Big Weekend for Auburnart.com!!

I'm so excited to report that auburnart.com an online store for buying Auburn art (and my Auburn paintings!) is now a storefront! Isn't it amazing in this day and age that a business is built online then made into a store you can go into??...the power of the internet. Frank and Ingrid at the Villager Gallery in Auburn are movers and shakers! They landed a storefront right next to Toomer's Drugs on the corner of College and Magnolia. Yay!! Location location location! I will be down there painting live one game day soon! I will post when I know the exact day...


They opened the store last night just as the football season opens tomorrow night. Great timing! Check out their blog to see some images and great links to everything about our glorious Auburn University. You can also see this youtube video of an interview they came up and did with me about my paintings of Auburn that I've done. They asked me where the inspiration for them came from....



The original oil paintings of Samford Hall and Toomer's Corner have sold, but auburnart.com sells them as giclees on canvas for me.


I will be debuting my latest Auburn painting. Wanna guess the subject? One hint: A beloved eating establishment.....War Eagle!!

What a Wonderful World

Aww, this is so cool-- a hand shadow show by Raymond Crowe. It's set to our beloved Louis Armstrong's song...enjoy!

Awesome Fall Schedule of Workshops!

Tuesdays, October 2nd - November 20th
9am - Noon

All classes include supplies & snacks, valuable demonstrations and a limited class size for better individual attention. The classes are taught in acrylic paint and
are offered to adults age 18 and up.

Enrollment requires tuition to be prepaid. I want YOU! Don’t miss out!
CHOOSE ANY 3 FOR $500 (must enroll all at one time)
Call Leslie at the studio to enroll: 256.232.2521
Download printable PDF

Beginner Class
October 2 November 6
Learn the basics of painting! Begin building your foundation with drawing and fundamental skills in color mixing. Complete one drawing and one painting. Up to 8 students. $175

Techniques Class
October 9
Study composition & elements of design, light & shadow, color mixing.
Special techniques with texture and the palette knife. Complete one medium size canvas.
Up to 8 students. $195

Landscapes / Cityscapes
October 16 Plein Air weather dependent November 13
Study perspective. Paint a cityscape on a medium to large canvas! Up to 6 students. $195

Individual Instruction
October 23 November 20
Student’s choice--bring in your own photo (non-portrait) or choose from our collection.
Intense individual instruction. Paint a medium size canvas. Up to 6 students. $175

Painting Large
October 30
Paint a large canvas. Subject: Still life. Bring in a photo of your favorite things!
Or you can paint from life a group of objects that Carole will have set up.
Intense individual instruction. Up to 5 students. $195

Painting the Face
November 20
Learn to sculpt a face in paint. Small to medium canvas. Intense instruction.
Must have completed a Beginners and Techniques class. Up to 3 students. $275

Finished my latest house portrait! Mrs. O'Meara seemed to really like it when she came to pick it up. I hope she does. As with all my clients, she has some time to enjoy it and come back with any change requests. I want my clients to be 100% satisfied! Thanks, Josie for your patience and I hope you love it!

How 'bout an Artist Retreat in September?

My twin sister Claire and I are headed to beautiful Jackson TN September 13th for a destination workhsop! We will be teaching at the awesome gallery Art Under a Hot Tin Roof. We are so excited and look forward to being with those who have enrolled already. I know there are a few spots left, so consider meeting us there and get ready for a great time painting!

Call my studio to enroll: 256.232.2521

Enjoy a quick art lesson to whet your appetite!

Coming from out of town and need a place to stay? No problem! The Old English Inn has a block of rooms blocked off for YOU. So get a friend and come join us!

Photos of Art Under a Hot Tin Roof

The Entrance:
Kat, the owner, has this cool wooden man right at the door.

Straight ahead from the door is the jewelry gallery full of awesome handmade jewelry. You gota see it!

This is the large gallery area where we will be holding our workshop. It is big and spacious with amazing natural light. I love the bleached wood floors.

This is the view looking out toward the front. Those windows are actually doors too. If the weather is good, we'll step out on the sidewalk and paint plein air!

This workshop is open to the first 12 who send in their tuition.
$325
Includes all supplies
Here is the schedule:

Thursday Night the 13th: 5:30-7 Meet & Greet
Carole & Claire will live paint
Friday the 14th: 10am - 4pm Workshop
Go After It! Painting Workshop with Carole & Claire
Saturday the 15th: 10am Critique/Q&A Session
5:30 -8pm Art Opening featuring Carole's & Claire's latest work
& Student Show (if you want to exhibit your work)

Tag, I'm It!

