Hello, Hello!

I cannot even tell you how thrilled I am to be here! Here, and in Olive Branch, and in Petaluma, and in Stamford. Woo-hoo! And since I get to be in these places and hope to get to meet all y'all (that's Texan for "not just all of you, but every single one of you"), I thought I'd better introduce myself and tell you what I do at Art is You so you can come find me and hang out. This is me hanging out in The Voodoo Lounge in Petaluma, where I do video interviews and sit and stitch and try to lure people in to come sit and stitch/sketch/journal/drink coffee and/or wine with me:

I get to do videos, and you can watch one of those here. It's a promo for Art is You Down Under, and man, was it fun to do!

And, of course, my husband, The Ever-Gorgeous Earl, aka, The Photographer, who gets to go everywhere at all the retreats and take tons of photographs of everything from paint-stained hands to works in progress to the dessert tray. You will probably never see him without at least one camera, often more. Lots of the photos online are ones he's taken at the retreats.

When he's not at Art is You, he loves taking photos of stuff outdoors, like this waterlily, which is one of my all-time favorites:

At the retreats, he loves hanging out and meeting new people. He's a retired teacher and coach and is a total people person, as you can see from this photo of him with Tom Venable, aka The Cookie Man. This tells you what an easy-going guy my husband is. It also tells you to beware of Tom, who is beyond fabulous, but if he's telling you a story, you want to keep your eyes on his wife, Lesley, to see whether she's nodding (the story is true) or shaking her head (don't believe a word) or rolling her eyes (you're going to end up rolling your eyes, too, by the story's end). The EGE takes photos, schmoozes, and listens to Tom's stories. 

In addition to sitting and stitching and taking videos of people telling the stories of their creative adventures, I also get to host Morning Motivators (more about that in a future (very soon) post, so check back to find out what's coming up there). In the one below, in Nashville last year, we talked about how creativity has to be cultivated and not taken for granted. It was a ton of fun for me, and I wish we could have talked all morning. But everyone had workshops, and we make sure people get to those on time.

This is what I do the rest of the time, when we're not at Art is You: I make/alter clothing. I made this out of a bunch of old t-shirts and was testing it out on the front porch to see how it moves. I have no idea how a series of photos taken with my husband's camera turned into a gif that blogger said came from my iPhone, so I'm not going to think about it too much. Nor am I going to watch this very long because it makes me seriously dizzy.

My day job is writing artist profiles for Stampington magazines and blogging for my publisher, North Light Books, over at CreateMixedMedia.com. You can find out more than you ever wanted to know at my own blog, Notes from The Voodoo Cafe.

So when you come to the retreats, please come find us. Don't hide from the camera: my husband has been married for 37 years, and he knows not to take photos that are not flattering. He knows that if a non-flattering photo appears, it must immediately be deleted. (Needless to say, he nothing to do with the animation above.) If you're in the government's Witness Protection Program and just absolutely do NOT want your photo taken, ever, just let him know.

Come to the Morning Motivators, which will range from panel discussions with some of my favorite people on the planet to discussions about my all-time favorite topic EVER: creativity in all its manifestations, to who-knows-what-else. We've got some groovy things planned at night, too, so be sure to check out what's going on in addition to your chosen workshops.

Here, I'll be posting regular blog posts, and there will be some podcasts, as well. And of course the videos from the retreats—you'll be able to watch some of those here, too.

In the meantime, you can find me on Facebook, where we have some really great discussions about the creative life and where I often get input from artists for blog posts I'm doing: lists of visually inspiring movies, studio music, favorite books—stuff like that. I love to start discussions because people have such fascinating things to contribute. We'd love to have you join us.

And now to get ready for this years retreats—we can't wait to see everyone! XO