Sacramento Artist Margaret Sarantis shares what Art is…to her

Art is the time and place when you let your imagination fly. It's when you are so completely entranced in your work that you are able to let go of any inhibitions, restrictions or self-criticism.



Art happens when the piece you're working on takes over. Time passes unmarked. Your creation flows from your hands as if they're guided by an outside force but it's really an inner force that is suppressed and ignored most of the time. Making art is like when you were a kid and you played and played outside until your mom had to call you in from the dark --and you didn't even realize it was dark!



Art happens when you can sit in a class for eight hours, through lunch, so focused on your project that you're surprised to hear the class is ending in fifteen minutes. I know I've created a great piece of art when I am so excited by it that I want to take it to my book club, or my lunch date or my son's classroom just for the opportunity to show it to anyone who will look.

Art is the physical expression of my soul on display so others can see it and, hopefully, connect with it.

The photos I've included are of a sketchbook I created in Michael DeMeng's "Cold Blooded Journal" class that I took at Art Is You Petaluma in 2011.

Margaret Sarantis
info@sacramentoartclasses.com
www.sacramentoartclasses.com

**Artists are invited to submit a short essay on what “Art is…” to them and include 4-6 images of their work plus links to their website and blogs.

BZ…LIVING IN GENEROSITY

 

So it is Friday and we are celebrating all that is PINK and the choice we make as an Art family to Live in Generosity. 

Is it Time Yet?

Lois Peirent, you may know her as Loey.  The Art is…You family know her as The Time Keeper.

   
Seen here with the fabulous Michael Albert…

One year…on her own, a little unsure, a little scared and yet brave enough to sign up for the Art is…You experience she made herself known by asking Ellen to pick her workshops! Every year since then, while Ellen continues to pick her workshops, Loey has created for herself an important role within our family.

 
Seen here with another of integral cogs in the wheel…Colleen

Loey keeps time for us all.  From the day that Art is…You is over one year and on until the next.  She is a constant reminder to us all that our time together draws nearer and nearer. We love her for that and the spark of laughter that she generates in all of us each day with her quips, her comments, and her no nonsense attitude. 

As the “Information” sits in NY and prepares lists, allocates rooms, and sorts out registrations, the “Decoration” sits in CT covering every available work space with glitter and grunge, creating name badges, gifts and treats for each and every person that walks in the door.

Time is drawing near and with it the anticipation for both organizer, teacher and student.  The knowledge that only a few short weeks separate us from reconnecting and enjoying a special bond that is unique to our retreat. 

We love our East Coast family and we can’t wait to race down the foyer to smooch arrivals as they appear.  Oh the places they will go this year…to discover just WHO they are!

Our ticket to ride is extended this year.  We got lucky with a group of fabulous teachers and two weeks before ART IS …. WHO we will touch down in on the West Coast for ART IS…PETALUMA. 

We can’t quite believe the wonderful support received by our West Coast friends who are coming out in record numbers to attend our inaugural event.  Thrilled that Rice Freeman-Zachery and the lovely Earl will be with us to celebrate.  Excited that we can celebrate this moment with the team from HALLOWEEN AND VINE and ready to watch the magic that happens between faculty and student.

We love this ride.

We have some extra seats if you want to join us…

www.art-is-you.com

Now is the time to play.  Art is…You is the family to belong to. 

Hey Loey .. Time Check Please!

Interview with the incomparable Ricë Freeman-Zachery

 

http://voodoonotes.blogspot.com/2011/07/podcast-with-ellen-sallianne-of-art-is.html

We had fun!

Kecia’s Winged Love

Kecia Deveney came into our lives four years ago when vending at Art is…You with the most spectacular booth of jewelry and assorted items and from that moment she has become one of our most loyal, and popular  teachers.

Kecia creates for her students an unforgettable experience and  they  always walk out exclaiming…I MADE THIS! This is Beverley with her finished piece from Kecia’s Class – it is one our most favorite images from Art is…You.

So yesterday we gathered at the Homestead for the last workshop in the 2011 Art in the Garden Summer Series.

Another magic day under the trees where we were all so focused on collage, glitter, chain and resin…I mean really is there anything better than that? 

Delightful and personalized hand created kits which felt like gifts, were at each person’s station and from those kits with a little help from our imagination, our memories of past experiences, and from our desire to encapsulate a message or moment that had meaning to us…we created our wings of love…

Each of our Wings of Love had its own magic, color and sparkle. Once the resin dries (24 hours and no poking it) we have chains, charms and doodads to add.

“shhhh there is an angel beside me”  - featuring Sallianne (who is not picking her nose) and her angelic sister Hayley – Christmas 1970.

Once again time stood still only to awaken when we exhaled and exclaimed … I MADE THIS!



Thank you Kecia, Jane, Loretta, Patricia, Patty, Thea, Colleen and Aunty M for another wonderful Day…

Check out Loretta’s blog for her take on the day…Pomegranates and Paper…

and for those of you who would like to experience this workshop, it is being repeated at Art is…You in Danbury.  Thursday 6 October, 2011 from 2:00pm-5:00pm.  Thursday has wonderful 3 hr workshops that you can take in the morning and afternoon. 

Register for the day.  Then EMAIL US: artis@art-is-you.com  with your morning selection and in the afternoon, you too can make your own Wings of Love….

22-26 September 2011 - Petaluma, CA

6-11 October 2011 – Danbury, CT

www.art-is-you.com

15-18 March 2012 – Sydney AUSTRALIA

www.art-is-you.com.au

SPOTLIGHT ON; Diana Trout

Faculty Name: Diana Trout
Birthplace: Philadelphia, PA
Current Residence: Glenside, PA

How long have you been doing art? All of my life! We didn’t have art in school so it didn’t really occur to me until I was in my 20’s that I could be an artist. I loved the big packs of crayons when I was young and spent a lot of time with them. All of my allowance was spent at a tiny local store called The Hobby Shop.

