My first big retreat in Portland was incredible.

I was in Portland for Art and Soul in October and roomed will the super fun and talented Jill Berry. I taught two classes, My Fabric Book Class and Fabric Collage.  You can go to to see all the great student samples from the class.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fractured-Angelics-Kate-Thompson/213204992183#!/media/set/?set=a.10151918618177184.1073741826.213204992183&type=1
I just love how different every piece came out. I look forward to going back to Portland in April and doing it all again.
As far as my art journey goes I did this portrait after taking Misty Mawn's class. I really focused on the lighting to created the values. I worked only in acrylics. Acrylics were always a struggle for me because of the fast drying element. I moved away from acrylics and created my own media using reinkers and watercolors and mixed them with acrylic paint. But I wanted to try again a portrait just using acrylics. I think I am going to have to do some more because I really love working with them now.

But of course I went back to my beloved watercolors and fabric and worked on a couple of new pages in my Fabric Book. I was so inspired by the class I taught I needed to add some more work. I will never sell this book. It really is like my art journal and journey and experiments...always including a beloved piece of lace or fabric.

I am also experimenting using a palette knife to create textures and folds in the blouse of this girl. Palette knives are really wonderful and great mark making tool.

I worked on a couple of fabric collages since I sold about 10 pieces this month....thank you God....my inventory is low which feels pretty great!

 

Now another new technique I am working on is starting with paper, applying a layer of gesso, then applying a layer of reinker in different colors (they can dry pretty light with great texture). I then start my painting on top of that. The second piece is a work in progress. I added collage and fabric first, then applied some plaster with stencils, sanded that down, covered with gesso and then the reinkers. I just started to add the figure so this is at the beginning stages.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog!