pamgarrison

in search of fellow creatives

Hello there, you! Are you an artist? Is art a hobby of yours? Do you want to get started or expand your creativity? Want to join me for three days of guided creative exploration and general art making fun?!?

Well, you're invited!

I'll be at Donna Downey's incredible art studio teaching Ever Expanding Creativity September 30-October 2, 2016. Donna's Studio is in North Carolina and we had so much fun in class last year that it's well worth the trek across the country for this artist for sure! You can bring some of your favorite things or just show up, the price of class includes everything and more that you'll need. 

If you joined us last year, know the content is all new and I'm super excited to bring this new teaching material to this group of creatives. 

It's no secret that I am a passionate creative.  I feel one of the best things about my creativity is how accessible it is. I've figured out some simple ways to open up that creative flow along my journey that I am going to share. It is always my hope when teaching to encourage, inspire, inform and simplify creative pursuit, but this class especially will focus on some specific exercises and fun playful ways to open up that creative window even more. 

We'll be doing this using guided exercises as I've mentioned, and we'll also be art journaling and painting on wood too!

All level artists welcome and encouraged. 

After having taught at the Donna Downey Studio, I now know how very many delicious supplies we have at our fingertips. Donna is a passionate creative like myself and spares no expense when it comes to stocking the studio. As a teacher, and as a student, this is an incredible gift to one's creative explorations. We're not going to limit ourselves over the three days, that's for sure!  

One night last year I came back to the hotel to find many of the students having a late night art fest in the gathering room off the lobby. This year I think we'll have to set a time and see how many of the students want to join in for after hours creative time. Or maybe we'll have a pizza party at the studio... there is delicious pizza right across the street (why yes, I did test it out last year, I do love my pizza, don'tcha know?).

Another thing that holds true for all my classes is that I want to be sure to answer your burning questions. Is there something you've seen me do that you want to see demonstrated? Some supply you want my thoughts on? Some process or specific pursuit? Requests welcome and time is built in for getting them addressed. That's what's great about the three days, although it goes by quickly, there is time to dig into the creating. 

I love sharing all the new things I've discovered in my own creativity and methods and mediums. I'm always exploring and expanding my repertoire. 

This is my last live teaching engagement for 2016, and I only plan on doing 2 in 2017, so if learning live is where it's at for you, I encourage you to meet me in North Carolina this September!  We're going to have a creative haven for three days, can't wait! 

xoP

 

 

Painting Petals class starts tomorrow!!!!!!

My Painting Petals class starts tomorrow!!!! Woohoo! Aiyee! Yippee! 

I have been working on it for a year and I can't believe the day has finally come. I'm checking and re-checking and tweaking away. I want it to be perfect from minute one, (and I know there is no perfect, it's one of the biggest things I impart in all my teaching, but you know, smooth, easy and fun from the start). Beautiful, informative, inspiring and encouraging, that's what I intend class to be. 

The students have been leaving the best introductions and after just being at the Creativebug Studios and seeing some of the student work from my class over there, I am even more excited to see the art that comes out of this class. Painting pretty petals is one of my favorite things to do, so happy to find so many of you feel the same, and I'm so happy to lead the Painting Petal brigade! The world can't have too many delightful florals. Speaking of which, the flowers above are giftwrap we'll be making in week 5 of class, one of the many projects.

We'll be covering floral inspirations, seeing more creatively and less realistically...

...drawing loosely with different tools, painting with acrylics...

...liquid watercolors and inks...

...talking colors and composition...

...imagination as inspiration...

...lettering and monochromatics, adding details...

...faux oil painting techniques and projects...

...practicing, and using and repurposing the practice...

...and so much more. I'm really proud of the class. I hope you'll join us...the first lessons are released tomorrow!!! 

For more information or to register, go here. 

(Sign ups will remain open for a bit and classroom stays open until February 1, 2017.)

I suppose my kitchen table won't look like this for too much longer...it's such pretty content I haven't minded. 

It all goes by so quickly

 

Another Christmas has come and gone and all that's left now is the clean up. It all goes by so quickly.

I hope that you all had a nice day and spent it how you wanted to! Ours started a bit roughly with a four hour trip to the animal urgent care, poor pup seems to have slipped a disc. :( We were able to get home just in time to open presents, finish cleaning the house, start cooking and clean ourselves up before a house full of family arrived. As everyone was saying goodbye my daughter and I were able to go and bring the poor pup home; he's got some pain meds and seems to be doing fine now. Throwing something like that in the mix makes the day seem especially crazy. I'm very much looking forward to relaxing tomorrow!

And now that it's officially the 26th...my Painting Petals class is up and registration is open! I'm really excited to share it with those of you that choose to join in. See that sideboard in the photo above? It's full of class materials, I couldn't get it all put away before company arrived and figured it looks so pretty anyway, it could stay there. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to that fun tomorrow too.

If you want more info on Painting Petals or to sign up with early bird discount go here! 

Xo,P

happy holidays!

Hope you all are enjoying the season!

I'm busy as a bee putting the finishing touches on the class website before it releases for sale 12/26!!

