1/2 Price Offer - Wine, Dine & Design

What do you get when you combine your favourite wine, yummy food, great craic & and creative entertainment?...the perfect evening out with Wine, Dine & Design!

If you're looking for something to do in Belfast, you’ll love this new and exciting alternative to the traditional night out. Learn to create your own masterpiece in a fun, relaxed, adults-only environment while sipping your favourite wine and enjoying delicious food. 

Even if your last artistic creation was a stick figure, never fear because I will give you all the guidance you need to create your painting with confidence.

It's still early days for this workshop (or shall I say party with paint?), so I'm offering 1/2 OFF (normally £40) on the event this Friday, 16 March, 2012 to help get the word out. Where else are you going to get a lovely meal and an evening's entertainment for only £20? Just bring your favourite bottle of wine & everything else is provided for you!

To get your discount, book via Eventbrite and enter this promotional code when prompted: WDD-16march2012-HALFOFF.

If you prefer to pay via Paypal or cheque or have any questions, contact Jolie Dennison. Be sure to like JolieArt on Facebook to keep up to date with dates and locations of future events, as well as get fan only special offers.

E: info@joliedennison.com
W: www.joliedennison.com

T: 07830 429618

To see what other people are saying about Wine, Dine & Design, check out my earlier blog post and this one from journalist, Heather McGarrigle.

Wine, Dine & Design - The Perfect Evening out with JolieArt

What do you get when you combine your favourite wine, yummy food, great craic & and creative entertainment?...the perfect evening out with Wine, Dine & Design!

If you’re tired of doing the same old thing at the weekend, you’ll love this new and exciting  alternative to the traditional night out. Learn to create your own masterpiece in a fun, relaxed, adults-only environment while sipping your favourite wine and enjoying  delicious food. Even if your last artistic creation was a stick figure, never fear because I will give you all the guidance you need to create your painting with confidence.

Journalist, Heather McGarrigle, who often writes for the Belfast Telegraph, attended the January launch of Wine, Dine & Design and described her experience as such, “It really didn't matter how it turned out; not only has it got me over my fear of putting paintbrush to paper, it will always serve as a reminder of a fun evening with my mate and the lovely people we met. We arrived at 7pm and by 10pm, we had completed our artworks, marvelled/guffawed at each other's efforts and were preparing to head to the pub to round the night off. It was a nice, non-cringey way to meet new people.” Be sure to visit Heather's blog to see her entire post.

Siobhan McGarry had this to say about her experience, “Oh Jolie - just have to say last night's 'Wine, Dine & Design was absolutely brilliant fun. My friend Jenny and myself had great craic! Great girlie night - thoroughly recommend it for getting a hen night started - or just a really lovely idea for a friends night out. Two words - Red & Town....let's just say the painting didn't stop when we left the building!”

For just £40 per person you’ll get step-by-step instruction, a canvas, use of paints and materials, a casually elegant buffet from the equally creative Whoosh Catering and, of course, a fabulous social experience that you’ll be talking about for ages. All you need to bring is your own bottle of wine and a few friends – or come and make new ones!

Wine, Dine & Design takes place in Belfast on the 3rd Friday of each month (or book a private event anytime). For more information, phone Jolie on 07830 429618 or visit www.joliedennison.com.

Self-Portrait

This is a self-portrait, though not in the "traditional" sense, as I didn't even bother to look at a photo of me while drawing. It's a self-portrait in that I used the entire background as a big journal page and wrote all about me: my good and bad points, people and things I love, my hopes and dreams, etc. I chose colours that I personally love and mostly buried the writing...but I know it's there and that's what's important. I have included a work in progress shot, as well as some details.

Finally Set Up a Flickr Account

After being hounded for the last few years by my best friend, a photographer who loves flickr, I have finally set up my own account at http://www.flickr.com/jolieart. I don't know why I waited so darn long! It was so easy to set up and is such a great way to have an easy to update online portfolio, as well as a great way to connect with other creative people.

By the way, you can also check out my friend, Toni (only I call her that) at http://www.flickr.com/photos/stages or see her professional website at www.tjlambert-stages.com. She is an amazing photographer and has travelled all over the world. Her style is so personal and unique that it's totally worth paying her travel expense to book her. I'm lucky though...I'm the only person to get her for free!

I completed 2 paintings today, including my first girl with short hair in a while. The bottom painting was completed a few weeks ago and represents Toni, her 4 children, her fiancee, her friendships and more. I can't bring myself to let it go yet, so she'll have to be happy with a digital file for the moment.

Who Needs Sleep Anyway?

I completed 2 paintings today and I love them both! I have taken a few details shots so you can get a sense of the texture and finishing touches. Unfortunately, my photography skills leave alot to be desired again. The colour looks fairly accurate, but I wasn't able to pick up on the glitter or some of the more subtle touches.

I'm so obsessed at the moment that all I am doing is painting! I'm nowhere near ready to go to bed yet and am about to start some sketches for painting tomorrow. So far sleep deprivation hasn't hurt my painting, but it sure isn't doing much for my concentration! I can't hold a decent conversation at the moment I'm pretty sure anyone who has met me in the last week or two either thinks I'm a lunatic or an idiot! Oh well, it's worth it to have this much fun!

Recycling Artwork and Happy Accidents

So I had this abstract painting on canvas that I wasn't happy with and it sat in a box for Lord only knows how long. I have been painting so prolifically though, that I ran out of canvas and had to recycle. The canvas was already covered with lots of texture, so I had to think a little differently about how I was going to create this piece, as I need to start with a smooth surface for the landscape girls I have been doing.

