Hello,

New SALE in my SHOP from Aug 31 - Sept 7th midnight. Save 20% with code FIRSTSALE.

So thank you for visiting, and hope you enjoy the many art tips in my BLOG, and paintings in my SHOP and just feel blessed while you hang around awhile.

Joanie

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What Makes You Happy - and September Theme

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As I approach my 70th birthday, I find myself marvelling over the simplicity that makes me happy now in this latter meander of my life. Having left behind the goals and aspirations of a life full of ambition (in hopes of keeping my head above water and raising my two daughters).....now, if I have a current project I am knee deep into - whether a series of paintings, a bookshelf to build, a stitching project - or even a full size quilt - that Project IS my happy place.  Along with a few other notables... 1. Daily Soul Food - I am fortunate to have shared a spiritual discussion with a dearest of friends over the past 7+ years...each morning we pick up the phone and read out of a spiritual book and discuss ways to apply to our daily lives.  I cannot live without Soul Food. a snippet of my very first quilt! 2. I get to do what I love for income.....rather than make my living by selling my artwork, hocking my art on social media, even showing my work in galleries, I truly revel in teaching
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August Theme: Learning from Milton

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Oooh, I am sooo excited about this theme..... Milton Avery will be the master artist we study this month. He is an inspiration to me and I think he most definitely will be to you as well by the end of August. We will learn more of him, his life as a painter which began at age 40, but the main focus here will be  on his SHAPES.  And as painters, that's what we do, we paint Shapes!  And he is master of them. And we will not gloss over his COLOR choices either...they are odd and compelling.  Please do not make any snap judgements about whether you care for his work or not, resonate with or not.....there is such a deep well to explore here.....let me be your guide, or rather we will invite Milton to be our guide - you will not be disappointed. Delights ahead! There is a lot to choose from his inventory of paintings....he painted Landscapes Seascapes and oh my, Figures! Delicious, distorted, amazing  Figures March in Brown Orange Sand Come join the fun!!! Classes start next week and run
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July Theme: Flowers (or whatever) To The Edge!

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HI folks Remember, our Monday afternoon class, 1:30 to 3:30pm, will be meeting IN PERSON at 360 Circle Studio, Santa Rosa, CA starting this coming Monday July 10. If you are registered, watch for an email with more details. Our Monday and Wednesday morning ZOOM classes , 10am to noon California time,  will continue as is. So if you would like to join us please get in touch right away .  And also, these Zoom classes are recorded so if you prefer doing the viewing and painting on your own time, you are welcome to be a Video Artist with us.....and you will receive the Video Recording after each class. Then you can upload and request feedback in our private Facebook Group, as you wish. We have been drawing and painting flowers all of June, and this month of July we will be continuing the theme (how could we let all that hard work go to waste, right?) so the little shift in perspective is to paint Flowers to the Edge of the paper, canvas, etc. so instead of this..... try painting this! or i
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The Ever-Soothing Past-time - and a few Vessels

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Call me crazy, but I tell you, this sitting calmy in complete quiet, stitching away for hours, has become a deeply therapeutic experience for me. I took a bad whack to the head in the beginning of May, sustained a concussion and have been dealing with bouts of vertigo since. So being Still is healing, a Quiet that my soul and body seem to be craving. Meanwhile, I do plan on putting together a couple of stand alone workshops, but this Head Bump set me back a bit.  Sorry for the delay.  So stay tuned....One workshop will be a painting one....4 hours, with a lunchbreak, via Zoom. Let me know if you would prefer a Pet Portrait or Flower Painting workshop for this first one, ok??? The other workshop I have already written the lessons for is a Begin at the Beginning Slow Stitching one. This will also be via Zoom, about 4 hours with lunch break included. Stitching is not only calming and soothing, but wow - with its skillset, it's doggone practical too. We are talking fun artsy things
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In-Person Classes resuming in July - get in touch soon if interested

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Hello Artsy Folks! Big Announcement:  At long last, we can proceed to paint together IN PERSON! Of my three classes, the Monday and Wednesdays morning classes will continue via Zoom, per usual. It is the Monday afternoon class, 1:30 to 3:30pm that will meet back at Christi's 360 Studio on Tesconi Circle, Santa Rosa. (Thank you, Christi!) Schedule below - but first day of class will be July 10. We will take July 4th week off for some R&R and Holiday time.    The seating is limited, so if you are interested in joining us, please get in touch asap . Thanks and look forward to seeing you IN CLASS!  We are having fun with Flowers this month of June.....loose, fun, mixed media. Quick sketches. Week 2. If you enjoyed this post, please share it with an artsy friend. Be Creative. It's Good for the Soul! Blessings, Joanie To subscribe to this newsletter, Simply click here !
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June 2023 Theme: Flowers, of course!

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It's that time of year that many of us find ourselves in absolute Awe of the blooming beauty to be found everywhere we turn. And many of us hear the call to spend time out of doors, in our gardens or any nature path. Ahhh, it's healing for the mind and heart, too. So doesn't this sound like the perfect time of year to paint FLOWERS? I've got a few ideas up my sleeve, but this month requires that each of us treat ourselves to a fresh bouquet of flowers. You deserve it. And get your phone cameras ready....and i will lead you into taking some photos that will become your repertoire for paintings all month, and beyond. Care to join us? Get in touch . Classes begin next week: Monday Jun 5, Wed Jun 7. Learn more about my classes here .  The above photos are of a little rose from my garden (David Austin Celebration) in a stitched vessel that I made. More of these are in the works. In fact here is my line up of glassware to cover with stitch and embroidery..... Morandi, anyone?
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Now, Let's Add COLOR!

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We spent April experimenting with ink... creating our own ink tools playing around with bamboo pens (one of my all time faves!) trying out watersoluble, permanent and waterproof, and india and acrylic inks, and everything inbetween being mentored by VanGogh himself and his amazing marks making dilutions of our ink and creating value-full drawings introducing the ever versatile fude nib pen and playing with a pop of color here and there  but now it's time for all color, all the time!  For the month of May we will be adding COLOR - watercolor, gouache, acrylic... and even other mixed media that is not so Wet. (i.e. oil pastels, dry pastels, colored pencils....anything goes!) If you want to play with ink and color - a most amazing sketching-on-the-go medium as well as one for beautifully detailed (as you wish) fine art... please join us. We start up again this coming week. Classes Offered Monday Mornings 10am - noon (California time) Monday Afternoons 1:30 - 3:30pm Wednesday Mornings
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"Pretty in Pink" - a Japanese Rice Bag

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The Japanese have the most interesting designs, I consider them minimal, practical and charming.  Here's the prettiest bag I have made to date.....in fact, it's so special i don't even dare use it. Sheesh, reminds me of my grandmother. My grandfather bought her so many "pretties" in her life and after she passed and we were cleaning up her home, we discovered so very many pretty things, all in their original tissue and boxes. Kind of a shame, really. But i get it!!! There are a lot of process pics here...and believe me, I am only showing you some of them!  But thought you would appreciate seeing the pics from composing on my ironing board to completion.  The Beginnings The Lining gets its own flourishes Now its time to work on the outer bag itself. And finally, the finishing touches. She deserved a name as pretty as she is!  I am seriously considering offering a little workshop on getting started with Slow Stitching. Get in touch if you are interested.  If you en
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— Design out of the FlyBird's Box.—