Linda's Review of "Beyond The Imaginarium - A Compendium Of Holiday Merriment" Class

If you follow my Linda's Blog you know that I love taking online arts & crafts classes and could, literally,  spend 24/7 just doing this.  So, for sure I was looking forward to taking two classes at Artful Gathering this year: Artful Gathering 2019 Session 1 "Leonardo Loves Zia" Class taught by Christina Zinnia Galliher and Artful Gathering 2019 Session 2 "Beyond the Imaginarium: A Compendium of Holiday Merriment" Class taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne.

In 2012 I discovered the Artful Gathering online classes and fell in love with them. They offer online art retreats that are available in the Spring and Summer each year that are are taught by some of the most unbelievable and creative artists I have ever encountered and whose creativity is always beyond measure.

In Session 2 of Artful Gathering I decided to take "Beyond the Imaginarium: A Compendium of Holiday Merriment" Class which was being taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne.

Artful Gathering 2019 Session 2 "Beyond the Imaginarium: A Compendium of Holiday Merriment" Class by Mary Jane Chadbourne

According to Mary Jane in this class we were to learn to make, "all sorts of dolls who will help you ring in the holiday season and with plenty of time to not only enjoy the creating, but be ready for the holidays ahead of time!"

"This class will take you to new explorations and learning fun techniques!  The first part of the class will be creating a tall Santa and his Elf….a whimsical pair that compliment each other and put a smile on everyone’s face.  Completed with mixed media adornments and no limit to where these techniques will take you and the creative fun you will have along your journey!  There will be new techniques added in this class, along with some favorites of mine from the original class.

The second part is creating my “Deerly Yours” block dolls.  We will explore techniques in watercolor painting whimsical faces incorporated with collage.  Dressing the “deer girls” will give us the opportunity to work in collage, painting and more mixed media techniques!  Each one is truly different and original….all with carrying a festive holiday message. "

This is the 3rd class I've taken at Artful Gathering taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne.  The first was "ART-S2-307 The Imaginarium: Anthologies of an Art Doll " which I took in 2014 and I reviewed here.  

That class was my first introduction into mixed media and I loved it and Mary Jane's teaching methods so much I decided to take her "Tinytopia & The Magic of Little Things Online Class" class at Artful Gathering in 2015, which I reviewed here.

Mary Jane Chadbourne is an amazing mixed media artist whose classes always provide a lot of fun filled interaction with the rest of the class participants.  They are filled with all sorts of different projects and mixed media and collage methods to try.  Her video's are chock full of instructions and examples of her creations and what she is trying to convey.

Her enthusiasm for teaching and her creations is not only infectious but inspiring.  I always find myself wanting to begin my creations right away.  With 25+ chapters of video instructions to her classes you have to pace yourself and be patient.  For anyone like me in a creative mode this is really had to do....lol  If you're looking for a great class with a lot of student activity you don't want to miss one of Mary Jane Chadbourne's classes.

So, for the past two weeks I have been taking my "Beyond The Imaginarium - A Compendium Of Holiday Merriment with Mary Jane Chadbourne" and blissfully creating away.   This is a delightful mixed media art doll class that had me not only laughing while watching the video's but laughing while I've been creating.  Laughter the whole way through.  What's better than that! Certainly good for one's health! The holiday art dolls that we are making are just too adorable for words.

While it's been a lot of fun it has also been a lot of work.  Mixed media and collage crafting is always a lot of work as there are so many different media and methods to utilize as well as a a lot of different art & craft supplies to take out and go through. My craft area always looks like it's been hit by a bomb when I'm working on a mixed media and collage class.  There are just so many containers of supplies that are needed and which I need to be readily available.  All necessary of course, but a lot none the less.

I've always looked forward to the excellent instructing by all the phenomenal artists that teach at Artful Gathering but, what really makes the classes outstanding is the student and teacher class participation.  That's what makes all the classes so delightful.  This class was filled with a lot of student and teacher participation.

