Artful Cookies – FANtastic Friday

I am a huge fan of decorated cookies.  I’ve tried to decorate them myself…in another lifetime.  I thought I had some pictures to show you but I can’t find them. 

 

Anyway, I have a new found friend who decorates beautiful cookies!  Her name is Anne Kehn.  Her work can be seen on her blog, The Artist in the Kitchen.  Not only is she a cookie decorator, she loves to create things with paint too.  She’s a wonderful artist with a lot of creative talent.

Anne is a wonderful person, inside and out.  She was kind and made cookies for my daughter’s birthday this year.  In the past year, she has gotten married and moved from the Philippines to the United States.  I hope you’ll take the time to visit her blog and get acquainted!

Art Associations – FANtastic Friday

A brag about my local art association. I am a member of the Bartlesville Art Association. Since becoming a member a five years ago, I have learned so much about art and the promotion of art. Not only that, these people get me! You know how sometimes your family just don’t understand why you do what you do? Well, these like-minded fellow artist do. Not only have I learned to get out of my shell and think outside of the box, I have made many lasting friendships as well. These artists are a wonderful source of inspiration.

The Bartlesville Art Association hosts many events that allow artists to showcase and sell their work. I have had the opportunity to sell work this way. It is a great way to meet collectors. So far this year, they have had a spring art show and several workshops. In June, they will be exhibiting artwork at the historic Dewey Hotel Museum from June 1-30. Also in June, they will participate in the OK Mozart Festival from June 11-19. This event allows association members to showcase their work. People from all over the nation participate in music festival. In July, they will exhibit artwork at one of the local retirement homes, Green Country Village. The first weekend in November, they will be hosting their Fall Fling. Holiday shoppers enjoy this opportunity to purchase unique gifts for Christmas.

They have monthly meetings. Members and non-members are invited to their monthly meetings that provide people with information and/or demonstrations from artists. These meetings are well-attended and very inspiring.

They host workshops. In August, I will be teaching a 2-day workshop on how to make Christmas Cards. In October, Todd Williams will be giving a workshop on “7 Keys to Unlocking a Great Painting”.

If you are from the Bartlesville area, please contact me for membership information about the Bartlesville Art Association at valmj2u@yahoo.com.

Your local area doesn’t have an art association or group? Try looking online. Wetcanvas.com is a wonderful online resource for artists of all types. Scribbletalk.com is another great resource for artists who enjoy working with colored pencil and graphite. There are others out there. Is there an online group that you are a member of that I don’t have listed? I’d love to hear about it so I can become a fan too.

I just finished an online class about blogging. This class was hosted by Alyson Stanfiield from Art Biz Coach and Cynthia Morris from Original Impulse. I received wonderful advice from these two ladies plus met a wonderful group of bloggers. These people will be my source of blogging inspiration for many months to come.

Become part of a group. Don't just stay in the studio. Get out and mingle. Be inspired. It will help sell the work you create while in the studio.

Rain, Rain

It's a rainy day today. Rainy days get me in a thoughtful and creative mood. So today, I'm being creative. I am working on a design for our family Christmas card. We send over 100 cards to friends and family each year. Now, mind you, I have a HUGE extended family. I have living 12 uncles and 8 living aunts plus many, many cousins that I don't even know. I don't send to all my cousins but I sure do send to all my aunts and uncles. And I have lots and lots of friends that I consider family. I won't be posting the card until it is sent out for the Christmas holiday. So, you'll just have to wait in anticipation. ;)

How do you spend your rainy days?

Friends

I haven't posted in awhile because I didn't feel I had anything noteworthy. The exciting thing of yesterday was new windows! We got a few new windows in our house. We like them so well, we want them in the rest of the house.

I am taking a crash course today for our children's Christmas musical. The Children's director called me last night asking me to fill in for her today at practice while she is away at a meeting. I know, I probably should have learned the songs already and been practicing everyday with our children so they could be at their best. Mothers.....how do you do that with your children when they are in an event? Do you learn their parts and practice with them so they are at their very best? My mother never did that for us and I'm sure some parents do that. Is that pushing our children too much? Personally, I don't want to push them if they don't want to.

I met a new friend the other day who is less fortunate than some of us. We are going clothes shopping tomorrow for winter clothes. Both of us are excited! Oh, and she is an artist too! It was a God thing how I found out. Have you ever met a person in your life that you instantly hit it off and have things to talk about right away? This is one of those persons. (Kasie....you were another one of those persons ;-))

I started a huge project of sewing gifts for the women in my family for Christmas. I quickly found out that sewing is a lot like painting. You make the same mistakes, correct them and move on. Only the correcting takes a lot longer! You have to rip out the stitches. Yuck.

It's a beautiful day here! Hope it beautiful in your part of the world too!