Garden Delights Arts & Crafts Workshops

Do you have a preferred learning style when you’re starting out with a new art technique? Do you like to have a printed book to refer to? Would you rather go to a hands-on workshop where you can try out the process with a teacher guiding you and other people to interact with? Are you partial to ebooks or pdf downloads because the price is lower than a workshop or printed book? What about an online workshop with diagrams and step-by-step instructions that you can download and use over and over?

People learn all sorts of different ways, and some techniques lend themselves more to one or another mode of study. As a teacher, I try to reach out to everyone by offering my workshops as books, ebooks, online classes, and in-person workshops. The workshops are thrilling because I meet so many talented people eager to find out about the techniques and materials that I’m excited about. It’s also incredibly satisfying to watch people work on their own projects and go home with, say, a piece of fabric that they printed using their own artwork.

I took a break from workshop teaching to finish my book about selling art online, but am happy to announce that I’m jumping back in, and I just found a great location in Pinole to start up again. I have the first three workshops scheduled and will be getting dates for the others. To make sure that everyone gets lots of attention, I limit the number of people in each workshop, so pre-registration is required. Please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com with your questions or to pre-register for any of the workshops scheduled in June, July, and August. When you pre-register I’ll give you the address and more information about each workshop. You can see the list of my other workshops at my website.  If you’re interested in any of them email me and I’ll let you know when they’re scheduled.

Sunday June 24, 2012
INKJET PRINTING ON FABRIC
Learn to print your artwork, images & designs on cotton and silk with an inkjet printer. This exciting technique opens the door to many possibilities for creating original fabric to use in gifts, quilts, art pieces, and much more…. You will go home with at least one sheet of treated fabric printed with your images, and with the knowledge to begin printing fabric on your home inkjet printer.
11 am to 3 pm / $40 plus supplies

Saturday July 14, 2012
PHOTO ART : ALTERED IMAGERY
Learn to transform your photographs into works of art with software programs and techniques. We will explore how to enhance your original photos to achieve unique and artistic effects. We will use Adobe Photoshop Elements at the workshop, but will explore techniques that other image processing programs use.
11 am to 2:30 pm / $50

Saturday August 11, 2012
INTRODUCTION TO SELLING YOUR ARTWORK ONLINE
Overview class designed to teach you about the many different options to market and sell your artwork and/or crafts on the internet. You will learn the pros and cons of having your own website, selling through print-on-demand websites, selling your handmade work on Etsy or similar sites, using blogs and other social marketing tools, and much more. This information will save you much time in doing the research on your own, and save you from wasting time and money on the wrong kind of venue for your situation.
11 am to 2:30 pm / $60

If you’re not local, or you prefer book learning, check out my website for links to my three books:

• Sell Your Artwork & Crafts Online
• Inkjet Printing on Fabric
• Inkjet Printing on Lutradur

This is link to my online classes at CraftArtEdu.

Profile of Kayla Garelick, daydreaming artist

In 2004 I made my grand debut selling my photo arts and crafts by participating in Pro Arts’ East Bay Open Studios. For a novice’s first foray into the rough and tumble of art sales it went pretty well. I sold some and learned a ton about the importance of self-promotion, because in the end, only a couple out of dozens of people who came by my studio found out about me through the Pro Arts catalog.

By far the best thing to come from the entire experience was an email I got even before I opened my studio. A fellow photographer, Kayla Garelick, liked one of the images I put up on the website that Pro Arts provided for us. Kayla and I emailed back and forth, we met, we clicked (photographer pun intended), and we’ve been fast friends ever since.

"Leaves" gallery page on Kayla's website

I haven’t done an Open Studio through Pro Arts again, although I still hold my own open studios once or twice a year. And Kayla has gone on to exhibit in a wide variety of shows, galleries, and at Open Studios in San Francisco.

Along with selling and showing her work at many venues in the Bay Area, Kayla is an accomplished web designer, and has had her own website in various forms since the 1990s. So when I decided to include profiles of a few artists in the book I was writing about selling art online, as examples and to inspire, Kayla was the first person I asked.  Okay, enough introduction, here’s the profile of Kayla that’s in the book, slightly edited because I have more space here!

“Daydreaming artist” Kayla Garelick is an abstract photographer who creates her images and photobased mixed media art pieces with extreme technical precision and rigorous attention to detail. Kayla’s writing, on her blog and website (see links to all of Kayla’s sites at the end of her profile) and on the many other sites where she appears, consistently displays her generosity, spirituality, and passion for art and life.

