santa cruz

Created with flickr slideshow.we just happened upon this quirky art show while driving through santa cruz.

amazing sea creatures

Created with flickr slideshow.these are a few shots I took at the monterey aquarium

time for new journal pages

This journal is so big I can't scan it in so I have to take photos of it instead.  it's fun to work in though because it's so big (10x12).

a jeff claassen drawing

cool places in venice beach, CA.

These are images from Obsolete in venice beach.  The guys in the store said it was fine if I took photos.  I SO want this mad scientist apparatus.  It was thousands of dollars.  Look at their website for more great shots.  We actually ran into some artfesters at the Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica who told us we had to visit this place.  thanks to susan from boston and her sister.  speaking of The Urban Craft Center, we loved this place and want to come back and teach here.  The other place I loved down there was Strange Invisible Perfumes.  The dark skinned girl with freckles who helped me was adorable, unpretentious and extremely helpful in finding me a perfume.  All their fragrances are natural...nothing synthetic is used so when you get something with rose in it, you are getting true rose oil (something that is extremely good for balancing...I learned in my aromatherapy days).  I'll be back next time I come down that way.

last shots of mary's house

more shot of mary's artwork.  

more mary stanley

am having a heck of time uploading my photos...so only a few at a time.  this is more of mary's vignette's....see below.

mary stanley's house

Mary has these wonderful vignette's all over her house/studio.  Everything about her house is enchanting.

syd mccutcheon's place

Two women who I think the world of, Syd McCutcheon and Mary Stanley live 30 minutes away from each other around Solvang/Santa Barbara and they were a big reason why I wanted to go down the coast.  Both are fabulous artists who are original and amazingly creative.  This is Syd's workspace (Art Clinic) that is also open to the public (in solvang).  I thought you'd like to see pics from her studio.

cool guy

Tracy and I met Jeff Claassen in San Luis Obispo.  He owns a little gallery called the Jeff Claassen Gallery that has a bunch of his affordable artwork along with a great selection of spray paints in amazing colors and other paints mostly used for graffiti art.  I had to get some to play with when I get home.  He's approachable, talented and a wealth of information on this type of art. 

new pages again

been getting in a little journaling on this trip we're on.  not much though.

my mother's day gift

Trista made this little guy for me.  I love it!

good grief

Time sure has been flying these days. the world is spinning faster and faster. I've had my nose to the grindstone with details regarding Journalfest and Artfiberfest and Artfest teacher picking. Not to mention that we leave in 2 days for San Jose to teach a 2-day Journaling workshop. we are heading from there down the california coast, ending up in my favorite city (LA) and flying home from there (total of 10 days away...eeeyikes!). Needless to say, I haven't had a lot of time for other things...like blogging.

But Tracy Lyn Huskamp's comment always comes back to haunt me...she mentioned (during the opening night talk) at Artfiberfest last year that she gets upset at bloggers who don't post very often and that it wastes her time to keep checking. I never thought of it like that but I see her point and have made a valiant effort to improve my posting frequency this past year. There is still room for improvement.

Life is pretty normal around here. finally got my hair dyed...it was so gray, it was almost white. feels good to look 10 years younger again. trying to eat vegetarian for the most part. just makes me feel better. Bought the book Superfoods by David Wolfe and been making goji berry, cacao, maca, bee pollen, hempseed smoothies every morning for breakfast. Although tommorrow I have to go to my naturopathic dr. because of a breakout of hives all over my chin and neck. I think it is all the health food...

I sure feel like something is afoot...behind the scenes...like in a universal sense. Something big is going to happen soon I think...not sure what. But weird intuitive feelings have me wondering. I think the next couple of months will be interesting. we'll see.

sorry for only one journal page today. I have a lot that are halfway there. I expect I will have at least a dozen when I get back from our CA. trip. Will try to blog along the way from my hotel room.