Category Archives: Inspiration

Jill Scher – sneak preview – wow

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I’ve invited award-winning Colorado fiber artist Jill Scher to the Studio for two felting workshops the weekend of February 8th and 9th. She send me an advance box of materials and samples which arrived yesterday, and I was just blown away by her work. I hope you can take advantage of these workshops (one on felted scarves and one on Nuno felting) – here’s the info link. And here are a few photos of some of her work. The felted scarf I’m wearing is a one-of-a-kind art piece, incredibly soft and light. I may have to buy this one and never take it off!

Consider joining us for this unique creative opportunity – a day of working with Jill at the Studio, lunch included, making your own felted one-of-a-kind art to wear. There is a limit of eight participants, and there are five spaces left at this writing. I’m sooooo excited!

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Unpacking the box

 

Hand felted one-of-a-kind scarf, wool, silk mohair

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Hand felted one-of-a-kind scarf, wool, silk mohair

 

Copying Gwen Fox with unpredictable results

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Gloria Hill and I have been painting together on Wednesdays at the Studio for a year and a half, and we always like to find inspiration from interesting sources. Today I said, “Let’s try to paint like Gwen and see what happens.” Gwen Fox is our beloved Taos-based painting teacher – she’s awesome. So I picked out one of her abstracts for us to copy, and off we went. Here’s the painting that we were attempting to forge (all in the spirit of artful emulation, of course). Scroll down for our results.

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We got as far as the layout and background before we realized that copying wasn’t working for us. So Gloria went her way and I went mine – how can two artists who start with exactly the same idea and example end up with such different results?? Take a look (and rest easy, dear Gwen – you are an original, and while we have learned so much from you, we won’t be competition for your glowing abstract style!) Here’s Gloria’s:

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And here’s mine – not only do they look like they came from two different artists, they look like they came from two different planets! Go figure –  but it was fun and very insight-full.

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Studio notes – including a remarkable student

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shard2Studio note 1: Congrats to Yvonne Baca, lucky subscriber #54, who won the Friday Freebie Scent Shard

Studio note #2: The video from Sunday’s Explorations in Air-Dry Clay is up on YouTube – we had a great time!

Studio note #3: Most of you know that I teach at Trinity University in the Computer Science Department (part time now since I opened the Studio) . My class focuses on basic concepts such as networking and Internet ethics as well as graphic applications and web design. All of my students this semester have been smart and funny and ready to learn, particularly Will Lin from China. Here’s a link to the introduction he wrote at the first of the semester (it’s wonderful), and here’s his final project, a built-from-scratch website – I have his permission to share it with you (click on the graphic) – thanks, Will:

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Freebies

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Happy Monday . . .quick, think of something you’re looking forward to today! Even if it’s cold and drizzly out there, remember what that great guru, Dr. Seuss, said, “Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.” And speaking of winners, the Friday Freebie Scent Shard goes to Terri Reyna – thanks Terri, for subscribing to SHARDS. Let me know how you’d like to claim your prize. Thanks, everyone, for subscribing, and in the spirit of the season, I’ll be giving away another Scent Shard this coming Friday. Yay!

xmaswrapHere’s another Freebie for everyone – remember the gift tags I posted last year? Go to that link if you’d like to print them out for your packages. I’m wrapping gifts in sheets of newsprint (the plain kind) this year. Plain newsprint is cheap and very biodegradable. I get mine from ULine and use it for all kinds of stuff at the Studio. I found some ivory ribbon at Costco, and with the gift tags and some leaves and feathers and such, the packages look great.. Bye for now, there’s fun to be done!

First Friday Art Show Opens at La Vida

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Art lovers in hats and coats braved the chilly night to attend the First Friday opening at La Vida – thanks to all who came! Gallery owners Matt and Carole had tamales and rice and beans to warm us all. I so enjoyed talking with fellow artists Kathy and Lionel Sosa, and especially to Jacobo Mendoza from Oaxaca.

Jacobo’s weavings are astonishing – fine and colorful, made from hand-carded wool from local sheep. All of his colors come from natural dyes, combinations of cochineal and marigold, soap root and plants that he described to me that I had never even heard of. His wife, son and daughter share in the weaving art. Please look at the pictures on his website to learn more about Jacobo and his talented family.

