A New Year Coming

Oh...it's that time of the year again...a New Year!

Winter is in the air and I have some fabulous offerings listed on my 

Workshops and Classes page.
France is in the works too...sign up here! 

This past year has been amazing ....

3 international workshops 

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico  

Rancho Bellota, Baja, Mexico

Amsterdam, Netherlands

7 National workshop sites with numerous offerings

Art on 30th San Diego

San Diego Botanic Garden

San Diego Book Arts 

Art and Soul Kansas City

Art and Soul Virginia Beach, Virginia

Art and Soul Portland, Oregon

Montecito Family Camp in the Sequoias

3 local teaching sites

Palomar College

Escondido Adult School

Fallbrook School of the Arts

just writing this makes me tired! But...losing a very dear friend this year has made me realize once again that life is precious. I try and make every day count with creativity and resourcefulness. Just do the stuff you love to do......

so...my chosen word for 2016 is .....drumroll......

ge·müt·lich·keit

which I can't even pronounce but love the meaning....

a space of warmth, cheer, peace of mind, and friendliness 

Palomar College Watercolor

My Palomar College Students did a phenomenal job this Fall Semester. This was the final critique open painting project. The only criteria I required was a full sheet watercolor. You can sign up for Spring Semester now which starts Saturday January 23rd. The class runs a full semester. This is a great opportunity to have a good block of time set aside for painting. I'll cover other water based media such as Acrylic and other opaque paints. Sign up for a full blown grade or pass/no pass....whatever you prefer.....

We go on great field trips by the way.........

Margaret

My dear friend Margaret passed away yesterday. She battled cancer for over a year. It was a brave fight. We shared many, many adventures together and I  especially have fond remembrance about our weekly hikes and trips throughout southern CA. Treasure your time with loved ones. Live the moment and create. I feel honored that I opened new creative avenues for Magaret over the years.....she was a talented wood worker, painter, and book artist.

this is the same spot where I painted Margaret last year. My friend Karin and I hiked up the peak yesterday and made a rock monument for Margaret. As I took the photo facing the sun a ray of light came through...I'm sure it was her in that light......

 Ann and Margaret painting along the trail

 Ann told us about "list poems". We would sit a spell along the trail, paint, write our poems 

and eat our treats......

Hot off the Press

This new book binding is my contribution to the San Diego Book Arts Society  "Over the Moon" collaborative project. The content consists of a  Haiku poem by Diane Gage. Each artist painted an illustration based on a portion of the poem. All of the illustrations are in the bound books. The collection of handmade books will be shown in several exhibits in the San Diego, CA area next year. 

On another note....My husband uncovered a little film made at my San Diego Book Arts workshop earlier this year....he was so excited to find it!
Enjoy .......   

This is my illustration for the book. I chose this stance of the poem:

Capricious night wind

Leaves out dancing with the moon

I forget to sleep

The cover was painted with acrylics and the closure is a found earring with natural hand dyed silk ribbon

The open spine is a 4 needle coptic stitch. The colors were made with color pencil 

and marker.