Balzer Designs

Frida Kahlo at the Dali Museum

When I was in Tampa for HSN in January, I found myself with a pocket of free time between airings. So, I took myself to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. They had their usual Salvador Dali collection in place, but also a special Frida Kahlo exhibit. I didn't know a lot about Frida Kahlo before I went, but now I do and what a woman! What a life! What a struggle! And through it all, she used art to tell her story. The exhibit was set up biographically. You traveled through Frida's work (and life ) in a timeline... Read more →

Art Classes at Canyon Ranch 2017

My Mom was kind enough to treat the family to a weekend at Canyon Ranch -- a health and wellness spa in the Berkshires. Canyon Ranch is all about your health. Classes and events cover five major areas: Fitness & Movement Nutrition & Food Health & Healing Mind & Spirit Spa & Beauty I'm pretty sure we took advantage of all five areas! However, it will come as no surprise to you that the Creative Arts classes -- which straddle Health & Healing and Mind & Spirit -- were my favorite part of the vacation. I took three Creative Arts... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: A New Pamphlet Style Art Journal

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. I know that lots of people want to be able to make their... Read more →

Around Here: February 2017

Hello out there! I'm changing up the way I do the Around Here posts. I'll be answering the same set of "questions" each month and we will see how life evolves over time. I hope you enjoy the new format! This is me right now: My current art obsession is: layering patterns on patterns on patterns. My current life obsession is: cooking recipes from skinnytaste.com. I'm loving: being home. I'm hating: the snow. My home is: messy. My life is: full. My favorite art project I made this month but haven't shown on the blog yet: a super awesome floating... Read more →

100 Canvases: Canvas #39 - The One With the Toothy Grin

This is a painting that I finished at the end of 2016, but didn't manage to take photos of until recently. It's another big one -- about 3 feet by 3 feet. It's so difficult to convey scale through photos on the internet, so I hope these photos with me and my hand help you "get" the size of it. It's also a painting with a ton of texture! As you might be able to infer from yesterday's painting. I'm a little bit in love with shine these days. Can you see the glitter in the detail photo above? Well,... Read more →

Canvas #38: The Diptych Over My Bed

I've lived in my apartment for a little more than a year now and I finally felt ready to create some art for over the bed. I grabbed two enormous canvases and got to work on a brand new diptych. My only thought was that it had to feel calming (it's a bedroom after all). Towards that end, I decided to keep a relatively limited color palette and to forgo the eyes and faces. This is what I came up with: I love it! It has some metallic paint in it so when the sun hits it in the morning,... Read more →

Valentine's Day Wood Inlay Cards

Before it's too distant a memory, I thought I'd share some Valentine's Day cards that I made. I used several techniques that I've shared before. The fronts of the cards are wood inlay. You can see this technique in this video using two different colors of wood veneer. For my cards I used cardstock and wood veneer. I love the look you get from embedding or inlaying the veneer rather than gluing it on top of the card front. The heart card opens in a few different directions: I shared this exploding card technique in this video and you can... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: Three Eyes + Two More

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. You know that I love eyes! I just can't quit them no matter... Read more →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Julie Loves Learning

I'm delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time. It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen. If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here. You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire. I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art. It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art. Today's podcast features... Read more →

Paper Marbling Class

I have wanted to do "real" paper marbling forever! I've got loads of books on the topic and I've watched videos and thought about it, but I knew that I needed the gentle shove of an in-person class. I did my research and finally found one! And you know what? It was flipping fantastic! I love, love, loved it so much! Cristina Hajosy hosts small (we were three students) workshops in her home studio. She was very warm and welcoming and fed us some amazing homemade food! (You can see our beautiful homemade lunch and some of the printing in... Read more →