itsajoyful Life: Art and Soul Part 2

****This is part 2 of my adventures at Art and Soul for the full story please read part 1 first.***

On the second day we took Leighana Light's Vintage metal treasure deck class. She is also a delightful person and always had something positive to say to everyone about the piece they were working on. I didn't finish my deck because I got all caught up with cutting a hole in the middle of one of my cards and that took a while. I think most people made their's more simple in an effort to get it done but I'm never one to follow rules. lol

Here is what I have so far, they are supposed to be all chained together with dodads and found objects when complete. I very much enjoyed the "rusting" process and my plan is for a "Mermaid" themed deck... one of my favorite muses:

Ephemera goodies she gave us, the metal before and after rusting and the two cards I managed to finish.

Other side of cut card:

(Oh and I should probably mention that these Mermaids are from Alpha Stamps. I can honestly say they are my favorite mermaid images to date so I use them all the time. )

That night we took Susan Lenart-Kazmers Uncommon Objects in Tassels and Fringe. Neither of us had ever made jewelry before so I was fairy proud of myself for making this funky ring.

We learned how to use all the jewelry tools, metal punches, jewelry saw, torch, drill, patina and all the other tools I was afraid of using before taking her classes.

The following morning we took her Objects and Elements: creating Talisman jewelry class.

I was glad to have the full day with her to reinforce the things we had quickly learned the night before. I have a fairly good start on my bracelet and I made the chain myself link by link using copper wire that had been flattened, twisted, and finally dipped in patinia. And I think I only need around 50 or so more charms to finish it. LOL

Everyone had the night free to attend vendor night which was an amazing feast of cool vintage stuff to buy and art work by all the teachers. Here are some goodies I picked up:

The last Day My Mom and I split up and she took another Sally Jean class "the Girls got Gothic, a Gothic arch pendant class" and I took Morpheus box: A transformation chamber with Micheal deMeng.

I gotta say I am a big fan of Micheal's and was a bit intimidated walking into his class. After a few minutes though I was set at ease by his charm and witt. One of the things I loved so much about this retreat was how laid back and accessible everyone was. You bumped elbows with the teachers all the time at meal times or in the elevators and at cocktail hour everyone came down to chat and talk about what they had made in class that day. We all become friends at the end of the retreat and I can't wait to see everyone again next year.

My box is unfinished as it was again a generous project to tackle in one day but this was probably my favorite class at the retreat. Not only did Micheal share his recipes for making his trade mark paints but he also held critique at the end of the class that really brought me back to my college art class days. BTW, you may think that your using Dioxazine Purple and Red Iron Oxide but according to Micheal they are really called "goofy grape" and "serial killer red". What a cool guy. :)

The idea is that when finished the middle block will spin and show different images. The theme for mine was sort of a peep or burlesque show. The frame is made from rulers and the keys are hanging on a part of an old horse bit. There are words carved into the paint and the buttons represent the fancy gowns worn by these women. Obviously it has a long way to go with paint and the addition of images on the center block. It is very dark right now and I may decide to change that later.