Category Archives: Inspiration

I screen, you screen . . .

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Lisa Stamper Meyer, “Mysterious Miasmas” Acrylic on Paper

What a treat to have the multi-talented Lisa Stamper Meyer at my Studio yesterday teaching a workshop on Silk Screening for Mixed Media Artists! Lisa is amazing – You can see her work at The Gallery at Gruene Lake Village. She’s a patient teacher, generous in her expertise.

I have to admit that I wasn’t ready to add one more thing to my repertoire, but – wrong! This process has so many possibilities. Everyone who participated said the same thing. The inspirations for using this idea on fiber, on handmade paper, with encaustic are unllimited – I’m sold!

Take a look at the video, and then do some exploring on the EZscreen process with the links I’ve listed at the end of this post – many thanks to Lisa for an amazing afternoon.

ezscreenprint.com

ikonicsimaging.com

speedballart.com

The week that was and the weekend that will be . . .

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It takes a village to make a Studio – and that’s what it felt like this week – all kinds of creative people graced the place – yay!

On Monday, our 3M Writers Group met at the studio for the monthly pot luck. Poets and novelists are also great cooks! And the conversation is always inspired. Special congrats to Bryce Milligan (below, center) whose Wings Press just celebrated its 40th Anniversary – a huge accomplishment for this multicultural, environmentally-aware company. Wings is indeed The Corazón of American Small Press Publishing.

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From left: Anne Alexander, Mary Milligan, Harold Rodinsky, Mike Belisle, Bryce Milligan, Jimmy Adair

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From left: Lou Taylor, Leslie Provence, Craig Donegan, Jay Brandon, Jasmina Wellinghoff

Next came a Wednesday Workshop – this time, it was Encaustic Exploration. We worked with wax and images in a larger format than usual.  The workshop critique was outstanding – thanks to all who waxed and shared!

I found some time on Thursday to play with a large painting called “Domino Theory.” Rosemary Uchniat sent me a heads-up about artist Nancy Reyner’s book on gold leaf and acrylic painting – lord knows, I have plenty of gold leaf around the Studio, This piece still needs glazing, but it’s fun to watch where it’s going. The process may turn into a new workshop – more soon.

domino theory
Today, I’ll be clearing the decks for Monika Astara’s trunk show that goes on from 11-3:30 tomorrow – don’t miss it!

Monikacard copy
Lisa Stamper Meyer‘s Silk Screen workshop is Sunday, and in between all this, I’m going to get over to the Fred Road Studio Tour. 

I hope your week was great, and that your weekend is fun-filled and art-filled and joy-filled – spring is definitely in the air!

I can’t tell you what I did this weekend —

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c5f4e638-93da-49ef-85f1-daae2cc99001–but it was fun!! Actually, here’s a hint from Artful Gathering:

“We are currently in video production for our 2016 online art event. This is an exciting time when our instructors are devoting themselves to creating a very special class to share with you this summer.”

So if you came by the Studio and saw a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door, you’ll know why you couldn’t come in. I absolutely love developing and designing classes for Artful Gathering, and I spend several days each January and February filming and editing my AG classes.

Yesterday, hard at work filming an Artful Gathering class about . . . . .

Yesterday, hard at work filming an Artful Gathering class about . . . . .

The classes are kept a secret until March first (which is why I can’t tell you about them yet), but you can get involved with Artful Gathering right now and win prizes from Jerry’s ArtaRama. Starting today you can join the AG Hop called “Bring Your Wings” and play along each week, while meeting our 2016 instructors, including me in an upcoming newsletter.

It’s simple – just read the featured instructor’s profile, find the secret word (each one has wings by it – easy) and collect them. I’m doing this myself because i get to see everybody’s portfolios and steal – er, get inspired by – their ideas! Here’s a piece by my pal Riki Schumacher, a featured artist in today’s Hop – I can definitely see a face shard somewhere in some work inspired by this lovely piece – :

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To register for Artful Gathering, pay up just five bucks and you’ll get a whole bunch of stuff before and after the classes are announced. But you can play the Hop for free, so hop to it.

