Announcing

THE FIRST ANNUAL 

THEATRE OF DREAMS

* CREATIVE RETREAT *

{ A Three Day Escape to an Imaginary Life }

Join us for an amazing creative adventure in the secret Victorian ghost town of Port Costa, Ca., located on the banks of the Carquinez Straights, 30 minutes 
north of San Francisco.

We offer a unique three days of intensive hands on classes and seminars in a magical atmosphere that will breathe life into your creative spirit.

SEPTEMBER 12, 13, 14,  2014

TEACHERS:

WENDY ADDISON From Theatre of Dreams

KAARI MENG From French General

MONICA MEDEIROS From Bricolage Press

MOLLY MENG From 8mm Designs

CATHY MOGUL From Summerland Mercantile

CLASSES:

LETTERPRESS PRINTING

HAND BOOKBINDING

INDIGO DYEING FOR TEXTILES AND PAPER

VINTAGE BEESWAX FLOWER CROWN

ANTIQUE PAPER THEATRES

ENTRY FEE IS $875.00 PER PERSON

AND INCLUDES:

-Wine Tasting Event on Thur. Eve. Open House

-Three full days of classes and seminars

-All materials and supplies provided

-Gourmet Lunch and Dinners included,

provided by 

THE BULL VALLEY ROADHOUSE

using local farm to table foods

Wendy Addison's Dry Goods Mercantile Store will be open and fully stocked with vintage paper goods, as well as the Theatre of Dreams Shop. 
As a special attraction,
TINSEL TRADING, from New York,
will bring a trunkful of fabulous 
antique trim to show and sell.

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 24

to reserve a spot, you must make a deposit of $425.

email Wendy for more information or to sign up, at:

   shop@wendyaddisonstudio.com

Please Note: if you are coming from out of town 
you are responsible for your own lodging!  For truly charming and bohemian accomodations, we highly recommend Port Costa's own 1880's 
Burlington Hotel

Well if the Studio is not messy, then there is not much going on!  This is my New York Studio, where I design for Tinsel Trading.  It overlooks the Long Island Train yards,  and I furnished it to match my Port Costa Studio - Antique lighting,  glass cabinets, stacks of  cigar boxes, old type cases....and a floor littered with paper scraps!  

Glimpse of Christmas

Glimpse of Christmas from Wendy Addison on Vimeo.

Here is a sneak peak into the Christmas Collection that will be on display at my shows in Port Costa California

OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE - Fall 2012

Fri. Sat, Sun. -  Nov. 23, 24, 25

Fri. and Sat. -  Nov. 30 & Dec. 1

Fri. and Sat. -  Dec. 7 & 8

Fri. and Sat. -  Dec. 14 & 15 

Fri. and Sat. -  Dec. 21 & 22

Glitter Birds for Lincoln Center Christmas Tree

Glitter Bird for Lincoln Center Chirstmas Tree from Wendy Addison on Vimeo.

This year I was asked to decorate the Lincoln Center Christmas tree with my handmade glass glitter ornaments. Here is a demo of me making one of the beautiful bird ornaments. 

EVOLUTION OF A FAIRY DANCER

Somewhere buried deep in my memory is the presence of the fairy dancer.  She keeps re-appearing in my imagination in many forms - and she comes out in my design work over

and over.  Sometimes I see a version of her

in a Victorian die cut scrap:

and sometimes in an antique costume, like the

old theatre piece I wore at Halloween:

and she came out when I 

designed this Santos figure:

Here she is most recently, in the process of being

turned into a little puppet:

and of course, she comes to life and dances

every fall at the Theatre of Dreams!

For sure, she will come to visit this fall 

at my shop in Port Costa!

OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE - fall 2012

Fri. Sat, Sun. -  Nov. 23, 24, 25

Fri. and Sat. -  Nov. 30 & Dec. 1

Fri. and Sat. -  Dec. 7 & 8

Fri. and Sat. -  Dec. 14 & 15 

Fri. and Sat. -  Dec. 21 & 22

PICTURES FROM THE SHOP

Just a few pictures of paper butterflies creatures, little round boxes, and Christmas cachette containers. More to come!

EXTENDED HOURS FOR OPEN HOUSE!

The temperature has fallen, and the weather forecast says there is a chance of SNOW in Port Costa! I am keeping my fingers crossed. Even a few flakes would make my happiness complete!

I am working in the studio every day to finish up new things for my next two shows.

