Holland, Here We Come!

Holland, Here We Come!

Annie Hooten with me.  We can't wait for this adventure!

Coevorden Castle 
 The Netherlands 

July 13-17, 2020

Held in the Ridder Zal (Knights Hall)

Join the “Double Dutch” team of Libby Williamson & Annie Hooten for this unique and exciting workshop - five days of art experimentation with fresh and exciting mixed-media techniques - culminating in the construction of a beautiful, ribbon-bound journal. Your book will be perfect for documenting a multitude of learned techniques and for recording your adventures in The Netherlands.  We will also construct a fabric bag, using a variety of machine and hand-stitching techniques, in which to carry your journal.

Libby and Annie will guide you through the use of many different mediums using acrylic paints, inks, stamps and stencils, and a variety of papers and fabrics.  Techniques will include collage, silk screening, gelatin printing, stamp carving, free-motion machine sewing and hand-stitching, image transfer, cyanotype printing, and much more. We’ll experiment by stitching and printing on dried and recycled tea bags and other unusual materials, and we will incorporate unique papers, maps, ephemera, and treasures that we gather during our adventure in Holland. The workshop is geared for all creators, those with minimal art experience as well as those who are already comfortable with some of the mediums.

The workshop will be held at the Coevorden Castle (Yes – we’ll be creating in a castle!) and accommodations are adjacent to the classroom. Why don’t you fly into Amsterdam a few days prior to the workshop and, after spending a few days on your own exploring the beautiful city, meet up with Libby and Annie on Sunday afternoon, July 12th for a two hour train ride into Coevorden.

The workshop fee is US $1200 (see payment details on the registration form) which includes most supplies for the class and a goodie bag filled with treasures. There is a short list of supplies which you will need to bring and we are happy to email the list to you.

Our workshop is limited to 20 students and a waitlist will be created for those who are interested once the workshop has filled.

Accommodation at the Coevorden Castle is at your expense and the cost is €635 for five nights which includes daily breakfast and lunch (soup, salad, and sandwiches) for attendees. There is no extra charge for a second person in your room but if they are not attending the workshop they will need to pay €150 for breakfast and lunch. Dinners will be on our own, with a selection of restaurants in town or you may dine with a limited menu at the Castle.

Come play with us! Many adventures await! 

Project samples coming soon!

Questions? Email us at creative_explorations@aol.com. 

A Better World - A quilt in honor of Mary Oliver

A Better World

Listen to the Leaves
30" X 50"

In the fall of 2018, I was invited to submit a piece of artwork to be considered for a very special art quilt exhibit called, A Better World. Susan Brubaker Knapp and Lyric Kinard, both highly regarded art quilters, developed the concept for this collection and curated this show. My art quilt, Listen to the Leaves, was accepted and included in this prestigious exhibit.

The premise for the exhibit was to create artwork which celebrates the life of an individual who has made a positive impact in our world.  A Hero. This might be a family member, a local community advocate, or a widely know person who has contributed to making our world a better place. 

Listen to the Leaves -detail

It was difficult for me to select someone; there have been so many wonderful people in my life who have influenced me in positive ways. I pondered and contemplated my choice. It wasn't until January of 2019 when the revered poet Mary Oliver died and my internet feed blew up with tributes and celebrations for her work. So many people were grieving her death and sharing her poems online. I'm not very well-schooled in poetry and I was unfamiliar with her work but I immediately began reading her poems and became enchanted. Her body of work is tremendous and beautiful and staggering.

The exhibit debuted at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in October.

 Here I stand with Susan Brubaker Knapp (left) and Lyric Kinard at the exhibit.

This art quilt was made in tribute to Mary Oliver.  

Mary Oliver’s words spill over me and catch me unaware. 

It is her insistence on observation, on patience,

 and on empathy that we shall practice every single day.

Mary Oliver,  Poet Laureate

“You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.”

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver

…..and so, it is my hope for you, to listen to the leaves,

 “Pay Attention”, “Be Astonished” 

and know that “You are Enough”.