Part of the homepage of Kayla's website, daydreamingarts.com

An accomplished web designer, Kayla has had her own website in various forms since the 1990s, has extensive technical training in building sites, has taught web design, and has designed sites for non-profits. Currently, Kayla uses her artistic vision and web design training, which she keeps up to date by taking online courses, to make her website uniquely her own. She uses hand coding to control elements and functions that she could not achieve using automated tools, and also uses free-of-charge open source scripts. When she needs a tool to, as she puts it, “ease some of the pain of repetitive stuff,” she uses Adobe Dreamweaver, a popular web development program.

Kayla began blogging in 2005 on the Blogspot platform. The screen shot above is of her current blog: http://daydreamingarts.wordpress.com/blog  She recently moved the blog to WordPress, partly because she gets more comments on her WP blog posts, and partly because Blogspot lost one of her posts. She also has a Facebook fan page (also known as a business page), where she posts about the shows and galleries that she appears in, promotes other artists’ work and publicizes opportunities for artists, discusses art classes that she’s taking, and posts her photographs.

Kayla's facebook fan page, http://facebook.com/daydreamingarts

She doesn’t sell her work directly through her website or other online venue. Her first goal in being online is to have her art seen and remembered, to promote her shows, and to be invited to show her work at other galleries or art shows. Her second goal is to sell her artwork at shows and to sell the rights to her work. Kayla is active in a large variety of artist groups, both online and off. She always takes the opportunity to show her work in her groups’ online galleries, which greatly increases and broadens her exposure to potential audiences.

To see her sublime photography and read her articulate, heartfelt words, visit Kayla’s links:

Website: http://daydreamingarts.net
Blog: http://daydreamingarts.wordpress.com/blog
Facebook fan page: http://facebook.com/daydreamingarts
Art sites:

http://agesonginstitute.org/poesis/kayla-garelick http://missionartistsunited.org/artists/378 http://frankbettecenter.org/artist-galleries/artist_kayla_garelick.html http://artspan.org/artist/kayla-garelick http://mesart.com/artwork.jsp.que.artwork.eq.32486.shtml http://artslant.com/global/artists/show/158265-kayla-garelick http://missionartistsunited.org/artists/378 http://theartexplosion.com/art/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=534 http://artsforhealing.com/object3.shtml http://cityartgallery.org/gallery/gallery_garelick.html

Interested in learning more about selling your arts & crafts online? Check out my book Sell Your Artwork & Crafts Online: An Insider’s Guide to the Worldwide Arts Market.  And I’d love to invite you to join the facebook page that I started for people to network with other artists who are selling their work online. It’s there for you to post questions, to share your progress and frustrations, and I’ll post lots of free tips about selling and marketing your arts and crafts online.

Workshop — The Personalized Pet!

Pamper your pets with handmade, personalized collars and leashes, catnip toys and mini-quilts! Learn to make fun and useful products for your pups or cats from fabric that you design and print yourself, using your own images and designs, on your home inkjet printer.  They also make great gifts for friends and family pets, or as donations for shelters.

I will have the hardware for safety-release cat collars, for buckle dog collars (small, medium and large), and for dog leashes, and catnip for handmade toys and catnip mats.

Using the same instructions, you can also make repurposed collars, leashes and other pet supplies using old garments or cloth.

This is a hands-on workshop. We’ll go step-by-step through the entire process of designing and printing the fabric, and sewing and assembling the pieces.  I will give you clear, complete written instructions, so if we don’t finish each piece you can finish it easily at home. To make these at home you can hand-sew, but it is faster to make them with a sewing machine.

Sunday August 21, 2011, noon to 3:00 p.m., $40 plus materials.  At the El Cerrito Canyon Trail Park Art Center.

Pre-registration is required, so I know what hardware and supplies to bring. If you have questions, or to register, please email me at heidirand@gmail.com

ONLINE CLASSES
Can’t make the workshops?  Prefer to learn at your own pace at home?

I have several classes you can take online at CraftEdu.

These are direct links for my classes:

Free basic Introduction to Inkjet Inks

Free basic Introduction to Lutradur

Inkjet Printing on Fabric

Inkjet Printing on Lutradur

Click here for the complete list of other classes I offer in Pinole and El Cerrito.

