Women's Body Wisdom Retreat

This summer I will be assisting my wonderful friend, artist & colleague, Julia Speer, at her Women's Body Wisdom Retreat at the Bend of Ivy Lodge in Asheville, NC, July 18-21, 2014. I am so excited to be a part of this wonderful retreat!

Purple Sunset Hues, Asheville, N.C. by Colleen Breuning

 Before I go any further, I want to introduce you to Julia. I have known Julia for 16 years. She is an extremely talented artist and facilitator. Julia has a rare ability of being extremely insightful. She is an extraordinary listener and observer, who is able to quickly analyze and compassionately reflect back to retreat participants. I have experienced Julia's interpersonal talents during her incredible retreats, which I have attended. While I was a participant at Julia's 2010 & 2011 retreats, I also led the Art Workshop portion of both weekends.
  

Julia Speer, Retreat Facilitator & Visual Artist

I will be leading the Art Workshop portion of the retreat on Saturday afternoon. We will create several different pieces of art. One project will be a palm size Goddess that we will mold out of clay.
 

Clay Pocket Goddess by Julia Speer

 The Goddess will be an expression of own unique Divine Feminine. 

 

Venus von Willendorf, estimated to have been carved 24,000–22,000 BCE

We will also make our own personal Wand, which will be a glorious expression of our feminine power and whimsy. 

 

Wands by Katherine

 The Wand will be a physical reminder of our feminine empowerment and wisdom that we can tap into at anytime. 

 

 So what the heck does Divine Feminine mean?

Divine feminine energy represents restoration, life, renewal, creation, birth, healing, receptivity, openness, motherhood, nurturing, love, understanding, compassion, insight, intuition, wisdom, forgiveness, the moon, connection, harmony and sensuality. 

 

Venus of Dolní Věstonice

 By reclaiming our own unique Divine Feminine, we tap into our true essence. If we are committed to living the kind of life that makes us happy, we need to only keep the beliefs and practices that add to our happiness. The goal, as far as embracing our own femininity, is taking the time as individuals to decide what works for us and what doesn’t. (Exerted from article, Awaken the Divine Feminine Within You, by Teal Swan) 

Mosaic Goddess by Leanne Hill

 One of the ways that you can tap into your own Divine Feminine is to allow yourself to create. Women are natural creators. This is part of why we create life. When we are out of touch with our divine feminine, we do not allow ourselves to create.

 

Pocket Goddess by Katharina

 One of the best ways to awaken your creative energies is to begin to do art. Any kind of art will benefit you as long as you enjoy it. (Exerted from article, Awaken the Divine Feminine Within You, by Teal Swan) 

Washer Necklaces by Desirée

 My role in leading the Art Workshop is to provide an atmosphere of safety and support so you will feel comfortable to allow yourself to embrace the artistic experiences that Julia and I have prepared. As an artist and art educator, I am extremely gifted with helping others draw upon their personal creativity. I have worked with many women who have said they have no artistic ability and have never been successful at making art. At the end of the workshop these women were totally amazed and so proud of their creations!

Linda Greiss, moi, far left, & Julia Speer, far right, at Julia's 2010 Women's Retreat.

 You too will discover that during the process of creating, you will gradually allow yourself to let go of your inhibitions. As a result, you will become totally involved in the joy of making visual art. The most fun and rewarding part of the workshop for me will be when you discover that you are an artist and that you made beautiful art that you like!

*To find out more about the Women's Body Wisdom Retreat
*To donate or apply for a scholarship for this Retreat

Free Christmas Collage Sheets

Visit Lisa Volthraith's wonderful "6th Annual Original Printables Holiday Countdown" at http://countdown.tentwostudios.com for Free Christmas Collage Sheets.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my family, friends and readers! Have A Fabulous Day! The Extravagant Heart Valentine decoration is an original design by yours truly. I created it using gold chenille stems twisted into heart shapes that surround a music paper heart that I hand painted. The medallion in the center of the heart is a pendant I found at the thrift store. I accordian folded burgundy silk ribbon to set off the medallion. Ribbons are individually looped and glued inside of each heart. I hope you enjoy your visual Valentine!

Funky Art Doll

In October I taught a Mixed Medium class for 4th-6th graders at the Art Place, an arts center in Marietta, Georgia. I had four wonderful students! It is so much fun to teach a small group of kids. My Funky Art Doll assemblage was inspired by Opie & Linda O'Brien. Our final project in the class was our assemblage doll. They all turned out fantastic. The bonus for me was that I created my own assemblage as an example for the students. I have been wanting to create an assemblage doll for ages. Isn't she great! I had a ball creating her. I still have not come up with a fitting name for her. Do you have any ideas?

