Artfest 2011 Part 4

The last day of Artfest came much too quickly. There were so many things I meant to do before it was over! I guess there is always next year...

I don't have many photos from Saturday. I didn't go out on photo safari in the morning, choosing instead to take my time getting ready for the day, and arriving extra early for my last class - Lynne Perrella's Foreign Intrigue class. We spent the morning getting to know the other attendees, which was a great way for us to bond as artists. Everyone had a story of how they came to be artists and why art was important in their lives. For me, it definitely emphasized the "kindred soul" feeling Artfest has.

In the afternoon, Lynne taught us some painting and oil pastel techniques, then coached us individually with our pieces. This is the largest piece I've ever worked on - it's about 24" x 36", and took up most of my work table. Working in this large format definitely changed how I looked at my collage elements and paint techniques.

One of the class "rules" was not to take photos until the end of the day, so the only photo I have is of my piece as it was at the end of class (still not done, but you can see where it's going). Since we all selected different focal images, everyone's worked looked dramatically different. I wish I had spent more time walking around during class to see what everyone else was doing!
There's still some work to do on it, as you can see by the unpainted areas. I'm going to add some more collage papers too, and then add a dowel to hang it like a scroll. I'll probably add some three-dimensional elements too, like fibers and coins.

Right after class, I joined a group of my friends to head into Port Townsend. We had a lovely Japanese dinner and got to stop by the Artisans on Taylor gallery where Michael de Meng was hosting an artist's reception for some of his Dusty Diablos assemblage works. I've always wanted to see his work in a gallery, so for him to be there hosting made it even more special.

Once we returned to Fort Worden, we had a last hurrah of socializing and sharing our class projects around the dorm. I went to bed with sadness in my heart, knowing that when we woke up, it would be time to go home.