Head on over the the Sketchbook Challenge blog and check out my post on “Desert Patterns”. You know me, looking for art and inspiration everywhere! Las Vegas was no exception with hyper visuals and interesting subject matter in ever square inch of this part of the “desert”. Certainly not as serene as a babbling brook, but interesting travel journal material just the same. It was fun “seeing” Vegas to inspire my art journaling, enjoy!
Lately, I’ve spent a lot of travel time waiting……waiting for a fight, waiting for the class to start, waiting for an event, etc. Some good waiting, other times dreadful. While i’m waiting, i am drawing. I’ve been faithfully carrying around my little handbook journal for the past year to capture my moments with sketching, doodling, and a lot of color.
I recently watched my friend Jane LaFazio’s fabulous interview (here on Jane’s blog) with Danny Gregory, my favorite “drawing artist“. Jane’s interview inspired me to take “notes” on Danny’s thoughts and creative practices. He’s brilliant.
Have you ever had an experience that was so wonderful, you just couldn’t explain it? There were no words to describe it? Or there were too many words to make it all come together without writing a novel? Well, that pretty much sums up these past few weeks for me!
Just returned from Art Unraveled in Phoenix a few days ago. It was spectacular. This was my first visit to Arizona, and it’s beauty took my breath away at every turn. To be honest though, not a big fan of the 108 degrees during the day, and 92 in the evening. I’ll take the snow over that heat anyday. Crazy as it sounds, i was actually longing for a good old Rochester cold spell!
My classes were awesome….busy, messy and playful, and where i met the sweetest new “forever art friends”. Not many of them are Arizona”natives”, lots of transplants from the Midwest and Northeast, so interesting to me.
This week i am unpacking and repacking the same boxes of art treasures to ship out for Create in Chicago which starts next Wednesday. So many supplies to pack! So thrilled, that is my biggest gig yet. FIVE completely full, SOLD OUT classes. BREATHE!!!
So that’s why i needed a little breather…..just to enjoy and cherish the moments and memories without pressuring myself to document those precious minutes for social media. I love what i do, and am so very blessed. I know that personally, i sometimes need to step away from all the technology and JUST BE in the moments. They are treasure.
Home from a 6 hour drive from Somerset, NJ. Create, New Jersey is now just a memory, and what a creative flurry it was! I taught four, full classes in 48 hours. Exhausted? Can’t be, i am always so grateful that this is my “job”. Art is my living, and my living is art! What could be better than an art retreat? Making art, teaching art, making art and meeting the best art friends for life. I am in awe when my students are empowered to be fearless in their creativity. It’s incredibly rewarding.
Here are some of my fabulous students with their works in progress. I missed getting photos in every class because my iphone was in my music speaker playing my eclectic assortment of tunes while everyone was working. Dancing to the beat of the iphone, paintbrush and spray inks, it was magical!
So now it’s time to pack back up for Art Unraveled in Phoenix in just 10 days! Looking forward to that steamy good art retreat, my first time in Arizona!
I must say that i am completely obsessed with color, color, color and my twinkling paints. You know them, Twinkling H20’s? “Twinks”, those little pots of creamy sparkle goodness. If they’re not on your art table, they are in your stash, or in the “Land of Misfit Art Supplies”. You know, the ones you just don’t play with any more? Well raid that stash, get out your Twinks and meet “Silks”, her baby sister!
Joanne Sharpe Arts 