the AWESOME opportunity to take a class
IN REAL LIFE with the
fabulous, oh-so-talented, [and humble]
Junelle Jacobson.
I signed up for this amazing event over five months
ago -
I wasn’t disappointed.
[I can’t get enough of this favorite little owl of mine]
Throughout
this post I’ll be sharing bits of the art we created during the weekend
[partially so Junelle’s mom can see that we DO finish things… lol]
I absolutely adore how Junelle
brings her faith to her art – how she weaves in her relationship with
God to the pages / projects she creates [and inspires us to create as
well!]
It
was so precious when she was a bit overwhelmed
with all of us fan-girls
taking her photo as she started our class—
[BUT WE WERE THRILLED TO BE
THERE!!]
Then Donna came back in the classroom and joined in the fun.
I know I’ve shared more than once that I
think Junelle is a wonderful art teacher – when I take her on-line
classes it really does feel like she’s sitting right beside me showing
me how to sketch each little piece of something and add water
colors or paint and papers, then splatters or ink to give it that
perfectly imperfect, finished look.
She opened a whole new aspect of
art when she taught me the basics of water-color – love that. I also
REALLY LOVE her whimsical take on sketching and water
colors and art in general. It’s taken me back to what I’ve always
loved to do and help me make it better [I hope -]
So, anyway, I hopped on a plane and took off to Charlotte , NC
all by myself one Thursday afternoon…
[Was THRILLED] to meet one of my
bestest friends from college for breakfast the next day – It was just so wonderful to sit down and catch up on each others' lives.
And
I LOVED the little town we met in [Statesville], although, I think the
guy who took our photo had had a little too much caffeine [we met at a
coffee shop!]
Our bad for not checking it before we left…
Then
I headed over to the Donna Downey Studios – I’ve taken classes with
Donna before [first back in 2008 in Chantilly, VA – then at her Inspired
Event in 2009 – then at scrapbook stores in Georgia – and most recently
[only – NOT] at Spark,
in Utah, during 2011.]
I’m always inspired by her art and how she’s so
willing to take risks and try new things
[and put in the work to become
proficient at it too!]
So let me just say – HER STUDIO IS AWESOME.
And
for $10 / day you can go and create there
using all of her goodies!!
I wish it were closer to home!!!
And even though we are very different -
I think she’s a hoot.
Soooooo ----
Junelle
started us out teaching us how to sketch basic spring things – lol
–
the name of the class was “Letting Our Inner Gardens Grow” –
So it
was definitely garden themed…
From sketches she walked us through some
basic water color
techniques – LOVE.
Then we started our art journals…
I chose a little
square book by Max Lucado
and hoped to use some of the quotes in it as
part of my art…
What says spring more than forsythia and redbud trees?
[A total copy from an on-line friend – Thanks Rene – yours is better!!]
Once
they were ready she walked us through different ideas for the pages
inside. Junelle was very hands-on and walked around our little group and
offered praise and assistance as needed. We used water color and
acrylic [and anything else
we wanted from The DD Studio] to make our pages come alive. And since
I’m still grieving my mama’s death
as well as the recent loss of my
cousin, you can see that some of my pages reflect that as well as the goodness of God
[even when I don’t understand His ways…]
And yes,
you can see that I’m still working on some pages…
Of
course, we had to do a lamb or two – always SO FUN.
I’ve not decided on
the verse / journal / quote for this one yet.
And Junelle suggested we
try a black background
[the ‘Timeless, Boundless Love’ was in the book
already –]
I covered the insides of my book with the paper
our sandwiches were wrapped in – lol – I loved that newspaper print!
[Remember I used it for the bird’s nest on this page as well --
it's a favorite page of mine -]
And I incorporated some of my travel stuff and stamps from Donna’s studio –
with hand-drawn flowers...
And drew one on my girls with the song –
I Need Thee Every Hour Most precious Lord… I need thee – HOW I need
thee… every hour I need thee…
So meaningful to me right now...
Then finished up with another of
Donna’s stamps – quote in the book
and a little water color bird flying
free from its cage…
I love this little book that depicts a bit of
where I am, right now, in my life.
And I love that this art
is just for me –
there’s just something special about creating just for
me –
although, I hope you’ve enjoyed it too.
Maybe it’s given you some
ideas of things you can do?
For
the front cover [which I ALWAYS do last for some reason] I decided to use one of
Junelle’s quotes [from a photo I took of it --] – in her own handwriting [which is beautiful, btw.]
I’ll share more about the weekend in a couple of days –
Side
Note: I attended one of Donna’s Inspired Events a few years back, so I
was aware of the attention to detail that she and Bill give to each
person attending, and this little weekend was no exception. They are THE
MOST WONDERFUL HOSTS
and will do whatever it takes to make you feel special. Her mama makes
the best lunches and they offer whatever your little heart desires in
the way of candy, drinks, and goodies. As I said before we had access to
tons of products in the classroom – and she
has a WONDERFUL store where we could purchase just about everything we
used so we could continue to play with it once we got home.
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