Art Biz Coach Workshop

What an informative workshop this past Friday and Saturday with Alyson Stanfield of Art Biz Coach.

It will take me weeks to put into place all the tips I learned!

Posting your Blog to Your FaceBook Page

Just learned how to send my blog entries to Facebook through my RSS feed. Should save me a lot of time because I won't have to post to 2 different places. To see if this actually is working, go to my Facebook page, Melissa Walker, artist and look for this post. This is thanks to Alyson Stanfield of Art Biz Coach who gave a very informative workshop this past weekend. Pictures from the workshop will be coming soon.

State of the Art, Art of the State

I had a whirlwind trip through the east coast of NC this past weekend. It started with a trip to the Cameron Museum to drop off a piece of artwork for the State of the Art, Art of the State exhibit. Over 800 works of art were included by any artist that brought work in during a 24 hour period. The show will be up for 6 months and is a wonderful opportunity for me to exhibit in a new part of the state. My piece is below and is entitled "Afternoon Sail On Broad Creek". It includes nautical charts as well as scraping and stamping techniques in acrylic.

From Wilmington, I traveled to New Bern to drop off several pieces at the New Bern Artworks Gallery on Middle St. I was excited to learn that they will soon be moving to a much larger space on Pollock St. If you happen to be in either New Bern or Wilmington, stop by to see my work!

The Faces of Education

Over 2000 educators came together on May 3 to urge the legislature to keep the one cent sales tax and avoid massive public educaton layoffs and cuts. Keeping the sales tax, along with some much smaller cuts will almost single-handedly wipe out the state budget deficit. To me, it makes no sense that at a time when we need to be most competitive with the rest of the world, some in our legislature is hellbent on destroying public education, one of the main things businesses need to compete. Look at my photos and see all the faces of teachers and assistants who are in education because they truly care about their students, and not because of the money!

see more photos

Chihuly Glass in San Antonio

I was in San Antonio recently for my son and son-in-law's graduation from Air Force BMT. Had the chance to visit the San Antonio Museum of Art, located on the riverwalk. It is a large and beautiful museum and included this work by Dale Chihuly. These are just 2 parts of a large piece hanging from the ceiling. I always enjoy the colors, textures and massiveness of Chihuly's work.

Ten Steps To A Creative Life!

 Just finished sending out my 3rd newsletter, Ten steps to a Creative Life 

I am starting a series of short articles on the steps I have taken to get my artist life back on track. This first step is on "Carving Out Your Space", probably the most important step for me. With each newsletter, I will write about a different step I have taken and how it has helped me as an artist. Please join me on my creative journey by signing up for my newsletter. Join in with comments about your own journey. For those that post comments or pictures of their studio spaces between now and May 30, you will have the chance to win a poster of one of my artworks. Let's get creative!

Such Beauty!

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to see the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. This photo doesn't do it justice since it was taken with my phone. The rainbow stretched from horizon to horizon, completely unbroken and even had a second, very faint rainbow over top of it. You can see it if you look closely. Hope you enjoy this photo!

More New Journals

 Here are 2 more pages from my current journal. This one, when I finish it, will be on display at Barton College this August. I will also be giving a workshop there on journaling as well. More on that later.

First Workshop at Hickory Mountain Weavery

 

 












The weather was beautiful this past Saturday for my first workshop at  the Hickory Mountain Weavery near Siler City. Although I was expecting 5, I had 3 students who made it. A couple were camera shy, but one student was happy to show off his finished paintings. Here is some of the work that was finished.

New Journal Pages

I started these journal pages as a demo for a workshop I gave this past summer. I was showing students how to add a window to their books. Finished them off recently with a couple of different sayings.

Workshop This Saturday!

If you haven't signed up for my collage and paintings workshops this Saturday, Feb 26th, it is not too late. They will be offered at the beautiful Hickory Mountain Weavery between Ramseur and Siler City on Hwy 64. In the morning class we will be creating black, white and grey collages that act as value studies for larger paintings. I will be discussing the importance of value, the rule of thirds and other ideas for an interesting compostion. In the afternoon class we will take several of our studies from the morning, choose color schemes and paint some small color studies. If there is time, you can choose your favorite and paint on a larger scale. Many of these studies will be suitable for framing! Go to the "upcoming workshops" page on my blog to find registration information and a paypal button. All supplies are included. Hope to see you there!