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My Head Is So Full

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Of ideas and inspiration that is.  The seminar with Susan Crouch that Maggie and I attended in Charlotte this past weekend was terrific.  The facility was great, the food delicious, the company awesome, and Susan was wonderful, teaching us new (to me at least) watercolor techniques, theory, and generally inspiring us. 1385947_10152395279142898_8329862203537310940_n 10339631_10152395279032898_1569550040404715053_n

 

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The seminar was about learning and not just project oriented, although I did finish one of my paintings.

Finch painted by Liz Miller, designed by Susan Crouch

Finch painted by Liz Miller, designed by Susan Crouch

I’m excited that we will have Susan teach for us at  Artful Endeavors next May. I can’t wait to share her with you. Find more information and register for our seminar.    You can register with a deposit to save your seat.

Ladies, and gentlemen, start your engines.

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Your creative engines that is.  It’s the last week in Aug, kids are returning to school, and there’s art in the air.  In the studio too!

I hope you have all had a good summer with lots of fun, family, and friends. For those of you have had challenges this year, I sending positive thoughts and looking forward to having all of you back to painting with us again.

We have a new supply of Americana and Traditions paints and the new DecoArt French stencils.  The Chalky Finish paints are in stock with lots of color choices.

We have lots of art experiences planned for this fall including weekly classes, workshops for all ages, and seminars.  Wed am and evening classes resume in Sept with new and exciting projects planned.  You can find more details on the web site but here are some of the upcoming highlights.

  • Basic Techniques Yellow Daisy clock Session 1

    Basic Techniques
    Yellow Daisy clock
    Session 1

    Tue am open class:  We’re open for class on Tue am as usual with opportunities for you to make up a missed classes or work on a project of your own with some assistance from me. Also if you are wanting to start your painting experience with us, we’ll work you into our Tue schedule. Please contact me to get started with Decorative Painting Basics.  If you just like this painting and want to paint it, you can do that on Tue am also.

  • ArtFling:  Gail is packing her bags and will be here ready for some mixed media fun on Fri, Sept 5. I’ll take over on Sat to continue with our endeavors.  If you are not registered yet, contact me quick!  There are supply lists on line and you can register there too.
  • web-Sodas-and-Sundaes-2Sodas and Sundaes Workshop:  Join us Sept 27th for a 4 hr workshop painting these colorful ornaments. Could be for your holiday tree but just too darn cute not to keep out all year.  Register now!
  • Halloween cat workshop: Did someone say toilet paper?  Oh yes, that was me. Come see what I have designed using the cardboard from TP.  Getting ready for some friendly Halloween festivities Oct 25, 10a – 1p.  Fun for 8yrs and up.  Join us and bring a friend.  Register now!
  • Wed evening classes:  Our classes are starting back again starting Sept 3.  We’ll have our weekly crew working on a fall schedule for classes, but also look for special workshops as well as a chance to start our decorative painting basics.
  • web-Yupo-PoppiesKathie George seminar:  Register now for our seminar with Kathie. Register and details.  We have some awesome new techniques to explore with Kathie.  Do you Yupo?
  • Susan Crouch seminar:  Register now before Sept 5th to secure your seat in our seminar with Susan, May 29-31, 2015, and take advantage of preregistration discounts. Registration opens to everyone on Sept 5. Details and registration.

 

NC State Fair: Remember to register your entries before Sept 19th. NC St. Fair 2015

It’s time to get you entries registered for this year’s NC state fair.  Entry forms need to be completed and mailed or emailed by Sept 19, 2015.

Be sure to notice that the groups have changed.  There is no professional group any longer. There is E/experienced, 5 yrs or more of experience, or N/novice, less than 5 yrs experience.

You can enter one item in up to 10 categories.

You can find the complete instructions at http://www.ncstatefair.org/2014/Competitions/Entering/documents/HandicraftsandHobbies.pdf

And on line entry at http://www.ncstatefair.org/2014/Competitions/Entering/HandicraftsandHobbiesCompetition.html

 

That’s all I can think of right now but watch the web site and blog for updates. Hope to see you at the studio soon.

