Happy Holidays!

And so it is Christmas..Or .Hanukkah... or Kwanzaa---.... how ever you Celebrate.. May all celebrations be Merry and Bright--no matter what tradition ,or how, when, or where you celebrate, I honor ALL of YOU! Sending my very best Best Wishes to everyone. Ready to transform? I am......



Want to join me ;0

Online Art Class starts July 7!

I am thrilled to be teaching my "Art Buffet" class again this summer. It's a fun, improvisational paint and play class. You can check it out here

Hope to see you there!

New York, New York!

Gosh, I didn't realize that it has been nearly a year since I last updated my blog.. NOT Good. But then I guess it is good that I am sitting here now and posting.

It has been a great year so far this year after probably one the worst years of my life last year. I was glad to see the year click to 2011!

I took my annual trip to New York a couple of weeks ago to attend the National Stationery Show and Surtex (a Licensing Show) Here I am with my fabulous agent Renee from Penny Lane Publishing in front of the panel of my work.




I walked the show for two days and took an excellent seminar on Trends presented by a panel of experts. SOO much to see and learn. I really do love this trip, even though this year it was cold and rainy. I still managed to do the things I wanted and spent LOTS of time walking, both in and out of the show. In one area of the show there was a display of dresses crafted completely from paper.. Fascinating!



On the last day my flight wasn't until 6 pm so walked about 37 blocks to the Guggenheim. I often take in a museum when I'm there and I had never been to the Guggenheim before. They had a retrospective show going on which was absolutely fabulous. Of course the building itself was worth the walk to see. I had seen it before from the outside, but the inside was even more spectacular!







I thought I might take a taxi back to the hotel, but I had plenty of time, it wasn't raining and I knew I'd be sitting on a plane for a few hours, so I walked back through Central Park. All in all, a great day and a wonderful trip!! The calligrapher in me had to pause and marvel at the lovely stone carved bench ;)

Me and my drum ;)

We do a LOT of drumming around here in Eureka Springs (eternal)!.. so much that I finally broke down and bought myself my own, made for me, drum! - and I LoVe it!! This is my third drum... My first one is made from a BIG cast iron pot: MUCH too heavy to transport! This one is becoming a close companion on outings. Check out the monthly drummings we have at Basin Spring Park



Aside from that monthly gathering, there's always a place to drum, dance, sing, play, hug, kiss and frolic! Oh how I love my little town!

Tonight, we're going to a friend's house for feasting before drumming to the full moon rising, around a labyrinth on the King's River. Hey! We might even howl ;) I'll be sure to have my camera

Has it REaLLy Been THaT Long??

Last entry June 22??? Good blogger, eh?

It has been a long road since my Daddy went to Heaven in June '08. And now my Momma... under hospice care for over 6 weeks. I pray she will "let go" …soon. Mostly for HER, but we are all here to see the end as she fights. little feisty Italian thang that she IS ;)

i tell my Beauty Queen that it's OK to go, everything is taken care of.. with her Alzheimer's/dementia and seemingly many mini strokes, she is all but incoherent. To see her, her eyes, facial expressions, body language, Italian arm gestures ;) ... well, those all help in understanding what she is trying to say. And she says some tender things, along with little things that just hafta make you laugh or smile.. I've spent many a night there, just holding her, comforting her as best I can…



SOO many things to say.. my TwinZ, Lindy.. Mom's caregiver for over a year became my dear angel-sister-friend the moment we made contact. My 'Beauty Queen' lives with her just 10 minutes away, making it easy to spend lots of time there...

My loving TwinZ takes care of ME too when I am there. She Is SOO good, so kind, loving, patient, accepting... It is NO mistake that we were brought together, a lasting miracle given by Grace through my sweet little Beauty Queen

a fabulous success!!

I recently completed teaching my first online class. I'm SOO jazzed over the results!! Great Job, guys! Not many of us knew what to expect, all the various learning curves-- and there have been a BuNCh of them-- for EvERyONe of us, student and teacher alike. There's a sense of empowerment after having conquered something. Anyway, I am PrOUd to share some of the results and comments.

Click the pic for a close-up

I'll be teaching this class again in September at My Creative Classroom. To my Fall Semester I am adding another course "Art Buffet"- to include expressive letter/mark making, painting techniques, art journaling and simple bookbinding ideas. Now on with the Student comments, with a BIG thanks for sharing!

Thank you for your teaching and excitement about what we are doing! Your responses really make one want to work harder!

