Paint Something: an e-course

Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone into the unknown and exciting is exactly what you need to move forward in the creative journey. For me, this summer is all about stretching my teaching wings (and computer language) to develop an e-course. I have taken probably 10 e-courses over the years. Maybe more. I love them. I love to learn. In all the courses I've taken away a little of this and a little of that. And now it's my turn to share my radiant self with you!

I still have so much to concentrate on to make everything come together. I can't believe the hours I spent already and the class hasn't even started!  Speaking of starting...there is still time to register! Head over to the website: www.paintsomething.guru for all the lovely deets. I hope to see you there.

Tween Camp..WHimsical Houses Day 2

On the second day of art camp we further explored the Whimsical House theme but went 3-D. Here's a glimpse of this day:

Lunch on the porch both days was a treat. Nobody ever hangs out here with me but the dogs. It was nice to have a pile of teen girls out here with me.

I found this idea on Pinterest...then it turned out to be my art friend V. Originals! She is an amazing artist. I loved sharing her work with my kiddos and inspiring them with her creations.  These are going to be super cute hanging in the girl's rooms. The 3-D wooden houses can either hang or sit on a shelf. Mine is on my art desk already.

Next week is all about long legged birds. I've some fun ideas up my sleeve and some projects evolving as I see how uber talented the group that signed up is! Seriously, I love camp. They ALL want to be here. They are ALL out of the running through the mud school mode (me too). I forget how much school takes creativity out of kids lives. There simply is no time for art anymore. These middle school kids are lucky to get art once for 9 weeks in the year. How can one possibly live a year without art? Right? Which makes my wheels start spinning that maybe I should start offering once a month "open studio" for tweens. Have them come and just make stuff all day. Oh lawsy...here I go again with the ideas.

Today I spent getting ready for camp next week. Friday is my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. 50. 50!!  Good grief. That is amaze balls. So we are having a family gathering here then headed to the LAKE all weekend. I can not wait to get myself in a float in the lake with a beverage of choice. (I have a lake drink love.  It's called dark and stormy....look it up guys. Oh boy is it yummy!) And if the lake is high enough I'll do a little dock jumping (I'll be sure to share a video of that!). Oh boy. This is gonna be a great summer!  Awesome art camps, little Lake trips and eventually sand in the toes. Woohooo!! And of course an e-course!!!!

Tween Art Camp...Whimsical Houses

Tuesday and Wednesday marked the first 2 days of camp for the summer. We had the best time creating in the new space! Both days the girls in attendance were super sweet and crazy creative. Two traits I love in the studio. Magic tends to happen when they all want to be there and they all have creative brains swirling. I think it helps not having school to distract their brains into thinking too left sided. Summer is a chance for the brain to relax and crack wide open to exciting new ideas. Creative ideas!  So here's what we did Tuesday:

He was in the middle of it all ALL freaking day. And Lily just sat under my feet pouting. That's usually her spot. But as soon as I put him down and said sit Lily she'd run off. Such a woman. In this photo he is totally looking down at her mocking.

Oh my girl...I just love watching her create.

I threw the pillow idea in kinda last minute. I had this stack of pre-made canvas pillows that were screaming "paint on me". I finally had a group small enough to use them (And I knew they wouldn't mess them up. Painting on fabric is not easy.) I love the way everything turned out!

In fact, truth be told I didn't want the group above to leave! And we worked until the very last second. Perfect way to spend a day. I was so motivated that Mailey and I made leather wrap cuffs that night. I never make jewelry anymore so it felt good to just make something new. Make something period. HA.

Blog Tour Monday

My Super fun blogging buddy Sandy of Confessions of an Art Class Junkie asked me to join her Blog Tour. And I thought...why not! I met Sandy at Art and Soul in Virginia Beach 3 years ago when I took Mailey as my teaching assistant. She is one of the kindest most generous spirits I know. Thanks for asking me girlie! So here goes the tour:

What am I working on?

Right now I feel like I am running on a hamster wheel. Summer is out which means I can actually get into my studio. But so far all I've done is clean the studio! I also start my Tween workshops this week. I love teaching in my home studio...and why not see here:

This is the newest addition to the basement. My personal studio is through a doorway on the left. I am also working on a custom painting for a gift. And let's see feels like I'm forgetting something. OH YEAH....my first ever E-COURSE!!! I am so excited about this course. Everyday I write little notes of things I need to remember to tell my students online. If you are interested check out the site at www.paintsomething.guru.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Being a whimsical painter is fun because I get to paint hearts, balloons, bikes, campers, flowers, birdies, lots of other happy stuff. As I was discussing this with a workshop attendee this weekend she said you know there are only so many things a whimsical painter can paint so there tends to be a lot of overlapping of ideas out there. I can not disagree with this point. There are a ton of paintings out there of those very things. As a general rule I let the paintings I see that are too similar to mine roll off my back...some get me in the gut don't get me wrong...but everyone has to lay in the bed they make. Catch my drift? But I think my unique way with the brush and ability to compose a painting makes my work stand out. I'm currently working on a large body of work (oopsy shoulda said that in above question) which is making me really think about what I really want to put out into the world as Jenni Horne original work.

