Rebecca Wachtman

Have you stopped by VALA at Redmond Town Center?  So cool!   VALA has various kinds of artwork in various stages available for viewing.  Often an artist (or 2 or 3) will be present to answer questions and demonstrate their craft. VALA's goal is: Connecting artists to artists, artists to the community, and the community to art.   They are offering some pretty great opportunities to artists!! Today was my first visit and I learned a LOT!  I enjoyed it so much, that I am seriously considering volunteering there!!  I visited VALA today, because the Eastside SDA ( Surface Design Association ) met there (another fine group!!).   The SDA mission is: To promote awareness and appreciation of textile-inspired art and design through member-supported benefits including publications, exhibitions and conferences.  What is surface design? Surface design encompasses the coloring, patterning and structuring of any fiber and fabr...

The beginning of the remodel What do closet organizers, wire egg carriers, a baker's rack, closet doors, and bread boxes have in common?  Well nothing really - but to me they are all the PERFECT (and inexpensive!) items to help me with remodeling my daughter's old toy room, into a lovely, new Arts & Crafts room! And all has been done with recycled, up-cycled, & re-purposed items!! The room is SMALL (like 9 & 1/2 feet by 8 & 1/4 feet) with a small amount of extra space next to built-out closet, so creating usable space and lots of storage was essential! I had little money to work with and for the most part, used things I had or things I found for cheap at thrift and salvage stores.  In the pictures above, you can see: A wooden hutch (to the left) I found at a garage sale 2 years ago for $20 (and had been part of the toy room).   A metal, rolling cart I found at goodwill for $10.    A mahogany chair from my dining room set (si...

My booth at the 2014 Sammamish Arts Fair I had SUCH a good time at the 2014 Sammamish Arts Fair last weekend!! I sold several paintings, a bunch of cards, and a ton of bookmarks - which is thrilling... but I had even more fun letting people play with silk painting.  The kids (of course) loved it, and so did the adults!!  It was so much fun!  I've had quite a few people ask me if I offer classes and I've been seriously considering it for a while.  Sadly, my home is not large enough for classes.   However, I would be happy to bring the supplies to a different location. If you're interested, please email me at beckwacht@gmail.com.  Thanks to all who stopped by!!

It's less than a week out - the 2014 Sammamish Arts Fair ! I'm so excited about this opportunity!!  I'm working on a new project of flower quads (a big flower broken into 4 quadrants which can hang together to make a big flower or separately as a single panel showing 1/4 of the flower).  I've finished 2 pieces and am working feverishly to finish the other 2 (or more).  I'm also hoping to get some holiday cards made, bookmarks, and a few other new paintings to show.  In the mean time, all of us artists have been busy creating our video selfies (omg I never thought I'd be doing that!) which are now posted on the Sammamish Arts Fair website and Youtube .  And we're all collaborating on an interactive percussion tube-set which will be hanging outside for everyone to play with during the fair.  It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!!   I hope you stop by and see me!  I'll be inside the main hallway by the entrance to city hall and will...

SOLD! Iris in Blue I am so thrilled - I've sold another silk painting!   This time it was through my new Etsy store - and to a lovely woman in Australia. She chose to purchase my Iris in Blue painting (which is one of my personal favorites).   This painting was done using Serti techniques combined with the MS (Magic Sizing) technique and is one of the first I had done combining the two techniques.  I really had fun playing with the colors and it's almost like having to let a favorite pet go --- part of me doesn't want to say goodbye!  But mostly I'm just so thrilled to have someone want my artwork!!!! I must say that shipping to Australia is quite an interesting process and I've learned quite a bit!  For those that are interested, shipping fees are cheapest through the United States Postal Service, and the most expensive through Fedex (although UPS is a close 2nd!).  Fedex was going to charge over $300 dollars JUST FOR SHIPPING!!  holey mo...

I am excited to announce that I am launching an Etsy store to sell my artwork!  The store name will be:  RebeccaWachtmanArt In it, I will (of course) be listing my artwork - which are all original pieces of my artwork.  Digital prints will remain available on FineArtAmerica.com

My side of the booth I had a blast last night - thanks to all my friends and customers who stopped by my booth last night!! Last night was Sammamish Nights - which is a wine and food tasting event in Sammamish, Washington.  There were a variety of food and drink vendors there - plus artists from the Sammamish Art Fair were invited to attend and exhibit (including yours truly!). Some of the other artist booths Not only was there wine and food (which us lucky artists got to enjoy without cost!), but there was a fabulous band to listen to and after dark (and a lot of alcohol), many people got out on the floor and had a blast dancing. This event was a chance for the artists to show some of the work that will be seen at the Sammamish Art Fair in October (October 11th and 12th from 10am to 5pm).  It's going to be a lot of fun with a wide variety of gorgeous artwork!  Hope to see you there!!