my friend Julee Herrmann ...

  How cool is this going to be?  My friend Julee Herrmann (Orinda, CA) of HeArt Collective is going to teach a wonderful class for children.  Read all about it at her link:

#c6638500247451873944

And if you look to the right sidebar of her blog, and scroll down - you'll see a Mermaid Cigar Box that Julee's done with a Suzi Blu online class!  It's fab. 

Be sure to check out all Julee's links on her blog - her jewelry is beautiful ... check these out:


"Faith" pendant by Julee Herrmann





"Pouty Little Princess" pendant by Julee Herrmann



And by the way - she bakes a mean Cherry-Choco Chip Cookie (I think there's even some oatmeal involved?!). 


:-)
Love ya, Jul --

Davielle
aka, Princess Magpie

SUZI BLU graduates speak ...



at Suzi's 2010 Birthday Workshop / Stamping Details / that's me, back row, 4th from right)

 Local artist extraordinaire, with a worldwide following, SUZI BLU - rocks.   I have had the pleasure of taking two workshops from Suzi "live", and I have taken several of her on-line workshops.   You just about can't tell the difference, I promise.   

I can describe Suzi and her style of teaching in ten words (okay, so I could come up with twenty or so words, but I'll keep it sweet ... ie, short):

Accessible  (she makes herself available to her students, in person
         AND online - it's amazing)
Courageous  (she's not afraid to tell it like it is, about art, about life,
         about love)
Extraordinary  (in every way)
Generous  (with her talent & techniques, and her heart, and her
      very self)
Heartful  (I am not sure how to define "heartful", other than to say
      it's just SUZI)
Humble   (she is down to earth, she is never pretentious, and she
      never treats her students like they are anything but ARTISTS)
Loving  (you can just feel the love that emanates from Suzi - for
      animals, for people, for her art)
Soulful  (Suzi gets right into the nitty-gritty of life, along with
      sharing her soulful love of all animals)
Talented  (this goes without saying!)
Whimsical  (way fun, way creative, way way way ... Suzi !!!)

And THAT, my friends, is how I would describe Suzi Blu - if you haven't yet, do look her up and SIGN UP FOR ONE OF HER ONLINE WORKSHOPS.  And if you are fortunate to live anywhere near Suzi, sign up for a class with her "live and in person".  I promise you a great time :-) ...

Davielle
aka, your PRINCESS MAGPIE

The Sketchbook Project: 2011 ... I'm In !!!

Local artist extraordinaire SUZI BLU  {http://www.alovelydream.com} posted a link today on FaceBook about this cool project:  THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT: 2011


 I just had to look into that ...

Wow.  What a wonderful thing !!!

If you choose to participate, you have the option of choosing from one of many interesting "themes" {'in flight', 'sleepless', 'figuring you out', 'revenge', 'face in the crowd' - and plenty more} ... or you can have the organizers randomly assign one to you. 

If you know me at all, you know that I'm just not the "random" kind of girl, so I opted for "This Is Not a Sketchbook" - because I prefer mixed media / collage to pure sketching.  Besides, I rather suck at pure sketching.  Doodling, rough depictions of simple things, I can do that.  But real sketching?  Umm, that's a challenge for me.

Want more info on The Sketchbook Project: 2011 ???  Link up right here:  http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject 

So I'm pretty sure my recent creative slump is just about over now.  I spent time in the studio yesterday .. about an hour .. playing with a canvas that one of the granddaughters began a week ago.  OMG, was it wonderful to just get in their and play around a bit. 

I think I'm back ... and I thank you, friends, for all your kind encouragement last week.

-- Princess Magpie

Janice Lowry - a Tribute

From April 2009 to September 2009, a woman that I did not know ... lived out her last days after a diagnosis of Stage 4 liver cancer. I learned this as I began researching her for this blog post ... I found a blog that her husband, Jon, started in April of this year. You can visit it here: http://janicelowry.blogspot.com/ And you can visit her website here: http://www.janicelowry.com/

Her name was JANICE LOWRY and she was a mixed media / assemblage artist of the highest order. This is a woman who kept an ART JOURNAL for so many years, and so 'religiously', that the SMITHSONIAN has accepted that collection of Journals for safekeeping (and hopefully, one day soon, DISPLAY) into perpetuity. Janice will live on through not only the memories of her family and friends and the art community, but via those very journals.

Janice journaling in Scotland (photo borrowed from her blog)

Janice Lowry moved to California from Phoenix Arizona where she attended the Art Center College of Design. It was here that she started doing assembleges, at first as a creative and inexpensive solution for framing. Soon, this solution evolved into an art-form as unique as the artist herself. Janice has also been keeping journals since the age of five. What started as small books with a single lock have turned into creative master pieces over the years. In October of 2007, Janice had the honor of having all of her journals inducted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Archives of America in Washington, D.C. Janice works from her gallery in the Artist Village Lofts in Downtown Santa Ana. (this paragraph, from " comment.com ")

A lovely YouTube video clip of Janice and her Studio (which she called "my church") and her art can be seen on Suzi Blu's blog, the link is just below ... I thank artist SUZI BLU for pointing me to Janice Lowry this morning, via Facebook. Suzi also wrote a very heart-filled blog-post about Janice, which you can view here:

http://suziblu.typepad.com/a_lovely_dream/2009/10/dread-making-was-stalled-because-squirrel-maras-daughters-hamster-died-i-have-5-dreads-on-my-head-and-i-look-pretty-stupid.html

Janice in Scotland (again, borrowed from her blog site)

And here is the link to the LA Times obituary for this beautiful woman:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-me-janice-lowry-gothold3-2009oct03,0,7635613.story

Janice having what her husband refers to as "her favorite meal of the day .." !!! EAT DESSERT FIRST: Life can be Short (this photo, too, borrowed from her own blog site)

Loving thoughts to the family and friends of Janice Lowry ... and thanking God that she is now at peace.