At what age did you begin creating and why? Looking back, I’ve been creative all of my life. Cutting up my mom’s magazines and making paper dolls and clothes for them. But again, artmaking was not big in my family so I had no examples or role models to draw from.

What is your favorite part of teaching? I love to teach. Sharing what I’ve learned over my years as a practicing artist, encouraging my students. Feeding them. There is a wonder, for me, in sensing where a student is and where he/she wants to go and then to respond to that student in just that way is immensely satisfying to me. I think, since I had so little encouragement, both creatively and in terms of craft, that this is something that I give to my students and satisfies my soul.

What do you find most challenging about teaching? The preparation and packing! Once I get to the class, it is heaven.

What do you like to do in your spare time? Ah yes, the busman’s holiday. I journal, stitch, draw, blog. It’s pretty much all art all the time.

What is your favorite type of art medium? Paper, fabric, line, stitch, watercolors, paints, Portfolios, gesso, pencils, pens. I love my Derwent Watercolor pencils.

Who is your favorite artist? I look at so much art that this changes from week to wee. At the moment, I am looking at Hundertwasser. His use of pattern, shape, line and color is a feast.

What is one interesting (trivial) fact that everyone should know about you?
I have a geek gene. My sibs and kids are all math and science people. I could never handle the math but am fascinated by physics, natural sciences and geometry. Sacred geometry blows my socks off.

Attach your favorite image and detail why it is your favorite. 
This work, Pavilions and Bungalows, by Hundertwasser is spellbinding. There is a textile, quilty-ness to his work that sucks me in and I love that he interpreted his subject in this way. You could also look at Hundertwasshaus on this blog here. Technically speaking: the brightness of the colors and pattern pops out at you because of the darkness of the background. He’s using my favorite shape here too, the rounded rectangle and funky shaped grids. Those brown boulder-type shapes seem to ground the painting even though they are towards the top. To me, he has captured the life of the humans who live in this place in all of their ordered chaos and humanity.


Diana Trout
Journal Spilling: Mixed Media Techniques for Free Expression is available in bookstores and on-line
www.DianaTrout.com
www.DianaTrout.blogspot.com
www.DianaTrout.Etsy.com

SPOTLIGHT: On Lorri Scott

Faculty Name: Lorri Scott

Birthplace: Poplar Bluff, Missouri

Current Residence: Santa Cruz Mnts., California
Necessary Job:  wife and mother
How long have you been doing art?
Since I began using crayons at an early age.  I obviously loved color and remember coveting my box of 64.

At what age did you begin creating and why?  
Making potholders in grade school with one of those metal frame looms and sock loopers to make color patterns (3rd grade), getting a Barbie doll so I could make clothes for her(4th grade), raiding Grandma's scarf drawer and fashioning boas with them so me, my sister, and cousin could dance on the bed to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas while we twirled the scarves around us(5th grade), you get the picture?
What is your favorite part of teaching?  
Sharing the joy of creating and working with color.  I also enjoy learning from my students.  

What do you find most challenging about teaching?  
Scheduling, schlepping supplies and set up, and knowing what classes people would be interested in.

What do you like to do in your spare time?  
Read, walk, work in my studio, sing

What is your favorite type of art medium?  
Dyeing fabrics and wearable art, fashion
Who is your favorite artist?  
Madame Vionette  She believed that "when a woman smiles, then her dress should smile too."

What is one interesting (trivial) fact that everyone should know about you?  
I create clothes and accessories but often wear jeans.  I'm also a bit of a wimp, afraid of the dark, turbulence on a plane, and anything scary.
Attach your favorite image and detail why it is your favorite.  
This is a self portrait I drew in High School. It doesn't really look like me and I often think about that.  It reminds me I drew this and while I haven't drawn much for many years I probably still could but how do you create an image exactly like what you are drawing from?  Perhaps that's what art is, seeing something but creating it in a different likeness?  Something to ponder.

Lorri’s Blog: http://lasfibers.blogspot.com/

New York Summer Series: Sue Pelletier

 

Last Sunday, Art was once again in the Garden. 

This time we created, laughed and shared with Sue Pelletier who brings to the workshop table a generous spirit.  Eager to teach, eager to guide and eager to share her student’s joy when they create something special.

Invigorating weather and the magical trees, were a powerful backdrop to a group of women who had been waiting…waiting….waiting to take a day for themselves amidst their busy lives, to stop and breathe. 

 

There is something very cathartic about dipping your hands into deep buckets of plaster

The mixing of glitter with paint leaves you breathless.  Bags upon bags of buttons yet somehow that special piece is discoverable only by you.

Lady Liberty 

5 + 3 = 8

J K S C M

Unearthing words, letters and numbers with personal meanings.  They seem to just rise up to greet you when you go looking through boxes of treasures…

Creative joy is within your grasp as the day winds to a close and you grab a hold and don’t let go.

 

There are trains to be caught, children to be collected, meals to be prepared.  There is a world waiting for us to return.  But every time someone returns from our world back into their world, we know they take with them a piece of this moment in time and a piece of each of us. 

Art is… Family 

Art is…You

“Today was good.
Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.”

22-26 September 2011 - Petaluma, CA

6-11 October 2011 – Danbury, CT

www.art-is-you.com

15-18 March 2012 – Sydney AUSTRALIA

www.art-is-you.com.au