pages for kari, and home again

my spring secrets book is home again! this has been my first round robin and what a great experience.
it was small only five of us and we only sent books around for a little over two months so over before i knew it.
it is so amazing to have these lovely pieces of art from friends in my book. such talented artists, i can't wait to meet them all someday. . .



these are the pages i sent of for kari's book and then the ones that came home in my book.
the little garden of flowers is adorable.

by kari
by lilia
by melissa
by cassondra

check these blogs and sites for more photos of this cool project. melissa, melissa's little yellow book for cassondra, kari, lilia, cassondra hasn't posted her photos yet but check out her latest two books!
we are announcing the november Artnest retreat in a week so i am taking photos today for our website and getting all the details together. it looks like christmas again in my studio!

21 years later. . .

i have had the most wonderful month.
the artnest was absolutely amazing, we spent the most beautiful day of my life together as a family in salt lake where this picture was taken. then we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary and went on our second honeymoon to the incredible island of Kauai for a week.

we scuba dived for a day, went to a luau, walked the beaches and swam in the waves, ate the best mango of my life, took a boat tour along the napali coast and snorkeled on a coral reef, slept in as late as we wanted, ate dinner whenever we were hungry, and swam with sea turtles.

it was heaven! huge thanks to both sisters and my mom for the wonderful gift of a whole week for just the two of us.

a day with Kristin

Saturday at the Artnest was spent with Kristin Steiner creating fabric books on the theme 'I am a Woman Who'.
Here is the lovely packet that awaited each of us as we came to class. The lovely display of Kristin's work.



close-up of the flower kristin was wearing. we got the pattern in our class kits.


I have followed Kristin's artwork in many books and magazines, but I was so completely unprepared for how lovely her work would be in person. Even more amazing is meeting Kristin and taking a class from her! She had so many great techniques for combining paint, dyes, stencils, transfers, and ink to fabric. Really opened my world.
What was the most wonderful part of her class though was watching her teach. She has a real gift for expressing so honestly her heart. She invited close inspection of ourselves and what we most wanted to say with our art. She was completely open and encouraging.



rebecca, amanda, and angel with their fabric book projects.
I have taught classes before but have always held back that most personal part of myself and my connection to the art I create. I guess the distilled atmosphere I usually have while teaching helps me feel safer. After being in Kristin's class and being part of what was felt there with her I will never hide who I am again.


i love this picture of misty and kristin. they posed for a picture and then the click of shutters was like a press conference or something. they both disolved into laughter. such remarkable women with such beautiful hearts. J.