You can see Day 1 of our Whimsical Women Art Retreat here. Our retreat hotel was right on the beach, so I got to go out and put my toes in the lovely sand.
I had never been to a beach on the Ocean side of Florida, and man … that sand was so hot. I actually thought I might have burns on the soles of my feet from the trek to the water.
The weather could bit have been much nicer for our adventures. I'm not sure there's a much better experience than making art with a friend.
Our art making began with creating our own folded Travel Journal by cutting down a large piece of wonderful Fabriano watercolor paper.
Next we started using all sorts of mediums to create our pages. It had been a long time since I played with watercolors and Tombow Markers.
I really had fun just playing with backgrounds. These used watercolor paint on make-up sponges with this gorgeous Starfish Stencil from StencilGirl.
I really tried to do the lovely light washes my neighbor was achieving, but my hand is always a bit heavy … I still loved it because it is ME (I also love my new travel watercolor brushes).
On the next day we worked on two canvasses – one to take home & one to do a secret sister exchange with another attendee. Somehow I managed to fail to take a picture of either one. One big learning point was how strongly PVA Glue holds 3-D items when it dries overnight.
Next project was to use artsy and beachy fabrics to decorate a canvas bag. I was really thrilled with how mine turned out. I detail cut the fish and buttons from one of the fabrics. I want to finish it by sewing a few vintage buttons I have from my step-mom's collection. I will definitely be using it to carry my artsy supplies.
This was the amazing work by one of my classmates who was adding stitching, seashells and beading to a fabric image.
I had fun showing the group how I use the Gelli Press (as well as seeing another attendees technique … isn't it fun how differently we can use the same supplies). I also learned how fun it is to gelliprint with Gouache Paints (which I could then re-activate with water after it dries). We also printed with watercolors, which were a bit trickier, but still fun.
The final day we added more elements to our journal pages, and practiced some sketching techniques.
For these pages, I attached some of my torn edged Gelliprints and a some beads I strung together using the strong PVA Glue. I also used washi tape, and then reactivated the gouache print by adding a bit more paint. We also used a Darice Liquid Correction fluid pen to apply white accents.
This page used the first (on the right) and second (on the left) gelliprints using gouache together with more washi tape.
And finally, I attempted some sketching … certainly not my strong suit, but I gave it a try. First, a big, fat Palm Tree drawn with blank ink, painted with watercolors, and accented with Posca Paint Pens.
Here's a real palm tree like this one.
Second the memories of my delicious Tequila Strawberry Mango drink by the ocean, remembering the first line is not the right line when you are sketching.
A huge thank you to Joanne Sharpe for a fabulous experience and for meeting each of us where we were and stretching us along the way.