Off to ArtFest: The First Day or So

ArtFest...wow...this was my first one, and there was so much to take in that I decided to divide the retelling into more than one post.

I spent the days before the actual event packing and instant messaging Heather and asking her a bazillion questions. Thank goodness she was there, because I needed lots of help keeping on track and getting through my lists - what to take for art, what to pack, what to get done before I leave...just lots of STUFF. Thank goodness, too, that I rented a nice-sized SUV. I needed it for all that stuff!

Wednesday morning, I picked Heather up from the airport and we were on our way. First there was the ferry dock in Seattle, where we met Kim and her friend, and some other ArtFesters, including Kristin. Even though we had never met before, ArtFesters weren't hard to spot, with the their excited looks and chattering and funky attire. We all felt like school kids on holiday! Here's a picture of Seattle from the ferry:



...and here's Heather!



When we got to Bainbridge, we took our time getting to Port Townsend, stopping in Poulsbo to buy beads at Imagine That! (of course we stopped for beads!), and plate-sized doughnuts and other goodies at the bakery (yum!), and even more supplies for our classes at the stamping store (as if we didn't have enough already!) Then off we headed for Port Townsend.

Of course we managed to get lost looking for Fort Warden! We had both managed to forget to print the directions, but we knew it was close to the town. We drove around a bit, asked a deer we came across in the middle of the road (he wasn't saying much!), and soon found where we had taken a wrong turn.

Soon after we had arrived, checked in, eaten dinner, and found our dorm, we all gathered for a welcome and to meet the artists/instructors. Everywhere we went, Heather was running into people she knew from online, and I met a couple of fellow bloggers too. She has met more people online than I have since she has been a mixed media artist longer than I have...but she introduced me to everyone, and it was fun meeting all these new people. Not only was I meeting everyone, but people were trading with me all over the place! My charms were going fast...By the time we headed back to our rooms, I had all kinds of wonderful little pieces of art to look at.

Jaz, my Blythe doll, came with me on this trip. She wanted to spend the weekend with her sister Ginger. They both spent almost the entire week in their sleeping bags! On the last day we did make them come with us to class...



So...the next day was my first class, "Resins: Creating Transparent Papers" with Susan Lenart Kazmer. What a fun and energetic class! Susan is full of all kinds of wonderful energy and ideas. We soon had paper covered in resin and drying on the porch, as well as brass bezels that we filled with tiny collages and resin. In the afternoon we learned how to make jewelry from the papers we had made. The papers are wonderful media for enhancing journal pages, and for tearing up for jewelry. I made a prayer box, some paper-covered copper loops, and some bezels for a bracelet I'm planning to make. Now that I'm home, if I could only find the prayer box, I'd have the bracelet done! Here's the results of my work:



And here are Heather, Rita, and Susan, after class:



We left our pieces to dry overnight, and headed off for dinner in town. We ate that night at the Public House (I think that was the name), which was pretty good. We found Kelly in town near where she was staying and took her off to dinner with us. We had a nice time visiting and talking. Oh yeah - we went to another bead store too! Wynwoods Gallery and Bead store is small, but boy did they have lots of beads. They also have this lobby full of the most fabulous trims and laces...I wish I could have spent a couple hundred dollars there!

Whew - a long day and a looong post! There's more about the dorms and stuff, but I better wait until another time...soon...