Lesley Venable

Art Is You Petaluma......WOWZA!!

We are currently at Art Is You in Petaluma, California and it has been amazing weather, amazing art, amazing artists.....AMAZING!!!!!

Once again it is family reunion time and I feel loved, embraced and welcomed.  Time apart....well, it's like we just saw each other yesterday!!!! 

Walking through the lobby you can hear the tinkling roarous laughter, the ooohs and ahhhhs, the hellos, the "what are you taking" questions.....it's a wonderous set of sounds set to the melodious tune of art and friendship.

Today I will be teaching and tonight is vendor night (I am sooooo excited to see what the offerings will be but shhhhhh don't tell Tom!!!).

What an amazing retreat, what an amazing trip (well, excluding the aborted landing in San Francisco), what an amazing group.   AMAZING!!!

My classes have included soldering, collage, assemblage and using Ice Resin (www.iceresin.com).  I will be posting images of wonderful student work and more when we return home. 

Have an awesome Saturday!!!!

xoxoxo,

Lesley V.

 

August 16, 2012

Imagine yourself in a castle in the sky Where polka dot rabbits know how to fly You can be anywhere you want to be Your imagination will set you free Imagine! A special place Imagine! Flying through space Imagine this Imagine that Imagine you're a dragon or a kooky cat Imagine you're the singer in a rock n' roll band Imagine you're a knight in a far off land Imagine you're a fish in the deep blue sea Or a bird at the top of a giant tree Imagine! Flying a plane Imagine! Driving a train Imagine here Imagine there Imagine you're a monster with crazy hair Imagine yourself as a tiny ant Or in the forest as a rubber plant Imagine you're a horse that knows how to ski Or flying on the back of a buzzy bee You can go anywhere you want to go You can meet anyone you want to know You can be anything you want to be Your imagination will set you free Your imagination will set you free Join us this fall...and set your imagination free...              Email: [email protected] Web: art-is-you.com Lyrics by the wonderfully imaginative Bob Doyle

 

Hope to see you there!!!

xo,

Lesley V.

Art Unraveled - Vending

I know that many of you who travel to various art retreats find that vending night is as magical as I do. 

For us we have fun setting up our vending table and then we get to walk around to see all of the beautiful art and fun and funky vintage finds that are being offered for sale.

Here are a few shots of our table, which included vintage finds and original art by yours truly, at Art Unraveled in Phoenix this year...

 

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What a fun time we had in Phoenix!  Be on the lookout for images from my classes.

xo,

Lesley

 

Moving Forward

After all of the travels of the past month this has been a restful weekend for us. 

Suitcases have been unpacked, supplies are back in the studio and our furry babies are all home safe & sound. 

As always happens on the heels of an artistic journey my muse is in high energy mode and I have already been busily creating at my work table.

Today had me creating in Photoshop....

It's good to be back home, back in the studio and back on my blog.  With everything back to some semblance of normal keep an eye out for my daily posts.

xo,

Lesley V.

Works In Progress.....

Works In Progress.....

 

Rhinestones &  Resin

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Collage & Patina

 

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Unusual Substrates

 

xoxoxo,

Lesley V.

Time has flown.....

I cannot believe that it has been almost a month without me posting here!  Wow, time does fly when you are knee deep in it.  <smile>

The yard has been mown, the animals placed in someone's loving care, bags are packed and we are off for a week of beach time.  I sooooooooo need it and I know that Mr. Lesley does too.

Artiscape was such a joy to be a part of.  My classes were filled with the most amazing students and their creativity was awe inspiring!!!  Yay!  I cannot wait to be a part of this even again next year.

There are 4 new classes on my NING site, The ARt of Altering, Resin Techniques, Fabric Pendants, Matchbox Shrines and Altered Cabinet Cards. 

 

 

We have also created the Melange Group over on the NING site.  This is a pay for access group ($5.00 for one year or $10.00 for a lifetime) where I will post free tutorials (two are up already - Rusting & Patina and Dying Fabrics).  There is a Melange Shoppe and the members of Melange get a 15% discount on all of the classes I offer on the site.

The new May Issue of Jeanne d'Arc Living is now available and ready to be shipped on May 15th.