And if you can’t wait for May, just fork over a few more bucks for my Artful Gathering DVD’s – more in production, thanks to a long weekend of mystery filming. End of commercial, have a lovely day!

dvd

Pinterest — inspirational art tool and self-defining style guide

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Inspiration concept

Do you have a Pinterest board? If you do, keep reading to remind yourself how helpful it can be in your personal art practice. If you don’t keep, reading about why you really should have one!

I use Pinterest both for

  • new ideas, and for
  • getting unstuck on work in progress.

For example, this morning I was debating on how to proceed with an encaustic piece, so I went to my Pinterest “Stealboard” where I collect ideas (you’re welcome to look at my collection.)

I found this work by Grace Carol Bomer that I had “pinned” a while ago. Even though I’m not working in cold wax, even though her piece is not photographic, there was something about this that gave me the inspiration to put a digital photo behind a layer of wax. It was the spark I needed.

My finished piece will look nothing like this, but it got me unstuck quickly because it was in my Pinterest stash of works that I liked for one reason or another.

Grace Carol Bomer -Ancient Mercy 2012 coldwax and oil on panel 8″ x 8″ $225

Another Pinterest feature useful to one’s art practice is finding other artists who are working in your own areas of interest. I discovered Dorothy Caldwell’s work through a friend’s Pinboard – wow! It ties in beautifully with the work I did with Caryl Gaubatz recently.

And I am so inspired by Dorothy Caldwell’s statement about her work – “ I am drawn to cloth that has been repaired, and reconstructed and in that ongoing process encodes time and the richness of lives lived.”

Finding other artists like this helps me define my own direction. It can help you, too.

Dorothy Caldwell – A Red Hill, A Green Hill, ink wash, earth ochre on cotton with stitching and applique, 9’4″ x 9’8″ 2012

Finally, you can showcase your own work on Pinterest. You can start a board about what (and why) you create and upload photos of your work for everyone to see and perhaps share. I have one called From My Studio. It’s also a good way to archive your work. Hey, I used quail eggs in this piece – I had forgotten that – gonna do that again!

Lyn Belisle – New HeartShard assemblage titled SongSon – 14″ – mica, metal, wood, clay, fiber, quail eggs

Setting up a Pinterest account and then collecting images and ideas is easy. WikiHow has a great guide to the process. Here’s the link.

Oh yeah, and Pinterest should come with a BIG FAT WARNING – using this site can be addictive.

Don’t say you weren’t warned, and have a great weekend pinning and playing. Thanks, as always, for subscribing to SHARDS.

Challenge update

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This is what I ended up doing with the objects I collected for the spontaneous “Studio Stuff” challenge. I like it! It’ s called HeART of Time, and it’s about how time flies – wings? eggs? clock pieces? Makes sense to me!

HeART of Time: mixed media assemblage by Lyn Belisle

HeART of Time: mixed media assemblage by Lyn Belisle

And here’s the studio stuff I started with:

fodder

Now I’m wondering if it’s cheating to add a couple of extra things to pull the project together. I added some cloth wings that I’d had for years and also a small box with compartments to put everything in. Nah, that’s not cheating – you can add a few things, too, if you like. I’m kind of making up our rules as I go!

Below are two submissions of studio stuff from brave artist friends – let’s see what they do with it! Names have been concealed to protect the innocent. Stay tuned.

Rosemary toni

 

Assignment: refocus through a creative challenge

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After week of extremes – extreme dismay – the fire near the Studio that caused so much damage to others – and extreme joy – fantastic time with Clare O’Neill, more pics to come – I’m ready to get back to some new artwork. But it always takes me a while to re-focus. Does that ever happen to you?

So here’s what I did this morning – I collected some random stuff from my work table and arranged it like a collage. Easy. I photographed it, then gave myself a challenge – make something out of (or inspired by) this pile o’ stuff.

fodder

Here what I have to work with:

  • watch parts
  • copper wire
  • A very cool stained paint rag
  • a face shard (or course)
  • a bird wing
  • a paper scrap
  • glass beads
  • a wooden egg

My assignment – MAKE SOMETHING. First thought – print and mount the photo for an encaustic piece – easy. Harder would be to make an assemblage sculpture, or a huge acrylic abstract painting based on the colors and textures — so what would YOU do?