-Jane, MCC Student

I cannot wait for your next class. This is so wonderful to be able to take classes on line. I do not have to drive anyplace, I can do it 24/7 on my schedule, I can do it in my jammies if I want and I don't have to drag my supplies around. There are times that having that in-person experience with your instructor is helpful, but with your videos I feel like I am getting that personal attention. I am so happy to find My Creative Classroom and will be taking more classes that appeal to me.

-Pam, MCC Student

I think Teri is a fantastic teacher, and MCC is very easy to navigate. I have already recommeded both Teri and MCC to my calligraphy guild, and they will be checking it out. I look forward to taking more classes as I'm able.

-Linda, MCC Student

Thank you for offering this wonderful course online. You have a unique way of calmly presenting confusing materials with clarity and empathy. You seem to know exactly what the student's reservations and potential frustrations are before they are even expressed. I am grateful that you are willing to share your experience and talent with others.... the course is presented perfectly, is the right length and is do-able even for people who barely have time to sleep.... I learned a lot and look forward to the fall and to more courses. Thank you for offering this class.

-Anne, MCC Student

This is my first on-line course and I wanted to see how it was done. I have liked Teri's work for a long time, have bought scrapbook paper with her designs, and thought I might learn how she does those subtle colors. I got some good tips from her teaching style that I can incorporate in my own classes and some tips on mixing colors as well.

-Jo, MCC Student

The big draw for me was Teri Martin, she is an awesome woman, wonderful teacher and a great, compassionate, and caring human being

-Fran, MCC Student

I learned a solid starting place for exploring color, and Teri's teaching style is inspiring

-Linda, MCC Student

I love Teri's instruction, and if she were to offer more classes, I'd definitely consider taking them...especially if she could teach some sort of creative lettering... I felt that Teri did an excellent job of putting the class together...just enough info to not make color theory boring, but still informative and practical...this will be very helpful to me...thank you for the class experience, Teri!

-Anita, MCC Student

This was my first attempt at an online class and I think Teri did an excellent job. I think a few weeks longer would help.

-Maggie, MCC Student

My Creative Classroom courses have been an eye-opening experience for me. I'd never have believed I could learn so much about a creative and hands-on technique like Coloring in an on-line class.

-Pam, MCC Student

WOW... I haven't had time to do any playing yet this week with the color studies... but I just took a quick peek in the gallery and I'm TOTALLY inspired by everyone's work...

-Colleen, MCC student

You make me want to experiment and play. I haven't felt that way in quite a while and it is so wonderful that the play is being guided and critiqued!

-Fran, MCC Student

Oh, my gosh, it is just awesome!! I am having so much fun making my little pieces of colorful art!!! I always felt using and understanding color was beyond me but now I feel so much more confident. If I make a color wheel and use those colors they will all work together! I am just amazed and truly inspired!! It is like a light bulb went off!! I have felt so frustrated in the past and now I know why. Thank you so much for opening up this world of color to me.

-Pam, MCC Student

Coincidence.. or Message from Heaven?

I can't believe it has been this long since I posted to my blog. Shame, shame, shame! My only excuse is that my life seems to change everyday.

This past Tuesday, June 9, was the day my Daddy "LTC Daddio" went to heaven. Needless to say it wasn't the easiest of days. The day before that, my Mom "The Beauty Queen" had a follow up doctor appointment to redo a lab test and burn some basal cell cancer off of her back.

Well, when I went to get her, she was in severe pain. She had fallen and hurt her hip. A similar incident was what sent my Daddy to the hospital. His surgery went fine, and his recovery was going extremely excellent, until his only remaining lung filled with fluid. He wasn't expected to live through the night, but he stayed with us for another 8 days.

As the doctor explained to me that we would do x-rays instead, to make sure she hadn't broken anything, it wasn't easy to keep myself pulled together. Thankfully, nothing broken, just sprained and bruised.

I couldn't let the week go by without honoring my Daddy somehow. The first picture is of his last Christmas with us. The others are from earlier in the year. The last picture is with my Mom and Fabulous son, Eagle.

That night, the skies opened wide and let down some serious precipitation in the form of hail! Unbelievable! I was in my office when I heard the pounding and thought: how on earth can I hear the rain on the roof from the basement. I hollered at Jim, went upstairs and could NOT believe my eyes!

Hail, reportedly the size of golf balls in some areas, smaller than a quarter here. Our prime scout, the Kona Puppy, wasn't sure what to think. he looked to the left and right, but would have nothing to do with going out for further exploration. We didn't blame him!

but to have happened in early Mid-June, on the Day My Daddy passed seemed significant to me enough to share. If you click the picture for a larger version, you may be able to see the halo of hail in the top right corner, my studio deck below, acquiring balls of ice... in June!

From the Arkansas Ozarks, hoping my friends to the north didn't take a hard hit..