Upcoming Workshops


If you missed out on one of our recent workshops or presentations, don't fret. We have some opportunities coming up this summer and fall with Art Unraveled in Phoenix and Art and Soul in Virginia Beach. We hope that you can join us!

Join us in August in Phoenix, AZ for two workshops at Art Unraveled.


Good friend, Sam Peck will also be teaching at Art Unraveled.




If the desert in August doesn't appeal to you join us on the beach in late September at Art and Soul in Virginia Beach, VA. We'll be teaming up with Sam and teaching the entire week.

We hope that you can join us for one or more of these awesome workshops!

Splotch Monsters Invade Old Ox Brewery


Last night, I had a fun evening attending an artist's reception for my dear friend Steve Loya at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, VA. Steve has been one of my best friends for nearly 25 years, and we met as freshmen at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania back in the Fall of 1991 as art education majors. Several years after moving to teach in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia, I convinced Steve to apply for a teaching position in Loudoun, and he was able to quickly find a job teaching art at one of Loudoun's many elementary schools.

I have really enjoyed watching Steve grow as an artist over the years. Like many art teachers, Steve got disconnected from his art the first few years of teaching, but he has since dedicated himself to getting back into his art. His series of Splotch Monsters is just one form that his art has taken, and he put many of them on display at Old Ox.


For the reception, Steve even brought some pre-made splotches and encouraged folks to add their own details to convert them into monsters. If you're in the Ashburn area, make certain to check out Steve's work. It will be hanging through May.


Congratulations, Steve!

Fodder


fodder, noun
1. something fed to domestic animals; especially: coarse food for cattle, horses, or sheep
2. inferior or readily available material used to supply a heavy demand, i.e. fodder for tabloids

While cleaning up the studio the other day, I realized that I have an inordinate amount of fodder stockpiled in the studio in bins and trays and in piles and heaps. With all of my recent travels, I've collected even more fodder, so I decided to sort through some of it and use it in my multiple journals. Along with starting this two-page spread, I added fodder to my shared journal with Sam Peck, a small journal that Erin Keane made for me, and another large journal that I am currently wrapping up. It was good to have a big old glue session tonight in the studio.

I've got to make a better effort to glue in the fodder as I collect it.

Studio Clean Up


Now that my recent bout of traveling is done, I can focus on the next big thing, the Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour which happens the weekend of June 18 & 19. Though it's a couple months away, I need to get busy making some art, and getting the studio ready for visitors.


The first step is to clean up the studio a bit so that I have some room to work, so I spent some time tonight cleaning and organizing. It's amazing what happens to accumulate in the studio over the months, and I have the habit of simply moving piles around. The studio has become quite cluttered, so I began the preliminary process of sorting and organizing, and hopefully I'll soon have a functioning studio again with space to work.