Why do I write/create what I do?

Ok first off Sandy's answer about made me pee my pants. She tells no lie in that answer (you guys need to peek. she truly is a GEM!). I create because I HAVE TO. I've been this way my entire life. From setting up a Barbie house as a child....sneaking on Mother's sewing machine....scrapbooking from my 17 magazines as a Teen to teaching myself to paint as an adult I crave learning about all things creative and love to make all sorts of things. Heck the other day I went into Hobby Lobby for ICE resin for a workshop and left with a bag full of stuff to make these leather wrap bracelets my head has been working on while running for a month. I do it because if I don't, I will probably enter a dark hole of depression and never return.

How does your writing/creative process work?

Now that I am working full-time as a teacher I am finding less and less time to create. And yet teaching fills me with such energy. I love planning projects and implementing them with my students. And LOVE how it makes them feel successful as tiny artists! Often my process involves a crazy urge to make...so I sketch at school. While walking around, or I sit with the kids and I sketch out all my crazy ideas. I have a sketchbook for drawings and a "Big Idea" notebook for everything else. That way I never loose a thought. Then when I can carve out time in my studio no time is wasted with, "what do I wanna paint?". Another part of my process is cleaning my studio. I find it therapeutic to clean the space, rearrange and recharge the creative battery so to say. And then I start the making. I also like deadlines and goals. Without those I tend to procrastinate too much. For instance I'm doing another outdoor show in October. I've got plenty of time to map out some weekly goals. So in a nutshell I plan...sketch....implement. Yep

So that's all the questions. I'm tagging my sweet friends that need to blog more....you have ONE week girls.

Tiffin Mills of Linwood Avenue is an amazing jack-of-all-trades. She is a wonderful sewer of all things sewn and after a painting workshop discovered a new love for painting. Her paintings are nostalgic and roamantic paintings with a touch of whimsy. Her attention to details in all aspects of her creative life and as a friend are attributes that admire about her. She's also my left arm at Southern Circle Retreats. You guys will love her gorgeous website.

Joyanne of Joyajewelry is a beautiful soul whose jewelry reflects just this. She takes pieces of time and puts them together as classic pieces of jewelry to wear for years to come. She is a kind and gentle soul I enjoy calling a friend.

Robin Love

This is a custom painting ready to ship off to its new home. I love the deep frames Phillip made me this last time around. Graham Cracker seems to approve too. She kept loving all over it while I was taking photos!

Studio Helpers

Lily was so glad to have me back in the studio in the yellow chair. She loves sitting squished next to me in it while I paint.  That is until.....

Little toot decided he might want to try my lap out in the yellow chair too. She pouted from then on out in the night. Poor Lily. She loves her brother Lawrence so much. But this chair in this studio is her special time with Momma. And he was messing with it. I might keep it our special time. Next time that is.

Around Here Lately

It seems I start every summer out with a little "project". Little. Right. Why I feel the need to reinvent the wheel every year is beyond me! I finally get time to breath but really can't because my creative space was literally suffocating. I totally forgot to take before photos. And should have. Because unless you've been down here you really can't grasp the magnitude of this adventure.

So this summer I'm hosting all my summer workshops down here. As much as I liked hosting the classes in my personal space, I quickly found it didn't work well for transitioning and making art for me. Plus it became a huge dumping ground after Kirkwood. I really can not create until the space is a happy space anyways. Someone recently couldn't believe that as a creative person I crave order. Like being creative automatically means you are messy? I have actually found that most artsy people I know have the same sense of urgency to clean and purge before they are able to really be creative. We may like our stuff, but my stuff is in order!

This was a ladder view of the "tool room". It's a room the entire length of the house but narrow. Prior to this clean out it had on one end my show displays and a bunch of junk(seriously). All the walls but one are sheet rocked already. Here's what I did:
1. painted the 2 ft concrete wall...put some "Great Stuff" in the cracks and still need to trim out(they were outta the wood I wanted for trim)
2. trimmed out the doorway and windows. painted that. hung a piece of vintage trim over window. hung cute curtains.
3. painted all the walls except the one without sheetrock. I need to hire someone to hang it on that wall because I just can't stand the unfinishedness of it. plus I want to hang a white board for teaching.
4. strung twinkle lights
5. vacuumed spiders gallor
6.  hung rainbow tissue paper flowers up
7. cleaned out and took to the dump an entire van full of crap

 This is just half the room. Sorry all the photos are kind of blurry. I think my eyes are going because I thought they were clear until uploaded here! HA

Once this part was in order and ready for my kiddos, I turned to and put my original desk and chair back into the studio in the middle of the basement. I've already been painting too! It feels amazing to have the space back in order. And I can't wait to teach in the other space next week. It gave me plenty of time for the swimming pool with the kids with giant Project #1 checked off the list!

Yeah for order. And clean studios painted sunshine yellow. Actually the color is Pale Honey at Home Depot. It is my favorite yellow ever. And since I bought like 6 gallons of it to paint something somewhere in this house I just keep painting with it. And it's still not gone. One day I want to paint the outside of the house this color. It'd be so pretty yellow!

See ya later in the week with what I've been painting.  Happy Tuesday!