NATURE + ART workshop

Join me in this hands-on workshop to inspire and teach you basic and advanced techniques to enrich your artwork with natural objects and images, including flowers and plants, and animals and wildlife.

I’m limiting enrollment in this workshop, and molding it to the interests of the participants. We can cover topics such as improving your nature photography, using nature in mixed media art, how to find natural subjects or attract them to your garden, and much more.

Masdevallia orchid box

No equipment is required, but if you have them, bring along your digital camera and/or laptop computer (including iphone or tablet).  Or bring your favorite paints, pencils, pastels, etc.

Sunday June 19, 2011, noon to 4:00 p.m., $60 plus materials. At the El Cerrito Canyon Trail Park Art Center.  Pre-registration is required. If you have questions, or to register, please email me at heidirand@gmail.com

And click here for the complete list of my upcoming classes.

Photo Art : Altered Imagery Workshop

Do you have folders-full of photographs on your computer that are okay, but you want to transform them into art that you’re really proud of, that you can print and frame — for yourself, for gifts, or to sell?

Cattleya orchid

Ready to take the next steps with your photos, to stretch your creativity and artistic imagination?   If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve got just the workshop for you!  Sunday April 10, 2011 from noon to 3:30 p.m., at the Canyon Trail Park & Art Center, 6757 Gatto Ave., El Cerrito, I’ll be teaching you the magic that you can find within your own photographs.

Egret allium blended collage

We’ll explore how to enhance your original photos to achieve unique and artistic effects using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Elements is a very powerful, but affordable, image processing program.  The techniques that I teach you, though, can be accomplished with other programs, and we’ll discuss those other programs, including GIMP, a free image processing software that you can download from the internet.

Making a kaleidoscope

Space is limited, and we’ll work on your images at the workshop, so pre-registration is required.  For more information, or to pre-register, email me at heidirand@gmail.com.  The cost is $50. If you can’t make the workshop, email me for other options, including private classes and ebooks.  And here’s a list of my other art and craft workshops.

Dorian and Lars

Workshop: Introduction to Selling Your Artwork Online

Etsy shop

Let me guess — was one of your New Year’s resolutions to open up a shop on Etsy? Have you been promising yourself that this is the year you’d finally look into how to make your paintings or photographs, jewelry or knitted goods, available for sale on the internet?  How long have you been thinking that you really want to sell online, but you just weren’t sure where to start, and you found yourself confused by all of the options?

Zazzle shop

Bay Area artists and crafters, I’ve put together a workshop just for you  – Introduction to Selling Your Artwork Online,  Saturday March 19, 2011 from noon to 3:30 at the Pinole Art Center, 2221 Pear St., Pinole.  The cost is $60.  I’ll give a thorough explanation of the many different options to market and sell artwork and crafts on the internet.  You’ll learn the pros and cons of having your own website, selling through print-on-demand websites, selling your handmade work on Etsy or Artfire, using blogs and other social marketing tools, and much more.

Facebook business page

I’ll have my laptop, and there’s wifi at the Art Center, so we will get online and look at all of the sites. If you have a smartphone or laptop, bring it along, but it’s not required.  We’ll discuss what has been preventing you from beginning to sell online, what kinds of skills you need, how to keep yourself motivated, and more.

Twitter page

The information will save you much time in doing the research on your own, and will save you from wasting more time and money on the wrong kind of venue for your situation.  Space is limited and pre-registration for the workshop is required.  If you have any questions or want to pre-register, just email me at heidirand[at]gmail.com
If you’re not in the Bay Area, I’m writing an ebook on the subject — let me know if you want to be notified when it’s ready.

Handmade Pet Collars class is available on CraftEdu!!

In my last post I let you know about my new online class — and hooray! it’s now available for you to preview and sign up for on Craftedu. Click here to go to my page at CraftEdu – to see the list of my classes, click on the green button: “see all classes“.   Or click here to go right to the class. In the class I take you step-by-step through making adjustable dog and cat collars using re-purposed fabric from garments that you’re no longer wearing or other used material that you have around or that you find in second-hand stores.

These collars are great for your own pets, for gifts, to donate to shelters or animal rescue groups, or to sell.   They’re fun to make, but you can’t buy the hardware for them in any brick and mortar store.  Most online sources sell them in quantity for people who make the collars to sell, so I decided to make them available through my ArtFire shop in packages of two sets (if you only want one, or you can use more than two, please email me at heidirand@gmail.com) and I’ll calculate the shipping.

