Category Archives: Inspiration

A HUGE wake-up call – thanks to my fellow art educators!

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If you read my recent post, you know how excited I am about working with beeswax and digital photos (thanks again, Clare O’Neill). Friday evening I got a wake-up call – literally – validating my artistic intuition. Thanks to two super friends, Gloria Hill and Melissa Wittman, I made a last-minute entry in the Artists Who Teach show at Blue Star which opened Friday. I chose a wax and tissue photocollage titled – guess what – “Wake-Up Call.” And it won Best of Show!! I was stunned and incredibly grateful, both for the astonishing award and the validation of a new direction.

It is an especially meaningful honor because it came from one of the most talented group of friends and peers that I know – art educators. Take time to thank an art teacher today – what gifts they give. And support the San Antonio Art Education Association. They rock!

Special thanks also to juror Jim LaVilla-Havelin, artist and poet and mentor, for the conversation we shared after the awards. He is so wise! I’ll share his piece of wonderful advice with everyone – Jim said, “Never paint for a specific juror – it will backfire. Paint your heart, paint you best without compromise.” . . . . Wow. Life is good.

Three-minute “big question” video

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I was upgrading my Vimeo account this morning and came across this Staff Pick called “What Comes After Religion” by Jonathan Hodgson. It’s thought-provoking and beautifully made and addresses (in just three minutes) questions about the human need for spirituality in the absence of formal religion – and the way art plays an integral part. I thought it was worth sharing. Comments?

WHAT COMES AFTER RELIGION from Jonathan Hodgson on Vimeo.

OK, back to work – is it Friday yet?

Minding my own beeswax

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beacon-hill-art-walkEvery June I look forward to participating in the Beacon Hill Art Walk in Boston – the venerable old red-brick and cobblestone neighborhood opens its courtyards and gardens to over 100 artists for a unique event that includes music and food.

This year, inspired by Clare O’Neill and  the work that my students did in our first Beeswax Collage workshop, I’m including some of my own encaustP1100506ic beeswax collages for show & sale. I’m also developing a new eBook about the process called Behind the Veil – it’s almost ready for publication. And I’ll offer a new workshop on this Beeswax Collage process on July 12th, and another one in the fall, so stay tuned for those things. The new eBook will give you several tips on working successfully with this process, including:

  • Limit your palette, both in imagery and in wax color
  • Work small scale at first
  • Use a good substrate such as Arches #300 watercolor paper

Taking any art to Boston is kind of a challenge because it has to be lightweight, packable, and easy to set up. These collages fit the bill – I’m hoping they will be popular with Boston patrons. Two years ago, my work won a third place ribbon, last year I took home a second place ribbon – maybe these little pieces will snag a first place at the show on June 7th! Here are a few of the new beeswax & collage pieces that are completed. Do you think they will be a hit on Beacon Hill? Fingers crossed 🙂

 

 

She’s baaack . . . in the swing of things – with Monika Astara this Saturday

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I just returned an hour ago from beautiful Whidbey Island near Seattle, WA, where I spent a week teaching and learning with Joanna Powell Colbert at the Gaian Soul Retreat – thank you, Joanna , from the bottom of my heart for this reflective time in such an incredible space at Aldermarsh Retreat Center. There was virtually no Internet or email and I was totally awed by huge trees, twenty amazing women, and the singing of frogs in the marsh.

I’ll have more to say about it as last week gets processed in my overwhelmed brain, but one of the most amazing experiences was walking along the beach on Useless Bay on Friday morning. There were crows and gulls and wind and chill and solitude, and in the not-so-far distance was Canada.

There’s so much more to talk about and think about, but right now I’m excited about being home and back at the Studio.

I’m especially happy to welcome Monika Astara back this Saturday the 28th! There are spaces left in her Inspired Dressing workshop and I hope you’ll email me to let me know you’ll join us  – here are the details.

SPIRITED DRESSING

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Monika Astara, highly-followed fiber artist and clothing designer from Austin, will be bringing her incredible wearable art to Lyn Belisle Studio for a trunk show on Saturday, March 28th, from 1:30-5:30. Many of you love to wear her designs, and now you can browse in a comfortable environment with friends and refreshments and no crowds.

