Wasn't that a party?!

Well, if you ever want to laugh until you drop, you just need to go play with the Claresholm Art Club.  They have more fun than is strictly legal, learn at an amazing pace, and keep each other at the top of the game.

The mixed media workshop this past weekend was marvellous.  We covered 21+ techniques, four drying tables (constantly changing), conversational topics that ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime, and the Seniors' Centre from one end to the other with wonderful ephemera, luscious paints, found objects and laughter.

We played with dried leaves and flowers

Dried leaves and flowers to be added to the sandwiches

plastic wrap and paint dropping

'Sandwiches', plastic wraps, gesso paper and medallions

 gel mediums

Washes over gel medium 

and gesso, among other things.

Gesso (or 'brayer' or 'leather') paper

We dripped and splashed and smooshed (and I'm pretty sure someone was throwing paint, because I'm much more colourful than when the weekend started).

Dominique plays with smooshes and drips

 We were intent,

Jeanne painted like a fiend all weekend as she and Meg chatted

and addicted.

Meg may have gotten slightly addicted to the clear tar gel medallion technique

We added metallics to starts and pastes,

Don't these starts/layers make your mouth water?

layered and stamped and played,

Kerry's lovely finish

and some of us actually finished a piece or two.

This may have been Kerry's too (or Shannon's?) - comment below to correct me!

There were more variations on each theme than I considered possible!

Gesso paper samples

Magazine transfers were each uniquely fun.

Magazine photo transfer

 The drying tables were a constantly changing montage of painted/transferred/gelled/wet mat boards.

One of the four tables that were constantly covered with starts, techniques and drying pieces

 Each technique had its own stars...

A lovely diffused plastic wrap technique

 and turned up in a myriad of ways.

Layer upon layer of wonderful experimentation

 As always, workshops energize me, give me tons of ideas, and I learn much more than I could teach.  Thank you to all the participants who so willingly stepped out of the box and into the far reaches of the mixed media universe.  You ladies ROCK!