I picked the least textured area to draw the face and added loads of collage everywhere else. I used my star shape punch to cut out some scrapbook paper. I glued those down and used the leftover paper with the negative space star shapes as a stencil to put some gesso stars on the canvas, then I glued the "stencil" on too. I found some fantastic mesh several weeks ago that I had in mind to use for a fence, but it makes the most amazing collage material! I then randomly spread gesso here and there for more texture and to integrate some of the collage pieces. I built up colour over many, many layers with Golden Fluid acrylics and several different types of Stewart Gill paints. It's hard to tell with my not so amazing photography skills (too bad my friend, Toni doesn't live nearby), but the result is super rich and has so much depth. I'm definitely going to do more of this type of mixed media girl!

I always told my students not to worry if they made a mistake or if they don't like what they have done. They should look at it as a happy accident, as it's an opportunity to really stretch their creativity and come up with something they might like even better. That advice is easy to say, sometimes hard to follow, but this is proof positive that it's true! If I hadn't had an unsuccessful piece, I would never have reworked it into this piece that I love.

A Couple of Night Time Paintings

I don't know why I haven't painted more girls at night. I did the one with the girl that is large in the foreground a few weeks ago and she is one of my favourites. I know, I know...they ALL seem to be my favourites! I can't decide. I am just loving this series.

Anyhoo...I got some new Stewart Gill paints today and thought they would be great for creating a dark, yet vibrant sky. I used a hint of black and white craft acylics with Liquitex Glossies in a dark blue and a medium blue. For the clouds I used a little white and the Stewart Gill Metamica steel blue and Alchemy genesis colours. I worked really fast so the clouds were integrated with the rest of sky. After it was dry, I added these fantastic tiny irredescent stars that I picked up a while back. I can't find any more, so I am dreading the day I run out! There are a lot of layers and details in this painting, so it took ages, but it was worth it.

Girls in Landscapes

I am so happy with the painting I finished today, one of several girls in landscapes I have done recently. The princess is from today and the others are a few of my favourite pieces finished within the last month or so. All of the trees have something subtle hidden within them. I'll give you a big hint...it's a shape that's all about love.

Grrr! She's Not Going So Well

Well, after 18 paintings that I am absolutely thrilled with and proud of, this one just isn't working for me. I'm really happy with the background, but I'm not so hot on the girl. I have plenty of shading to do on her face yet and have to finish her hair, but something just isn't quite right. I think I'm unhappy because I put her eyes up slightly higher than I usually do. I could just paint more hair at the top, but the black would be really hard to cover unless I want her to have super long bangs. I think I'll just set it aside for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes at some stage.

What's Her Name?

I completed a new painting today. She is the 18th of this new mixed media girls collection. She needs a name or title though, as do the other 17. I am terrible with titles, but these girls definitely need identities. I'll have to come up with something soon. I'm open to suggestions!

As far as the media goes on this piece, I used just about everything! Acrylics (mostly Liquitex and Golden Fluid Acrylics), Caran D'Ache Supracolor II pencils, gesso, ink, cut up sequins, glitter and probably a few things I forgot about.

New Year, New Blog, New Plan

This is it...this is the year...I am finally going to get back to concentrating on making and marketing my own art. For a long time I was creating everyday and doing well marketing my work online and in a few galleries. Then one day, someone asked if I did art classes for kids, as she was having a really hard time finding something for her child. Originally, I said "no", but after she asked me to consider it several more times, I finally thought, "Why not?" I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to combine my art knowledge with my background in working with children.

So I started a Saturday class and it filled up. I added another class and it filled up too. Next a student's mother told me that her daughter loved my class so much that she wanted to have an art party, would I consider hosting it? I was having a blast at this point and feeling so inspired by the children's enthusiam that I went for it. It was a huge success and the referrals started pouring in. Before you knew it, I needed a 1200 square foot studio space, was doing classes 5 days a week, parties every weekend and a summer scheme (summer camp). It just snowballed!

There were also hen parties (bachelorette parties for those not in the UK), workshops for adults, school contracts...it just kept expanding and expanding! I couldn't complain. I was featured in magazines, got a regular feature writing an art and craft column for a family newspaper and even got some TV coverage. It got to the point that if you lived within 30 miles of my studio and had kids, you knew my name because your child had either attended one of my classes or been to one of my parties. Everywhere I went, I seemed to run into a child who knew me. I had to watch my language everywhere! LOL

I loved it, I really did, but it became so much more than I ever expected. One day I realized I hadn't picked up a paintbrush, except to hand it to a student for at least 6 months. I had stopped marketing my work online and had let my gallery contacts dry up. I was knee deep in art everyday, but none of it was my own anymore. I needed balance!

So I made the tough decision of closing my studio, and believe me it was one of the HARDEST decisions I have ever made. I ate, slept, and breathed that place for several years and it was a part of me. But in creating it, I had also lost the most important part of me...Jolie, the artist! I gave up the space, only keeping a few large workshop accounts and one private student, then set about rediscovering my creative self.

After joining some online art groups and workshops, connecting with other creative people and immersing myself in art, I'M BACK and creating what I feel is the best art of my life. I'm certainly enjoying it most I ever have, which is the most important thing.

So here's the brand new plan...concentrate on getting my artwork out there again. I'm going to blog. I'm going to twitter. I'm going to etsy. I'm going to flickr. I'm going to youtube. I'm going to finally update my website. I'm going to contact galleries. I'm going to stay connected with other creative people. Whatever it takes....and of course, I'm going to keep painting.