Intro to Encaustic Workshop!

Intro to Encaustic Painting - Saturday June 20th, 10am - 2pm

Learn the ancient art of encaustic painting! Encaustic is the use of beeswax and damar resin melted together and combined with dry pigments to create a unique painting medium. This paint is applied hot/molten and manipulated with a direct heat source. It makes for a lovely layered image into which objects and photographs can be added. If you've seen a Jasper Johns painting then you've seen an encaustic painting!

This class will cover a brief history of encaustic, supplies and where to buy them, setting up, basic encaustic painting including fusing, embedding objects, and creating texture, as well as cleaning up, and caring for your paintings. Participants will complete 1-2 small paintings. No painting experience necessary. Open to ages 15 and up.

$70 includes all supplies; feel free to bring along objects to incorporate (dried natural objects, paper, and photographs on plain paper work well)

Instructor: Jamie Ribisi-Braley, Manchester, ME

Jamie is passionate about creating art and about sharing her techniques and knowledge. She loves to learn how the old masters created their supplies and how they used them. Jamie believes that once you have the foundations of a medium, you’ll know how to make it work for your voice.

Jamie is co-owner of Sweetland Retreat and received her BFA in Painting from Boston University. http://jamieribisi.com

Register now!

Cupcakes!

Tuesday night we had a craft night for our Etsy Maine Team members and had such a blast! Drea made YUMMY cupcakes that spelled out "Sweetland"!!! Can you believe it? It was such a *sweet* surprise (pun intended).

In attendance was Peggy, Jenn, Kim, Drea, Joy, and I. We ate way too much food, as usual for craft night, and gabbed it up a good bit. There was also singing and Jumbones involved (for Sammy, of course). Wish we could host craft night every night!!!

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Local Attractions- Friends' Folly Farm & YURT!

Today was the Open House for Friends' Folly Farm, better known as Yarn in a Yurt!  They are located just about 15 minutes away in Monmouth.  We've been dreaming of erecting a yurt in our yard and wanted to take a closer look and purchase some homemade yarn along the way!  

What's a yurt?  A yurt is a Mongolian hut which was developed as a portable house for nomadic tribes.  Modern yurts have become very popular since they are easy, inexpensive, and 

quick to assemble.  We were surprised by its warmth and the beauty of the natural light that evenly streamed in through the dome at the top of the structure-- what a beautiful studio this would make!  

One of the reasons that we are so drawn to yurts is that they are so eco-friendly.  Building the structure requires about 1/3 the 

material that would be needed for a conventional building of its size.  The dome can be cranked open for temperature modulation.  This yurt was made and installed in one day by White Mountain Yurts.

Visting the yarn shop was such a treat!  Not just to see the yurt up close and personal but to see and touch all of their 

beautiful yarn!  They dye their own yarn which is made from their herd of goats & sheep as well as selling other Maine grown & processed yarn.  To say that there is a rainbow of colors would be an understatement!  

Friends' Folly also sell their own patterns to go along with their yarn as well as basic equipment, supplies, and books for spinning, dyeing, knitting, & felting.  As if that weren't enough, they also offer workshops & classes!

We had such a blast visiting the shop & spinning mill and hope to make many trips back there.  The three of us kept remarking throughout the day how nice it was to go there and experience it all.  We highly recommend it and when you go-- tell them Sweetland Retreat sent you!

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Friends' Folly Farm is located at 319 Norris Hill Rd in Monmouth, ME
Their current hours are: Tuesday-Thursday Noon-6pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, and by appointment or chance 207-632-3115
You can find their website at http://friendsfollyfarm.com

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Do not adjust your monitor

Can you believe this sky?? Joy and I were amazed to see this sight as the rain let up one evening. Our entire yard was cast bright pink like there was an invasion of glowing Barbie dolls. Absolutely stunning against the deep blue sky. Maine is a dream!

...I know what my next painting is going to be :)

A Garden Tour of Sweetland Retreat...

Our roses are in bloom and they're as big as our heads!! Joy models one behind her ear (really on top of her face!)

The best part of our week is strolling around the property to see what's newly in bloom-- we're finding flowers and trees that we didn't know that we had! The women that lived here before us really knew how to garden and put a whole lot of love into it. We thank them every day-- cause we know they're listening! The beautiful flowering white bush behind Joy in this photo is called Spirea-- our nephew dog walked under it the other day and tiny white dots of confetti were all over him-- I thought he went to a party!

The Lilies have started to make an appearance as well and they are lovely ladies. This patch is growing behind the cottage where the white and yellow Daffodils were last month. Can't wait to see what comes up next...I bet it's yellow!

Sweetland Retreat also has the good fortune of having a ton of Hostas! We saw them when we were thinking about buying the house and fell in love-- luckily there are even more now than we saw last year! The will soon blossom into pretty flowers but right now they are nice big patches of elegant curved leaves.

We were surprised to wake up one day and see exotic colored Irises on the side of the house. They have petals that are just begging to be painted or photographed! I'm sure that these will be a favorite muse amongst our guests!

When you turn the bend in the driveway you will be greeted by this buxom lady. A fragrant hello from this jeweled purple Lilac will start and end your day perfectly! You may feel dwarfed next to it but you'll delight in her sweetness.

Next to the Lilacs were another surprise... Poppies!!! My favorite flower! What a burst of color. They are growing under a Rhododendron bush and we're going to try to take some of the seeds and spread them around the yard. Unfortunately, it was so hot the day the poppy bloomed that she wilted within a few hours. No worries, though, there are a few more peeking their heads out now.

The front yard has it's share of beautiful blooms, too. There are monster Azalea bushes and Rhododendrons. The Azaleas are a fiery pink that are almost red and the Rhododendrons are a light purple-pink. You can't miss our house when they are in bloom!


...more to come soon!!!