Your assignment – Email me a pic of some of your small random studio stuff, no more than ten items, It shouldn’t be contrived or exotic – a tuna can, a twig, some lace, whatever – and then tell us what you’re thinking about doing with it. I’ll post the pics of the “ingredients” first. Then, in a week or so, I’ll ask for a pic of what you have done with them, sort of like an online Show and Tell There will be a prize involved!

PS Speaking of Show and Tell, don’t miss the next one at Lyn Belisle Studio on Saturday, January 30th from 2-4!

 

Workshop with Clare O’Neill – transforming photographs with pigment and wax

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I am now the proud owner of one of those Clare O'Neill brought one of her iconic works as a gift for me - I am thrilled! His name is Pasta, and he is a wild mustang - wow!

Clare O’Neill brought one of her iconic works as a gift for me – I am thrilled! His name is Pasta, and he is a wild mustang.

It’s been an exciting two days at the Studio – nationally-acclaimed photographer and photoencaustic artist Clare O’Neill has been sharing her techniques with a very fortunate group of us who wanted to learn how she produces those luminous beeswax-enhanced fine art photographic works.

Clare did not disappoint – one of her great skills is encouraging students to take the techniques she demonstrates and adapt them to their own personal styles. You can see in the video (below) how many different approaches and experimental works came out of the two-day workshop. It was really fascinating to watch the creative paths diverge into wonderfully finished works.

Tomorrow we start the second two-day session – I can’t wait to see how this group of students responds to Clare’s teaching. Stay tuned . . . .

Encaustic excitement and fiber – Maggie Ayers’ mixed media work

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Maggie Ayers – Cocoon, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clare O’Neill’s visit to my studio is just days away, and I’ve been immersed in encaustic excitement! I just can’t wait to work with her since many mixed-media artists like me are incorporating the seductiveness of beeswax into their work, and Clare’s expertise is impressive – we are so lucky to have her here.

Maggie Ayers, Flourish (detail) 2009

Maggie Ayers, Flourish (detail) 2009

Coincidentally, I just discovered this morning that one of my fiber artist heroes, Maggie Ayers, has also turned to encaustic, and wow! What she’s doing with wax and silk is gorgeous! Maggie Ayers’ work prompted my interest in fiber art about ten years ago – her work is unique and organic.

She’s brought those qualities to wax – you’ll love the new work that she demonstrates in the video below.

Maggie writes, “Central to all my work is the notion of mark making. Whether it is a trailed line of ink from a delightfully scratchy bamboo nib, a rusted metal print on paper or torn reclaimed cloth, or quickly cut scalpel lines on a beeswax and resin ground, these are my working beginnings.” Beautiful.

Maggie Ayers, Small encaustic panel, 2015

The big lesson for me is not just about wax or silk or collage or any particular medium, but about expressing one’s own ideas in many ways. Not everyone who comes to Clare’s workshop this weekend will become a photoencaustic artist, but each of us will experience a new method of communicating through our art as Clare instructs us, and as Maggie Ayers has done. I love it!

Maggie Ayers, small panel, 2015

If you’re a mixed-media artist, and you’re new to encaustics, here’s a great list of resources compiled by Rhonda Raulston that will introduce you to the seductiveness of wax – but be careful – it’s contagious.

Pegboard studio storage spiff-up

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I love these new pegboard walls that I copied from Lisa Stamper Meyer‘s studio! They have made a huge difference in the storage space by providing hanging places and supply screening. Here is a side view and back view – you can see how well the pegboard walls hide a multitude of stuff!

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And here’s what you need if you, too, want to make a storage wall shelf like these.

A metal shelf, 4’x8’x18″ – I bought mine from Costco – here’s a link. These shelves are on casters so you can roll them around easily if you need to. When I bought them, they were $98 each, very sturdy – I think they hold 1200 pounds.

A sheet of 4×8′ pegboard, primed white. I bought mine from Home Depot. Here’s a link for those. They are a little bit unwieldy to manage but if you have access to a truck, you can just lay them in the back. You will probably need a helper – Mike helped a lot with this project.

A bag of 8″ cable ties – here’s a link. This is the neatest trick. You just thread the cable ties through the pegboard holes and pull them tight to the shelf posts. We used eight ties per shelf, three on the sides (top, middle, bottom) and two in the center to hold them steady.

Lisa even attached brush holder to her pegboards using cable ties – she’s an organizing genius! If you have any questions about this easy project, send me an email.

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