What a Week!!!!!!! Getting Ready for Travel!!!! OFF TO HAWAII

Well this week has been just a little bit hectic as I am working on several work related demos which require a lot of my time. However, I have had some time to relax which included another trip to New York City. Last Saturday Mark and I drove up to New York City for the day. We did a little bit of showing (I bought new Louis Vuitton shoes......nice), had dinner and saw two Broadway shows. We went to see "Next to Normal" and "Hair". Next to Normal is a new musical that opened this year. I personally think this show had a lot of punch. We liked the show and the music so much that we are going back July 25 to see it again. The show won three Tony awards this year. We also saw Hair which I have seen several times before (in the past years) but since I grew up with that show and saw it for the first time when I was 19, I had to see it again. I still like it and probably will see it again especially if they take it on tour and it stops in DC.

The rest of the week has been all work related until today (Thursday). I have to start packing my bags because I am off to Hawaii. I love Hawaii and have been there about 8 times. I try to go at least every other year. I am really looking forward to this trip as I just want to relax a little. You know, get away from all the hustle and bustle of work. So what will be do in Hawaii? Eat, Shop and RELAX! When I return, I will need to get back on a healthy eating plan and lose some of the weight I have put on recently especially during the past year. All the stress from selling a house and building a new one was a little much as I guess I put my weight aside and just ate..................hmmmmm. Not a good thing. But I will get back on track when I return.

Talk about returning. When we get back, we will only have a short couple of weeks until time to go to HOOT. We are registered for HOOT and have even signed up for a couple classes. This will be my first time at HOOT so I do not know what to expect but I am going with a really open mind and really looking to have a great time.

Well I have to get off this computer and continue with my packing. I hope everyone has a great July 4th. Happy painting.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS!!!!! NEW CLASS PICTURES RELEASED

Core 1-7b class




Core 1-5b class




Core 1-6 class

Just a quick update note to include the new pictures above that have been released. These are pictures of some of the classes from the New Heritage Educational Program. NICE!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Painting, now back to work.

ORDER YOUR HERITAGE 12 COLOR SET NOW!!!!!!!!! SHIPS IN AUGUST

BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now this is really BIG news from Global Art Supply. It was recently announced that those waiting and wanting to order the NEW Heritage MultiMedia Arcylics do not have to wait any longer. You can now visit Global Arts Supply or one of the Heritage Team member's websites to order the 12 Color set. Order now for shipping in August. NOW THAT IS BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Visit Global Art Supply for further information and ordering at the following link:

http://globalartsupply.com/



I have already placed my order so do not hesitate, Order Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Painting.................................................

More Pictures From the SDP Convention

David Jansen painting a floral design

Bobbi Koelsch working in the Jansen Art booth

Paul Seymour teaches stroke roses (make and take project)

Members of the Heritage Team

Jessica mans the Jansen Art booth

The Jansen Art booth

Happy Painting.........................................

WHAT HAPPENED IN PEORIA???????

Mark's Roses (did not remove the lines)

Hi all. I just got home from the Society of Decorative Painters convention in Peoria and thought I would write a little about my trip. This was my very first decorative painting convention so I really did not know what to expect so let's see if I can give you a little run down on what actually occurred.


David's Roses (Paul Seymour's Class)

We (Mark and I) arrived in Peoria on Thursday, June 18th after a fairly uneventful flight from Washington Dulles through Chicago and on to Peoria. We grabbed our luggage, picked up the rental car, and off to the hotel we drove. I guess we arrived at the hotel in about half an hour as it was only about 7 miles from the airport to the hotel. After parking the car and dragging the luggage to the room, we where off to the convention center. The first stop was the registration booth where we picked up our conference badges and other associated goody bag materials.



Now here comes the strange part. We left the registration booth and walked into the the convention expo floor where all the vendors were located. I bet I did not walk 50 feet when I heard someone say "DAVID"? When I turned around it was Paul Seymour and his wife Cathy. Here we were about 2 1/2 hours from DC and someone knows me. The funny part was that Paul recognized me from my picture on my Pampered Palette blog. We had never met. We chatted a while and the we were off to find the Jansen Art booth. There, after many hours of communicating with the Heritage members via email and blog, I finally met David and Martha Jansen, Georgia and Blake Dawbon, Hazel Anthony (from Australia), and Bobbie Koelsch. What a great group of artists. I feel very honored to have met each artist and they made Mark and I feel so welcome. Trying not to wear out our welcome or come across like groupies.......ha., Mark and I hung out at the booth for a while talking about the NEW HERITAGE TRAINING PROGRAM, which will be released some time, we are told, around the fall. We even got to look at pictures of the training manual. I CAN'T WAIT.......................................BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOW, let's look at day two of the convention. Early in the morning we headed over to the expo floor and actually participated in a "Make and Take" stroke roses project with the one and only PAUL SEYMOUR. We had a great time there and our roses did not look bad at all. I was shocked..................that they actually looked like roses. Paul was a great instructor but I have to tell you that Mark and I gave him such a hard time during the lesson that I he may actually consider retirement................just kidding Paul. We had a great time.

From the stroke roses class we were off for our very first ever SDP course. Mark and I had signed up for a class with Maureen McNaughton. I was a little uneasy entering the class as we both had only completed maybe 4 to 5 pieces since beginning decorative painting a few months ago. We walked into the class and we were two in a class of 60................A little scary I must say. In fact, we were the only two men in the class. I walked up to Maureen and mentioned to her that Mark and I were newbies and we had a few concerns about taking the class. Maureen and her staff immediately made us feel very welcome and in fact Maureen said we would do fine, not to worry. And you know what? She was right. We are very pleased with the pieces that we painted. Everyone one in the class was very helpful and made us feel so welcome. WE LOVED IT!!!!! The class ended around 5 pm so that was it for the day.

