Paper Clay Fun!

Ok, I know I'm a little behind here....but I'm catching up, so stick with me! I've had quite a few people ask "just what is the Altered Minds Group"? My husband refers to us as the Fractured Minds Group! lol! So for those of you who don't know, we are a group of women who all do different forms of art....surface design..which includes painting, beading, paper art, metal, quilting, fabric art, found objects, book making, doll making, quilling, etc. In order to belong, you have to agree to take your turn teaching the group. I'm always so inspired by these ladies and look forward to every meeting!

The September meeting of our Altered Minds Group was a real hands on learning experience! Our beloved leader, Ellen, shared how she makes some of her fabulous faces, using paper clay. I'd never worked with paper clay before, so this was quite interesting to me and opened the door for all kinds of possibilities.

Here's a sample of what can be done!

First you make foundation with tin foil.... 

Form it in the shape of a face......

Break off bits of paper clay and start adding it to your form......

Like so.....

Joila!

Here's Ellen doing her thing!

And here's some of the group doing it too!

So there you go! It was great fun!!!!!

Busy Summer!

The Altered Minds group never rests! One of the requirements of membership is to share your art by teaching or demonstrating.....and this summer, in spite of all the vacation and snowbird comings and goings, has been busy! Personally, I haven't been able to keep up or attend all of them, but the reports from the "gals" have been rave reviews.

Since I don't have a pictorial accounting of all the classes this summer, I decided to show you some of the beautiful designs from our members. Most were taking on a tour we did of several homes, where we got to see how they incorporate their art into their decor. Take a look. I'm in awe of how talented these ladies are!

Here we are on our tour!

The End!

Altered Minds do some altering!

I'm forever facinated with the unbelievable talent  in this group. We come from all over, have a variety of skills, and enjoy each other and sharing what we know. This past meeting was no different.

It's always a kick to see what these ladies can make out of things I never imagined. Ellen can take a piece of driftwood and create a gorgeous wood nymph sculpture, adding moss and pine cones, etc. Her painting is flawless and the faces are dreamy.

Edda, Betty, Penny and Terry are masters with fiber and cloth. (If I left anyone out, sorry!)

Jill M is a fantastic artist, with gorgeous pen and ink designs, Jill B is a bead artist who also makes beautiful paper and equally beautiful items from the paper.

Darlene is a genius in creating designs from found objects, old things and bits and pieces of everything.
Her designs are always thoughtful and have great meaning.

Trish can do decoupage lovelies using things like old coffee filters. I swear, I'd have never thought of that.

I can go on and on....and starting next month I'm going to take each artist, one by one, and interview them so you can see for yourself how amazing all these ladies are. I apologize if I didn't mention someone in this short essay, but it wasn't intentional, just a matter of time. I'll make sure everyone gets their due...as they so deserve it!!!! And we have so many new members, I'm still learning about them.

Here's some pics of everyone's latest creations.

Betty showing off her jacket!

Just like in a fairy tale!

I love this purse!

There's a great story behind this, but I'll save it for the interview!

Can't wait to see what everyone has to show this month!



Gallery Opening

So.....Friday night the Handmade Gift Shop, by the Altered Minds, finally opened! It was well attended, the handmade gifts for sale were unbelievable, and a good time was had by all. Rather than go into detail, I'll just let the pictures do the talking!

Trish made the sign!



Of course we had booze! Lots of booze!



Audrey made a ton of yummy goodies!



A Bevy of beauties!

Our official photographer, Sherry!

Hen(na) Party!

One of our members, our dear Miss Sherry, got married on October 10, 2010 at 10 o'clock. Sherry, who follows the stars and her heart, placed particular significance on all those tens!

As part of the preparation for her ceremony, Sherry requested that a group of us participate in a henna party - painting her body for the ceremony. The idea is that she sits on her "throne" and we not only paint her, but feed her and provide her with drink, because she really can't move much while we're painting her.

Everyone brought a ton of food....great stuff!

Mind you, most of us had never done this before. Sherry is an expert and does it often for her customers...but she had to teach us at one of the meetings. I had to have private lessons, since I wasn't able to attend the first session. It was fun, and very interesting. I know we all were touched to be such a significant part of Sherry's preparations.

Here's some pictures!

Thanks Sherry for letting us share this day with you!