My first two open houses went really well - nothing is more fun for me than decking out my shop for Christmas, (this year with huge swags of fragrant eucalyptus), stuffing the shelves with new and enticing hand made goods, and standing behind the counter as people shop. The candles are lit, the music is on, and I get to put on my antique French shopkeepers jacket and just enjoy the excitement. I turn on the mechanical shadow dancer and everyone stops in their tracks, to watch the magic!

I decided to add one more weekend to my open house schedule - I will now be open:

Fri. and Sat. Dec 9th and 10,

Fri. and Sat. Dec. 16th and 17th.

Hours are 10 - 4 each day.

A magical day awaits you!

11 Canyon Lake Dr.

Port Costa, Ca. 94569

Please call for directions: 510 - 787-2164.

P.S. And if mechanical shadow dancers are not enough....there is an amazing little coffee shop that just opened up across the street from me, with a wood stove to gather around, and home made baked goods!

Christmas Open House

Here in Port Costa, the sidewalks are covered with little yellow leaves from the locust trees that line the streets, and the sound of the black crows echoes through the emptying trees. I know that Christmas is not far when I see and hear the sounds of November. And I am busy doing what makes me happiest of all times of the year - getting everything ready for my

Open Houses! Glue and glitter up to my elbows, and also beeswax, gold paint, paper scraps everywhere, and beautiful things piling up in the workshop, ready to be set out in rows.

Please take some time out of your hectic schedule to drive down that tree lined street and find my shop this season! I promise you a "harlinquinade" of delights!

For a preview - look me up in the November issue of Victoria magazine.

Open House Dates:

Fri, Sat, Sun, Nov. 25, 26, 27

Dec. 2 & 3

Dec 9 & 10

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

A Return to France / Recherchez a France

I will be returning to France for another magical week at the Chateau Dumas next summer! I have decided on teaching an in - depth 3 part class involving designing, binding, writing and illustrating your own book. I would like to take our group into the sunflower fields, through the hill town of Mont Pezat, and through the market town of Cassaude, each person with pen and paper, to record for themselves the visual feast of France. I will give each student personal attention in basic drawing and writing, and also bookbinding. Kaari will guide us through all the best flea markets, lavender fields and brocantes.

Here is a picture of Monica wearing the crown she made....and also, a picture of what she found at the flea market - an old painting, fabric treasures, books, antique plates, vintage linens, and a wonderful old burnt orange suitcase to bring it all home in.

It will be a return to paradise for all of us!

If anyone is interested in joining us, please go to Kaari's website: www.frenchgeneral.com , for more information. Merci!

An Earthly Paradise

Here are more luscious pictures from a week in France...No need for captions, really, just lose yourself in each moment and adjust your minds eye to a different world...of color, and light and flavor....

Dreaming of France - Les Temps Perdu

It has been too many months since I wrote...business and busy ness get in the way and there is not always time to find the words to describe my days. But then I will look back from a distance and see the past so clearly, and the meaning of it becomes clear. Proust was the one who said it best - that the true flavor of any experience can only be felt much, much later....the remembrance of "temps perdu."

Last summer I spent a week in France, with my daughter Monica, and friends Marcia Ceppos, Kaari and Molly Meng, and Cathy Mogul. Kaari, that fearless intrepid one, organized a grand excursion for 16 women, involving an eighteenth century chateau, an antique hat factory, flea markets and brocantes, and food and wine that made us all swoon with sheer pleasure. All of this, and a huge studio room for all of us to work together to create beautiful things.

I was invited to teach several classes there, and the women in my class made wonderful hand bound books, printed on a tiny letterpress, and dipped vintage flowers in beeswax and wove them into crowns. Monica taught us to print antique style photographs called cyanotypes,

and we spent a whole day in the meadows dying antique fabrics with and ancient blue dye.

Kaari brought wonderful vintage beads and all went home with a bracelet of french charms.

All these parts, as in all fantastic voyages, added up to so much more than I can explain - six months later I am still wondering at the deeper meaning in my week at the Chateau Dumas.

I brought home with me some renewed sense about what I want and need out of life - some sense of magic - and the energy to find it, in small and large ways, in my everyday life.

I will return to this post tomorrow, to add pictures and write a bit more.

THE STREETS OF ST. LOUIS

I spent about a week in my home town last month and had a wonderful time - I was flown there by Mary Engelbreit and Company to be a guest teacher at their workshop extravaganza. Everything they did was top notch - the venue was at the venerable Chase Park Plaza hotel by Forest Park, the classes were packed full of women who were very happy to be there, engrossed in learning how to make everything from glitter chandeliers (me!) to antique French jewelry (Kaari Meng)!

One of my teaching projects involved making a Victorian "moss lady" (pictured). Each table was given all the elements to create this whimsical figure, including piles of different moss species, and lots of antique trim from Tinsel Trading, and then unleashed to create from their own imagination. The variety was astounding!