If you take the class and are making the collars for an animal shelter, a feral cat organization, or other animal rescue group, please email me with the name of the organization and the date when you purchased the class, and I’ll send you a set of cat or dog collar hardware at no charge.

Click here to join CraftEdu’s facebook page to get the latest information on all Craftedu classes and instructors, and notices about when new classes become available.

Handmade pet collars — my new online class at CraftEdu!

I just put the finishing touches on my new online class, and it’ll be available for you to preview and sign up for on Craftedu Monday March 7!  I teach you how to make dog and cat collars using re-purposed fabric from garments that you’re no longer wearing or other used material that you have around or that you find in second-hand stores.  If you know how to print on fabric (hint, hint — if not, check out my CraftEdu class on Inkjet Printing on Fabric, or my book on the same subject), you can make truly personalized and unique collars.  And of course you can always use new fabric that you buy.  These collars are great for your own pets, for gifts, to donate to shelters or animal rescue groups, or to sell.  This was my first post about the collars I was making from fabric that I designed and printed myself, and I followed that with this post specifically about the collars for dogs.

I created this class because of the steep learning curve I went through when I first started making the collars myself.  I couldn’t find good instructions anywhere, so I sat down and made this step-by-step instruction guide, with lots of close-up photos and clear directions.   I include a handout that you can print with screen-shots of the entire class.  I also give you a list of places to buy the pet collar hardware, and a guide to common collar and neck sizes for dogs and cats.

Click here to join CraftEdu’s facebook page to get the latest information on all Craftedu classes and notices about when the classes will go on sale (for some classes you can get a discount on the first day it’s offered).  It was so fun making this class — I just love the idea of using fabric that would go into landfill and turning it into a useful object instead!

Handmade gifts with your inkjet printer : one-day workshop November 21st

Tote bag with Lars portrait

I look forward to this workshop all year — it gives you a chance to try any of the techniques that I teach, and sparks your imagination to go home and make gifts for everyone on your holiday list!   I’ll show you how to make personalized gifts for friends and family or for yourself, using your own photos, designs, or other material — and your home printer.

Pet squeaky toy ornament

We’ll explore a  variety of different techniques to create unique gifts, like printing on fabric and other special surfaces ideal for making presents.  Each person will complete at least one project at the workshop, and you’ll go home with many ideas and new things to try on your own printer.  There’s plenty of time before the holidays to create gifts for everyone on your list!

Pillow

When you make a personalized gift you can save money and show that you care to take the time to create something special for your loved ones.

Light switch plate

You can use photographs and the originals or scanned memorabilia of things in your lives together for gifts that people will treasure and keep.

The workshop is Sunday November 21, 2010, noon to 3:30.  Cost is $40 plus materials. It will be held at the Canyon Trail Art Center in El Cerrito California.  Pre-registration is required.  If you have questions or want to pre-register, email me at heidirand@gmail.com.

If you want to see some of the gifts that I make from my photographs and designs, please visit my Artfire shop or my ETSY shop.

Exploring lutradur : one-day workshop

Workshop taught by Heidi Rand

Sunday October 24, 2010, noon to 3:30 p.m.

$40 + materials

Learn to create art quilts and other arts & crafts with this exciting new product that combines the best qualities of fabric and paper.  Lutradur looks, feels and folds like translucent paper and doesn’t tear or fray. It’s the perfect medium for a wide variety of sewing, mixed media art and crafting.

I will give an overview and demonstrate many ways to use lutradur: sewing, inkjet prints, transfers, heat gun, soldering iron, stamps, and more… You will have time to explore a variety of effects to create a mixed media art project.

Bring your favorite art materials to try on lutradur, as well as any photos, beads, etc. for your personal project.  Bring your sewing machine if you want to use it to sew your project.

The workshop will be held at the Canyon Trail Park Art Center in El Cerrito. Class size is limited and pre-registration is required, so if you’re interested, please email me at heidirand@gmail.com

Upcoming workshops:

November 21, 2010, noon to 3:30 p.m., Handmade Gifts With Your Inkjet Printer

February 20, 2011, noon to 3:30 p.m., Inkjet Printing on Fabric

Interested? Please email me