My last art day was spent with the lovely Juliette Crane. It was the ideal way to finish up with the retreat. Juliette has this calming aura about her that makes you feel at ease immediately. Just being in her presence brought me peace. Her teaching and painting style is so laid back. She just lets her characters emerge from her markings. It encouraged me to just kind of let things happen and not force things.
She is a layering junkie like me, but creates different backgrounds on paper, then tears them apart to add to her pieces. Such a great way to add another dimension to your art.
The girls taking it in.
Juliette showing us the beginnings of her animals.
Lots of sprays and stencils started my first piece off. I got to use the new Liquitex acrylic spray paint in florescent orange (thanks to Andrea) with my Zinnia Crafter’s Workshop stencil. LOVED it. I can’t buy them locally yet but our local Wallack’s says they are coming in July, woooo!!
Here was a separate piece on watercolour paper made with layers of ink, paint, pastels and paint pens. I then tore it apart and added another layer to the above canvas board. Felt kind of weird ripping it apart at first but ended up being a little cathartic. It is a great way to keep you from being too attached to a background as well.
This is what I ended up with. It isn’t quite finished yet but for my first owl I am pretty happy with it.
For my next piece I cut up one of the gelli-plate prints I had created and stuck it into my art journal to start off my background. It gave me a jumping off point for my colours on this one.
A fox and deer are what emerged for me. I totally had a blast making these, they were just so fun!! My poor little deer needs a touch-up on her forehead as my journal pages stuck together in my suitcase.
Myself and Juliette. Check out her genuine, beautiful smile…
And this beautiful bunny of hers.
I got to come home with this little guy for my studio, so happy. He just makes me smile.
Juliette was the perfect person to help us transition back to our re-entry into the real world. Getting back to reality was a tough one (although I did miss my family very much). The instructors and ladies I met on this retreat I will always hold close to my heart and hope that we can find a way to all see each other again soon.
thank you so much for this post. it makes my heart soar… almost like being in class with you all again. LOVE seeing the artwork you created too :)