Elizabeth St. Hilaire

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Holiday Travel Blog

January 12, 2016 By Elizabeth St. Hilaire Leave a Comment

My brother Chris and I at my family home in Massachusetts ©fancy iPhone photography

My brother Chris and I at my family’s home in Massachusetts ©fancy iPhone photography

My brother got me this awesome T-shirt. ©fancy iPhone photography

My brother Alan got me this T-shirt to remind me there’s no place like home. ©fancy iPhone photography

Homeward and Onward

This holiday season was a lot of travel. I took the kids and hit the road for Massachusetts on December 23. It was so nice to spend Christmas with my amazing kids and my awesome Massachusetts family. Being one of five kids (and the only one living outside the Great State of Massachusetts), it’s not all that often that I wind up with my siblings all in one place anymore. This year not only were all the St Hilaire kids together, but all the St. Hilaire grandkids were together too, what a treat for my parents. In case you missed it, my previous blog post was all about Family Holiday Traditions and how they evolve over the years.

Spending time with family nourishes the soul. ©fancy iPhone photography

Spending time with family and keeping up the business from the road. ©fancy iPhone photography

Me and the famous Pokey Bolton in her brand new Napa studio. ©fancy iPhone photography

Me and the famed Pokey Bolton in her brand new Napa, CA art studio. ©fancy iPhone photography

California Girls

After Christmas, my kids went with their Dad to visit their New Jersey Nelson clan and I headed off to California to teach for Pokey Bolton (founder of Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors magazines) in her new venture: Craft Napa.  While in Northern California I also took the opportunity to spend some quality time with the new man in my life.

Andrew took me to see the new Tarantino film “Hateful 8” in full 70mm at the old Tower Theatre, and we enjoyed the Tower Cafe for dinner. We toured some older Sacramento neighborhoods, made crock pot chili, went to the gym, had British Pub Bruch at the Fox and Goose, and took in some artists studios at the Art House Gallery and Studios. 

A little bit of home on the road.

Andrew and I at a Blick brick and mortar store in Sacramento, what a treat! ©fancy iPhone photography

Andrew and I at a Blick brick and mortar store in Sacramento, what a treat! ©fancy iPhone photography

Three full days of collage workshop fun in the Pinot room at the Embassy Suites. ©fancy iPhone photography

3 days of collage workshop fun in the Pinot room at the Embassy Suites. ©fancy iPhone photography

Mixed Media Madness

I was honored to be asked by Pokey to be a part of the ground floor of her mixed media workshop/retreat when she called last summer. I watched Pokey put together professional marketing including awesome graphic design and a killer website, as well as to gather up some of the best mixed media teachers in the country.

Again, honored to be included.

Tons of fun at Craft Napa! ©fancy iPhone photography

Tons of fun at Craft Napa! ©fancy iPhone photography

Pokey rounded up teachers from across the country to teach at Craft Napa. ©fancy iPhone photography

Pokey rounded up teachers from across the country to teach at Craft Napa. ©fancy iPhone photography

The three-day retreat not only included nationally know instructors, it also included evening events like wine blending/team building, an artists market with silent auction to benefit a local kids with cancer charity, a visit to Pokey’s new art studio, a fantastic hosting venue, and of course, coffee, tea, and sweets every morning and afternoon.

Oh! And a Bernina sewing machine GIVEAWAY that made one lucky student dance for joy when her name was drawn. Truly a top notch event.

Wine blending / team building. ©fancy iPhone photography

Wine blending / team building. ©fancy iPhone photography

A two-hour lunch every day allowed us to explore downtown shops such as The Roost. ©St-Hilaire

2-hour lunch allowed us to explore downtown shops like The Roost. ©fancy iPhone photography

Lunching in downtown Napa. ©fancy iPhone photography

Lunching in downtown Napa. ©fancy iPhone photography

Don’t Miss It!

If you missed Craft Napa this year, get on the website and start planning for next year, I imagine it’s only going to get bigger and better.

