Wednesday 1 September 2010

Grab a cuppa and join me, now where Do I Start?

Hi everyone, it has been a whirlwind two weeks since I last posted and I am finally coming back down to earth

First, I was at the Hayhouse I Can Do It conference in Sydney a couple of weekends ago and was part of the most inspirational, transformational, relaxing, entertaining and awesome weekend with about 3,000 other people. We were treated to 5 amazing speakers/authors who made us laugh, cry, think and overall inspired me to live a more authentic life.

Saturday began bright and early with us walking into the conference auditorium to the beautiful sounds of the didgeridoo. It is the most amazing sound and it instantly rose the vibration in the whole room and I will never tire hearing one played. If you ever get a chance to hear one live don't miss it.
We started our lectures with Dr Wayne Dyer on his farewell visit to Australia. What can I say but he was everything and more that I had expected from reading his books and listening to his CD's. He is called the father of inspiration and I would whole-heartedly agree with this. Such an amazing man.
In the afternoon Sonia Choquette ran an entertaining workshop that had us all up dancing and singing, letting go of our inhibitions and teaching us to live a spirited life. I just love her books and CD's and she is such a happy soul shining bright.
On Sunday our first speaker was Caroline Myss (who is my idol!) She is a fantastic lady and is so passionate about what she is talking about that you are mesmorised by her every word. She tells it like it is and her lecture was full of wisdom, humour and wit. Her books and CD's have inspired me to live less in your ego and pride and to strive to live more with grace, compassion and love. I can highly recommend her recent book, Defy Gravity.
After lunch we listened to Gregg Braden and his thoughts about 2012 amongst other things. Greg started out as a computer geologist and is now known as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality. He was absolutely fascinating and really made you think about how each individual can really effect the global energy.
After Gregg we had a lecture/workshop with Dr Brian Weiss. He is a leader is past life regression and had us all doing a past life regression meditation during the lecture. It was amazing.
Sonia Choquette and me




Caroline Myss and Me
During the conference we had a chance to get our books signed and to meet our authors which I must say had me feeling like a school girl groupie at one stage but I collected myself long enough to have a coherent conversation with Caroline, Sonia and Brian and also had some photos taken.




Overall it was a weekend I will always remember.
I listen to Wayne, Caroline and Sonia on Hayhouse radio where they each have an hour long weekly show that I can tap into while I work so they seemed quite familiar by the time we met them. Of course, they didnt know me from a bar of soap (well, Caroline did recognise me from her Facebook page which was a bit of a thrill so we had a great conversation)I came home with an extra bag of books to read (the flight attendants just looked at me funny struggling to carry them on the plane) and a head buzzing.

On to last weekend......


I attended the True Blue Decorative Artists annual conference here in Melbourne of which I taught the two classes that I spoke about in my last post - the iris and the summer rose.


 I love teaching and I was grateful to firstly have people that wanted to do my classes and secondly to have such lovely students. I love seeing people learn new things and gaining pleasure from painting. 


First up was my Summer Rose class . It was only a small piece but there was a lot of technique and we all had the piece finished by the end of class. I used the Atelier Interactives paints and mediums for this one. If you haven't used these paints before they take a bit of getting used to how they work but once you have the feel of them you are OK. I love using them now together with the mediums they offer so much scope to try different things.
At the end everyone was happy with their paintings so it was a good start to the weekend.




On the Saturday was my 6 hour class teaching my Purple Iris. This was a more involved painting using Atelier Interactives paints.







 


The air conditioning played a bit of havoc with the paints and mediums so it took a bit longer than anticipated but we all live close to each other so we are going to put the finishing touches to it one Saturday.








Saturday night we had our conference dinner and entertainment. We all had to dress up in the theme which was Baubles, Bangles and Beads. Everyone had a great night dancing and catching up with friends.

the three winners of our fancy dress - yes she does have a chandelier on her head!

















Sunday was another day of painting but I was a student this time and I did a portrait study in oils with Cathy Van Ee. I haven't finished it yet or photographed it yet so will put it up in the next post.