-- Princess Magpie

LES PETITE DOLLS JOURNAL class - today - with the amazing SUZI BLU !!!

Yes, that's right ... Suzi Blu is teaching a full day of LES PETITE DOLLS to the fortunate 16 (or so) of us that registered for her workshop. TODAY. I am SO freeeeeeking excited !!!!!

If you don't live in So Cal, or you can't make it to a class, or her next class(es) fill up before you can blink your googley eyes, well, then, YOU CAN PURCHASE A KIT from Suzi ... yup, that's right. VISIT HER Les Petite Dolls Acadamey right here: http://suziblu.ning.com/ and give it a look-see.

Or visit her BLOG right here for more info on that PARTY GIRL kit (shown above): http://www.suziblu.blogspot.com/

If you want to "paint pretty girls", as Suzi calls her fantastic Petite Dolls, then this is an artist you want to look in to .... I'm hoping she will teach again (and again) at STAMPING DETAILS in Poway - which is where today's class is being held. Some of the best workshops I've attended are held right there at Stamping Details - I love what they offer!

Lots of photos will be taken today, so check back later for PICS and the whole STORY.

Your very excited and happy ...

Princess Magpie (aka, Davielle)

My Day in San Clemente

In the blink of an eye, a day can turn from a bummer into a high. Here's my story:

Friends, my day began on a real sour note ... because our voice-mail service provider (and right now, I use that term loosely - "service provider", that is) had a TIME DELAY in getting me a voice mail message I really really really wanted to get ... I discovered this morning that I had missed my only opportunity to meet up with Bernie Berlin and Suzi Blu ... for dinner last night. Can you say "BUMMER" ???

If you don't know who Bernie and/or Suzi are ... you can check them out right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh5i7tLizOM

That, and a few other rough patch moments this morning had all conspired to leave me SO near tears, I thought I might just as well have the meltdown and be done with it.

But .. it didn't happen. The Melt-Down, that is.

Instead, I put my big-girl panties on and HEADED RIGHT ON INTO the rest of my day, which included spending 5 hours with the delightful and talented LINDA BLINN and friends Barbara and Sharon, at Linda's charming home. Did I mention in a former post how fantastic Linda's art and crafting space is in her home? It's way cool.

So here's just a few shots of our time together. What a respite. What an inspiring time. What cool things everyone had "on the table" to share with each other.

Linda's been working with SUNPRINTS; these are on fabric.

and another Linda Blinn SUNPRINT on fabric. isn't this beautiful?

so after we'd admired some of Linda's new art adventures, and after we'd started our TRADING back and forth, it was already time for lunch. we DO a good job complementing each other when it comes to who-brings-what. Look at that spread! That's Linda, tossing the Chinese Salad that Barbara made for us ...

here's Sharon and Barbara, enjoying our day together ...

and what terrific luncheon spread would be complete without the world's tastiest cupcakes? These were from ELIZABETHAN DESSERTS in Encinitas. Tasty, tasty, tasty. We split each into four, and each took a bitty section. We figure that way, we've each tried 'em all AND it's still only ONE cupcake each ... you see how we artists can be SO creative when necessary?!

Then it was time for us to do some sunprinting of our own ... Linda wanted to try this ... a bird silhouette with lace around & behind ... let's see what happened!

step one

after you get it ready, you hurry outside, find the sun, and set it down - for, I am not kidding, less than 1 1/2 minutes. Seriously.

oh ... HELLO, KITTY.

(not Kitty Blinn, but Neighbor Kitty)

after that moment in the sun, you run inside, and you rinse the "developer" paper under lightly running water -- to rinse away all chemicals and to STOP the process. then - let dry.

still wet, but I am SO seeing that bird - aren't you?!

(look closely ... and do tell ... is it just me, or CAN YOU SEE IT?!)

I love this small circle of creative friends. They sure brightened my day! I so appreciate being included in their gatherings.

And to make our time together even MORE beautiful ... Linda always has some fresh flowers somewhere nearby for us to enjoy ... these are her GINGER SYLLABUB roses. To-die-for.

And every gathering must have a little bubbly. This, a nice Italian Prosecco - just dry enough and TASTY.

:-) Big, happy SIGH OF CONTENTMENT.

-- Princess Magpie

Art is for My Soul ... Listen to Your Muse by Suzi Blu

Okay, is it just me, or when you become immersed in all-things-artistic, do serendipitous things just keep happening ???

I love this stuff.

My blogging mentor and artistic and heartful friend, Ann Deakers, sent me a link to this YouTube clip by local artist SUZI BLU.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1107440113&ref=profile#/video/video.php?v=1087401383327&ref=share

Thing is, back when I first became friends via Facebook with artist BERNIE BERLIN, she called me on the phone and we talked about her animal rescue facility (in Portland, Tennessee) for about an hour. She asked me if I knew her friend here in So Cal, artist Suzi Blu.

I have not yet met Suzi, nor taken one of her workshops ... but I do most assuredly intend to.

And then - cleaning out old inbox messages in FB this morning - I found this from Ann, telling me I should get a "kick"out of this clip.

Oh, yes I surely did. It is fabulous. I hope you take time to TREAT YOURSELF and watch it.

-- Princess Magpie