art retreat in Cayucos

In mid-August 4 old-time friends and I planned a womens' art retreat up on the Central Coast of California. (Unfortunately one dear friend had to cancel at the last moment due to a death in the family.) We rented a funky beach house in Cayucos just 2 blocks from the ocean. We came from Redwood Valley, Santa Cruz, Santa Clarita & Claremont; it was a great mid-point location for all of us to meet.

beach house ~ watercolor

After arriving we piled all our communal art supplies on the pool table and prepared for the next four glorious, uninterrupted days to come. We induldged in sketching, acrylics, plein air, watercolor, jewelry making, and montage. 

Some examples of my work while there:

driftwood design journal cover ~  acrylic

the artista at work ~ photo by Linda W.

Cayucos starfish ~ pen & ink

brush painting ~ Chinese ink

8/19/16 journal entry ~ watercolor

still life ~ watercolor on handmade paper

My friends and their work:

little books

Assorted journals and cello practice books.

Making little books with new punch/binding tool. Started with two 5-1/2 x 8-1/2" sketchbooks using painted canvas board for covers and one 5x7" sketchbook using canvas boards for front & back. Proved to be too thick for punching and realisticly the back would wear away in places.

Ordered 8-1/2 x 11" chipboard for front & back stock and that works best. Can be collaged, painted, or left bare. As far as binding the 1/2", 3/4", and 5/8" coils seem best so far. 3/8" binding too small and the 1" is too big for this purpose.

     

4-1/4 x 5-1/2"

 

The cool thing about making your own journal/sketchbook is you can use a variety of papers, including old stashes one might have lying around. So far I've used rice , music, staff, graph, lined, drawing, mixed media, watercolor, toned, &  cartridge papers.