I have some blog friends (photographers) that are up to something, and I've been tagged to reveal 8 things that people may not know about me. I then will tag 8 more people--so check them out too! Here are some random facts about me:

1. I am the older twin by 5 minutes.
2. My favorite color is red.
3. I despise capri pants.
4. I put Tabasco on almost everything I eat.
5. The source of my joy is Jesus.
6. I played tennis for Auburn University my sophomore year.
7. I sing and play drums in my all-girl Christian band Sister Grace.
8. I fidget if I'm not asleep.

I am tagging:

Kevin Swan
Sarah Barlow
Carla Swinney
David Jay
Sam the Man
Amber Holritz
Jill Higgins
Jasmine Star
Bentley

TEEN PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Click to enlarge flyer! Tell all the teens you know--we'll have a rockin' good time!

Are You Happy??

I saw a show today on TV that the people were discussing true happiness. Well, I was immediately hooked since I love this topic. We all go through times of feeling less than happy to feeling down to even being clinically depressed. One of the doctors said that many people "die" before they die. I believe that to be true. I also believe that our own happiness is our own responsibility. A choice. A choice that demands alot from us.

When I look around me, I know of people who seem to own real happiness. On the other hand, I know people who seem to have a complaint about almost everything. They "have anger." Which are you? What makes you happy? Vote up to 3 things in the poll....



In a future post, I'll discuss the results as well as other ideas about happiness. Feel free to comment further about your ideas too! In the meantime, I wish you the choice to be happy and doing what it takes be so!

Hot Temps Hot Shoots!

Seth and Anna were one of the cutest fun couples I've ever photographed. She is beautiful and so elegant, and he is handsome, charming and mischevious. They came to me last month wanting some good wedding photos since the ones they received from the contest at Six Flags didn't turn out like they wanted. Well, what can one expect when you get married on a roller coaster? Yes! They did! So Leslie and I referred to Anna as the "Roller Coaster Bride." They were up for anything, and I suggested we do a "We Did!" Shoot. These kinds of shoots are so much fun--the couple can just be themselves--very loving newlyweds, etc. This shoot also became a "Trash the Dress" Shoot as well. Trashing the dress is the biggest new thing in wedding photography. Just surf around the web a little and you'll see what I'm talking about. After a few shots in the studio, we headed outside and shot some stuff around downtown as well as out in nature. We braved a sunning snake getting into the creek in the later shots! We had a blast. Tell me what you think of these images--they go from elegant to fun to HOT! Look out!

Location Location Location

Location Shoots are all the rage right now! I shot Chase, one of my cool seniors, this week at the river doing what he does best--wake-skating! We had a ball--well I did anyway. I think he did too after he realized I wasn't going to come pose him and and twist his face like "other" studios do. Ha! Yeah, this week in Athens, Alabama, it has been so hot--triple digit temps! But we've managed to have some fun shoots. Check out some of my favorites from Chase's:

The Boles

I had the pleasure of photographing the kids of a long time friend, Lee Watkins Boles, last week. They were so cute and fun. This is one of the last shots I took--would you believe that they had just been jumping up and down and doing piggy back shots just prior to this shot? Amazing, huh? They were great and so much fun! Aren't they handsome and beautiful? Thanks, Rainer, Merrill and Catherine!

"Cool" in Christ

Today at church, I had the pleasure of listening to some our youth guys (16 year olds) talk about a mission trip they took to the Dominican Republic to play baseball to the glory of God. Their experiences were so uplifting to the people there as well as to them. You know--the way God works--He gets you to the point of "selling yourself out for Him" and when you do, He gives you so much more back in return. The 4 guys from our church talked about that very thing--well, in their own words. They loved visiting the orphanages and simply playing with the kids. They had a ball playing baseball and then sharing the gospel afterwards. I was so proud of them! They have an experience behind them that will provide memories that shape their faith experience for the rest of their lives! God is good!

Something that one of the Dads, Ronnie Chronister, said was that the guys put down their cool to minister to these people, and how awesome it was to watch that! Well, I think that they discovered the real "cool" in being "cool for Christ." Jonathan, Keith, Kyle & Drew--I'm happy for you!....Over 140 lives were changed and given over to Christ on that trip! I just had to share this. This group was led by Eric Pugh and Score International Missions.

