Inspired Art 2010: A Great 3 Days

Flying to North Carolina, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Having only attended Artiscape in the past, I knew there would be some fundamental differences. Donna Downey's Inspired Art experience was beyond my expectations! Excellent hotel and convention center, friendly hosts and crew of volunteers, Artists who taught with their hearts and souls....supplying attendees with their knowledge and QUALITY supplies and examples.....WOW!

Limited to 250 students, attendees were divided into six groups with friends being grouped together. The event began with a day of mini-workshops, followed by our "core classes", three 3-hr classes each day for the next two days.

• Cha-Cha necklaces were created, using our handmade UTEE beads and an assortment of complementary beads and baubles
• Life is Beautiful recycled art journals made us get outside our comfort zones
• Vintage ephemera art journal covers were personalized with lots of experimental techniques
• Powertex sculptures had everyone wary, but extremely pleased with the experience as well as their completed "lady"
• Encaustic wax and beeswax were experimented with collage and powders thrown into the mix
• Glass mosaics were created over colorful paintings and inspiring words

Friday night's dinner included a "raffle", where Donna drew 26 names and allowed all the "winners" to choose a prize from a bowl. She told everyone there was a trip for 2 back to Inspired 2011 in the bowl. My name was called third from last....and I won the seats for next year's Inspired!

The final night featured a keynote delivered by Stacy Julian. She was truly inspirational, and referred to one of my recent favorite books: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin. I could truly relate to everything she said.

My favorite moments? Meeting Pam Garrison and C.D. Muckosky and enjoying their classes, and spending time with a good friend who's a fellow artist AND veterinary practice manager. My "unexpected" favorite moment was a mini-workshop by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler. Her most recent  book, Very Washington DC: A Celebration of the History and Culture of America's Capital City is a must-have if you'll be traveling to our nation's capital anytime soon. Travel journaling  is something I had never thought about before taking this fun workshop.

Since I'll be returning to Inspired 2011, I'll have to lobby for a friend, who I think would be a perfect fit for this event: Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch. She would be a wonderful addition to next year's line-up of core classes! Her book, Encaustic Workshop: Artistic Techniques for Working with Wax is my recommendation for working with encaustic mediums.

Live the dream:) Brenda