 

Who Said Toliet Paper?

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That was me and we’re creating with the cardboard center. You should see my tp cardboard collection. Come join me for a fun Halloween painting party, Oct 25th, 10a-1p.  Appropriate for anyone 8yrs and up and no experience is needed.

We’ll play with the new DecoArt Media products and get creatively messy.  Register now

Halloween cardboard tube cat.

Halloween cardboard tube cat.

The Last Straw

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Drinking straw that is. We has such fun creating with acrylic inks, acrylics, and drinking straws.

Liz straw painting.

Liz straw painting.

It didn’t take much demonstrating until the student’s had their creative juices flowing and were ready to create their own painting.

web-IMG_3860And they designed their paintings with wonderful color combinations and started puffing.

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Straw paintings.

Straw paintings.

I have such terrific students.

My terrific students

My terrific students

 

Falling into Autumn

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Creatively SpeakingDSC_0064

We had a great time painting with Ros this summer. It was a week full of painting with old friends and meeting new ones while enjoying Ros again. I have lost exact count but this was somewhere around 18 or 19 yrs of seminars with Ros. Each one successful. Our dates for next year are July 22-26, yes, we’re planning 4 days next year. We have some good ideas planned and would love to have you join us.  We’ll call next year our 20th year anniversary!

web-Yupo-PoppiesRegistration is open for our seminar with Kathie George for three days of mixed media exploration! Always fun and educational. Registration, photos, and more information.

Night Hunter Liz Miller CDA

Night Hunter Liz Miller CDA

ArtFling is coming up Sept 5 and 6, that’s Fri and Sat. Join Gail Schmidt and me for more mixed media fun.  We’re asking everyone to register by sending in your fee by Aug 8. That’s coming up soon so be sure to get your seminar fee submitted. Let us know if you want Gail to supply the surface for you. More info and on line registration.  Register now!

Summer Geraniums stage 2.

Summer Geraniums stage 2.

I’ve updated the class schedule on the web site so be sure to check for updates. There are a few date changes and we have some exciting plans for new projects. I’ll be designing more original paintings and will have photos on the web site as soon as they are painted.

Straw Fish

Straw Fish

Our Aug 9, Saturday workshop is coming up soon. We’re painting fish with a straw and acrylic inks! What fun. We’ll probably have time to play around with this technique with other animals. Register by Aug 4 so that I have time to plan.

Watercolor Sheep: my painting from a workshop with A Susan Crouch design

Watercolor Sheep: my painting from a workshop with
A Susan Crouch design

 I have some exciting news for you. We have award winning watercolor artist, Susan Crouch coming for a seminar at Artful Endeavors, May 29, 30, and 31, 2015. This is a theory and techniques seminar and you will probably not be completing specific projects during the seminar. Our focus in on learning not finishing a project.  You can find more information on this web page. I’m still working on the page and need to get photos from Susan to post.

  More info about Susan.  I’ll open the seminar on Sept 5. Participation is limited to 15.  Susan is from Statesville, NC so one of our NC artists.

 NC St. Fair 2015

It’s time to get you entries planned for this year’s NC state fair.  Entry forms need to be completed and mailed or emailed by Sept 19, 2015.

Be sure to notice that the groups have changed.  There is no professional group any longer. There is E/experienced, 5 yrs or more of experience, or N/novice, less than 5 yrs experience.

You can enter one item in up to 10 categories.

You can find the complete instructions at http://www.ncstatefair.org/2014/Competitions/Entering/documents/HandicraftsandHobbies.pdf

And on line entry at http://www.ncstatefair.org/2014/Competitions/Entering/HandicraftsandHobbiesCompetition.html

 

I’ll look forward to seeing you entries this year. I know they will be awesome.