If you want to learn how to make mixed media art dolls, various mixed media projects, mixed media techniques and media, watercolor painting, collage and so much more you should take one of Mary Jane's classes.   What better way to learn mixed media while having a blast than to learn from an extremely gifted and talented master artist.

My Linda's Blog post with more info and pictures of my Santa and Elf art dolls is here.

My Linda's Blog post with more info of my "Deerly Yours" art dolls is here.

My Mixed Media "Deerly Yours" Art Dolls From The "Beyond The Imaginarium" Class

The second part of the "Beyond The Imaginarium - A Compendium Of Holiday Merriment with Mary Jane Chadbourne" was to make her "Deerly Yours" block art dolls.

I had bought Mary Jane's "Deerly Yours" unfinished wood kit as I didn't want to have to cut the wood.  The kit had enough wood to make three tiny art dolls, two of which had reindeer antlers.

In this class she provided several different ways for finishing their faces and one way was to learn how to watercolor them.

I had never drawn faces for dolls on a flat wood surface before let alone watercolor painted them so this was a new experience for me that I was really looking forward to learning.

I have always felt that drawing faces was my weakness and an area I definitely needed a lot of practice with.  So, while I was looking forward to this I was also hesitant as to whether or not I would be able to do it and would be happy with the outcome.

Well, Mary Jane is such an exceptional artist and teacher I had no problem following her detailed, step by step methods for learning how to watercolor paint their faces.  They came out so much better than I had expected they would and I was pleased with them.

As I was drawing and water-coloring each of the faces their little personalities started to develop.  As doll makers know this tends to happen with "dollies" which is why I always say they have minds of their own.

This dolls' face came out reflective and thoughtful so I decided to create a "gentle" theme for her.

This dolls face came out "playful" and a little mischievous so her theme needed to reflect that.

My 3rd "Deerly Yours" doll's face came out a little pensive so her theme definitely needed to reflect. that.

I had so much fun with the faces I can hardly wait to apply the techniques I learned to other ideas that are swirling around in my head now. For a woman who never does anything in moderation that could be a disaster...lol

I tend to favor "Victorian" or floral embellishments for the dolls and crafts I make as well as sponge painting them and did so with all three of these dolls.

I also decided to make them angels as well and embellished wood angel wings from my stash.

My 1st "Deerly Yours" art doll face was reflective and gentle so she needed coloring and embellishments to reflect this.  So I chose a gentle green, nature and floral theme for her.

She loves flowers so they are evident everywhere.

I wanted this doll to be a little Victorian (now why is that ...lol)  with Christmas color floral embellishments so I gave her floral a collage outfit with red paper flowers and wired miniature floral.

I added a "Merry Christmas" sign that I had embossed in gold, silk floral, and floral stencils to her base.

I didn't realize until I took these pictures that some of the embellishments I had added around her wrists had come loose.  Oh, well! I fixed it but decided it wasn't worth it to re-take all the pictures....nah!

My "playful" doll was the 2nd "Deerly Yours" art doll I made.  Since she was a little bit mischievous she needed a color theme to go along with that and red seemed a perfect choice.  While she's playful and mischievous she's also a bit of a tomboy so I also gave her a woodsy theme.

I'm not sure if she's a bit of an imp or wondering if she's going to be caught playing a trick. Definitely a little "devilish" even for an angel.

I'd been saving some tree and reindeer ribbon garland that I had bought years ago and wanted to use.  However, I just never seemed to find the right application for them until now.  What's more appropriate for miniature reindeer antler doll who's a bit of a tomboy than reindeer and woodland ribbon embellishments.  Seemed like a perfect fit to me and I was happy I was finally getting a chance to use them.

 

She really seems to be wondering about something and questioning whether it's worth it..... don't you think? Hmmmmm.........

Even though she's a little woodsy I decided she was still a little "frilly" so I gave her a little Victorian flair and added the pearls to her neck and base.

I added a gold embossed wood sign to the bottom of her dress.

