoughtful Thursday - Artist Self-Care

In an Artistsnetwork.com article entitled:  "Artist Retreats | Taking Time For Yourself and Your Art," the author extols the virtues of stepping out of the usual routine and finding a space and a place to recharge your creative batteries.  The article, given to me by my artist husband Stan, who supports me in all things creative and otherwise, details how artist retreats began in the early 1900s, "as if in response to the growing urban centers, the rumble of industry, and the increasing pace of life."  Sound familiar?  Even over 100 years later, we too often find the pace of our lives increasing (how many emails arrived after you just emptied your inbox today?), the demands upon our time too taxing (do I really have to sit in traffic every morning on the way to work?), and the need for extended moments of serenity (Serenity?  What's that?) is rarely fulfilled. Attending to life's myriad details, and also making time for your art can be challenging at best, and impossible at worst.  This paragraph about giving a gift of creative time to yourself resonated with me:

"The concept of retreat stems both etymologically and spiritually from the need to pull back. No doubt, this is the first and most valuable understanding, but I also like to think of the word as an opportunity to gift oneself again: to re-treat. When the world is a bother, a quiet refuge to make art is better than ice cream.  Artist retreats, therefore, can fill a spiritual need while also permitting a personal indulgence, revealing that only through tending to the self can artists produce the work they offer the world. It may be five minutes, five hours or five days, but only through retreat can someone stop rushing to the next thing and take the personal time necessary to arrive as an artist."

We at Your Creative Connection understand, and we will offer our version of artist self-care:  4 days of designated time away from your everyday schedule in a gorgeous, natural setting, with like-minded women who share your passion for creating beautiful things.  What could be better?  Three full days of expert instruction in mixed media techniques you can use immediately on new projects, as well as in your own work?  Yes, you'll have that.  Time to reflect upon your life and work as a Creative Explorer, alone or with a group of new friends?  Yes, you'll have that, too.  The ability to "unplug" from the world?  Indeed.  The chance to just "be" for an extended period of time, without judgement, pressure, or stress?  Absolutely, yes! 

The Your Creative Connection Haw River Retreat in October (11th --15th) will be all of this, and more.  Won't you join us for what promises to be an experience like no other?  Registration is open, spaces are filling, and we'd hate for you to miss the opportunity "re-treat" yourself, unwind, renew, and recharge. 

Your art is waiting.

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Until next time,

MDP

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Thankful Thursday - Art of the Carolinas

     As mentioned in last weeks Thankful Thursday post, Michelle and I have the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild (CMMAG) to thank for our ever having met.  In much the same way, we also have the CMMAG to thank for our 10-year association with this incredible event!  Every year artists, instructors, and vendors gather in Raleigh, NC on the 2nd weekend in November for Art of the Carolinas (AoC):  the largest Art Supply Tradeshow in the country – alongside 4 days of workshops in every medium you can think of (acrylics, colored pencils, encaustics, mixed media, oils, pastels, and watercolors)!  It’s like a Creative Circus – with wonderments to behold in every ring:  materials, workshops and demonstrations galore!

A moment of levity, as we look back on a decade of artful adventures at Art of the Carolinas (photo:  Laurel Rupe -- altered in the Prisma app)

A moment of levity, as we look back on a decade of artful adventures at Art of the Carolinas (photo:  Laurel Rupe -- altered in the Prisma app)

     In 2017, along with celebrating 10 years as the Workshop Faeries of Art of the Carolinas, we also celebrated a decade of Sponsorship by Strathmore Artist Papers.  Since the very 1st iteration of what was “The Make & Take Room,” and is now “The Try it Zone,” we have worked with Strathmore to promote and highlight their latest offerings at the show.  From Artist Trading Cards to Mixed Media Journals to Toned Sketching Paper to Artists Tiles to Toned Mixed Media Paper, they have provided the basis for the Member Artists of CMMAG to develop demonstrations geared to featuring the products of various Vendor Sponsors at the event.  This year, we also celebrated 9 years of partnership with GOLDEN Artist Colors and Ampersand; we welcomed new (to us) Sponsors:  Pebeo, Amsterdam/Royal Talens, Gel-Press, and Speedball/Akua.  We also had the pleasure of working again with the myriad offerings of Marabu.
     So, you may be wondering, what has all of this to do with Your Creative Connection?  Well, over the course of the past 10 years, we have discovered how well we work together and with others in organizing and executing a 4-day creative event.  We have also had reasons to revel in the expansion of our own creative community as a result of our affiliation with AoC.  All of this serves us well as we embark on our mission to establish Your Creative Connection as an event not-to-be-missed!  As we finalize all of the details, and add more creative wonders to the line-up, we are growing more and more excited for all that awaits our Creative Explorers in 2018! 

Tools of the Trade -- our constant companions for our time at AoC -- packed up and ready for our next encounter!