I purchased one of his rugs to use as a wall hanging – it looks as if it should be hanging in a museum! Here’s a short video of the evening – the Russian music in the background is a nod to the chilly temps!

Cozy Saturday with Wax and Wings

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Michelle Belto and I agreed that Saturday’s Wax and Wings workshop was wonderful. It was, sadly, the last of the three on which we’ve so enjoyed collaborating – but we’re already planning the next incarnation of our partnership – stay tuned! Here’s the video featuring yesterday’s talented and diverse group (funny how the image of our lunch comes up on the preview – it was yummy):

It’s another cold and dreary day here in San Antonio, but I have to admit that I kind of like it, just because it’s fairly rare here. Makes me wonder how my Boston family is faring!

Planning ahead (I know, pretty astounding), I just posted two new workshops for January – Acrylic Abstract Painting for Beginners, and Collage on Canvas using Digital Transfer. Check them out 🙂 And finally, in the happy anticipation of thanksgiving, here’s a link to my favorite Cranberry Relish recipe from our old friend Arnold. He’s no longer with us, but his recipe lives on! Stay warm out there, y’all.

 

Faux fossils

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This is kind of interesting – I’m doing some dimensional paintings for the La Vida show on Dec. 6th and have been experimenting with Activa Super-Light Air Dry Clay as part of the process. Look at these fossil-like shards – they weight about as much as a feather but look really cool, kind of like limestone:faux fossils

These were finished with Tsukineko walnut ink. I’m not sure how I’m going to use them yet, but I know I’ll include this idea in the Exploring Air-Dry Clay workshop on December 15. Scorpion fossil jewelry, anyone?

Countdown to Saturday sale with da girlz

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I love being in shows at the Studio with Lesta, Alison, and Jan – they are such inspiring artists. Here’s your personal invitation – If you click on it, you can get a printable version to share with everybody! Sharing is GOOD!nov9

Remember Scent Shards? I found a wonderful 1930’s carved face of a woman to use as a press mold,  and have made a series of new “B Beautiful” Scent Shards for the Saturday show. There are only ten of these, and I think they are the best ever. Any suggestions for essential oils to go with them? I’m thinking lavender and tangerine.scentshards

Last but not least, congrats to Karen Jensen, wonderful writer and all-around creative person, for winning the Shard Adornment kit – it’ll be in the mail today, Karen! Thanks (to everyone) for subscribing to SHARDS.

By the skin of its finny-fin-fin

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One of the “Aha!” artsy discoveries I made in Boston was Fish Leather. Now maybe you knew all about it, but I didn’t. And it’s beautiful! It looks like suede on one side and has a glossy.scale-like pattern on the other side. Here’s a piece that I purchased from Bead+Fiber.

fl1_edited-1 There’s a shop called The Fish Leather Co in the UK that’s specializing in this material, and you can find out from their site how it’s made. It’s apparently a long process and different species of fish have different kinds of leathers. Definitely interesting to read about! Fish Leather is eco-friendly and taken from non-endangered fish (unless you’re the fish that gets turned into leather, I guess).fl2

I found a shop on Etsy that has hand-crafted Fish Leather jewelry – it’s called ModernNaturals19 and the artisan does nice work – see the cuff bracelet below. You’d have to sew a bunch of these together to make a garment of any kind, but the material itself is beautiful and I can see it being used for small adornments and decorative objects. Dang. Fish leather. Who woulda thought?

 

 

 

A free class? Taught by me? Yep!

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craftartI just got an email from CraftArtEdu saying my Online Composition Classes are up, including the FREE one that I made about Orientation. Just click here to access my page and scroll down to the bottom to see the free video. It’s a useful class, I think, because it can apply to any medium. Anyway, I’d love feedback – it’s only about 15 minutes long. Email me if you watch it and tell me what you think – all suggestions appreciated. The sound is kind of crummy at the end but I’m working on that.

Sunday was the Friends of the Library Arts and Letters Awards, and I am delighted that my dear friend, fiber artist Susan Oaks, was one the the three honorees. Her work with coiled vessels spans decades, and her vision and artistry never wavers. I shot a quick video interview with her at the ceremony. I am so proud to know her! She’ll never read this because she doesn’t have a computer, but if you see her, tell her hooray!14susan 15susanoaksvessel