Category Archives: Events

Monika Astara – a visit to her studio

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When I first met Monika Astara at a FASA Runway Show several years ago, I was almost tongue-tied by the beauty and originality of her designer clothing. She was swamped with customers, but I managed to ask her rather tentatively if she ever did trunk shows – she said that she did! Six months later, she brought her wearable art to my Studio, and it was a huge success. We became fast friends and she’s had several more fantastic shows with me – her clothes are comfortable, casually elegant, yet very distinctive. If you are a Monika fan, you know what I mean.

Hoverer, I had never been to HER studio until this weekend, and what a treat it was to see where all of the Monika Magic originates. I got to see her long cutting table where she paints and constructs her garments, the stacks of patterns, and most of all, the fabrics! Her signature fabrics are chosen for their unusual textures and colors and for their practicality – not an easy task.

I took some photos during my visit to share with you, and I hope you will be at her next show and sale at Lyn Belisle Studio in October, date coming soon!

It takes a few eggs to hatch an altar

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My altar from last year titled “Illumination”

Celebration Circle’s annual invitational event, One People, Many Paths: The Sacred Art of Altars, is a personal favorite. It’s a challenge to take one of 50 plain wooden boxes and transform it into a personal artistic statement with meaning, maybe some humor, and a visual appeal that will encourage people to bid on it to benefit this very cool group of spiritual creatives. Last year’s altars show the amazing variety of artful offerings.

My altar for this year started with some eggs from the next-door neighbor’s chickens. I loved their shape and texture, plus there’s always the notion of what will hatch. When my friend Zippy found a nest that seemed made for the altar box, it started to come together. Want to see? Here’s how I made my altar titled “Brood, Hatch, Fly.”

Lyn Belisle "Brood, Hatch, Fly - wood, earthenware, plexiglass, found objects

Lyn Belisle “Brood, Hatch, Fly – wood, earthenware, plexiglass, found objects

Here is the quote that inspired “Brood, Hatch, Fly”:

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” C.S. Lewis

You can see all of the Celebration Circle altars (and bid on them) at the Santikos Bijou Theater in Wonderland Mall from September 1 – 30, 2015. Now go hatch and fly.

 

Goodbyes, hellos, and how to start a blog

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The Medina Mud Band in the early days

The Medina Mud Band in the early days

The Medina Mud Band said goodbye to the Quihi Dance Hall Saturday night, and to the many benefit gigs we’ve played there for Inner City Development. So many friends turned out despite the stormy weather – and the biggest surprise came from Patti and Rod Radle, Inner City’s founders and executive directors, who announced that they had established the Medina Mud Band Cultural Arts Fund for the children at their West Side community center. So the band lives on in a fine legacy – what an honor!

Cousins Pegeen, Jesse, (me), Grace, and Skip

Cousins Pegeen, Jesse, (me), Grace, and Skip

One of the coolest things about the event was meeting my cousins from Louisiana, who drove to Texas for the gig. My cousin Skip has been here before, but I got to meet his daughter and her children in person! We had the best time. The girls wanted to go to the Wax Museum on Alamo Plaza. I have to say that it is one of the weirdest places I’ve ever visited. Many of the life-sized statues were creepily real, while others looked kind of goofy. Here’s a gen-yoo-wine photo of me and Barack Obama – which is wax and which is real??

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President Barack Obama gives a high five to Lyn Belisle just before he melts into a puddle of wax

OK, now I’ll bet you are saying, “Gee, I wish I knew how to make a blog so I could put up pictures of touristy wax figures on the Internet.” Help is here – actually, I just remembered that I made some tutorials for my Trinity students on how to make a blog using Blogger. It’s free (all you need is a Google account), and it’s fun. These tutorials should be fairly easy to follow if you want to try it – nobody says you have to keep it.

The only thing you’ll have to remember is that in the first video, I tell the students how to access Blogger through their university account. You’ll just go directly to blogger.com and take it from there. There are also lots of helpful videos on You Tube as well, and a good help menu on the Blogger site. On your mark, get set – BLOG!

Tutotials:

Esperanza inspirations

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Like many San Antonians, one of my favorite events of the year is Esperanza Peace and Justice Center’s art and craft market.

esperArtists from Mexico and the Southwest show an amazing array of cool stuff, and I always come away with a zillion ideas. I especially love seeing my friend, talented Linda Rael, there because she has the best ideas to steal. I purchased one of her wonderful fabric sculptures to examine more closely! Here are some photos from the Market, and under those is a video of some assemblages I finished on Sunday after being totally inspired and excited by all of the things I saw.

When I came home from the market, I worked most of the weekend completing a series of Heart Shard assemblages – objects of devotion. These figures represent small iconic blessings, much like my earlier Guardian series. There may be more of these to come, and they will be available at the Saturday Studio Sale with Lesta, Jan and Alison.

FASA fun and face shard fabrications

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Friday night was the opening of the FASA Juried show – I felt darn lucky to get accepted, but never in my wildest dreams expected to win an award – and for People’s Choice! Here are my pals Sidney and Mary Beth getting ready to fill out their orange voting slips for my piece, “Rune and Relic Bundles.” Thanks, guys (and to everyone else who voted)! And congrats to Susie Monday, Dian Lamb, Linda Rael, and Lisa Kerpoe who won awards from the Juror. It was an absolutely fantastic show. Look below for the video – amazing work from these fiber artists, and SAY SI! was the perfect venue.

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After all that, I was so inspired that I got to work on some new pieces for the Studio show on December 6th. Here are some work-in-progress pieces and one that I just finished from that bunch. I love making these little Shard beings! Every one of them has its own personality.

