At the end of January, I had the privilege of attending the first Deconstructed Reconstructed art retreat led by Jen Cushman. Jen is one of my all time favorite teachers and this was a new concept. Rather than a class or workshop, where you recreated her project, Jen would lead us through the process of creating our own artwork and telling our story through it.
Our first task was shopping. Yes, really. We went into old town Temecula, CA to scope out some of the antique stores. These are the treasures I found – some wooden clock gears, a tin cookie cutter, a metal funnel for filling lanterns, a wooden thing-a-ma-jig (still don’t know what it is, a metal fan sprayer attachment for a hose, a wooden box, a few antique pictures, and a miniature rolling pin. And those tiny things in the center you can’t really see are miniature copper pots (dollhouse size).
I did begin to put a few of these together – the funnel and one of the clock gears. I added a tiny chair place card holder I had brought from home (we were asked to bring some of our own things to use) and an antique china dog purchased from one of the other attendees. This one is still a work in progress, as yet unfinished.
So Thursday ended with new treasures to inspire me, new friends to encourage me, and new ideas keeping me from falling asleep easily. Next post – Friday and jewelry!
Elizabeth