Synchronicity

Merriam Webster defines synchronicity as the coincidental occurrence of events and/or mental images of an unexpected event before it happens that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality —used especially in the psychology of C. G. Jung. I believe that synchronicity means that when I put creative energy and actions into the world that I attract positive opportunities to my life. For the last 8 months I have been doing just that. Many exciting things are happening in my life! Monday I received the wonderful news that I will be teaching the art workshop, Creating Inner Child Archetype Cards, for the Women Within Community Weekend in Elmer, N.J. April 29-May1, 2011. I am so excited! My friend, Julia Speer, will be the Keynote Speaker and Facilitator for the weekend. If you don't know about Women Within check out their website. I absolutely love to teach art workshops. One of my greatest loves and strengths is helping women tap into their creative potential.

So what do the photos above have to do with synchronicity? I started this blog 2 years ago with Valentine postcards I created for a swap with Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art. I created the Valentine ATC's above for this year's swap with Latest Trends. So much has happened in my life. Doors have closed and new ones have opened. Last May it was very difficult to believe new doors would open when I found out I had been laid off from my art teaching position with Cobb County Schools after 17 years of service. I was devastated!!! Today I am releasing my feelings of pain, rejection and inadequacy for my feelings of excitement, joy, and happiness. I attract abundance and artistic success to my life through my creative energy and confidence. In my renewed commitment to my blog, I will be sharing more of my artistic journey with you in my posts.

Goddess Tiaras

This past Sunday, Julia and I got together and had an art play day creating Goddess Tiaras. We had a ball as you can see by the photos! Check out Julia's website. She creates incredible ceramic sculptures and leads two women's growth retreats a year. The next retreat is April 8-10, 2011 in north Georgia.

This 9" x 12" altered book's theme is based on an acrostic using my first name, LINDA.

L ife
I bis
N aiad
D alhia
A dventure

I painted the covers, photo 1, with gesso. Next I built up many colors of acrylic paint. Then I glued down pieces of torn tissue paper, netting, ribbon, clip art to represent all the words above, mica, puzzle pieces, corrugated cardboard pieces, lettering, and feathers. Photo 2 is on the title page and was inspired by a Claudine Hellmuth collage. The background is soft pastels-light blue, lavender, and white-from Lyra-Aquacolor crayons. The main image is a photo of one of my favorite sculptures, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, which I saw in the Louvre one summer during my high school years (The real sculpture is missing her neck and head). I used her to represent the word, Naiad. I stamped the letter "N" in white all around the sculpture. I printed out the definition of naiad, tore around it and aged it with brown shoe polish. The wings are edged with real buttons. I finished Victory off with a crown created from the tin of a tea candle. On the left page, Photo 3, I utilized the large color picture of trees, original to the book, in my composition. The right page is half of a double spread of heavy cream colored tracing paper that I sewed into the book with a 4-hole pamphlet stitch through the inside edge of the title page.

This "Delicate Nest" altered book was begun in a workshop with Catherine Moore, artist and owner of Character Constructions stamps. I completed the front cover, photo 1, in the workshop. Then I went home and immediately finished the back cover, photo 6, with my own original collage ideas. Over many weeks I decorated the double page spreads above with collage and drawing. Photo 2 is the front inside cover and title page. Photo 3 is a 2-page spread commemorating John James Audubon, the famous American bird artist. I glued light blue tissue paper over the book text. Then I drew the trees with Lyra-Aquacolor crayons. The birds, portrait of Audubon, and other images are clip art. Photo 4 is a 2-page spread with a typed description of Nature Journaling on the left and my written description of the workshop on the right side. Photo 5 is a 2-page spread which I titled "Lady Catherine of Jubilee" in honor of Catherine Moore. The paper doll lady on the right page was designed by Catherine. I cut her out and put her together in a "Make-In-Take" at the same Altered Jubilee Convention where I took this workshop. The backgrounds of both pages were created digitally and printed on tracing paper. Most of the collage images are from clip art and magazines. The Bird Woman painting at an easel in the upper left corner of the left page was created with one of Catherine's La Belle Epoque Character Construction stamps.

I created these two "Teacher Collages" as gifts for teachers who were retiring from Mountain View Elementary School where I taught art for 10 years. For many years, I facilitated a group of teachers who volunteered to create collages as a gift for each teacher who was retiring from Mtn. View. The focal point of each collage was a wonderful poem commemorating teachers. I printed the poem on transparent vellum. Each teacher artist either cut or tore out the poem. The background was scrapbook paper with a variety of torn papers, magazine and clip art images, embellished with ribbon, beads, buttons, etc. I developed the "Teacher Collages" through the inspiration of a colleague who wanted to recognize retiring teachers in a more memorable way than buying a gift.

"Vignettes of White" is 28" x 36" mixed-media collage which I created from being inspired by a Somerset Studio magazine challenge. The base is Arches Cover paper with paint, tissue paper, magazine images, photographs layered and embellished with lace, buttons, a buckle, ribbon, and plastic mesh. I stitched the edges of the collage with white satin ribbon.