But there’s more! Monika is teaching a private workshop called “Spirited Dressing” on that Saturday morning from 10:30 until 12:30.  She will work with each attendee personally to show how colors, layers, styles, textures can make our soul sing and give us confidence and joy. Monika has worked for over a decade helping her clients, and says, “If we get supported and strengthened by what we wear, we  stand up straighter, our voice gets stronger, yet more pleasant, we feel good about ourselves and we literally radiate from the inside out. People respond to us differently. Our days are brighter and easier.”

mon2Attendance at the private workshop is limited to ten participants. (note – there are six spots left at this writing) Tuition is $50 a person, and that can be applied as a rebate when you purchase $200 in clothing. You’ll get first pick of Monika’s designs before the sale starts at 1:30. And you will enjoy a light brunch and camaraderie with the group at Lyn’s comfortable studio. To reserve your spot and be among the ten participants, email Lyn: lyn@lynbelisle.com

This sounds especially good – Monika also says, “Prices at private shows are about 25% – 35 % below retail and I will also have a sample sale rack with wholesale prices and below.” Well, yay!

Monika’s looking forward to seeing you all on March 28th. And I’m excited, too! Please forward this to friends who appreciate wearable art.

Curious evolution of a work on canvas

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dissofmem2Where do art ideas come from? Darned if I know – Here’s a piece that invented itself from 12 clay face slabs I made last week just because I didn’t want to throw away too-dry clay. The piece is called “Dissolution of Remembrance” because forgetting the names of objects and misplacing small items worries me, and I know I’m not alone in that.

I used these unplanned clay pieces to address this worry through an art piece. I arranged the fired earthenware slabs in an almost irregular pattern on a 24×30″ canvas, then sewed and adhered them in place. First came a wash of walnut ink (of course). Then I added some red oxide acrylic paint – here’s what it looked like at that stage – kinda disjointed.

dissofmem0

I tried to make it more cohesive with various colors of paint, attempting to suggest a progression of memory loss, and finally got the idea of putting rusted wire inside each head – it didn’t really work. Suddenly, I remembered talking about cheesecloth in my last post, and added a layer of cheesecloth over the whole composition to unite the elements. That was a good decision.

After that, there was lots of action going on with matte medium and fabric stiffener. Next came a thin coat of encaustic wax. Finally I added branches to allude to the branching dendrites in the brain. Science occasionally comes in handy 🙂

dissofmem

The last element, silk cocoons, was another accident – the plastic bag of cocoons was open on the table nearby and the silk kept catching on the branches – well, duh – how obvious was that? So, on they went. Symbols of hatching new thoughts?

I’m not sure “The Dissolution of Remembrance” is completely finished, but it’s been amazing to watch the process as both the maker and the observer. Now if I could just remember where I put it –  – – only kidding. I think.  dissofmem1

What was shown, what was told

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Silvia shows Otomi paper

Silvia shows Otomi paper

The first Saturday Studio Show and Tell was great – filled with inspiration and ideas. Among the showees were Lesta Frank, who demo’d  a great paper peel and transfer technique, Rosemary Uchniat, whose embossing demo turned metal into unbelievably intricate collage textures, and Bonnie Davis, whose tar paper painting had everyone brainstorming. She learned this method from KenT Youngstrom from North Carolina. His website is fascinating – lucky Bonnie!

Take a look at our video (and pay no attention to the date in the title – it’s not really 2915 – is it? ..arg)

We’ll have another Show and Tell in February, date coming soon.

facesnuevaWinners of the Friday Freebie face shards, one for each, are Susan Calkins, Rosie Rojas, and stitchingalways@gmail.com (familiar email, but darned if I can remember who it belongs to). If you’d like to come to the Studio and pick one out, great! If you need it mailed, send the info and it will be on its way to you!

Living and learning

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learning copySchool starts for me this week – as a teacher and a student! I go back to Trinity to teach my course in Essential Information Technology, and I’m taking an online photo-encaustic class from Clare O’Neill. The tuition for that one is rather steep, but I expect to learn a lot of new skills in both photography and encaustic that I can pass along to my own workshop participants. (Did somebody say “Old dog, new tricks?” – arf.)

If you’d like to experience an online class, do I have a deal for you! Michelle Belto, encaustic artist extraordinaine, and I have teamed up in an online offering called “Wax and Tissue.” You can see details here at Roses On My Table. It’s a good way to gently discover the encaustic process, and if you take a look at the materials list, you can see it’s not all that complicated. It’s a lot of fun, too – we had a great time making this video.

Online classes are easy to access and view (you get specific easy-to-follow directions) and you can look at them as often as you need to or want to. I like to watch the ones I take in sections so I can have “think breaks” in between.

