Spring Break Art Classes

Are You Staying in Town for Spring Break?

I totally get it.

We raised four children and we went on vacations,

but I can't remember going anywhere on 

spring or fall breaks.

But. . .

If you're looking for something fun to do during the break,

I'm offering two classes, ages 7 and up.

• April 4 and/or 6
• 10 a.m. - noon
• $25 for one class
• $40 for both classes
• $25 for 1st student in a family for 1 class
• $20 for 2nd student for 1 class
• $15 for every student after that for 1 class
• Drop them off and pick them up at my new studio in Ghent
• I provide all supplies and snacks

 This is what we'll be painting on Tuesday,April 4.

Your child can paint the basket and eggs any color.

This just gives us a jumping off place.

They will also do a tiny painting.

On April 6 they will paint a jar of fireflies

and do a craft.

I don't have photos at this moment to show you though.

Leave a comment below if you want in,

IM me from my facebook page,

or email me at slgraves6@gmail.com

and put Spring break art class in the subject line.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Summer Art Camps

New Studio

 5 All NEW art camps for this summer.

Click HERE to get all the dirt. 

All the camps are in my new studio here on the farm.

Your student will be provided everything they need,

as well as snacks for any camp.

Classes are all from 10 a.m.-noon 

either for the 3 day or the 4 day camp.

The different camps give you an opportunity to find one that best fits your students needs and your schedule.

When you go to the link,

you can sign up an pay at the same time.

Click HERE to get all the info about 2017 art camps. 

A student is usually ready to spend that much time at an art camp about the age of 7 or so.  They need to have a decent attention span and have small motor skills.

I try to change activities during the day so they aren't doing the same thing for long periods of time,

but I also have to make sure they have ample time

to finish their project.

Class sizes are limited,

so sign up today!

From Rags To Riches

Definitely from Rags,

Jury's Out on Riches

Below are photos of our shed before Jim had done much to it.

It's been gathering "stuff" for 16 years.

I don't know what made my husband think now was the time to put this building to use,

but I'm not arguing.  

It is now divided into 4 sections.

One for tractors and tools,

One will be a small Farm Market where we can sell the produce we grow,

One section will be his wood working shop,

And one section is my new art studio.

 

 Before Jim and I started on this project,

this shed had no front wall, no doors, no windows,

no ceiling, no electricity,

nothing.

Just lots of "STUFF".

What you see above was after a months work or so.

We started in October, 2016.

 Just this much was pretty impressive to our friends and family

who knew what this building looked like before.

 All the walls, windows and ceiling are recycled materials.

My husband has been collecting all this for years.

The walls you are looking at are shipping crates for large equipment that came into a local chemical plant.

This is what it looked like with a different door,

walls in and painted and floor painted.

 

 Here he was taking off some barn siding to put in my wood stove and framing for my windows.

Then he put the siding back up.

 This is what the inside of my studio looked like after the front window was put in and the front wall.

Still a ton of "stuff" in there.

 This is the wall where my art now hangs in my new studio.

This was before the front wall, door or window went in.

I can tell it's my studio area because

 of the yellow stripes on the floor.

 Insulation is in the walls,

and Jim is adding the recycled wood to the walls.

This is the same wall after the insulation, ceiling, lights,  walls, paint and wood stove were added.

On the big reveal day,

I took this video as I prepare to leave my house 

and walk to work.

And here you go!

The big reveal!!!

When you look at my new studio,

it is pretty hard to believe it once looked the way it did.

I have enough room to teach classes,

art camps,

host birthday parties,

and all sorts of fun things.

I'm planning an open house Monday, April 10, after

the NCAA tournament is over. 

(got my priorities in order).

Pencil me in on your calendar.

Watch for info on it

and please know you're invited.

Hopefully, this post shows you that anything is possible.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There's a use for just about everything.

You can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

You can make something out of nothing.

Never give up on a dream.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Let me know what you think of my new space in the comments. 

For lots of instructional art videos, click HERE to visit my YouTube channel.

Don't Tell! Sneak Peek!

SHHHH!

Sneak Peek of my NEW Art Studio

Here's a short video sneak peek of my new art studio!

I know, one of these days, I'm going to learn to turn my phone

 the other way when using it to video. 

(But evidently not today).

We've had torrential downpours,

straight line wind damage,

tornadoes,

severe headaches from the pressure,

a stomach virus,

and we expect snow over the weekend.

So I haven't done a lot on my studio lately.

But I shot this little video today as I was taking stuff out to the studio and getting ready to start painting out there.

Can't wait to show it off to you!     

Counting My Blessings - Motivation Monday

Really?

This is a blessing?

 Yes, that siding coming off that second story 

really is a blessing!

 And what about the barn!

Yes!

It too was a blessing.

And that tree on the greenhouse?

Even that was a blessing.

I haven't lost my mind folks!

I know, debatable!

Last week was quite the weather week.

Monday and Tuesday it absolutely poured down rain.

Not a gentle easy rain,

but I'm fillin up your lake,

coming through your roof,

coming up from the ground rain.

Got through that with no problems.

Thought for sure we were going to have some flooding issues,

but we didn't.

Blessings!

Then Wednesday night it started again with the rain,

and we added some wind to the mix.

Thursday morning before sun up,

I was almost shaken out of my bed

with the wind,

and then,

the roar of a train!

Head for the basement!

Which I did!

Immediately!

In a few minutes all was quiet again. 

When the sun came up, we headed outside to survey

any damage.

You saw what we found!

I got on facebook to make sure my friends and neighbors had survived ok.

At this point I thought I had damage.

Then I started seeing pics and reading posts.

A sawmill behind us lost their roof and a barn.

Another neighbor near us had windows blown out, lost dozens of trees and had lots of barn damage.

Another neighbor lost 3 barns and

some of the animals inside died. 

Another neighbor had lots of roof damage and every barn on his farm was damaged.

So you see!

We Were Blessed!

One of the most heartbreaking sights in my county, 

was a beautiful huge barn that is over 200 years old.

It was an architechtural icon 

reduced to a pile of rubble.

It was used for milking years ago

 and had brick walls on the 1st floor.  

Photo by Michelle Patton with WIKI Radio

Those brick walls were all that was left.

I'm not sure I should mourn for a barn,

but every time I drive by

I get sick at my stomach.

So, yes we were very blessed

 to have the minimal damage we had.

I am very grateful that my home and property was spared.

The sun always comes out again!

This was the view Thursday night!

Sometimes we do have to look hard to find a blessing,

but it didn't take us too long to realize that we had received a huge blessing last Thursday.