Mine-Mine-Mine and the fantastic energy at the Euro Clay Carnival 2011

A few very busy weeks have passed since I came back from my first ever clay event!

As a graphic designer I've attended many conferences & workshops, but as an artist this was my first, and what an amazing experience it was!

This year, the Europe Clay Carnival was held in Bad Homburg, Germany. I guess this puzzles my friends as they keep asking me, "Why did you go to Germany for a clay event?" Well, I had never been in Germany (so that was an adventure right there), the teacher line up was great!, and I loved the idea of meeting my Artists friends from Europe in person (I already knew many of them on Facebook), plus I have family living in Portugal and Spain (my brother and my sister), so I decided to take two weeks and make it a business/fun-family trip.

Beautiful & wonderful friends, Eva, Anke, Bettina & Donna

I had the opportunity to attend classes by polymer clay artists such as Eva Ehmeier, Bettina Welker, Donna Kato, Leslie Blackford & Kiki (Ulrike) It was wonderful to meet them all and to see how they work, learn techniques and processes! :)

I also need to mention that I LOVED my dear roommate, the international classroom and table friends! You guys rock! :) I miss you all!!!

Eva & me right after winning her brooch

"Mine-Mine-Mine"
or the power of visualization at the Euro Clay Carnival! :) 

While at the ECC, Bettina had mentioned how she wanted to win one of Eva's golden boxes and she had said: "mine-mine-mine" and won it! Wonderful!, right? :) 

Well, remembering this, when it was time for the raffle on our last night, I went to Eva's table and she mentioned that one of her brooches was in the raffle, so I looked at her and said: "I call it, its MINE, MINE, MINE!" we both laughed and when the time came for Eva's brooch, I started thinking, "please let it be #4!!! Please let it be mine". Somehow I missed the English translation, as all I hear was "vier", "vier" (it sounds like "feer", which I associated it with five) and I looked at Eva and she looked at me, and I say, Ohhh, I have #4 and put a sad face, but she is signaling YES, its you! and I am like WHAT??? lol it was the most incredible win ever! I jumped out of my seat, went and hugged her, ran to get my prize and couldnt stop laughing & jumping! LOL

Carmen, me & Katarina :) 3 of the lucky winners!

To make things even more fun for this story, my dear friends Carmen from Romania and Katarina from Slovenia also said, "Mine-Mine-Mine" for the wonderful bead-strand and Donna's beautiful pendant! Here we are the 3 lucky winners who now swear by "Mine-Mine-Mine" :)

Almost all the group! Wonderful artist, great new friends!

Europe was great! In Germany I met a long time friend and his beautiful family who gave me an unforgettable tour of Frankfurt!

In Portugal & Spain I got to spend quality time with my dear family!!! I had a WONDERFUL time!! :)...and yes, now I am day-dreaming of my next trip to a fun & wonderful clay event, wherever that might be! :) (I just need to save some money again! lol)

Adriana

xoxo

Staying current

Lately a lot of people have been asking me how and where they could learn how to do clay. This is wonderful! My favorite art medium is becoming more and more popular :) What I know, I learned on my own, but nowadays you have many options! You can go to bookstores, and check for clay books, you could go to youtube, and watch some videos there but if you are serious I highly recommend visiting the  Online Craft University, called: CraftEdu :) where you can learn not only about clay but any kind of craft your heart might desire!

www.craftedu.com

The teachers are all wonderful and amazing artists, a few of my favorite artists are Melany West, Doreen Kassel, Donna Kato, Anke Humperts, Natalia Garcia de Leaniz, Silvie Peraud and many, many others! Visit the website and start following you heart in the Art World.

You could also inquire withing your city, and find art, clay or even craft guilds that offer not only classes but the opportunity to mingle with fellow artists and crafters.

As a graphic designer I love to attend the HOW Design Conferences, held once a year in different cities through out the country. For me its the best design conference out there! :)

http://www.howconference.com

I try to go every year and truly love the energy you gain and bring back after attending one of those conferences, believe me, your designs will have a new powerful flair that you can only get from staying current with the latest trends and techniques! :)

As a Polymer Clay Artist I strongly suggest:

The IPCA  Biennal Retreat:

The Polymer Clay Carnival! :)

For Clay Carnival Las Vegas visit:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clay-Carnival-Las-Vegas
http://claycarnivallv.blogspot.com/
















When you attend a conference, you learn about the latest trends & techniques and make new wonderful friends! :)

Hope this helps! :)
Cheers

Adriana