Well, it had to happen ~ the BIG birthday! What fun I had! One of my oldest friends took me to a late Mexican lunch on Thursday….I took all of Friday off to shop (blissfully spending gift cards left and right), a lovely lunch with hubby ~ whose birthday it was as well ~ then on to a laugh-filled dinner at a favorite spot. The day was full of lots of birthday wishes and singing over the phone from far and wide, including one all the way from St. Helena (fly speck island off the coast of South Africa). And, a special handmade card from art-buddy Carol Eldridge arrived in the mail. The pic was from the Atlanta Gift Show last month.
Saturday morning Captain Hubby & I drove through early morning fog to Mt. Dora where Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch’s 2-day encaustic workshop was being held in the historic Lakeside Inn. I had been looking forward to this for weeks.
The smell of wax filled the air as soon as I entered the inn. Trish had several stations all set up and ready for us to get to work after some demonstrations.
Trish was a great teacher with a cute sense of humor. She shared so much information, I am pretty sure we all left on overload. I was a little overwhelmed by it all the first day, but I was quite happy to get in there and PLAY ~ can you tell by that big grin on my face?
On the second day, Trish took us outside to show us how fire, shellac and various other supplies plus fire created cool effects. This is Trish saying, “I love to burn this much!” (Honestly, I have no idea what she’s saying here, LOL)
Look at the difference a little shellac & fire makes…
And burning wood glue ~ how cool is that??
Yup, this woman is very happy with a torch in her hands….
When I attend a workshop, I go in chanting to myself “Don’t make it precious, don’t make it precious” to remind myself to just play with the supplies, the techniques, the tools, the process ~ NOT try to make a finished piece I am going to be happy with ~ this is time for exploration and play ~ not pressure. And, to be sure, I created a pile of pieces during this workshop ~ mostly crap, but I learned something from each and every one of them.
That being said, I did kind of like a couple of them…
All in all, it was a marvelous workshop and I had a brilliant time. Special thanks to Heather Earnest (whose Bday it also was that weekend) for bringing much-needed mixed-media fun to our area! And thank YOU Trish, for coming all the way over to our side of the country!
But wait ~ there’s more! The fun didn’t stop there! Saturday night, my art buddy Joyce Shelton and her hubby jazz drummer extraordinaire, Eddie, joined Captain BDay Hubby and me for dinner at the coolest place ~ the Goblin Market.
Isn’t this just the cutest idea for a doorstop?
Joyce had all sorts of surprises, in addition to fun pressies, she brought a tiara for me to wear, decorated a special glass with beads….(that’s her modeling one of Carol Edlridge’s Woozies)…
After drinks, many good laughs and an excellent dinner, the night rounded up with a chocolate cake that she brought, complete with a candelabra full of birthday candles! Wasn’t that just the bomb?? Thank you, my friend for making me feel so very special on my “big” day :-)
