In mid October I had the pleasure of visiting Eureka, California, and was met by the Redwood Tole Folk painting chapter. What a neat bunch of ladies that made up this wonderful group. Unlike most, this painting chapter wanted to do a whole weekend of screen paintings and we chose two projects to teach. They did a beautiful job on their screens, and while you may not be able to see the real beauty each screen shows, trust me when I tell you they really were great! We had a big group - that managed to keep me laughing most all the way through.


Judy Elvy (second row from the bottom - 2nd from the right end) was my seminar coordinator and she did one fabulous job! Judy showed me all over Eureka and she even took me into the redwood forest (which was HUGE) to see the grandure of these trees. I was astonished at how large the trees actually are. Sadly, my disposable camera malfunctioned or I would have shown you how big they are compared to my 5 foot 0 inch self!


This is really my most favorite part -- nestled around in a group, showing people how easy it really is to paint, and enjoying everyone's enthusiasm for what we all love to do. The rooster (Jarvis Feed Co.) turned out so well for everyone, and the colors throughout coupled by the individuality of each painters' screen, made the second day of painting just picture perfect. It's so nice to be around people that LOVE to paint!

The really funny part came when I was supposed to leave - emphasis on "supposed to". Eureka is the foggiest airport in the US, and I learned that this airport was used to train WW2 pilots how to fly in and out of it. I got fogged in and had to remain a bit longer than planned. Judy Elvy and Karen Wagner drove me across a huge mountain range (about 4 hours away) to get me to the Redding, CA airport. With that, they took me in and made sure I was safe, and we hugged and said our goodbyes. I wish I tell you all the neat things I saw and enjoyed while in California but there just isn't room. I will say "many, many thanks" to all the Eurekans for their warm hospitality and amusing spirit while I stayed in the lovely town! I hope to see you all again some day soon.

The Great Pumpkin Reappears!

Each year I look forward to the annual pumpkin carving with my son, Ronnie. Is there anything better than doing things with your kids? Not to me! This year I used a painted magazine piece as inspiration for my carving. That was kind of fun, but the best part was spending time with my baby boy (who is now 18). UGH!

As you can see, this pumpkin carving is serious business! We had our goop all sprawled out on the dining room table and we were steady carving for about 2 hours or so. We found some gorgeous shapes this year -- better than any we've found before, so that just made it extra special. When I found the oblong one (top pic) I just knew it was bound for that design from the wooden plaque.

Is he a cutie or what! Yes, this is the Tolefairie's baby boy. He's such a good kid. I hope you're able to spend some special time doing something creative with your own children or grandchildren. In looking back, these are the most important times we'll have, and remember most of all!

BOO!

Bavarian Strokework Scottie Foster's way!

My travels took me to New Jersey this past weekend to spend some time with my buddies Chris White and Janet Margraf, and to also join them at the Scottie Foster seminar. Scottie Foster is known in our industry as one of the premiere strokework artists and it was such a nice treat to be a student in her class. It was one of the most relaxing, pleasurable classes i've ever taken. If you get to study with Scottie I highly recommend it!

For those of you who are not familiar with Scottie's work, I hope you go and visit her on her website, www.bavarianfolkart.com . She has authored countless books on Bavarian - style stroke, and she also has some wonderful pattern packets and wooden surfaces to paint upon. So you won't be disappointed when you go and visit. I plan to do several of these beautiful pieces for Christmas presents this year . . . . , and I can't wait to get started!

Thanks for a lovely time Scottie. You are a delight as a teacher and a person!

Emerald Isle - Crystal Coast Decorative Painters

In my travels for teaching I got the distinct pleasure of visiting the Crystal Coast Decorative Painters. They live in a scenic watertown on the coast of North Carolina. The ladies were so thoughtful and warm, and they kept me entertained, well-fed, and content throughout my stay with them. While I don't have a picture of it, they were even kind enough to have "Welcome Artist Roxanne Jarvis" on the hotel marquis when we arrived. Just shows you how wonderful and well thought out this seminar was.

The food was tremendous -- and each day we were fed these wonderful dishes to include homemade soups, sandwiches and salads, and even southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes! That was my personal favorite, but the home made soup was killer too!

The girls worked so hard, doing 2 screen painting designs in our 3 day session. I told Ms. Barb, my seminar coordinator, that they were going to work hard while I was there but something tells me they think I was kidding! LOL I'll bet they don't think that now . . . but everyone left with wonderful paintings and I hope more confidence in their artistic endeavors! Thanks for a swell time Crystal Coast girls. You all made me feel "southern hospitality" welcome and that doesn't get any better than that!
Much love,
Roxanne

The Stones Concert - continued!

I thought I'd include a snapshot of our fun time just prior to our leaving for the concert. Our friends Norma and Thad Toal were kind enough not only to gift us with tickets, but Thad got us this great limousine to ride in all the way to DC and back. Not too shabby, ey? It was as big as a city block, and we had a ball coming and going. Thad is in the middle and his wife (and my very best friend in the whole wide world) Norma is in the black shirt behind him.

All the way in the back are friends of Norma and Thad's and I can't remember their names. Then that's me in the white shirt, and my husband Ron is in front of me. After Norma and Thad are Markie, my friend Cookie and her husband Larry. Larry is a chef and he whipped us up a terrific dinner before we left. He usually makes us these elaborate meals of lobster, tenderloins, shrimp - and mushrooms in wine sauce. We really do like to eat at Norma's house - especially when Larry's doing the cookin'!

