Art retreat book

This is the book I made in the class I took with the amazing DJ Pettitt. She was such a quiet, humble, talented teacher - a real delight!


The covers of the book are made with the thickest watercolour paper I've ever seen, and we added texture with gel medium and some masks. Then we painted with some acrylic paints - inside and out. This is a close up of the fabric spine.

I spent ages painting the other side fabric to match the colours of the cover, and then I accidentally set it down onto my palette. D'oh! I wiped as much paint as I could off it, and DJ happened to walk past then and say "Oooh - I love that". So there it is - the serendipitous spine!

Here's inside the front page. DJ had us add signature wraps - I used various fabrics and some of DJ's art prints.
I was determined to get the book bound and finished by the end of the class, and I achieved that. I just need to hang some beads of the threads I left hanging out of the bottom, and it's done.

At the end of the class I got DJ to sign my book, just to prove I had been there:

And here I am with the talented lady herself (I look pretty proud of myself, don't I? LOL).


This class I did was one of three days of the Creative Souls Art Retreat, organised by Bevlea. Pop on over and check out the line up for next year. It was wonderful to see some friends including the always inspiring Liz, (thanks for the big hug Deb!) and meeting new ones (hi Kelsey and Sue T, who is a fellow Medical Scientist - gee we're a rare breed LOL). The venue was just beautiful, and I envy those lucky girls who were able to stay in rooms on the premises. Roll on 2010.