Published Artists in San Diego - Lisa Bebi, Julie Prichard, Suzi Blu and Pam Carriker

Group Photo in Escondido

Suzi Blu
Meeting Suzi Blu all started with Suzi's online classes at Les Petit Academy. I had seen her promo for her Beginner LesPetit Dolls class and her work in magazines and wanted to make this face! I told my friend Deborah and she went to the site but she decided she wanted to take Suzi's "The Goddess and the Poet" online class. The words "poet" threw me off but I listened to Deborah and signed up for that class immediately. This was the beginning to an entire new world opening up to me.

When the Petit Dolls class opened, I signed up for that one too. And then the Marie class began. Suzi has so many incredible videos and PDFs for her classes. She wants you to download them to your computer and keep them for life! She maintains that theses videos are her class and you paid for her class. Now, she doesn't keep the chat and all the other things that are available while you take her classes open forever. There are beginnings and ends to her online classes. She also takes it as a compliment if you start with her techniques and add your own touches and then are fortunate to get published. As long as you are not just directly printing out her sketches, coloring them in or selling them and then publishing them as your own.

Suzi's classes were featured in Sept/Oct 2009 Somerset Studio magazine, page 72-75. Be sure to check out her classes. They are awesome! Love her, love her classes.

Pam Carriker
Last Friday I visited Suzi Blu at her new home. She is very new to the San Diego area, her home being New Jersey. When I got to her place I realize that she was really close to a stamp store. I also knew that there was a class going on where Pam Carriker was going to be teaching. Plus, I knew that Lisa Bebi and Meridith Cummings would be taking the class. So I suggested we go up and see what was happening. Well, they were all thrilled to meet each other and iPhone photos flew and everyone seemed to be "twitting."

There I learned that Pam was going to be teaching at Escondido Arts Partnership Municipal Gallery the following day and was told that there was room for me in the class. Well, how often do you get to take classes from someone who is a regular to Somerset Magazines and lives in Missouri? So, I was there the next day to take her class. The class an project that we did is featured in Cloth, Paper Scissors May/June 2009 issue, page 50-53. We made this project. My canvas is seen above.

Pam and Sally

I would like to tell you two things that I loved about Pam's class - she knew exactly how much time to allow us to be taught and complete the project. We were not rushed and we did finish! Plus, she provided all the materials including a tracing of her "woman's face." We did not have to use this and was encouraged to draw our own if we could. It was mainly the outline of the face and body since we obscured the features with a thin watered down coat of gesso. (The eyes were the hardest part for almost everyone where I found the lips to be the most difficult.)

A painting technique that Pam taught us and that we all struggled with, was her shading technique and how to work the angled brush. She shared the paints and colors that she likes to use and how she achieves her soft background effects. Very nice class.

Pam is also featured in the Jul/Aug 2009 Somerset Studio in an article entitled "Sisterhood of the Traveling Canvas."

Her journal that I spoke about in my previous blog is Winter 2009 Somerset Journaling. She has a 6 page spread with many tips and photos of her journal. But, I am telling you again, the camera just could not capture the true beauty of her journal in person. I guess she is working on a journal where all the pages are black (the initial pages that is). It seems to give a different depth to the pages. Very interesting.

Julie Prichard
Julie Prichard's online Super Nova Journal class is fun and takes you step by step how to produce a layered journal page. This has been such a crazy two weeks, I haven't had a lot of time to watch the videos as they come out and keep up with the class - even though I promised that this time I would. But, so far, so good.


I did not make Julie's journal since I already had journals waiting to be filled with art. One I made a long time ago with the teacher that first helped me to be comfortable with acrylic paints - Kelly Kilmer. Her laid back teaching style and generous nature with products and collage materials started me on the road to loving altered art more than anything else. Kelly likes to use Wausau paper from Kelly Paper (I don't think there is any connection there).

The larger journal I made from instructions I downloaded from Teesha Moore's website. I even ordered the Fabriana paper to make this journal. The paper is awesome.

Julie's work is also featured in Somerset's Winter 2009 Journaling. She is found on pages 88-93 and also on pages 130-133.

Lisa Bebi
Lisa Bebi "Paint Over" class out in Rancho San Diego at the library out there really started Suzi meeting Lisa, meeting Pam. Lisa had taught a class at my home to 10 of my friends - her paint over class. I learned that Lisa was going to be doing a demonstration at the library and decided to drive out on a Monday. There, I found my good friend Diane Chen.

In the end, Diane, me and Nina Reeba ended up taking her class again. I wanted to finish my triptych that I had started. I the one of my natural father and one of my natural father but I needed one with me. It is still a work in progress. So is the triptych that I started of me and my baby dolls. When I finish them I will post them, but for now, I have a lot of canvases and ideas from Lisa that are not finished. My bad - not the artist's fault.

Lisa seems to be in every issue of Somerset. But, my personal favorite is the Spring 2008 of Somerset Workshop. There you will find four articles with28 pages of step by step instructions and a gallery of her works.