Thanks to you both (Norm and Thad) for a great evening I'll not soon forget!
Love,
Rox

Jumpin Jack Flash IS a gas, gas gas!

On Monday of this week we had the good fortune to be gifted with tickets to see Mick Jagger at the MCI Center in Washington DC. We'd seen them before (2 years ago at FedEx Stadium) and they were terrific. Our second row seats were so great we could see the lines and wrinkles on Mick's face! This time around we had 2nd tier club-level seats which were terrific also.

Amazingly, Mick has the stamina of a 16 year old and he hops and jumps, and prances across the stages, platforms, and walkways throughout the entire 2 - 21/2 hour concert. I think he gets as big a kick out of the audiences' excitement as we do his. He had a few new songs to sing but I'd say that the audience clearly wanted to hear the oldies . . . Under My Thumb, Jumpin' JackFlash, Sympathy for the Devil, etc. I know we sure did! Everyone was on their feet after about 5 songs and it never changed.

The friends that gave us the tickets, Norma and Thad, are avid Stones fans. Thad, even as a young man, never missed a Stones concert since they first came to town in the 60's. This September when the newspaper announced the Stones concert, they included a photo of Thad and some others who attended that first concert in the 60's which was pretty cool. His first-row seat made it clear for us to see that it was him. In the limosine ride to DC Thad told us how he got those tickets which I found rather amusing . . .

Pre TicketMaster, sales on-line, and all that stuff we now enjoy, there was standing in line and waiting, and waiting for great seats. You knew you had to camp out and wait to stand a chance of getting anything decent. Thad and his buddy had pulled up to the Civic Center and saw a line that was very long and they both realized that front row seats were just not going to happen. So the two schemed their way into the building using another entrance, telling the gentleman that answered the door that they were both seeking employment. So after the man had gone his own way, Thad and his buddy hid in a stairwell until they heard that door open. Immediately they blended their way into that line and wound up being in the front. Thad did get his front row seats and now the rest is history.

Thad, a huge-hearted guy to everyone was standing nearby when the girl, who was behind him in line, tried to purchase her front row seats. Unfortunately for her Thad's seats were the last of the tickets. When he overheard this and the disappointment of the girl, he sold her 2 of his own front row seats and everybody was happy. The best part to this story came about three years later . . . , as they both met again at the Stones' ticket line. This time the girl was before Thad and she wound up with the tickets and that didn't. She returned the favor and sold him two of her tickets.

Hope I haven't been too verbose, but that was just too good a story not to share. Thanks Norma and Thad for those great concert tickets. We really had a ball! I'll add a picture or two when I get them from my friend that took the pictures.

Our first class in the studio

After a long, hot summer we decided to spread our wings a little and host our very first mini-seminar at home. October 1st - a great day to start something new. The sun was shining and there was just a touch of fall in the air, so everyone was in a great mood to come and paint the "Brew-A-Shoe" design. We had 8 ladies in the class which was just the perfect number to occupy the space we had in the studio. Robin Benjes, Annette Start, Chris White, Janet Margraf, Sandy Pabst, Mary Jane Hansen, Sally Drayer, and Mary Annunziato where the wonderful students that made up the class for this perfect day of painting.

The girls enjoyed our first get together so much we've decided to do another prior to the holiday rush. It looks like middle November we will slot our 2nd class - using Santa as our topic of interest. There is a sled in PaintWorks Magazine ( www.paintworksmag.com ) in the current issue which has my "And To All A Good Night" piece. That's the one we'll be doing . . . and I'm so looking forward to it.

A painting pilgrimage to Lancaster

One of life's little pleasures these days is getting to study with others. I don't do this often because of time constraints and because I am usually busy doing my own projects, but when Ms. Jo Sonja comes anywhere near me . . . consider it done! So with my friends Chris White and Janet Margraf, I made the pilgrimage to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to bask in some glorious painting time.

Vicki Rhodes and JoSonja Jansen come east every year to Lancaster, PA, to conduct some pretty wonderful seminars. This year's set-up was a little different than most as they did smaller days (3 instead of 5 day segments), and you studied waaaaaay longer. You literally had something to do from 9:00 in the morning until 9:00 that evening. Yes of course we had lunch and dinner breaks, but shortly after you were back in your seat waggling a brush and listening to some pretty fantastic stuff.

There's always something to learn when you study with great artists. Vicki Rhodes did a really adorable design which had clear glaze medium in the base coat. A chip brush (rough) was used for the initial base coating which raised the pigment to a textured quality. After that we used dry brushing to create the images which were so colorful and happy. So I really enjoyed learning about that. And Ms. Jo did some beautiful bird boxes on tin. The beginning stages, when we only used black (thinned) reminded me of toile painting. We then added hues to everything, and finished with some glazes. Beautiful stuff . . . one may be a Christmas piece for somebody. You never can tell!

The picture shows my buddies Janet and Chris (on the ends) and Ms. Jo and I are in the middle. Janet and I resemble one another in case you missed that part, and she found herself saying "no I'm not the Tolefairie" all week. LOL I couldn't tell you how many times people asked if she was my sister or if she was the Tolefairie. Naturally we all had a goof laugh each time it happened. I'm thinking I may send her on my next teaching engagement - I need a rest! :0)

In the meantime . . . , back to Ms. Jo. She's so fun to listen too. Believe it or not, my most favorite part is listening to her tell the stories. She is so full of knowledge about our artform, and she has studied and come in contact with so many artists, that she is just a wealth. If you get the chance to study with her, by all means do! It is so fun to emmerse yourself amongst talented people!