 

Wishing you all a very merry & happy holiday season! XoP

a little birthday party

On Thursday I made a little treck up to Mary Ann's neck of the woods to celebrate her birthday. I forgot how nice it is to celebrate someone's birthday on the actual day, it so rarely happens much of the time. (that's her darling car sketch above) 

I'm very glad she liked her presents. We share a love of Nathalie Lete's art in all forms. Here it is on a children's watercolor paint set. 

As always, we started with a garden tour. 

Then next, a house tour of changes and new things since my last visit. Love this sweet toaster cover Mary Ann made from fabric gift she received. 

We always settle for a show and tell of recent work in our journals and sketchbooks. Man, so so much inspiration, she's been a sketching machine!  

And then, a favorite part, we got out our art supplies and got busy making and chatting and sharing supplies and ideas. This was the first page I did in my sketchbook. I had to document some of her supplies that I want to get. I'll have to take some more photos of recent pages of mine, it's been a bit since I've done a journal page post! 

The worst part, as always, came the time to wrap it up, time goes so quickly when having fun with friends. Especially a birthday art party! 

 

happy new year!

Hello and Happy New Year to you!!! I'm super happy to be home and feeling all sorts of excitement and enthusiasm for the new year. This morning I couldn't resist watercoloring a little ode to 2015. The inspiration is flowing and I'm excited to finish up some of last year's projects and move onto ideas that have been brewing for too long. So much possibility with a fresh start! Cheers to you and yours! xo

feeling like i'm onto something

It's happened again...I have a creative crush. This time it's the experiments in watercolor painting. (I see the practices of art journaling, sketching, and watercolor painting all different, although of course, they can overlap.) I'm still in the hazy young love stage with these new watercolor explorations. I've been challenging myself to approach watercoloring more like how I approach abstract painting. Sort of. Who cares why though, it's just fun!

This one above and the one below were painted in this book that Minnie told me about. She found them at Aaron Brothers on a buy one/get one sale, I went and did the same, (the one I gave Mary Ann that she refers to in her recent post), If Aaron Bros isn't having the sale, Amazon has them priced better and you don't have to leave your house. (2 different links to the book for 2 different sizes I have)

I want to take a minute to make sure you are aware I have become an Amazon affiliate. That means if I link to something on Amazon, it will have a code that will tell Amazon that I sent you, and sometimes will qualify for a small percentage commission on that sale. Of course, you don't get charged anything different than the usual. Also of course, I don't care if you buy it there, or at your local store, or anywhere at all. I will never link to anything that I haven't bought or want myself. I do a lot of shopping on Amazon because it's easy (I love not leaving my house, the free shipping, that usually the price is lower than in person shopping, to name a few reasons. My closest independent art store is 45 minutes away, bookstore even farther, and I am lazy about errands, I want to make things!), but Amazon has it's issues, and makes plenty of money, so I think it's fair that they compensate all the bloggers and websites of the world that link to them as a resource for readers. I mention all this just to be really clear that I see nothing wrong with people being affiliates, and to be sure you know (I assume you know me well enough by now, but in case you don't,) that I am not trying to make a buck off pushing things on you...no way, never! I have always linked sources when possible, and will continue to whether in an affiliate program or not. I love art supplies and have no shame about being an "enabler" of them, because for me, encouraging the pursuit of creativity has and will always be one of the main reason I blog. Okay...now that I've beaten that into the ground, let's get back to discussing creative pursuits! 

Mmmmm...experimenting is so fun...

And then, just ink too. I've been exploring a little with ink (this one shown here) while watercoloring:

Did you see that bird there? It wasn't drawn as a bird, just saw it from what resulted after drawing the flowers and ink drops. Good Lord, birds when I'm not even trying...birds birds birds.

Birds on the brain? Bird brain?

Don't answer that!

Sometimes experiments don't work out as hoped (which is how I feel about the above). No matter to me! Doesn't change the fun while experimenting one bit! 

All three of the pages/spread above were done in this book I have and love. Unlike the books mentioned above, it's pages are not coldpress, just a smooth, heavier "art paper" as they call it. Seeing how watercolors react to different papers has been one of my favorite discoveries so far. I have always been a hot press girl, and here is a spread of my journal made of hot press paper:

This is actually this goauche here on top of acrylic and watercolor background. Anyway, after recent experiments, I just ordered this coldpress paper. I am enjoying the way the watercolor reacts to cold press. (Is it one word or two?) 

Mary Ann jokingly said that she was copying me on her recent blog post; nonsense! we all know that inspiration goes round and round and I wouldn't have fallen down this lovely watercolor rabbit hole if she hadn't done her recent Sketchbookery class where I picked up lots of tips and tricks and favorite new supplies. Seeing her gorgeous pages makes all kinds of bells and whistles go off in my brain. And when I hear that siren song, I always turn my sails that way...

p.s. if you are wondering, I do see my art journals, sketchbooks, and travel journals all differently and number my art journals and sketchbooks separately and my travel journals are just the place I traveled, no numerical order recorded. I'm currently working in art journal number 34, sketchbook number 3, and the books I've shown above, the ones where I'm watercoloring freely (not sketching) aren't numbered at all -ha! whatever floats your boat ;)