Tools of the Trade -- our constant companions for our time at AoC -- packed up and ready for our next encounter!

     Remember:  if you have not yet done so, please take a moment to subscribe to our Newsletter!  That will give you the inside track on all things Your Creative Connection.  There’s BIG news coming, and we don’t want you to miss any of it! 

     Until next time,
        - PLA & MDP

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Thankful Thursday - Art in North Carolina

We are thankful and fortunate to live in a vibrant, growing community which values its art and artists.  Your Creative Connection joins a variety of artful venues offering a diverse array of creative opportunities and exhibitions.  Here are just a few of our favorite NC artful destinations:

Visual Art Exchange (VAE):  Established by artists in 1980, VAE is "a hub for a diverse network of artists, a venue for artists to advance their careers, and a voice to influence positive change for the creative community".  VAE, the creative incubator, is Raleigh's longest running private, non-profit visual arts organization.  Frequent, cutting edge exhibitions, SPARKcon (a yearly, citywide art extravaganza), and the Ignite Creativity Summit are just a sampling of what VAE offers.  

Street art at SPARKcon 2017. (photo: ssimmerman)

Street art at SPARKcon 2017. (photo: ssimmerman)

North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA): The North Carolina Museum of Art serves the people of North Carolina and all visitors as a premier destination for compelling encounters with art, and its vision is to "enrich lives through the power and wonder of art." No visit to the Triangle area art venues is complete without a tour of NCMA.  From its newly expanded African Gallery in the East Building to the light-filled expanses of the West Building, the Museum offers something for every artistic taste.  Add in special exhibitions, sculptures in the Museum Park, and films in the outdoor amphitheater, and you get a full spectrum creative work across centuries and disciplines.  

Jaume Plensa, Awilda & Irma, 2014, stainless steel, H. 157.5 x W. 157.5 x D. 118 in. each, © J2017 Jaume Plensa, Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York.

Jaume Plensa, Awilda & Irma, 2014, stainless steel, H. 157.5 x W. 157.5 x D. 118 in. each, © J2017 Jaume Plensa, Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York.

Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University:  "promotes engagement with the visual arts for the Duke and Durham communities. The museum is dedicated to presenting innovative and accessible collections, exhibitions, publications and programs that stimulate intellectual discourse, enrich individual lives and generate new knowledge. Drawing on the resources of a leading research university, the museum serves as a laboratory for interdisciplinary approaches."  We love its thought-provoking special exhibitions, as well as its commissioned works, such as "Shadow and Light," shown below.   

Shadow and Light, by Odili Donald Odita, Nasher Museum, Durham, NC.

Shadow and Light, by Odili Donald Odita, Nasher Museum, Durham, NC.

And, while not a 'destination' per se, we are immensely thankful for the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild (CMMAG):  If not for the Guild, we wouldn't have met!  Founded in 2002 by mixed media artist Jeanne Rhea, the CMMAG mission is to:  advance the education of mixed media arts via meetings, workshops and exhibitions; encourage personal and professional development of member artists; explore techniques in a wide variety of media; develop opportunities for member artists to show their work to the public; and promote mixed media work to galleries, museums and the public.  We have both served as Guild President, and credit working on Guild programs and special projects as the catalyst for the idea of Your Creative Connection. 

CanvaSynergy II by twenty five members of CMMAG, 2016

CanvaSynergy II by twenty five members of CMMAG, 2016

If you're a mixed media artist interested in joining us for our Haw River, NC Retreat in October of 2018, sign up for our Newsletter, so you'll be the first to know the details, including getting first crack at registration when it opens later this month.  We'd love to have you join us for what promises to be a wonder-filled artful experience!  

Wishing you a creative day,

~Michelle

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Introducing Thankful Thursday

     While it is fairly common for folks to spend the month of November listing the things, people, and/or experiences for which they are most thankful, we thought it a practice worth keeping year-round.  Whether we do so in tandem (like today) or as individuals, we will offer up a thing or three for which we are most thankful here on the Blog on Thursdays.  We invite you to share elements of your own attitude of gratitude in the Comments, below.
     According to Harvard Health Publishing, there is scientific evidence that gratitude leads to happiness:  “In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness.  Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”  All of which is very much in keeping with our philosophy, here at Your Creative Connection! 
     All of that to say this:  We are ever-so-thankful to be sharing our latest artistic adventure with you!  ...and there is SO much to share!  In the coming weeks, we'll be seeing you here on the blog with updates, announcements, and special 'behind the scenes' snippets in hopes that YOU will be thankful of our efforts.
     We are extremely grateful for all of the possibilities that our partnership in Your Creative Connection brings to the fore!  We are also super excited for the creative connections that this will afford each and every one of our Creative Explorers.  All of which makes us absolutely giddy with the knowledge that Your Creative Connection is no longer a dream; it is a full-fledged reality.  The only thing missing is you!
      We'll see you here again, soon!
       ~ PLA & MDP

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