Feelin' Lucky!

Greetings!  I hope that yours has been a most fortuitous St. Patrick's Day.  Here in HoCo, we seem to have sent winter packing by driving straight on into Summer!?  It was 84 degrees here, today!

Regardless the weather, I am feeling more than a little lucky!  Granted, this is pretty much my normal state -- heck, I could recycle this title with numbered tags -- there's no telling how many there would be by the end of the year.  *hmmm...  *

The past week was another in the seemingly unending "Buffet of Blessings" that I regularly observe, bobbing along on the ebb and flow that is life here on the Acre.  It bundled together several of my most favorite things between book-ends of creativity -- it doesn't get much better than that, eh?

Picture Perfect
...a wee folded tome

We begin with a quick trip up the road to Jerry's Artarama - Raleigh, NC; on Sunday (03/08) visitors found me happily folding books at the entryway.  A few folks stepped up to play along.  I do so love sharing my love of paper and all the wonderful things that one can do with it!  The "Try Me" project was a lovely, wee modular Origami book -- little warm-up for my 1st workshop of the year.  *fun, Fun, FUN!*  After amazing the natives with my paper wizardry, I enjoyed a sunny, afternoon visit with The Mother -- complete with steaming mugs of tea and bird-song.

The Same Again
...as folded by a visitor to my demonstration

Thursday (03/12) was the General Meeting of the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild for this month.  WOW -- we had a loaded agenda!  The evening was packed with all sorts of mixed media merriments:  new opportunities on the horizon, fabulous Member Artists' work on display, beautiful works entering the world as part of an international Call for Art, and a marvelous Demo from C. Mitchell on the wonders of various acrylic mediums!  If you are in the area, you really owe it to yourself to pay us a visit.  We have a LARGE time, and there is SO much going on throughout the year -- your membership is well worth the cost.  *...and I am not the slightest bit biased toward this group of amazing artists!  Nope, not one bit!*

A Trio of Minis
...the fruits of my labors, folding with the younguns

Friday (03/13) was not the least bit scary for me as it marked my return to the beautiful campus of North Raleigh Christian Academy.  For the 4th *or 5th (?)* year, I proudly served as one of the Demonstrating Artists at the annual ASCI Arts Festival.  It is so exciting to share something I love (the making of books as an art form) with a younger group of creatives, and see the "spark" as the pieces of the puzzle come together, and they get the magic behind the form.  This event always concludes with a wonderful luncheon at a nearby eatery for the Artists/Instructors who shared their skills at the event.  It is one of the markers of Spring, for me!  *the weather is no help in tracking the seasons in this part of the country!*

Sandwiched between these two lucky bits was a most loverly visit and late night nibbles & sips with two wild and crazy artist friends I don't get to see nearly enough of.  How sweet the company of friends after a evening of shared joys?  ...and how much sweeter still the anticipation of a day doing what you love to do in the company of others on the happy road of creative living?

Sunday (03/15) afternoon, The Man and I enjoyed a Clint Eastwood movie marathon.  I took advantage of the chill Sunday at home to indulge in a little creative play.  I have finally played with my Pan Pastels, and I can definitely see what all the hub-bub is about!  I tested a few ideas that I had in mind for a quick project and was very pleased with the results.

Pan Pastels -- The Test-Drive
...3 colors, blended through the stencil - sealed with a shimmer
using Color Bloom Spray - shadows added w/ marker

I ticked off one more of my ToDos for today with a quick trip to the Pack & Ship for Global Postage, and the mailing of 11 loverly pieces of Mail Art -- who knew Global Postage Stamps were so pretty?  I'll just tease you with the stamps, for now -- photos of the individual works themselves will be along, soon!

Beautiful & Round
...Global postage is a perfect finishing touch

 SO!  That ought to be enough to hold you, for now!  I'll see you back here again, soon!

Onward & Upward!

 

Words of Wisdom for Today:

Good night, and good luck.
                         - Edward R. Murrow

Photo Notes:  

All photos taken with the standard camera app on the Samsung Galaxy S4. 
All editing (crop, color adjust, etc.) completed in IrfanView