Aaaaaahhhhhhh.........

Oh yes, that was a big...long...sigh. The DH and I finally got away - even if it was just for 24 hours - to this place. Yes, yes, I know it's very fancy. But, we haven't been away by ourselves for THREE YEARS! We so deserved this break, and it's so close to our house - no time wasted on travel.
That's a picture of the very best part of the hotel. The Spa. Those lounge chairs are the size of a double bed - and located in a coed section of the spa, overlooking the ADULT ONLY saltwater pool and Japanese pagoda garden. Perfect for cuddling with your loved one after your Thai massage, as your endorphines surge through your blood stream, and all you can seem to do is stare outside at the happy yellow umbrellas and blue sky.

This your view from the women's only waiting area. It has the same lovely lounge beds. I closed my eyes, listened to the trickling water of the fountains, and cast myself into outer space.

I can't even believe how recharged I was, after only 24 hours! If you have the time and money, I encourage you to visit this place soon! If not, go to the link I gave you at the beginning of this post and flip through the photo gallery. It'll get you a third of the way to nirvana without spending a dime.

Not four hours after coming home from this lovely retreat, I was off to teach an art class at Viva Gallery.
Tonight was gelatin monoprinting! Oh what fun! I think everyone was a little surprised at how easy this technique is. I wasn't at all surprised to see how these talented artists ran with this new technique and created such different and wonderful things! With their permission, here's a look at what they made:

My next workshop at Viva is on Wednesday, September 17 - we will be making tissue paper collages. I also just scheduled another Visual Journaling class for Monday, October 13.

I also have exciting news about a new venue where I will be teaching - please stay tuned while I get the proper links and such.

Dude! It's Jesse Reno!

He says dude a lot.

Dude! Finally! Am I the only one from the class that hasn't posted anything about Jesse Reno's class? Here's me and Jesse. He shoulda been pooped on that third day of teaching, but, heck, he's young. He can sweat it. Do you think I'd look good at the next PTA meeting with that hair?

What?

I've never shown up to one PTA meeting ever?

Oh yah.

I only could make it to the third day of the class - needless to say, I missed a sh*t-load of learnin' and bonding with this big group. But, I was happy to see so many friends. You'll get to see them in a minute, links and all, but let's get down to art!
Here was one of the main workspaces. You can see Mija to your left and Tamara to your right. I began working at a table outside, with the wonderful Catherine Witherell and some other lovely women (whose names fail me completely but were also lovely and talented). However, the heat started getting to me, and I moved to the table above (with air conditioning). It was so nice to sit with these two old friends - Mija, whom I've known for a few years now, and Tamara, whom I've known online for about the same amount of time, but met in person for the first time here! yay!

Here's me and Catherine:

I immediately knew she was wonderful when I found out she loved my BFF Lisa. She is an amazingly talented PMC artist - so you really should go check out her blog asap.

Jesse has a very interesting technique, that is kinda scary, but produces wonderfully complex paintings. This technique involves beginning with his background, painting layers and layers randomly - with no specific purpose, per se. Then, when he starts seeing an image or one of his creatures materializing from the paint, he begins to define them (or it) with black paint/pencil. As he paints, he may "block out" entire portions of his already developed background - that's the scary part. He will just take a wad of paint and blot out portions of his painting that he doesn't like. Check out Catherine's blog (link above) for a few good picks as the days progressed. Remember, I was only there on the last day.

By blocking out some sections of the painting, and then repainting over them, you can get a very complex focal point - his are creatures. I'm not really sure I was courageous enough yet to fully have tried his technique, but here's what I came up with:

I really like the first one. I worked on two pieces at once. Jesse likes to work on multiple pieces at once. He also likes to paint with his hands, and he likes to paint on wood. The piece above is a 11"x22" piece of wood. I loved working on the wood! It feels great under my hands - all mushy and full of paint! The second piece is not even half way finished, but here it is in all it's strange glory:
This is an 11"x14" canvas board. It only has 4 layers, so it still has a ways to go. Perhaps I will have some time in the next few weeks to work on it.

A big group went out for dinner after the class. Here's all these totally cool women, some I only knew online for so long, and finally got to meet. Some, I had admired their art in different publications and finally got to meet in person. Some were just plain new and wonderful.

L-R: Kelly Snelling, me, Deryn Mentock, Pilar Pollack, Lorraine, Catherine Witherell, Tamara Comerford, Mija Marie, and Tamara's hubby! What a cool dude to be hanging out with all us cool chicks. You really should check out all the links above - most have more great pics from this wonderful workshop at The Carol Parks Studios.

Go link amongst yourselves...

Run, Jump, Play

Sometime life can be downright, effing annoying when you used to use food to placate yourself and make you feel "better" - but you can no longer do that. Believe me, I'm realizing now, that it NEVER made me feel better, only bigger!

What's really annoying is when you have to face those problems because you are on a special temporary diet where you can not eat any food. It really is rehab.

But, tomorrow I get to see some friends, some old, some new, and I am so excited to take a class with Jesse Reno at Carol Parks' studio in North Hollywood.

I will not have to face any problems tomorrow, only be with lovely people and have a creative time. So, with that in mind, I will share this little ditty I wrote on one of my vacations last month - let's think of more ways to Run, Jump, Play!

Run, Jump, Play
by Tally Oliveau

Run through the water
not a care in the world.

Run
Jump
Play

Throw the ball
You can have it all,
when you

Run
Jump
Play

Hop on your board
and paddle all day.
Nothing can be wrong
when you

Run
Jump
Play

Are You Making Enough Mistakes?

By reading this blog, I've hope you've begun to appreciate the importance of making mistakes, and not having a fear of them.


Remember:

People who never make mistakes are people who have never done anything.

I think you should write that one down and put it somewhere you'll see it a lot. I have.

We gain our most important lessons from mistakes. Sometimes, our mistakes are the best part of what we've done. Antibiotics were a mistake! Chewing gum was a mistake! Oh, what would I do without chewing gum?

I hope you are all out there making mistakes, and learning, and reaching forward towards the unknown. Sometimes, you'll work so hard, you suddenly realize how easy it was to get to the other end.
That business phone call you are dreading: make that one your first call of the day.

That person that you having been thinking about and are afraid to reach out to: call them now. They have just been wishing you would reach out to them.

That idea that you have, the one that you have no idea where to start: make a list of small steps, get out your calendar, and then put task items in your calendar from that list, with the first task starting today. Yes! TODAY!

Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are supposed to happen, and they are the most important part of what you're doing. You are so much smarter when you make mistakes. I have the utmost belief and respect for you - for forging ahead in the land of mistakes - side by side we go, getting bigger, stronger, faster.