Consumed with the Wet/Dry Vote

I apologize to my readers who don't live in Athens, Alabama for having to read this...My wonderful city of Athens, Alabama has been consumed the past several months with the topic of going BACK to a dry city since going wet 3 years ago? Being a business owner right uptown on the square, I am in disbelief that this has made it to the ballot yet again. Tell me what is so bad about the progress we've enjoyed the past 3 years:

• All the amazing energy and spirit going on around town?
• The drop in DUI's for the past 3 years?
• The increase in tax revenue STAYING in Athens instead of going to our neighboring cities?
  
• The increase in businesses locating here due to the hot spot that we are?
• The increase in funding for our schools? for our children--for our future?
  
• The available tax revenue that has gone toward paving so many of our streets, making our city look so awesome and inviting from its many gateways of Hwy. 72 east and west and I 65 north and south?
• The ordinances that have been well kept by city officials to control the way we live with alcohol in our city--our city will remain a classy, historical town because of this.
  
• The great opportunity to have a choice in having a glass of wine with that awesome spaghetti at Giovanni's--have you been THERE yet? They wouldn't have settled here, bringing a whole new life and buzz to the square, without the legalized sales of alcohol.

As an FYI, I personally don't drink that often--in fact, I check the box, "rarely" on my medical records. But doctors and all health officials tell us that a daily glass of wine can be beneficial to keeping our hearts healthy and stress levels down. The past 3 years I've loved having the choice to buy a drink in my town if I choose to. I don't want that chance taken away. Do you?

To all my Athens brothers and sisters, I urge you to think about this topic (read articles and letters from the News Courier) and

GET OUT THERE TUESDAY AND VOTE!

Come on out for a fun time!

Art on the Square

September 8, 2007

Held on the beautiful Athens Square and Courthouse lawn, this annual juried fine arts exhibit features local and regional artists. This one day exciting, outdoor event is family oriented offering beautiful art work, an art contest for all county and city school students, live entertainment spotlighting different styles of music, a variety of tasty food and a merchant’s sidewalk sale. This year’s event will offer more than 40 artists showing, including art events held at Carole Foret's Studio.

I was honored to have been asked to be a judge for the juried exhibit! Save the date and come on out to the square for a day of fun and celebrating the arts!

www.athensartonthesquare.com

Destination Workshop--Go with us!

Above is the flyer (click it to read it!) for the Destination Painting Workshop Weekend. I will be teaching with my sister Claire Kayser next month in beautiful Jackson, Tennessee (near Memphis) at Art Under a Hot Tin Roof Gallery. We are really fired up about getting together with a group of eager students who want to learn new skills in painting, learning some cool techniques that Claire and I want to share.

The weekend of September 13th-15th will be fun-filled as we meet & greet one another at Kat Semrau's awesome gallery Thursday night over a glass of wine and watch live painting. On Friday we will have a jam-packed painting workshop (full of demonstrations by Claire and me), with a Saturday morning finish/critique session. Then the grand finale of the weekend will be an Art Opening of my and Claire's recent work as well as our student's work (if they wish).

Oh well, "Sounds like a blast, but I live out of town," you say. Well--don't let that hold you back! We have a block of rooms reserved for those who want to come and enjoy the weekend with us--it's an unbelievable deal too! The Old English Inn in Jackson, a gorgeous hotel, has graciously lowered their rates for our students. Simply call them ( (731) 668-1571 ) and ask about that weekend of "Carole and Claire's painting workshop." They'll get you all set up!

So JOIN US! We look forward to meeting you and painting together!
Call me to enroll in the workshop (256.232.2521) We accept Visa & Mastercard as well as cash or a personal check (if received by Sept. 1)

My goodness!

Latest from my Easel

I really haven't been "monkey-ing around"--I have been painting some. I'm working on commissions as well as some new ones for my show in Jackson, Tennessee September 15th. What do ya think?

See my site for the latest workshops! I just scheduled a great one to kick off the beginning of fall and end of summer. It is going to be a 3-week one held on Tuesday mornings....See the workshops section of my site for all the info. I'll tell you that this workshop includes lunch with me the last Tuesday at Giovanni's!!--the Italian bistro that is right next door. You don't want to miss this! Email me if interested!

Minneapolis Bridge Collapses

I'm so sad, yet thankful at the same time. My twin sister and her family travel this bridge lots of times during the week. She and her family and friends are all okay as far as they know tonight. Please keep the twin cities in your thoughts and prayers...