I've been back for almost a month now and I must say that I had such a great time teaching at Art & Soul Colorado Springs!  I had four classes full of amazing, funny, kind, and creative students!  Monday night was the kick-off event, or "Meet the Teachers" night.  It is one of my favorite events because it gives me the chance to chat with other instructors as well as get to know students on a more casual, or social level.  We all gathered in the special designated area just for us Art & Soul folks, piled our plates with yummy appetizers and a beverage of choice (mine was a dark, Scottish beer to keep up with this year's theme!)  The teachers who were in town that early in the week got to display their artwork for the week's classes.  There were so many classes I would've loved to have taken had I not been teaching!  After the night's festivities, I was off to set up my classroom for Tuesday's Birds & Beeswax class!

My students were AMAZING!  They really stretched those creative wings and  embraced each layer of paint, collage and beeswax with grace and tenacity!  Everyone's work came out so unique and many people had never worked with beeswax before--so there were some converts to a new medium that day!  Also, a lot of students said they were inspired to try something new or "outside their comfort zone" with the help (or prodding!) of their supportive and friendly classmates.  I love it when those discoveries happen in class--those things that cannot be instructed but are simply learned by doing and going through the process!

Wednesday night was Collage Paper Party!  We had a full house that night and it was quite the party!  Students were eager to create piles of beautiful collage papers and experiment with all the media and techniques available in the 3 hours that we had together.  I really admired this group's ability to take in so much information in such a short amount of time. They left happy with piles of beautiful, colorful, layered pieces that they'll use in trades, bookmaking, collage and other future projects!

Friday's class was the lovely No Sew Textile Journal.  My students wasted no time at all getting down to business, creating those books from scratch!  They all started with book board, watercolor paper and waxed linen thread and in no time had a nice structure to build from!  They dug into the piles of fabric and ribbon, trims and doodads and filled their books inside and out with gorgeous colors and textures!  Many were new to bookmaking and I think this may have sparked some new interest in that area of mixed media arts!

Saturday's class was the 3D Collage Canvas.  It was my last class of the week and I was happy to see some students from previous classes (in fact, I got to see many students several times throughout the week in all my classes--what a treat!) Everyone made at least two canvases full of colorful and textured layers plus unique 3D shapes from dogs to llamas to cityscapes!

I'm sad that the creative whirlwind of a week that is Art & Soul is over but glad that I'll be back at it in just a few short months!  Art & Soul Virginia Beach is just around the corner: October 1-6, 2018!  There are still plenty of classes to choose from, but don't wait too long just in case!  For more info, visit my workshops page or go to the Art and Soul website to see my list of classes!