Hand painting papers to use in collage. ©St-Hilaire

Hand painting papers to use in collage. ©St-Hilaire

Concentration. ©St-Hilaire

Concentration. ©St-Hilaire

Hand painted collage papers. ©fancy iPhone photography

Fruits of our paint slinging labor. ©fancy iPhone photography

 Collage Workshop

My class in Napa is the same three-day workshop that may eventually come to a town near you. I start my Paper Paintings Collage Workshop with a presentation on collage technique, ripping and gluing, composition, color, and value (shading). After the classroom work, I demonstrate many collage paper painting techniques. We cover resists, additive and subtractive mark making, and everyones favorite, Gelli plate printing. The students then have a day and a half to experiment with stamping, staining, brushing, printing, pushing and pulling color on purchased and found papers. This is (almost) everyone’s favorite part.

So many terrific apples! ©St-Hilaire

So many terrific apples! ©St-Hilaire

Ripping and gluing. ©St-Hilaire

Ripping and gluing. ©St-Hilaire

I create a demo piece in every class to give students an example to learn by. ©St-Hilaire

I create a demo piece in every class to give students an example to study. ©St-Hilaire

On the afternoon of day two I demonstrate ripping and gluing via the “Small Apple Exercise” which teaches students how to give a simple shape (the sphere) volume and dimension through directional tearing and shading. We also look at eliminating white edges, gluing papers down flat, and transitional papers.

When the gluing begins, the room goes quiet. Hours of flinging paint have given way to focused concentration. All you can hear now is the sound of paper tearing to the rhythm of jazzy tunes emanating from my Jambox.

Show and Tell is low pressure and high learning. ©St-Hilaire

Show and Tell is low pressure and high learning. ©St-Hilaire

Proud painter! ©fancy iPhone photography

Proud painter! ©fancy iPhone photography

We complete the class with what I call “Show and Tell” which sounds much nicer than a “Critique” (which I had to endure endlessly in art school). In here we focus on what works, suggestions on how to make things better, and the knowledge we can all gain from each other’s apple collage.

I create a demo piece in every class to give students an example to learn by. ©St-Hilaire

I create a demo piece in every class to give students an example to learn by. ©St-Hilaire

Saying Goodbye

It’s always bittersweet when the class comes to a close. Folks come from far and wide to learn with me, this week in Napa was no exception. I was honored to have ladies in attendance from Maine, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Names, emails, and Facebooks were exchanged, along with big heartfelt hugs. Travel often requires a few folks to start their re-entry a little early on the last day. Some stay until the bitter end… not wanting to pack up their torn paper tidbits a minute too soon.

Time to lay off the afternoon sweets and coffee. ©fancy iPhone photography

Time to lay off the afternoon sweets and coffee. ©fancy iPhone photography

A Return to Reality

As I write this, I am beginning my own re-entry, in flight from Houston to Orlando on the second leg of my transcontinental flight. I am thankful for in-flight wi-fi and my MacBook Air, which fits nicely on the seat back tray table. There’s even room for an airline sized cup of coffee (cream, no sugar).

I’ll be a homebody for a little while now. Spending time with my kids, the dogs, and in the studio, until March when things get crazy again pretty quickly. Look forward to my being one of the Wekiva Paint Out Plein Air Event artists in the beginning of the month. Yes, paper tidbits in the wind. Should be interesting.

I’ll also have a solo show exhibition with opening reception at the Stone Soup Gallery in Key West. I’ll be teaching for Binders Art Supply in Charlotte, NC as well as teaching in Amelia Island, FL at the local art center. In-between there is at least one dance competition and a regatta.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thank you for being
a part of my
Art Journey,
Elizabeth

IMG_4048

Connections

For a complete listing of Paper Paintings WORKSHOPS
To take my Collage Workshop ONLINE
To Join me for an ITALY WORKSHOP this June
To Purchase Collage BOOKS and DVDs

Filed Under: My Musings

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