Kippy Hammond

I have wonderful news for our first post to The Buzz Page…….

Those of you who have read our book “Melangez Avec Amour” about Creative Retreats and French Cooking (A wonderful mix, I must say) are familiar with our use of the term ” Ratcheting Up” to describe the type of advancement we all hope to make in our creative endeavors. Well, we have just been notified that one of our own La Bonne Etoile Alums has done just that!!  …READ MORE.. →

La Bonne Etoile Reunion - IAPS Convention

Friday May 29, 2009 Lunchtime

We can’t wait to see many of our Alums in Albuquerque, NM for the International Association of Pastel Societies 8th Biennial Convention.

We will be in Albuquerque on Wednesday and Urania will help us scope out a good place to eat and visit.  …. those of you that plan to attend please take a minute to drop us an email so we will know what kind of space we will need. You are welcome to bring visitors and spouses to the lunch on Friday.

Check Bulletin Board for Location & Details

We will miss all of you oil and watercolor painters!

Kippy Hammond

Have you wondered where the promised posts have been since our launch? Well….we  have the perfect reason….we are just back from the states and can share…”It is a girl!!!” for the family. Nope, not a new grand baby… …READ MORE.. →

Vicki Ross

Do what? I painted for one hour on this and you want ME to pin it up on The Wall? It is not finished! I never show my work in this state. What will my students think? What will I think? Panic! I need to crop it first, sign it, perfect it…not…put your name on the back and stick that piece of paper on the wall. …READ MORE.. →

Kippy Hammond

The excitement is building around the opening of The Clothesline Gallery. To our surprise the web domain www.theclotheslinegallery.com was available and we quickly reserved it. Now, we are currently looking for just the right format to display and market the completed paintings of the LBE Alums.

Everyone reading this post, Alum or not, can participate and help us in one of two ways. …READ MORE.. →

Our purpose of creating this blog is not just to maintain contact with each of you, but also to continue in finding ways to create together. A belief that joy exists in creativity leads us to believe that learning new skills and exploring new terrains are ways keys to continued artistic and personal growth.

Our intent is not to present to you a blog, but to invite you to become part of it’s creation and life.

Soooo…. …READ MORE.. →

In this letter to Anne Havener, editor of The Pastel Journal” is the seed that germinated to produce this series of articles about the power of experimentation in the growth of an artist. Following next week’s interview of myself on the topic, we will continue to unravel this topic with interviews with Libby Mathews, Urania Christy Tarbet, Marsha Savage, Lyn Diefenbach and others. …READ MORE.. →

I have been playing around with all the bells and whistles of the blogging world and have finally realized if I don’t go ahead and start…well… we will never get there. So, here is our maiden voyage and maybe yours too.  Let’s start at the beginning. …READ MORE.. →

We are still experimenting with formats of slide shows, but will be featuring the photos from a past workshop each month. Using Google Earth we will be plotting our memories by location on the globe and attaching photos and journal entries. Who wants to help?

In the meantime, here is a slide show that was prepared by Durinda Cheek, Summer 2008.

Jerome, our walking encyclopedia on France and french “stuff” will be addressing questions sent in by our readers. But even more exciting is a series of articles translating Monsieur Pleau’s story of four Fontaine-Fourches families during the great Exodus in June, 1940. When the rumors of a German invasion triggered a mass exodus …READ MORE.. →