With a blues and pensive theme going on my 3rd 'Deerly Yours" doll was the most decorated of the three art dolls I created.  I decided to add glitter embellishments, Christmas garland, a paper deer and other "blue" Christmas embellishments to compliment her theme.

This art doll is so pensive one has to wonder well she really likes the holidays or not.

Her blue collage outfit is embellished with a star that I embossed with teal powder.

The paper deer was also part of the Christmas gift tag set that I bought while shopping at BJ's close to ten years.  I think the blue reindeer is perfect for this dolls "blue" theme and hope you would agree.

Truth be told I had way too much fun with this class and my mind is swirling with all the possibilities of other dolls and crafts that I could make now utilizing some of the techniques I learned here.  Oh, the possibilities.......

My Mixed Media Santa and Elf From The "Beyond The Imaginarium" Class

In Session 2 of Artful Gathering this year I decided to take "Beyond the Imaginarium: A Compendium of Holiday Merriment" Class which was being taught by Mary Jane Chadbourne.

We were to learn how to make mixed media holiday art dolls.  Well, for me, all you have to do is whisper holiday and art dolls and my ears perk up. Plus, I had taken two of Mary Jane's classes before and knew they would be a lot of fun.

I had decided to buy two of Mary Jane's art doll wood kits that were available for this class as I didn't want to have to cut the wood myself.  One of the wood kits had the unfinished wood pieces to make the Santa and Elf Doll and the other had the unfinished wood pieces needed to make the three "Deerly Yours" dolls.

The doll pictured above is the Santa mixed media art doll that I made. He took a long time to make as I had to find a graphic face that would be suitable for his size and had to re-size it several times until I was happy with the size.

After that I needed to decide on the different papers I would use for his outfit and what other embellishments I was going to add. I knew I wanted to make a festive but somewhat Victorian type of Santa..... now why would that be!

As a result my Santa ended up with some fancy lace trim on the bottom of his motif fabric vest and hem of his sleeves. I also added a flowery shirt.  All in all definitely Victorian.....

He also ended up with sponge painted arms to match his sponge painted back.  What would one of my creations be without some sponge painting.....lol

The wood glasses came with the wood kit and I painted them with a gold metallic paint.  I wanted to differentiate between the white of his beard, hair, hat trim and pom-pom so I applied streaks of gold and white metallic paint.

As you know I just love creating holiday dolls and crafts utilizing the word "Joy."  Well, close to ten years while shopping at BJ's I found a set of adorable 3D type paper Christmas gift tags.  One of those was a paper wreath with the word "joy" suspended in the middle of the wreath.

Instead of using this set as gift tags I had decided to save them and use them for my craft purposes.  They were really adorable and you just never know what you are going to use when crafting.  So, I've been holding on to them and the "joy" wreath seemed perfect for my Santa to hold in his arms.

I wanted him to appear to be holding the wreath in his clay arms and hands and to also make it seem like it was suspended away from his body.  So, I added holes to my Santa's clay hands so I could affix the back of the wreath to a piece of wire.  To keep the wreath away from his body I glued flat wood green circles 1/4" thick to the back of the wreath and then glued them to his body.

I decided to emboss two wood signs, "peace and be jolly" I had bought and glued them to the bottom of his body and added Christmas floral embellishments and paper banner to his base.

I laughed my way through creating my Santa and find myself laughing every time look at him.  I don't have to be reminded to "be jolly" as he provides all the "jolly" anyone needs.

My 2nd doll took a long time to make for the same reason the Santa did.  I had to find a graphic face that would be suitable for his size and had to re-size it several times until I was happy with the size.

I love fiber embellishments and wanted to add these type of embellishments to my elf.  So, I added fibers to his hat, alpaca hair, and a cheery fiber filled scarf.  I painted wood square glasses I had with gold paint and glued them to his face.  I also had a pair of paper leaves that I thought would look cute on his hat so I added them and painted them with a teal green paint.