It was a busy weekend, but not too busy to draw a name for the Friday Freebie, a small Guatemalan purse from Friendship Bridge with a Shard Face inside. And the winner is . . Zet Baer! I saw Zet at the Fiber Art show – how nice to draw her name. So congratulations! Let me know how you’d like to receive your FF, Zet, and thanks to everyone for subscribing and reading and commenting.

Now, on to thoughts of turkey, dressing, mmmmmm . . . .

 

 

 

Just when you feared it was hopeless –

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Aha! Here we come to save the day – Lesta, Jan, Alison and I are bringing out our best stuff for you and we will solve all of your gift shopping dilemmas! See how thoughtful we are? 🙂

Seriously, there’s nothing more fun that showing with these three friends. They are so creative and eclectic in their talents and craftsmanship. Jan’s been playing with some new metal clay pieces, Lesta’s got some amazing mixed-media work, and Alison’s fiber work is joyous and colorful. And me? Well, I figure I’ll have some new stuff as well – small Shardians and some tissue and encaustic pieces. And I’ll fill a basket with little face shards for everyone to choose from as an extra giftie. Chef Mike is in charge of refreshments so you won’t go hungry. Put Saturday the 6th on your calendar and drop by Lyn Belisle Studio – it’s a busy time of year and we can make it simpler – see? Take heart, all is not lost!

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Huipiles and votives and shards – oh, my!

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Studio update – it was a busy, creative, rewarding weekend in a zillion ways. Our show and sale of Guatemalan artisan goods for Friendship Bridge was a huge success – both money and awareness were raised! Thanks for all who came to shop and learn – here are some photos:

Sunday was a day of rest – well, not exactly, but I had a wonderful time at our relaxing Votive Workshop. Seven of us sat around the table creating these little candle screens. It was the perfect way to spend a cold and drizzly afternoon. The Studio is a magical place sometimes.

Finally, last night, this girl realized she need to get to work and get her hands in some clay! These little faces will go into the kiln today and perhaps turn into Spirit Dolls, assemblages or Etsy send-outs to someone else for their own creations. Have a happy week, Y’all, and stay warm.

Joanna and Aldermarsh in the spring

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aldermarshFYI – I just sent this note out to my Studio mailing list, and thought I’d post it here too in case anyone outside of San Antonio or Texas who subscribes to SHARDS wants to consider going to this retreat – here goes:

Hi, All,

Joanna Colbert Powell, who brought her wonderful tarot art and spiritual intuition to the Studio last month, is going to go live tomorrow with her promotion of her Gaian Soul Spring 2015 Retreat at Aldermarsh on Whidbey Island near Seattle. Most of you know that I will be teaching there that week (March 18-22) and she tells me that there are just four spaces left. The will probably fill up this week. So just in case you’ve ever considered a retreat like this, I’m sending the information out tonight. You can read the details here.

♥Lyn

 

 

Fall giddiness, art abounding, Friday freebie

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This weather just makes ya want to dance – rain last night, sunshine today, temperatures in the 70s – it feels like fall! And I’m just in under the wire with the Friday Freebie and some other giddy observations about all the art that is going on this weekend.

All of my artist friends who are participating in the Uptown Art Stroll this weekend should have fabulous crowds – I’ll be there as an onlooker and idea-stealer :). The array of talent and variety of media in this neighborhood show is impressive. I participated several years ago – so many interesting people come to this event.  If you’ve never been, here’s a link to the map – it’s a lot of fun!

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On Sunday, please stop by the San Antonio Art League Gallery in the King William area for the opening of the exhibit I’m in with Miguel Cortinas. Many thanks to Clarence and Helen Fey for inviting me to participate in this venerable annual exhibit. Here’s one of my favorite new paintings – it’s called “Stroll” (speaking of strolls), and where these guys came from and where they are going, I dunno – I just painted them and didn’t ask questions. My other favorite new piece is “Buddha and the Chocolate Box” – it’s underneath the birds – makes me wonder where these weird inspirations come from! Ain’t art great?

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“Stroll” 36″x40″ Acrylic on canvas Lyn Belisle

 

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“Buddha and the Chocolate Box” 16″x16″, Mixed Media Lyn Belisle

Last but not least, the Friday Freebie for SHARDS subscribers is this lovely little purse from Friendship Bridge, an organization that helps impoverished Guatemalan women find self-reliance and empowerment through their art. My friend Teresa from Friendship Bridge will bring a beautiful assortment of textiles and jewelry to the Studio on November 12th. You can read more about it in the November Studio Newsletter. And if yours is the lucky name drawn from the list of subscribers on Sunday night, you’ll win this little purse (and I’ll even put a Shard Face inside).

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Happy Friday – hope to see you at an art event this beautiful weekend!

Lesta and Lyn – a half-day workshop exploring mixed-media surface design

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Finally! Lesta Frank, my much-revered artist pal, is coming to the Studio to pair up with me for a half-day workshop on Sunday, November 9th. It’s called Exploring Paper Surface Design, and it’s going to be amazing. We’ve been talking about doing this forever and now it’s really gonna happen.

Lesta and I go back a looo-ooong way (like, high school). She’s a popular teacher as well as a well-known watercolorist  – funny and innovative, as those of you who’ve seen her at the Show and Tell Saturdays already know. Here’s a very short sneak preview from one of those sessions – I love the part when Lesta says, “If you don’t like it, just keep adding stuff”! There are four spots left for the workshop at the moment if you’d like to join us. Have a great day and thanks for following SHARDS!