 

Just a few un-fun notes:

  • I receive many telemarketing calls each day so I let the phone go to voice mail if I don’t recognize the number. If you are not a telemarketer be sure to leave a message so I’ll know you are a real person interested in something to do with painting.
  • Someone has blocked century link/embarqmail from receiving email from Artful Endeavors by labeling us spam. Anyone with one of these email addresses will not be receiving emails from me unless you go to your email provider and tell them you want to receive artfulendeavors@raleigh.twcbc.com emails.  Please pass the word if you know anyone from this provider who is wondering why I am not sending them email any longer. They are missing out on seminar and class information.
  • You are receiving emails from Artful Endeavors because you have requested to do so. I do not solicit email addresses from any other source. If you would like to be removed from our email address please just let me know and I will be glad to remove you. Do not just mark our emails as spam. You block everyone else from your email provider from receiving our emails.
  • If you have requested our emails and are not getting them, and have a different email provider you might have our emails in your spam folder. Be sure to add us to your address book.

Come paint with us soon.

Liz

Where is the bottle of paint??

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Paint storage: I store my paints on their side, in color families with the bottom of the bottle showing. I can easily identify colors and values rather than just read labels.  Great for recognizing color relationships.
I have some terrific storage boxes from In The Barn Wood Design/ Leon Schmidt.

Paint storage racks

Paint storage racks

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Where’s the creativity in that?

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Recently on face book someone questioned where the creativity was in everyone painting the same design in a seminar. This created a lively response and got me thinking about our project classes.

Colored Pencil Class

Colored Pencil Class

Decorative painting opens art for those individuals that think they aren’t creative.

Everyone is creative in some form or another. We all choose our clothes to wear each day, colors, what goes together. Some may express their creativity through cooking, child care, writing, photography, sports, and numerous other ways depending on their interests.

Most important for the student to have is an interest and a desire to learn to create art. The techniques can be learned and practice just means painting more which is the fun part anyway.  If someone is interested and motivated they will work/play with their art and develop their skills.

web-DianneBy offering patterns and teaching step by step the teacher is able to focus on theory and techniques that are specific to the project.  Each student is encouraged to  develop their own style and to exercise their preferences as they build on art theory and techniques learned in class. Even though painting the same subject each painting is personalized by the different student to reflect their own style. And no one can paint exactly like the teacher anyway.

Project classes where students paint the same subject allows more time to focus on theory and technique associated with that specific painting. Students grow their skill sets while developing their art preferences and then continue on to create their own individual and independent pieces of art.

Cats Eyes

Cats Eyes

There is always creativity involved. There it is!

Mixed Media with Kathie George in Nov 2014

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We have our plans made and registration is open for our seminar with Kathie George coming up Nov 17,18, and 19, 2014!

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We’ve gone mixed media this year with texture and acrylics. We’ll play with Yupo paper techniques and texture on watercolor paper.

I know, there’s no batik this year. Our students were so excited about the mixed media projects that we’ve gone that way for this time. And the paintings are so exciting.

The Yupo paper is an entirely new product for us and we’re eager to learn about it.

Dragonfly Done For more information on the Yupo paper check out Kathie’s blog where she introduces us to this fun man made, polypropylene product. And more from Kathie about Yupo.

Here’s our seminar information and photos!  Register now! on line or send your check to Liz at Artful Endeavors.

It’s July! Ros is at Artful Endeavors

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We’ve had such a great time painting with Ros Stallcup this week, polishing techniques as well as learning new ones. We’ve played with new products and used our familiar products in creative ways.

demo DSC_0051 DSC_0053 DSC_0054 DSC_0058 DSC_0064 DSC_0069 DSC_0072 DSC_0073 DSC_0080 DSC_0084 DSC_0086 DSC_0089 Sunday-house-group

Ros’ seminars are always a terrific occasion to see old friends and make new ones while sharing a common love for art.

Miltons

And we’ve made plans for our July 2015 seminar. Save the dates: July 22 – 25, 2015.

Painting Pets, on canvas that is.

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Our next Pet Portrait class is coming up soon.  As I was preparing my design, pattern, and surface, I was excited about this painting of a Shiba Inu that I’m painting for a commission, so I was disappointing when I need to stop the process to wait for the class.  So….  I decided to paint one of the Purr Partners Cat Rescue kitties just because I wanted to.  This young fellow was so sweet and handsome that I just had to get a photo of him for reference. And here is Arlo in acrylic on an 8 x 8″ art board.

Arlo

Arlo