David's Tulips (Maureen's Class)

Saturday morning right off the bat we were off to take another Maureen McNaughton class (different piece/technique). This time we are much more relaxed so the class was somewhat easier or we were just a lot more at ease. Both days we were the only two men in the class but we did our best. We met some great people like Sandy Scales, Sally McAloon, and four other great artist that unfortunately I do not remember their names. I know, that is bad for me not to remember someone's name but I met so many impressive individuals this weekend that I am feeling a little overwhelmed. However, I am going to HOOT and have signed up with several Maureen classes so hopefully I see them all there (and remember the names this time.....).



David's (Maureen's Class)

Well, we had two great classes with Maureen (neither piece is completed yet). We would recommend a Maureen class to anyone. Now I don't want to leave Paul out as we had a great time with him. In fact, Mark and I are planning to the new HERITAGE classes from Paul and get ready Georgia as we plan to pay you a visit as well.

I guess I should stop babbling and just say that we had a great time. We would like to thank everyone for making us feel so welcome. It was really great meeting each of you. Everyone was so friendly and helpful.

PS................I was in AWE watching David paint.

Thanks everyone, HAPPY PAINTING.....................................

David and Mark

PEORIA -- HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it has been a really long time since I added any information to my blog. That is mainly because I have been absolutely swamped at work with many really big software demos to some very important customers. In order for me to get ready for my demos, it requires many hours of research, demo software configuration and build, and finally just prepping for the demo itself. In the past few weeks I have been so busy with demo build/prep that I have not even been able to pick up a brush. However, that is all going to change tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning I get on a plane for Peoria where I will attend the Society of Decorative Painters conference. This is a big deal for me as I have never ever attended a decorative painting conference and many of the people that I communicate via email quiet frequently like David and Martha Jansen, Paul Seymour, Georgia, etc. I have never met. This will be the time that I get to meet all those people and hopefully more. So guys -- get ready because I am on my way.

I wanted mainly to see what goes on at the conference especially on the Expo floor. I am a shopper from way back so I hope they have lots of "stuff" to buy. In an effort to take advantage of my time there, I decided to book two classes. Friday and Saturday I have a class with Maureen McNaughton so I am hoping that I do not feel totally lost. That feeling could be because I am still very new to decordative painting and the fact that for the last few weeks I am been unable to paint (like 4 weeks). Even though I am new, I plan to sit in the back of the room and obsorb as much information as I can during the class.

Today I am have taken a vacation day from work so that I can get ready for the big plane ride tomorrow. That is why I am able to take the time to post something today.............no work to worry about today. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing to painting and continue to move forward with my training.

HEY PAUL......Mark and I are planning to come up to your place one day for a class. Hopefully, that will be really soon. The next few months will be a little rough though as we will be in Peoria this week, then off to Hawaii in July, London in September and Las Vegas in November. Even though it will be a little hectic, I intend to find time to get to Paul's for a class especially for the NEW training program.

Anyway, I am going to run as I do need to start pulling things together for tomorrow. I am looking forward to the convention/conference and meeting all kinds of people..............have a great day and keep painting..................I guess I should take my own advice and keep painting.........

Very Stressful Times At Work - I Need Air

This is the end of my employers 4th quarter, which means that there is a push to close all product demos and sales opportunities. I have been so busy that I have been really unable to concentrate on painting anything. I just completed large projects for the Veterans Administration and the US Senate, which has commanded a large amount of my time. However, there is some blue sky ahead as the quarter ends May 31. Hopefully, after that time things will get back to normal.

Just recently I had to travel to New York City for business and decided while there to take advantage of everything they had to offer. Now in my book that means shopping and going to Broadway musicals. So I did. I hit Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Etro, Saks, etc. I came back with new clothes for sure. I also purchased tickets for the Broadway musicals Wicked and Hair. I have seen Wicked before but decided to go again since I was able to purchase a ticket. Now for Hair, there is a little story behind that show. In 1969, I saw Hair on Broadway and danced on stage with cast at the end of the show (you are invited up to dance with the cast during the closing number). That show was a major part of my life so when I saw that it was on Broadway again as a new Revival, I had to go. Both shows I enjoyed tremendously and am now really looking forward to my London trip in September as I plan to attend a couple shows in the West End. Ok, Ok, my feet are now killing me from all the walking and shopping, but it was a little relaxing and a lot of fun.


I noticed on the Heritage forum site yesterday that David had posted some pictures of additional lessons that will be featured in the new Heritage Educational System. I just had to post them here as I really like the finished results and am really looking forward to when the courses will be available to the general public. I keep bugging poor Paul about taking his classes knowing full well that they are not available just yet. I am just ready to get involved and from the pictures that David is posting, I like what I see and can't wait to get involved. I am kind of a strange individual, I think, as things have to grab my eye for me to want to get involved. In this case, it is pieces from the new modules. They are very visually pleasing to the eye, at least my eye. Anyway, take a look at the pictures of the pieces above. I think anyone would like to learn to paint these pieces. I think the artists a putting together an great new program. The only program that I see, at the moment, is the wait. But the fall will be here before we know it and we can all pull out the brushes for participation in the new program. I am definitely looking forward to starting.

Anyway, back to my original thought, these are very busy times at the moment and I am hoping to get back in the painting mode really soon. In the meantime, I will try to keep everyone informed as to what is going on with my painting and with the new Heritage products and educational system, as news becomes available. Until the next time, HAPPY PAINTING!!!!!