TRAVEL ALERT!!

You’ve probably seen it on TV or the paper-Airfares are so low right now to Europe! I have to tell you that I found a fare for my trip to Italy for $700 round trip from Los Angeles to Rome!
So now is definitely the time to join me on my trip to beautiful Orvieto Italy this May
The Euro is also at an incredibly low rate now-we are so excited!
Go right now to www.adventuresinitaly.net and check out this wonderful place!
How does this sound... a week of lettering in a fabric book in a converted convent overlooking green vineyards and gardens, learning Formal and Casual ‘Lisa” Romans and seeing the OG ( that means original) Etruscan Romans in caves beneath the city. The Cathedral in this city is so beautiful-Michaelangelo was supposedly inspired by the chapel here for his Sistine masterpiece. Rick Steve’s named this little city one of his favorite hilltop towns. We will also make pasta, shop the Farmers market and explore the city.
Sounds amazing , Huh? The itinerary for my week there is also on the web site-And please email me for any questions~
I truly trust the lovely operators of these adventures-Kristin and Bill Steiner-Krisitin is an accomplished mixed media artist, teacher and a wonderful person-many students return year after year to this magical place. Can you make it?
Ciao!
Lisa
lengelbrecht@earthlink.net

TULSA-FInally!

Well its been a whole month-that is crazy-since I have posted and more since I went to Tulsa. I enjoyed this trip so very much-we stayed at a beautiful retreat outside of town-with many deer and wildlife- right next to a lake. Our classroom had this excellent view of the lake and the weather was amazing. The rooms had flat screen TVS and I had my own room! The crazy and wonderful Leslie Wade was one of my sherpas-thanks to her I got my stuff there-I had prepared some folders for the handouts-but lo and behold the amazing Sara Hanlon and her daughter Kimberly had hand painted 22 folders on canvas for each class member. Heres a pic of mine! The class was incredible-Travis Certain, Sandy Newburg and Dianne Hogue drove from very far away-what lovely people were in the Tulsa group!! I want to write each one a huge thank you-what a joy it was to watch you work and be totally inspired. I had a bit of a bummer on coming home that my camera was lost-always put a business card in the case-just in case-haha. I am sad because the photos from tulsa were in there!c BUT! Sara has posted her incredible book on her blog and you MUST go to it right now and see this work of art-(I personally wouldn't be able to give it away)-her site is There are also pics from the class-thank you so much Sara-for everything! Linda Jolly and Sue Kinsey got me to and fro-I stayed with Linda's fun family the last night-than she took me to Tulsa proper and I HAD some great pics of the ArtDeco buildings-who would've known! Tulsa! center of the nation!

Im getting ready to go to Artfest in two weeks-vending stuff and Tats/Graff class stuff-crazy hectic as usual. More postings soon-its like a steamroller now-first Seattle then Kalamazoo-then Letters of Joy then Italy-Stop the World! But I have a new Nikon and Im ready to post post away! Spring is coming-Its beautiful here in California-

I have a watercolor flowers class planned for the patio next week-must go buy some bark nuggets for the yard! Please check out Sara's blog-Ive linked it on the right too-and I have new work on my Flickr site-link on the right too!

LETTERS CALIFORNIA STYLE! and general craziness

Yes Its been crazy! Ive been to Tulsa-who merit their own posting-thats next-I'm officially working on a book with my friend Pat-the genius graff artist-working title "Tats, Graff and Freestyle Alphabets" I've just returned from Letters California Style in Pomona-I did want to get some pics up of that-I had more of the class work-which was amazing! but somewhere they were lost-
I did also lose my Canon Sureshot coming back from Tulsa and Im super bummed if I have lost all those pics-still looking for the camera!
More info on all that coming soon-but please check out my flickr site at the right to see the artists work that I was lucky enough to watch unfold-and Oh yeah my daughter has returned from India-Crazy? No...way beyond that!

ITALY IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!

Yep Its Official! We're going to beautiful Italy! Orvieto to be precise ( one of Rick Steves favorite towns!) This is in May-from the 10th to the 17th. I will be teaching an Italian Book of Inspiration-a lovely accordion fabric book. You'll learn how to letter on fabric-even if you're a beginner. We'll combine collage and color and artifacts we discover in this beautiful town! I'm in love with it and I haven't even been there yet! Mornings spent in a lovely classroom-afternoons exploring the city-its vineyards, Etruscan Caves with ancient inscriptions, its cathedral (Il Duomo) eating, shopping! Then we'll return to a convent that has been turned into a lovely B & B for relaxation and rest. Can you join me? I think this will be the trip of a lifetime and fares are great to Italy now! Please link up now and if you've been 'on the fence" maybe this will help you decide! I would love to share this with you ( My daughter's going with me too!) Significant others and family are tended with care by our wonderful hosts, Kristin and Bill Steiner while we're in class. Kristin ( My daughter ) and I are planning to stay a week or two after and go to Rome and other magical places-Please email me if you have any questions about the class-Please check out the website! www.adventuresinitaly.net-the Link is on the right!

Oh and CHA blogging is coming soon!

FUNKY FILL LETTERS AT THE CHA CONVENTION!

Heres a couple samples of my Make it and Take It project I'll be doing at the Craft and Hobby convention here in Anaheim next week. Thousands of people and vendors come to this-ALot of friends will be there-Traci Bautista, Alisa Burke, Roann Mathias and many more-Its kind of like old home week-but a great chance to network and try to make connections. I'll be signing books at my Publisher-(Rockport's) booth on Monday and Tuesday from 11-1-I'm also filming two videos to be on their website too!