I also took a couple of days off to visit my old haunt in south St. Louis, Cherokee St., which is an ancient neighborhood of old brick buildings, still filled with antique shops.

One of the shops looked just like it did 35 years ag0,
including the old hound dog sitting watch behind the counter....the ceiling was of old pressed tin, knick knacks gathered dust and the light filtered in and looked like a memory from long ago.

I left with a collection of antique file boxes, an old engraving, and a collection of old milk bottle caps!

THE BEST CAFE IN NEW YORK

For weeks I wandered the streets of Manhattan looking for a decent latte - I have been spoiled forever by Peet's coffee in San Franscisco - and I finally found the best cafe for a REAL latte, and a fantastic array of handmade French cookies. It is called MACARON, and it is on 36th street at 7th ave. It is a tiny hole in the wall with only a few seats, within a block of Macy's and the garment district. It is cozy, the people who run the place are charming, and it is a perfect place to sit back and drop out of your day for a moment and reflect on life's pleasures!

STREETS OF NEW YORK

I continue to split my time and my life between my home in Port Costa and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, physically and mentally, Manhattan! The pace of business in New York leaves my head spinning and there is endless input everywhere, every moment. But I do get away from it all and just walking the streets of New York is like a smorgasbord for the creative eye. My beautiful daughter Monica came for a week and after lattes at my favorite cafe (called Macaron) we walked about 35 blocks from 35th to 70th and took pictures all along the way. Here are just a few of the gorgeous windows we saw!

Mr. Kitty

I know Christmas is long gone, but I wanted to post one memorable picture of Mr. Kitty and my Christmas tree, which is always set up across from my bed so I can see it when I wake up in the morning.

Light Fairies

I had a dream several months ago. I was in some ruined and bombed out building, the windows blasted out and the doors all missing...there had been some general catastrophe that had left everything in shambles. Strangers wandered about the wreckage. I was oddly calm and collected, and stepped outside and sat down on what was left of brick steps and looked up across the street. Up high on the wall across the steet was a shimmering reflection of light coming from nowhere, a refraction that danced itself into some changable, magical shape - and this formless ephemeral beautiful thing was some kind of free gift that left me with a wordless joy in spite of the emptiness of the world I was wandering in.


In my house in Port Costa, I sometimes catch a light on the walls in the morning, reflected from the windows across the street, and they are glimmerings of the same light fairies, and for a moment I remember how I felt in the dream, perfectly happy to live in a world emptied of meaningless stuff, and left with just the dancing of the light.

Meet Me in St. Louis!

This spring, I am heading back to my home town, St. Louis, to do a workshop with Mary Engelbreit! From April 29 to May 2, I will be teaching classes at her artistic conference. Mary and I both grew up in the outskirts of St. Louis, and so I am happy to be visiting and teaching back in my original territory.
If anyone out there is interested, please visit the Mary Engelbreit website and click on the Workshop panel to get more details. You can also email me personally with questions at theatreofdreams@sbcglobal.net. I look forward to teaching and schmoozing with many new and old friends!
Here is me, in case you need to spot me in St. Louis!

"LE CIRQUE DE NOEL"

A CHRISTMAS CIRCUS! If you come to the Theatre of Dreams you will see a Parade of fanciful dressed animals, ready to adorn your tree or table for the Holidays! Kitties and elephants, dromedaries and lions, horses and tigers, all form a peaceable kingdom here in the shop.
Our first Open House of the season is this coming Fri and Sat, Nov,27 & 28. We are also open Fri. and Sat. Dec. 4 & 5, and Fri. and Sat. Dec 11 & 12. Hours are 10 - 4 each day, and the you are also welcome to tour the workshop where all the animals are made!
The address is #11 Canyon Lake Dr, Port Costa, Ca. 94569. Port Costa is 20 mins. north of the bay bridge, in the east bay. Call for directions - (510) 787-2164.
The public is welcome, come one, come all!

TINSEL AND SAWDUST

Without showing too much, here are a few pics of things I am working on for my Christmas Open House! This is just a peek around the workshop, where things are piling up in an interesting way. I am fascinated by hands this year, and they are appearing many ways, on gilded wreathes, covered with mirrors, and even sea shells. Also shown is a box full of Santos figures, waiting patiently to be dressed by me in antique clothes.
The title of my Christmas line is "Tinsel and Sawdust" and this phrase is an old way of describing the circus. I am in love with anything circus these days, and if you check my next post, I will be showing pictures of my "Cirque de Noel" line.