He also ended up with sponge painted arms to match his sponge painted back. You know I can't resist creating something without some sponge painting.....lol

The set of adorable 3D type paper Christmas gift tags set that I found years ago while shopping at BJ's also had a paper wreath with sequins.  Instead of using this set as gift tags I had decided to save them and use them for my craft purposes.  They were really adorable and you just never know what you are going to use when crafting.  So, I've been holding on to them and the sequin wreath seemed perfect for my Elf to hold in his arms.

I wanted him to appear to be reluctantly holding the sequin wreath in his clay arms and hands and to also make it seem like it was suspended away from his body.  So, I added holes to my Elf's clay hands so I could affix the back of the wreath to a piece of wire.  I didn't want to see the wire across the center of the wreath so I added a paper "believe" sign I had created to the center and glued the wire across the back of it.  For the back and front of the areas of the wire that would be showing I added Christmas decorative fiber ribbon.  I added enough wire to the sides of the wreath so it looked like it was suspended away from his body, albeit reluctantly, but suspended none the less.

Multiple miniature Christmas decorations were added to his base as well as a "Believe In The Magic Of Christmas" paper sign.

I laughed my way through creating my Elf and find myself laughing every time look at him.  I just love the look on his face.  He doesn't know whether to be happy or overwhelmed by the amount of work he has to do at the holidays.  He certainly is tired of holding up his sign...  Maybe he needs to be reminded to "believe" himself.  Shall we ask him?

Linda's Review of The Artful Gathering "Leonardo Loves Zia" Class By Christina Zinnia Galliher

If you follow my Linda's Blog you know that I love taking online arts & crafts classes and could, literally,  spend 24/7 just doing this.  So, for sure I was looking forward to taking two classes at Artful Gathering this year.

In 2012 I discovered the Artful Gathering online classes and fell in love with them. They offer online art retreats that are available in the Spring and Summer each year that are are taught by some of the most unbelievable and creative artists I have ever encountered and whose creativity is beyond measure.

Artful Gathering was established in 2009 by Christina Zinnia Galliher, who is an exceptional artist in her own right.   For the first time this year I decided to take one of Christina's Zinnia's classes,  "Leonardo Loves Zia" and could hardly wait.  

Artful Gathering 2019 Session 1 "Leonardo Loves Zia" Class by Christina Zinnia Galliher

In this class we were to learn how to manipulate paper to create two totally handmade sculptured jesters.  According to Zinnia; "My goal is to answer the question, how can we create our own sculpts and art works from every day materials, simplifying the processes as to how to express our ideas out of paper, clay, and glues before we paint them into works of art. The purpose is to engage our imagination by limiting the quantity of items we will work with. This is truly the nature of play, which leads to discovery and the potential for many new doors to open in your artwork."

Zinnia certainly did all of that and more in this class.  Zinnia is a fabulous teacher and provides extremely detailed instructions in her videos and makes any class by her a "must do."  There is so much to learn and so many different projects to try she extended the class for the whole summer, which I and the rest of the class loved.  So, much more time for creating.

If you want to learn how to manipulate paper, sculpt in various textures, learn how to use and embellish watercolor paints, blend different types of paints, embellish glass, collage everything from clay to wood to glass, create pedestal busts, create armatures, make and embellish paper hats in several different styles, learn a variety of mixed media techniques, and blend everything you've learned together this is the class for you.

It took me a long time to create all four of my jesters, paper flowers, and collage vases as there is so much involved with their creation so if you want to take this class, which you should, you will need to reserve a lot of time to watch the video's and follow Zinnia's techniques.  What you learn and the end result is well worth the amount of time required to learn everything there is to learn in this class and to create your jesters, flowers, and embellished vases.

I've always looked forward to the excellent instructing by all the phenomenal artists that teach at Artful Gathering but, what really makes the classes outstanding is the student and teacher class participation.  That's what makes all the classes so delightful.  This class was filled with a lot of student and teacher participation.

The "Leonardo Loves Zia" class was structured around a love story and Zinnia's creations beautifully told that story.  A truly remarkable class that I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn from a master artist.

My Linda's Blog post with more info and pictures of my 1st set of "Leonardo and Zia" art dolls is here.

