Spring Awakenings

After a long hiatus, I'm trying to get back into a more productive cycle, which means more painting, creating lessons and teaching, and taking my work out of the house to events.

It's not that I haven't been busy, but I've gotten sort of sidetracked with fun pursuits like gardening, sewing, and breaking up fights between my children.

I did manage to teach my first paint-sip at the beginning of the year (hauling all of the materials in during a rainstorm that dropped an alarming amount of moisture!)  It was a blast, and we did the piece below in about 2 hours:

                                                     "Moonlit Valley" Acrylic on Paper
(We used canvas instead of paper, so it would be easy to hang at home.)

If you're in the North San Diego County or Southwest Riverside County area and would like to do a paint-sip event, please contact me for samples and prices at nicolehilsabeck@yahoo.com.

Since it's now April, it's a busy month for all things art-- including contests and shows!

"Avocado Jumble" Mixed Media Collage on Canvas
Click here to view on Daily Paintworks   

Every year Fallbrook has the famous Avocado Festival, and as part of the festival we have the Art of the Avocado contest downtown at Brandon Gallery.  This is a fun event to participate in, and although I usually stick to traditional avocados in my own work, I love to see the creativity that goes into the other pieces.  The show runs through April 28th, and visitors are allowed to cast a ballot for the People's Choice award.

This was my first collage on canvas, and I must admit it was nice to just make sure the sides were finished, varnish the final layer, and hang it as is!  Most of the piece is done with layers of tissue paper and acrylic, with a few paper cutouts to give the avocados more form. and help them "pop" a little (as much as they can, being the same color as the rest of the tree of course).

I won't be at the Avocado Festival this year, as it's on April 23rd--instead, I'll be at the Oceanside Days of Art April 22nd-23rd in downtown Oceanside.

"O'Side Bird" Pastel on Paper
Click to view large
I enjoy this festival because of the location (complete with ocean view!) and the variety of artists who participate and come to browse.  It may be a bit warm this weekend, but that will hopefully be better than the screeching wind that showed up a few years ago when I participated.

In addition to participating in more shows and events, I'm adding some more teaching to my schedule.  If you have children and are in the area, please feel free to check out some of my upcoming classes:

Family Art Workshop at St. Stephen Lutheran:

Fallbrook School of the Arts:
June 19- 27 (Mon/ Tues) Kids' Camp Poetry and Illustration

Have a child or teen who wants to learn at home?  I bring the art instruction to you!
In-Home Art Instruction:

For more information on my latest art, visit my website and sign up for my newsletter.



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