Summer news update    June 11 2015
Just returned from a very inspiring 5 weeks in Europe! I shot tons of pictures and have plenty of ideas for a few new pieces. Now I just need to get in my studio to start creating! I also wanted to announce the release of my new line of stencils from Stencil Girl! I designed three sheets of border stencils which are fantastic to use on the edges of canvas, birch panels and on polymer clay itself! Please contact me for more information on buying them if you are interested! The Polymer Clay Adventure where I am teaching my first online class has over 1000 registered attendees! It has been wonderful and I have enjoyed the classes that I have been able to take. There is still time to sign up for this great event....there is more information on my Workshops page. Hope your summer is filled with plenty of sunshine and good times!


Marching on.....    February 24 2015
It has been a rough couple of months with the passing of dear family members....but it is also a reminder to cherish each day and to hold tight the ones we love. I have been away from my studio for many a week but am just now returning and getting ready for Art and Soul in Portland which begins on March 2nd. It is at times like these that I am so grateful for the healing power of art and the artist community that has been so supportive. I am looking forward to more studio time to be creative and to see what comes next.....


Happy New Year    January 05 2015
It's been a whirlwind few months and I am happy that we are now in a brand new year! I just updated my workshop page and will be adding to that as the year progresses. I have decided to cut back a bit on my teaching schedule but will redirect my focus onto digital content/classes and to getting in my studio to create some new work. Please check out the workshop page with the link to my first online class. First "real" teaching gig is in Tucson (art retreat in the desert) next month during the BIG gem show. This is the first time teaching here and I am looking forward to it! Some great classes are being offered. Check it out!


San Miguel    November 16 2014
First off, the biggest news of the year! I am a grandma, wohoo! My first grandchild, Emilia, was born yesterday on November 14th! She is the best "creation" ever! We fortunately returned home from Mexico in time to be a part of the birthing process. Our time in San Miguel was just fabulous. We had a great group of thirty gals join us during Day of the Dead. They created some beautiful Totems of Life while there and everyone took part in all of the festivities that happen during this special time of year.Now that I am back home for awhile with my hectic teaching schedule behind me, I am hoping for some studio time to catch up! Looking forward to that and to the upcoming holidays that will be all the more special because of the newest member of the family! So much to be grateful for this year.....So to you and yours, I wish you all the warmth of the Thanksgiving season.


Busy October!    October 09 2014
Back from Petaluma and off to Stamford, CT for another Art is You retreat. October will be a very busy month with lots of travel culminating in our Day of the Dead workshop at the end of the month in charming San Miguel de Allende. After that, things settle down for the rest of the year (becoming first time grandparents in November!)I also wanted to mention that I am part of an online virtual retreat that begins January 1st. I just added this link http://www.bit.ly/PCAlauriemika2015 on my workshop page where you can find out all the details and sign up. I will be teaching with 21 other polymer clay and mixed media artists. I think this will be a great retreat that you can do in the comfort of your own home!


Forward into Fall....    September 11 2014
Seems hard to believe that we are well into September...doesn't feel much like fall around here that's for sure! I am heading into my last few teaching events for the year with a trip to Petaluma for Art-Is-You. This is always such a fun event in a wonderful city in Califonia. I will also be doing the vendor show and have completed quite a few new pieces to take with me. Some of what I have been busily creating is posted on my blog (the link is on the home page). I can't wait to grab a few minutes in my studio to try out some ideas that have been percolating in my mind! On another note, I shipped off five pieces to Carthage College in Wisconsin for an exhibition there called "ReEnvisioning Polymer"which is being held in conjunction with the Racine Museum of Art's polymer exhibition. Should be an incredible exhibition and if you live in the area, check it out!


on the road....    August 07 2014
This has been one of the busiest teachingn summers yet! Just returned from Phoenix (yes, HOT!)where I taught three workshops at Art Unraveled. It is so nice to be able to drive to an event so that I can haul all my stuff like ovens! Next week finds me in Chicago teaching at CREATE mixed media art retreat. Then it is off to Art is You in Petaluma and back to the East Coast for the third time in three months for Art is You, Stamford. I am getting excited about our San Miguel de Allende retreat which sold out in about a month! We will have about 33 people joining us for a week of workshops and inspiration in this beautiful colonial town....I have managed to get some time in my studio as well to get caught up on actually making art. I had a very successful vendor show in Phoenix....so need to get working even harder!.


Mid-summer update    July 06 2014
Happy 4th of July to all. With this holiday upon us, I finally finished up a large and rather timely mosaic that I started a year ago after teaching in Cape Cod and visiting Plymouth Rock. I was moved by the whole experience of being on the soil where the beginnings of our nation began. Seeing the memorials of how those first settlers struggled against so many odds to find a new life for themselves was truly inspiring. My mosaic is called Hopes and Dreams and is comprised almost entirely of polymer clay transfer tiles of vintage maps and even the Mayflower Compact. There is a central female figure who holds a little vial of dirt that I collected on the shores of Plymouth. I will be submitting this mosaic for a polymer clay exhibit at Carthage College in the fall. Next up, I am off to the east coast once again to teach at CREATE. This will be followed by the annual pilgrimage to Phoenix in August for Art Unraveled. Hope to see you somewhere on the trail!


Summer is here!    June 17 2014
Just back from teaching in DC, well actually Virginia and Maryland. I had wonderful classes and the whole experience of being on the East Coast was a blast. So much history! I spent an entire day at the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery and took lots of pics which will become my own collage sheets. I have also really been getting into digitally manipulating images and am hooked. I am then transferring the images onto clay and loving the results. There just isn't enough time in the day! On another note, for those of you who are local, I have a solo exhibition of some of my smaller works called Outside the Box running at the Encinitas Library. They did a very nice job on the installation and it runs until July 15th. Next month finds me back on the East Coast again teaching at CREATE, New Jersey. I will be teaching three classes, you can check my workshop listings for more info.


May days    May 27 2014
Houston was wonderful (especially learning a new foolproof transfer technique from one of my students!) and the SAMA conference was chock full of great presentations. My classes went well and I really appreciate those who signed up for them. The Mosaic Arts International exhibition was at Williams Tower and the reception was wonderful and I was excited to learn that my large piece, The Virgin of Cuzco, sold! I love the annual exhibition because it really inspires people to do their best work because it is so tough to get pieces juried in. I have been having such fun in the studio creating a few new classes. That is something that also inspires me.....coming up with new classes which really gets my creativity going. I love how one idea sparks another and having the right stuff in my studio makes a lot of the inspiration come to fruition.I was just telling my husband how much I love my laser printer, my slab roller, my food processor and my computer....just to name a few of things that keeps my studio (and me) running smoothly. Next up I am off to to teach a few workshops on the East Coast!! See you soon!