Oh and I have VERY EXCITING ITALY news breaking as we speak! Coming very soon!

Happy New Year!

A fantastic new year awaits-its so exciting-all shiny and new and everything for the taking-I LOVE new beginnings! Ive finally returned to the blogosphere-Im spending too much time on Facebook-or crackbook as some people call it-I did post some new photos on my Flickr-some photos of the book of Elvis and also some of the Piece I did for Tracie Huskamp=I like it alot-this is the piece pictured above!

Whats up with me-Im doing some art-not enough but getting stuff ready to submit to the new publication called Art Quilt from Stampington-Ive waded into the mess that is my studio and files and begun to get organized!
CHA ( The Craft Hobby Association convention in Anaheim)is soon where I'll be doing Make and Takes on Monday and Tuesday at my publisher's booth( Rockport Quarry) I'll also be doing a couple videos-I'll let you know where you can see them!
I'll post the samples of my coloring-in letters. another new alphabet!

I am really getting into the tattoo letters-I'll be teaching a class onthis at ArtFest in April and also Im so pleased to announce-that I will be returning to Art Unraveled this August-I'll be teaching Tats,Graff and Freestyle Letters and also another really fun class-Hand Lettered Journal Pouch-photos soon

My most exciting date this Spring is Italy!!-Please sign up now before its too late-Ive heard the airfares are going down and this is a great time to book. I iwll be passing on more and more info-but imagine an entire week in a small hilltop town in italy-to just make letters and books on fabric and relax in the beautiful countryside-I can hardly wait-go to the link on the right!!

BRAGGING RIGHTS

These images are from Kathleen Borkowski-she took my workshop at Absolutely Everything-and finished her quilt into this neato house shape-check out her website to see these pictures full size-which is beautiful! at www.kathleenborkowski.com




Ok-these photos are from the beautiful fabric book completed by my student from Houston quilt show, Phyllis Peterson-=amazing -huh? A tribute to her pets that have passed on-it is just beautiful!!

Momento Mori-a New Class for the New Year at Carol Parks studio

Oh I am so excited about this class-I will be teaching for three full days at the beautiful studio of Carol Parks-www.carolparks.com. Heres the description and some photos-what's great about this class-other than it being in my SoCal neighborhood-is that we have three full days to make this incredible soulful book-I am so looking forward to it. The deadline for the discount entry to the class is January 1st-the class starts Friday Jan. 30 and goes thru the weekend. Please join me-I don't teach often enough in LA and this is really a great opportunity-to get to know letters and fabric and even yourself a bit more!Memento Mori
A Book of Remembrance and Joy
Lisa Engelbrecht, Instructor

The Roman General has a slave that follows him closely from behind. The slave whispers “Memento Mori” Remember you are mortal, remember you will die.

The symbolism of memento mori has occurred again and again in artworks for centuries. One’s inevitable death can have transformative power for their art. I like to think of it as “Ars Moriendi” The art of dying well or living righteously in this moment.
How can we work these extraordinary ideas into our art?
Join me as we create a very personal tribute book, filled with mementos and touchstones. This book will be a celebration and a memorial to our loved ones past and a commitment to a life and love to honor their memory.
On the first day we will begin by digging deep to create personal text. By using exercises in lettering and calligraphy on various surfaces we will develop a personal style of handwriting along with larger letter styles for titles and labels. Experimental tools and pens will allow us to give this book a unique lively stamp. The pages of the book will be either paper or fabric, or any found materials.
On the second day pages may be primed, sprayed, torn, stamped or painted with washes of color, creating textural backgrounds. Finding the correct pen or pigment and design of the page will be a part of the discovery.The book will be filled joyously and raucously with photos and collage of us and our family. Text in our own hand will fill the book.
On the third day simple photo transfer techniques will be introduced to quickly enter images here. Fabric layering and hand stitchery introduced. Mementos and amulets from our loved one’s past and our own personal items we will leave after our own passing will be placed into our book. The fabric cover of the book will be completed and simple sewing and finishing techniques presented.

What will you leave? What words would you say to those who follow you? There will be very big questions to ask ourselves and here will be a safe and nurturing space to explore this concept
The imagery of the Day of the Dead may inspire you-the Mexican tradition is one filled with joy -not sorrow. In fact its a giant party at the graveside-a celebration of life! And that’s what I intend this workshop to be-creating a book filled with the joy of life to remind us of memento mori.









Imagery cues! Skulls, Timepieces, the Grim reaper, angels of death, Day of the Dead skeletons

Traci B , the Art Bar and More

My friend the amazing Traci Bautista's here teaching at the Art Bar and staying with me for a few days-I got to take her class today-it was fun but tooo short-tomorrow is my Book signing at Barnes and Noble-in Huntington Beach-
Im hoping to collab with Traci and post it here so stay tuned! I got the picture of me above-haha- for free at www.creativesouls.ning.com

New Website!

Yes If you go to my website it is no longer there-I am switching over to Bandzoogle and I could not be happier-here is my temporary link- at the right-My address is still www.lisaengelbrecht.com-just have to change servers- ok lets see if this works!!
Im so much happier than I was with Network Solutions-it allows you to post stuff so easily and its pretty cool too