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Archives for May 17, 2008

Volleyball Season

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My daughter Ashley has been playing volleyball for the past 4 years on a club team (so, volleyball goes year-round for us).  So, beginning in February I travel a lot all over the State of California taking my daughter to tournaments and league games.  The team she is on is doing great this season – her team has qualified twice for the Junior Olympics so far this season and in the highest division possible. 

They came in second place in Denver, CO at the Colorado Crossroads tournament and they just finished third in Anaheim, CA @ the SoCal qualifier.  This season has been such a great experience for a teenage girl – I talk about the passion I have for decorative finishing and see that same passion in my daughter, but for the love of volleyball.

Don’t know where this will lead her – but the life experiences are priceless (well they cost mom and dad a lot of money – but it is worth it). 

Well, in between starting this post and getting it published – Ashley’s team had another qualifier in Reno, NV and her team finished 2nd – it’s their third time qualifying for the JO’s – WOW!

So, we are off to Dallas, TX on June 30th for the JO’s – I will get to celebrate my birthday in Dallas this year – for the past three years I have celebrated my birthday at the JO’s – Atlanta, Minnesota and now Dallas!

I’ll keep you posted on how her team does and how the good’ol birthday was (I was in Dallas in October for Meeting of the Masters – we went to a Piano Bar that was very fun – I may go back there for my birthday!)

SALI – Charleston, SC – July 2008

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Most people that know me, do know that I’m a big supporter of the organization called SALI – Stencil Artisans League, Inc. (which is currently going through a name change that will be official at the convention this summer).  They have a annual convention coming this July 20-25th, 2008 in Charleston, SC – for a lot more information on the non-profit organization go to www.sali.org.

I have been involved in SALI for at least 20 years – when I discovered SALI it personally opened many doors for me.  I had discovered the Art of Stenciling – but, here in California I sure wasn’t finding much of anything on the art form.  Through SALI I found many different stencil companies, a great organization that has a inspiring magazine, insurance for professionals and support/networking through local and online chapters. 

SALI truly did change my life – I had been stenciling for several years (as a professional service) and finally had the opportunity to attend one of the annual conventions.  When I returned home after convention,  I told my husband that I knew what I wanted to do – with his support, I opened my own studio “The Stencilled Garden”.  Here at TSG we carried almost every stencil company and product related to stenciling, taught 100’s of classes in the art form and still offered custom stenciling.  We opened the studio in 1994 and we out grew our first location within three years and had to move to a larger building (only a couple blocks down the street) – as we continued to explore in the arts, we also offered classes in all decorative finishing – faux finishing, plasters, murals, stenciling, and much more.   We still have our studio – just changed the name about 3 years ago to reflect more of what we do “Artistic Painting Studio” is now what we are called. 

Not sure if I would be were I am today if it hadn’t been for SALI – if you love to paint as a professional or just love to paint, SALIhas something to offer everyone at every level.  There is nothing like being involved with a group of people that share your passion and the passion for paint is different than any other passion. 

If you are close enough to make the trip to Charleston, SC this summer – make sure not to miss this great event.  The teachers and classes are unbelievable – and the exhibition will be filled with evey great company you can imagine.  By the way – class registration is open online and is very easy to do – www.sali.org. 

I will also be teaching at convention this year – don’t forget to check out my classes……I will be co-teaching with an incredible gifted person (Krista Vind) she teaches for the Decorative Finishing Studio in KY.  These are new classes that we created together – finishes that are new and inspiring – plus Krista and I are a lot of fun!!! 

I hope that I will see some new faces at this years convention – it’s a wonderful opportunity to see and experience so much all in one place.