My Linda's Blog post with more info and pictures of my 2nd set of  "Leonardo and Zia" art dolls is here.

My Linda's Blog post with more info and pictures of my paper flowers and collage vases from my "Leonardo Loves Zia" class is here.

My Artful Gathering Paper Flowers and Collage & Embellished Vases

Not only do I love doll making but I also love creating floral crafts so while taking the "Leonardo Loves Zia" online class in the first session at Artful Gathering I was thrilled to see that we were going to learn how to manipulate paper to not only create two totally handmade sculptured jesters but also how to create paper flowers in embellished and collage vases to add to the romantic story of our jesters.

So, for the last week I have been doing just that and have to tell you that I have been having a lot of fun.  Of course, I didn't quite follow the course and instructions.  I never seem to but, I did utilize what I learned in this class as well as other techniques I've learned or picked up over the years.

Shown in the picture above is the 2nd group of jesters I made with their matching flowers and collage & paper-clay embellished vases.

Shown in the picture above is the 1st group of jesters I made with their matching flower and collage & paper-clay embellished vases.

It should come as no surprise that my paper flowers and vases were all sponge painted as I just love to paint  that way and most of my creations end up with some sort of sponge painted item...lol

It should also come as no surprise that most of my flowers and vases were blue or a complimentary color to blue.  Could that be because blue is my favorite color.  Nah........

The vases that I added paper collage and paper-clay embellishments to were clear colored, small vases.

I didn't collage or embellish the vase, shown in the picture above, as it was much larger and the colors perfectly suited what I had in mind for this vase so I left it as is.  It worked perfectly for the paper flowers I made for it. and looks great on my kitchen table.  Of course, my sister keeps giving me hinks that this would make a perfect Christmas gift.... hint, hint....lol

When I saw the 7"  tall, skinny, clear glass base above I knew it would be perfect for something I wanted to do.  Our beloved Kim was an artist and loved crafting as well.  I know she would have loved taking all the different classes at Artful Gathering and would especially enjoy the "Leonardo Loves Zia" class so I decided to make something for her. 

I thought a purple embellished vase with a single purple lily would be perfect and decided to collage and paint the vase above purple and to paper-clay the bottom and paint it with complementary purple colors.  Since this class didn't teach you how to make paper lily's I figured out how to do it myself and fashioned a paper lily together.  Then I sponge painted it purple colors that would compliment the vase.

I made the stamens out of brown paper and used green floral wire for the filament. I made the stem out of green scrapbook paper and made sure it was thick enough to stand in the vase alone.  I was pleased with the way it turned out and know Kim would have loved it as well.

I always like to experiment and try different things with some of the techniques I've learned over the years either from classes I've taken or things I've taught myself and thought it would be fun to combine my love of floral crafts with some of these techniques.

So, I went through several books with pictures of flowers to find some of my favorite flowers, like Dahlia's, Sunflowers, Black-Eyed Susan's, Shasta Daisies and Cone-flowers to see if I might be able to figure out how to create paper flowers for some of them.

I also like creating holiday and seasonal crafts for the techniques I'm working with and decided large poinsettia's like the one shown in the picture above would be pretty during the holidays.  I wasn't sure how to fashion the little stamens and filament in the middle as I needed to support my large poinsettia petals somehow so I decided to just add bronze beads to the large round center I had fashioned out of paper-clay.  It's works and looks somewhat like a poinsettia so I was happy.  I need to make another one or, maybe two, to fit it properly within this vase so, hopefully, I can do that in the next few weeks.

I'm still undecided as to whether or not to collage this vase.  The bubbles in the bottom and curved glass columns might be problematical for collage so I probably will leave it just as it is. Plus, it's a festive green in color and is pretty all by itself.

I had a lot of fun collaging and embellishing the little glass vases.  Way too much fun!  For me that can be very dangerous as I never do anything in moderation so I could easily get carried away and make way too many....lol

I hope you like my paper flowers and collage & embellished vases.  For sure I do....