This weekend was a great weekend too and I just love getting together with friends and having a whole weekend just doing what I love without distractions.

Anyway, I just looked at the time and realise that I will be late for work today so back to the grindstone.

Ah well we have to come back to earth some time don't we, even it is just to earn enough money so we can indulge in our passions.  Till next post....

My little quote for today from Dr Wayne Dyer

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change"

Have a great day everyone
Namaste
Lee

13 comments:

Rebecca Anthony said...

It sounds like it was a trip to remember!! You really got to experience some amazing things and teach too (lucky students!!). I'm so glad you got so much out of each experience!!

Janet said...

You've been very busy! I envy you the weekend with the I Can Do It conference. That must have been fantastic.

And your painting classes look like a lot of fun. Your iris painting is especially gorgeous!

Kerryanne @ Shabby Art Boutique said...

Wow... you have been busy Lee and inspired by the sound of it too.

Unfortunately we all have to work to indulge in those other fun things - LOL.

Hugs ~ Kerryanne

Tyggereye said...

Wow that looks like such a blast! I would love to do that class with you. Maybe with working air conditioning non issues. ;) Not sure what the paint medium is you were talking about you used. Never heard of it. Sounds interesting. I'll have to look it up. Great paintings!

Tyggereye said...

So I kinda looked up some stuff on the paints. Its just essentially a longer drying acrylic paints brand? So you can blend colors better and not have to mix in a slow drying medium in yourself. ? Am I right?

Anna Rosa Designs said...

Hi Lee,
Great post about your busy/fun weekends away!
The Can Do books conference sounds very interesting and I have to agree, I never get sick of listening to didgeridoo.
The True Blue Conference was soo much fun and very relaxed!
Happy Painting,
Hugs,
Anna

ArtfulLee Designed said...

Thanks everyone for your comments, I really appreciate the time you have taken to post them
Janet, the I Can Do It was the best time, you should try to get to one over there. It is worth it.
Gina - Yes the paints are this but the main difference with them is that you can re-activate them once they are dry. I have re-activated them with Atelier Unlocking medium and adjusted a section in a painting a couple of months after they are dry and you can't tell I touched it. You can also re-activate them with water if they are dry during the first couple of days after drying. You can leave the painting half way through a section and come back, spray it with a bit of water and then keep painting like you hadn't left and the sections will blend seamlessly. The medium I mainly use with these paints is Thick Slow which slows down the drying time but not as much as the normal retarder. It gives it the consistency of oil paints and doesn't dilute the colours. I generally find that I use the various mediums that Atelier make instead of water with these paints for the style I paint. They are very versatile and I have only scratched the surface on what they can do. You can also use them as watercolour style. I hope this helps
Lee:)

Anonymous said...

SOUNDS LIKE A POSITIVE AND UPLIFTING TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!

smiles all around!

ciao bella

CREATIVE CARMELINA

ittybittyandpretty said...

thank you for always leaving such lovely comments on my little blog....
your talent amazes me beyond belief! those students were very lucky to have enrolled in your courses.
have a great weekend
xxrosey

Kelly said...

Wow, that's certainly a jammed packed creative weekend! I love your purple irises! What a fun way to spend your time!
Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my blog - I appreciate what you said! Hugs and happy creating!

Unknown said...

oh how wonderful! lucky you. i'm not a huge fan of many self-helper authors, but i have to admit that Dyer and Myss are fab people with great thoughts. how groovy to hear them speak. i can imagine how inspire you must have felt.

hope to hear you're journaling again soon!

Serena Lewis said...

WOW...I too am envious of your time at the I Can Do It conference! I have books by both Sonja Choquette and Caroline Myss. How neat that you had your photo taken with them! I don't think I've heard of Greg Braden before. Good to hear you had an awesome time.

It looks like everyone had a great time at the True Blue convention...great pics! Your purple iris looks beautiful!

Tracy Verdugo said...

Hi Lee..thanks for stopping by..just been having a browse through your posts and seems like we have a lot in common...I also love to paint while listening to downloaded shows from hay House...Wayne is my absolute favourite! Looking forward to getting to know you better
namaste
Tracy x

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