Away, Away

Well here it is the end of October and finally it seems like we will all be back in town again.  This has been one of those years for The Pieces.  We have all seemed to be involved in lots of traveling, either for pleasure or family, and had some surgeries, either us or family, thrown in.
While I am getting ready for the painter and getting ready for our annual art sale December 5th/6th I have some across some pieces that seem to fit the mood.  One of them is this little collage I did last year when so many of us were away. 
This piece reminds me of wind in your hair road trips back in the day.  I took this photo really close so you could see the collage paper is old maps and travel stickers.
Donna Vines

zoom, zoom, zoom

Ever Amazing Everglades

Ever since Kathy returned from her "artist in residency" last summer in the Everglades I have wanted to go down. A chance to plein aire paint, see the park and spend some time with friends recently presented itself and I grabbed the chance to go.  Sooooo, intrepid women that we are Carmen, Kathy and I loaded up our tent, our paints, our gumption with a bit of food and headed out on our road trip.

We were not disappointed, when we weren't laughing we were learning new things, and after we learned we painted.  Despite the fact that we arrived to discover there was no electricity and no water at the campsite, we perserved and became very resourceful.  Here is part of our story in photos:

The wildlife was spectacular...and as Kathy promised, staying inside the park made it all up close and personal.  This was only a sample of the animals we got to observe...and it being mating season we got in on a little more unusual activity courtesy of the 'gators!

We did a lot of photography so readers can expect some everglades-themed paintings soon!

Cindy (L) and Carmen (R) put in some hours painting plein aire.  Here we are seated by the lake that abutted our campground at Long Pine Key.

Kathy even spotted some of her beloved Linguus Snails that she has been studying.

Back at the campsite Carmen and I found time to work on our travel journals filled with sketches, watercolor and special momentos of the memorable time we spent together in the
Everglades National Park.  Stay tuned for art work from this trip.

Cindy Michaud
see more at: www.cindymichaudart.blogspot.com

Walkin' in Memphis

We just returned from Memphis, where we had a great time with our family. We went downtown to Beale Street, visited Sun Studio where Elvis did his first recording, and ate at Gus's Fried Chicken. I recorded it all in my sketch journal.

Elvis Statue, Beale Street

Gus's Fried Chicken

We also went to the Natchez Trace Parkway, which we really love. What a beautiful drive that is, very scenic and peaceful. It goes from Nashville to Natchez.

Natchez Trace Parkway

This is my small oil painting of the Natchez Trace. See the traffic? That's one reason I like it.

Posted by Carmen Beecher

Fabulous Guest Speaker Diana Gessler

Diana 

One of Diana's Books

Thanks to Cindy, the Pieces were fortunate enough to have a talented, witty and informative guest yesterday, Diana Hollingsworth Gessler. Diana is the author of the highly successful series of hand illustrated travel journals about Charleston, California, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.. We also found out today that because of her beautiful journals Diana was invited by the Sampoerna family to do a privately commissioned work about the journey, over several generations of the Sampoernas, from impoverished immigrants from China to the third richest family in Indonesia.

Diana shared the story of her life so far: her childhood as an Air Force brat, attending The Ringling School of art, and her long career in New York City in many art-related fields. She was such a successful, busy woman she didn't have the time she would have liked to devote to painting. While on vacation she decided to keep a journal and sketch in it. That was the beginning of her love affair with illustrated journaling.
Diana was full of information on how to adapt your art to your life no matter where it takes you. She has developed her journals into works of art. She is an accomplished watercolor and oil painter who is represented by The Shaw Gallery in Naples, Fl.
Diana teaches Journaling Workshops and has developed a wonderful "Sampler" to help you get started. She has also put together a kit that contains everything you need. They are available on her website. She has also been asked by Artful Gatherings to develop an online six-week course called "Fantasy Journaling Charleston" which will be available online in June.

A rapt audience

Cindy, Kathy and Carmen were lucky enough to take her Workshop and have become sketching fools who cannot say enough about how wonderful the experience was in so many ways.

Thanks so much for a wonderful day, Diana.
www.dianagessler.com
www.shawgallery.com
diana@dianagessler.com