April Art Activity Challenge: Go paint with friends

Happy almost April!

I challenge you this April to gather a group of friends to sign up to participate in Sips n Strokes (or any alternatively named painting class). I have found that these group outings are a blast, and not just because the venue allows you to BYOW (Bring Your Own Wine ;)). They are perfect for any occasion - Happy hours, birthdays, bachelorette parties, because it's Tuesday...any occasion! 

On average, the cost is about $30 for three hours and all supplies necessary to create your work of art. By visiting the website, you can typically find a monthly calendar that outlines what pieces of art will be taught on which dates. Select your date, RSVP, and pay when you get there! Below are some examples from groups I have gone with: 

Bachelorette party, September 2012

ARTini's Art Lounge, Athens, GA

Vincent Van Gogh's "Almond Blossoms"

Double date night, September 2012

Dip 'n Dab, Decatur, GA

Chinese pagoda

Birthday get-together, March 2014

Sips n Strokes, Sandy Springs, GA

Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night"

A few things to keep in mind, particularly if you do not consider yourself "an artist":

1. Paint the edges of your canvas too! Then you won't require a frame if you want to hang it on your wall. :) 

2. Art is meant to be viewed at a distance. If you feel like you're losing perspective on your work, get up and take a few steps back from it to get a better look. 

3. Have FUN with it! This is not meant to be serious.

4. Embrace the differences! Don't spend your night comparing your work to the person next to you. Theirs will be different than yours and that doesn't mean yours is at any sort of disadvantage. It just means that a different person is interpreting the same subject. As my friend Mallory alluded to after our last painting class, it's amazing to see how your painting will come out looking like YOU and YOUR personality. Same for your friends.

5. Stay positive! Last class, I sat in ear shot of a lady that criticized her own painting the whole night, which was kind of a downer. Even if you get frustrated, remember that this is meant to be a fun and creative outlet for you to express yourself. Ask for help if you need it and don't be so hard on yourself.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." 
- Vincent Van Gogh

Cupcakes!

This shall be brief because I have to go to work, BUT...

For those of you who like to bake, here's two new cupcake ideas found by FreePeople and my friend Becky. :)

Tie-Dye Cupcakes!!

Apparently, one of the FreePeople followers was inspired by an article on this fashionable clothing line's blog (They also gave us the lead on Rainbow Roses, by the way!) and came up with this. All the directions you need (very easy!) to make these little babies can be found HERE.

And for anyone who loved the movie Tangled as much as I did....

PASCAL Cupcakes!!!!

AHAHAHA! I just love this. What creative bakers. :) This recipe was found on family.go.com and you can read ALL about how to make it HERE.

I think ya'll will agree with me that these creative takes on DELICIOUSNESS can definitely be counted as art! (Though ephemeral art perhaps, because I know they surely wouldn't last long at my house...;)

R.O.Y.G.B.V.

I found out about this super cool new thing from FreePeople, one of my favorite clothing lines. In honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow and as a testament to creativity and the drive to create something new...

The Rainbow Rose! Yes, they DO exist!

The Rainbow Rose is the brain child of two Dutch companies, River Flowers and F.J. Zandbergen and Zn. that collaborated beginning in 2006 to form the Happy Roses company for the specific promotion and sale of these roses. River Flowers had previously developed a patent for adding color to chrysanthemum petals and F.J. Zandbergen was a rose specialist. Chrysanthemums, hydrangea, carnations, and some orchids are also able to have their petals colored in the same fashion I'll describe below.

A rose absorbs water necessary for its survival via the water running up the stem. Developers exploited this common fact by splitting the stem and dipping each split in a different water-based colored dye while the rose is still young. The colors then travel up the stem and are drawn into the different petals.

Cool, huh?

But just FYI, this technique does NOT work with every rose. The Vendela Rose is the only type that absorbs all of the colors perfectly. The Vendela Rose is an unscented hybrid tea rose that grows in Holland, Colombia, and Equador. Sometimes Rose La Belle and Rose Avalanche can be used too.

Color combinations are surely not limited to the Rainbow effect. Just in my brief researching on this topic, I saw red and pink and purple and yellow (for those LSU fans out there...) too. Black and white, however, is deemed impossible to make.

And yes, Happy Flowers DOES deliver in the U.S.! Anyone besides me really excited about this and dying (HA, I'll take that pun!) to get some??? Well, the goin' rate for a dozen of these babies is about $139.95 with an additional $40 for overnight shipping. Whew!

Mosaic Meme Results!

Thank you everyone for having fun with this activity! Here are our wonderful, wonderful results! For those of you who have not yet tried this super addicting activity, you can find it HERE. Go see what you can create!

Alicia.

Anna.

Jacen.

Jennifer.

Kelly.

Liz.

Richard.

Whitney.

"I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself." - Oscar Wilde

Today, I give you...FUN!

Of course, everything on this blog is super fun (You know it is! :)), but today, I rediscovered a fun little activity PERFECT for people stuck inside for the night due to snow (*coughmecough*), procrastinating on homework, bored of t.v., or just plain wanting to create a visual representation of their personality! :)

This is the Mosaic Meme!

1. Answer each of the prompts below using Flickr Search.

2. Choose a photo from the first THREE pages.

3. Copy the URL of your favorite photo into this site: http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php

4. Then share with the world!!

So, basically, I'd recommend opening two browsers, one for Flickr and one for Bighugelabs.com. You can adjust how many boxes you want in your mosaic...For this one, 3 (rows) by 4 (columns) is perfect! You can always add on boxes later if you find other prompts you want to add. Keep in mind the search results might not come up with EXACTLY your hometown or favorite color...but pick your favorite from what they give you!

1. First name

2. Favorite food

3. Hometown

4. Favorite color

5. Celebrity crush

6. Favorite Drink

7. Dream Vacation

8. Favorite Dessert

9. What I want to be when I grow up

10. What I love most in the world

11. One word that describes me

12. (Insert one of your usernames here)

My answers, for this one, were...Aleah (ob-v, my name), fruit, Atlanta (Baby panda from ZooAtlanta!), lime green, Robert Pattinson (I took this in 2008...Now I'd say Ryan Reynolds ;) ), red wine (Malbec, specifically), a tropical island, creme brulée (OMG, yum), an author, Love (she's reaching for a little heart), "Dreamer," and Shadowbc (Ironically, the picture that came up is of the Temple of Debod in downtown Madrid! :)).

If you don't like those prompts, other ones I've used are...Name meaning, favorite animal, favorite flower, eye color, Zodiac sign, Favorite place, favorite month, virtue you value, language you speak...

I made a new one today at random with no set prompts...just one to reflect me (though the last one was pretty good :)) and this is what I got!

Stargazer lily (1 of 3 fave flowers...partially responsible for this site name, Artgazer!)

Bubbles (nickname),

white tiger (fave animal!),

Prado Museum, Madrid (fave museum),

Cordoba, Spain (Fave country),

Blue Morpho Butterfly (I like 'em),

RAINBOW UMBRELLA! (just because),

Daffodils (2nd fave flower),

Peacock feather (My favorite pair of shoes has peacock feathers on the toes),

Malbec (Noted),

Rock music (Sweet air, dude),

Books! (and colorful ones),

Princess lady (Art Historian/I want to be a Princess...),

Ronda (Spain again!),

Author (I've got dreams!),

Lotus (3rd fave flower).

What will YOU come up with?? I'd love to see ya'lls results! (Post them in the comments or e-mail me your results at aleah.art@gmail.com and I'll either do a mass post of Mosaics here or on Facebook!)