 

 There are only 15 of this edition available for sale - read more by clicking >>here<<

Stay tuned for moments from the beach.

xoxo,

Lesley

Happy Monday!!!

Hi Everyone!

Hope that your Monday morning is going well after the time change this past weekend!!! 

Some of you may be thinking I forgot about the Blog Giveaway but I promise I didn't.  In fact, there are probably only 4 of you that entered the blog giveaway so I decided that instead of choosing 1 that I would create something for each of you.  With that being said please email me your mailing address to [email protected] so that I can send that out to you.

Right now everything seems to be starting to bloom here.  The Flowering Quince, Forsythia, Camelia and Daffodils are in full force here and I know it won't be long until the Redbuds and Dogwoods are in bloom too.  Love, love, love this time of year!!!!! 

On my work table this past weekend were some thimbles that I purchased about a year ago to create pendant tassels.  I was inspired again by one I saw while scouring Pinterest about a week ago and decided to make a few.  Here is one of them.....

 

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I also worked on two altered tins that I hope to show you later this week.  It has been such a blast working on these items and being back in the studio.

Tomorrow I will be doing my guest post on the UsArtquest blog on creating simple mica charms.  Hope you will come check it out.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

xo,

Wild, Weird & Wonderful....

That's the theme for this year's Art Is You Retreats - Petaluma, CA and Stamford, CT.  This is an amazing event and I hope to see some of you there.

Here is one of the classes I will be teaching.....

 

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I've also been working on a few things in the studio.  I like to keep small items around for additions to my altered art pieces.  Here are some little resin bobbles I created, aren't they cool?

 

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Then at Michael's I found these lovely little frames in their $1.00 bins.  They are made out of some resin like material and although the colors are pretty they aren't the colors I use in my art.

 

So I aged them to look like this....

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What have you been creating?

xo,

Lesley V.

 

 

F Stands For.....(oh and a fast giveaway too)

Hi Everyone!!

Today we will focus on the letter "F".  "F" is for feeling funky (Tom and I have had the crud the past week), "F" is for friendship (so grateful for the friends that I have made since my move to Virginia - both in and out of the art world), "F" is for February (what???? a new month already??? really???), "F" is for family (which I will see soon at my nephew, Jason's, wedding - woohoo), "F" is for future (a bright one I see with my loving hubby with whom I will soon be celebrating a 10 year anniversary with) and "F"inally "F" is for "fantabulishousness"!!!

Fantabulishousness is what you will soon see when the rosters and class lists go live for the 2012 Art Is You Events!!!!  Soooo excited to be going and teaching and learning and visiting and just getting immersed in everything that is ART!!!!!

To celebrate this month of LOVE I want to give away a one of a kind piece of art!!!  All you have to do is follow these little steps:

1.  If you haven't already signed up to follow me (upper right at top of sidebar) do so 'cuz only follower's are eligible for the win.

2.  Leave a comment hear telling me you signed up to follow and....

3.  In the same comment tell me what you LOVE about the month of LOVE.

I will draw the winning name on Sunday, February 5th, and the surprise prize will be mailed out on February 6th (as long as the winner has sent me their address).

Come and join the fun!!!

xo,

Lesley V.

Art Unraveled & Artiscape

Hi Everyone!

I'm hoping your Tuesday has been wonderful so far.  Yesterday was a holiday for me from my "necessary job" so today is my Monday of the week.

I wanted to let everyone know that registration is now open for both Art Unraveled and Artiscape Art Retreats and both of these retreats are celebrating their 10th Anniversary in 2012!!  I am so happy to be teaching at both of these retreats and hope to meet some of you there! 

Artiscape will be happening in mid April.  It is themed around Steampunk and is being held at a brand new location this year.   Great classes, vending and more.  You can check it out by visiting the site, just click on the image of the binoculars.....

 

 If you live in Arizona, near Arizona or just want to visit Arizona why not plan to do it while Art Unraveled is happening in August???  This venue is wonderful and there is so much to do in and around Phoenix.  I am teaching a Frozen Charlotte Santos (brand new class) and The Studio Muse (this has only been taught at one previous event)  Learn more about the classes and happenings by visiting the website.  Click on the below image to be whisked away....

 

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Be on the lookout for Art Is You and Artful Gathering information which will be coming to you soon!!

xo,

Lesley V.