“Wax and Tissue” has a lot of information (and a certain amount of goofiness – you know Michelle and me) and you can email us questions through the forum with the other students. The course costs $55, which is a *lot* less than the encaustic class I’m taking with Clare O’Neill – and definitely less than my Trinity students are paying for *their* tuition! Lifelong learning in the arts is truly priceless, especially when you can do it in your jammies. Think about joining us – OK, I”m off – gotta head to class!

Words on Wings by Lila

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lilaTalented friends – dang – they are such a gift. Lila Walker cracks me up and makes me think, along with about a million other people. Lila came to the Studio on Thursday to do a presentation on her collage cards for the Amigas group, and she had us in stitches.

Lila is a hunter-gather of the best sort. She puts unlikely images with well-chosen quotes and collages them into greeting cards called Words on Wings. Here’s an example:

She cuts out every quote and arranges every image, goes to a local copy service to duplicate the collages in small numbers, then assembles the cards herself. It’s an inspired business of one.
This is Lila in a nutshell (no pun intended, Lila):“Lila Walker is a wife, mother, grandmother, animal rights advocate, loyal friend, good neighbor, retired teacher, artist, reader, gardener and docent at The McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas.”
You can buy her cards in San Antonio at the Twig Bookshop, the McNay, and Viva Bookstore, and you can visit her website for more locations across the country – and to order cards directly from her.. Click through her selections and I guarantee it will brighten this gray winter day.
I’d like to send the one below to Lila herself.

 

 

 

 

“boring tuna” is neither – web design help is here!

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btWouldn’t it be nice if there were someone who could help you get your art images digitized and up on the web? Someone who understands artists, maybe an artist/photographer? Then let me introduce my former student, now dear friend and tech adviser, Kevin Dome of Boring Tuna Photography and Web Design Services of San Antonio.

Kevin is as original as his company name. He’s that rare combination of art and tech (he worked for years at Rackspace) that all of us envy. He’s just taken the leap to full-time independent web designer for artists and other small businesses.

Last week, Kevin came to my studio for a photoshoot. I had not seen him work before, but it was impressive. His first concern is lighting the story. In 15 minutes, he had a complete professional photo setup in my studio and was ready to take some photos of ME! Take a look at the setup and results.

I love the photos Kevin took – they make me feel authentically artistic and happy. You can see more of his work in his online portfolio.

Kevin is a joy to work with – I am going to ask him to help me rework my own online portfolio. He hosts websites and is the most user-friendly tech person I’ve talked to in a long time. His fees are reasonable – he can digitize images for you and upload them to your own site for around $250 (Kevin can tell you more about what all of that includes). I’d like to say I taught him everything he knows, but that would be a big fat lie <grin>.

So get yourself some boring tuna before Kevin gets swamped with requests for artists’ websites! You can contact him at http://www.boringtuna.com/

8PS – the winner of Friday’s Freebies, the Shisk-ka-barbies, is brittdesign@cableone.net – if you’ll email me your info, these little creatures will be on their way to you!

Happy Monday, All – bundle up and keep warm.

 

Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘to do’ list

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8I shoulda posted yesterday’s Friday Freebie (the Shish-ka-barbie dolls, which you can win if you’re a subscriber by midnight Sunday) but I forgot – darn. OK, yet *another* New Year’s Resolution: start keeping a daily a “To-Do” list and follow it!!

While looking for ways to remember stuff better, I found out that Leonardo da Vinci wrote To-Do lists! And they are very cool – nothing like “post to blog” or “stop by HEB.”

Nope, his were more like, “obtain a skull, to get books on anatomy bound, observe the holes in the substance of the brain, describe the tongue of the woodpecker and the jaw of a crocodile, and give the measurement of a dead man using his finger as a unit.” And he illustrated his To-Do lists, meticulously and beautifully:

You can read more about his To-Do lists on Open Culture. I love this site – it’s so worth exploring, lots of free courses and images and ideas,  but make sure you don’t go down the Rabbit Hole of fascinating links and end up like I did, watching a free 1934 B Western John Wayne movie from their archives called The Lawless Frontier. (Don’t click that link – you’ve been warned).

I’ll announce the Friday Freebie winner on Monday – I’m putting it on my To-Do list.  Happy 2105, everyone!

(Note to self – rewrite resume . . . . . . . . . . .)