Friday Freebie: a new series – milagritos, the “little miracles”

I was working in clay last night and suddenly “saw” an earthenware face with holes at the top for a wire hanger and holes at the bottom for tying sari-silk ribbon and milagro charms. I could see it hanging on my porch beside the front door to welcome guests with a wish for an everyday miracle to come their way. Here’s a prototype (put together this afternoon) from a face I’d made from an earlier firing.

There are a dozen more like this in the kiln right now that will be wired and be-ribboned for the Spring Fling art sale next Saturday. milagrito1_edited-1I call these mixed-media hangings “milagritos,” which means small miracles. And if you are a SHARDS subscriber before midnight on Sunday, you will win one if you name is randomly drawn.

If you do not happen to win this one, you can see more of them at the Spring Fling show and sale this coming Saturday, May 3rd, at the Studio. Prices for these charming hangings will range from $12 to $20 – such a deal. Even better, you’ll get to see work done by my pals Alison Schockner, Lesta Frank and Jan Longfellow when you drop by the Studio on Saturday.

So save the date, encourage your friends to come (and to subscribe to this blog – just click the link on the top right) and maybe a milagrito will come your way! Here is the invitation to Saturday’s fun event. Hope to see you there, and happy spring!

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They came, they showed, they telled

My brain is overflowing with all of the tips I learned and the notes I took at Studio Show-and-Tell Saturday – wow! It was so cool. I hope you were there – if you couldn’t make it, we will definitely be doing it again, probably in early May, so stay tuned. Thanks to everyone who came and especially the wonderful artists who shared. Here’s a video – sorry that the sound isn’t better but I was using my phone camera for the video segments – next time I’ll be better prepared for the spectacular demos!

Monday roundup

An example of Citra-Solv collage paper

An example of Citra-Solv collage paper

What’s up with this weather??  It’s 28F this morning – I stole the cats’ afghan off the couch and wrapped up in it. They have fur coats – I don’t. Ha. Moving right along, I’m excited about the upcoming Studio Show and Tell next month and wanted to give you a heads-up. Saturday, April 5th from 3-5 you’re invited to the Studio to bring a short demo, ask questions, brainstorm with other creative people,or just hang out and suck up the vibes. I plan to kick back, watch what others bring, and steal ideas. Sheri Lenora from Austin will demo her painted crinoline fabric, and Rosemary Uchniat and Bonnie Davis are going to show us their experiments with Citra-sol cleaning liquid and magazine pages for collage. There’s actually a Citra-sol site for artists if you want a sneak preview of this technique!

Sheri Lenora's painted crinoline fabric

Sheri Lenora’s painted crinoline fabric

I would be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful artful gathering at yesterday’s Beyond Abstract workshop – we had such a good time. Here’s a link to the video.

Tomorrow I’m hanging my solo show at the Carver Center – the opening is Thursday from 6-8. Please drop by if you have a chance, invitation below.

I hope y’all have a wonderful week! Keep warm, stay cool — whatever this crazy weather brings.
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Don Miguel Ruiz Jr. and Heather Ash Amara at the Studio

Talk about an enlightening weekend – authors, teachers and friends Don Miguel Ruiz Jr. (whose father wrote the beloved Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book) and TOCI founder Heather Ash Amara were our guests on the San Antonio stop of their spring speaking tour. The did their live webcast from the studio last night – hope you got to see it.

Afterwards, I asked Miguel to talk to SHARDS subscribers about art and the acceptance of our work – his answers are interesting and surprising. The bad news is that our work will never be accepted by everyone – but the good news is that we’ll learn a lot! I wish the sound were better (the iPhone was my only camera), but Miguel’s words are wise – and sometimes surprising!

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to a great short video with Heather Ash on Living the Four Agreements. Thanks, guys, for sharing your practical wisdom with us!

Heather Ash Amara on Living the Four Agreements

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Celtic Spirits

The Persian poet, Rumi, said “Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” There was a lot of that going on at the Studio yesterday as the Celtic Spirit Doll workshop participants unfolded the most wonderful, mythical creations. We were amazed at the beauty and variety of these little sculptural artworks! You’ll see what I mean in the video, below –

It was a lot of fun – now I’m getting ready for the fiberart felting weekend with Jill Scher – lots going on! Oh, and the winner of Alison Schockner’s lovely little heart pin is Judi Daughety – thanks for subscribing, Judi. I’ll see you soon with your gift! Happy new week, everyone.

Back to Earth . . .and clay

Well, who woulda thought – the anniversary party was a huge success. If you were there, thank you! If you weren’t, there wouldn’t have been room!! Only kidding, but the joint was standing room only for about an hour. Incredible – I’m still floating around in the clouds, but it is back to the world of the working artist today. Shades of Green nursery, the prettiest nursery in the city, called for some more of my Sprig Shards, so I spent the day playing with little clay faces. Here are a few – they are still very wet, hope they can go in the kiln tomorrow. I need some new faces – time to hit the graveyard <grin>.

sprig1 This Sunday’s upcoming workshop is called Collage on Canvas with Transferred Images and we’re going to be experimenting with TAP paper. One of my own favorite pieces is a collage that my friend Harold owns called Starling, and that’s the kind of look I’d like to demonstrate,  except the participants are bringing personal photos. It should be fun.

That workshop is full, but if you’re interested in seeing how this TAP paper works, there are several good links on YouTube. Here’s one (the narrator has an awesome accent).

Finally, congrats to Rob Keogh who won the long-distance door prize of a Lyn Belisle Studio t-shirt – Rob, send an email to lyn@lynbelisle.com and tell me the size you want and where to mail it. OK, back to the clay and year number two – woohoo!

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Starling: Lyn Belisle 2012, collage on canvas

 

Party preps

Countdown14tshirts to the First Anniversary Party at the Studio this afternoon from 3-6 – woohoo! Here’s an artful arrangement of door prizes guaranteed to promote the place – clever, no? I want one of the bags – guess I’ll make an extra one after the drawing’s over.

There are also over a hundred little Rune and Relic face shards. Each guest can choose the one that says “Pick me!” Speaking of picking, yesterday afternoon my dear and generous friend Ann Ash brought bowls and bowls of fresh-picked flowers for the tables. The Studio smells like springtime. 14faces

Chef Michael has been busy. Can you say “lobster pizza”? No kidding, this may become a spécialité de la maison (aka Studio). There will be a lot of food for guests to enjoy as well as wonderful classical guitar music by George Gaytan.

14lobsterSo why am I nervous?? I guess it’s human nature when you plan an event – some people seem to do it effortlessly. But, as Georgia O’Keeffe said, “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.”

So on with the party! Hope you can come – far-away friends, you guys are in the drawing for door prizes, too. And if I get anxious about the anniversary party, I’ll just click here and lighten up.

Happy Studio Anniversary – hope to see you all this afternoon, in spirit or in person! ♥♥♥

 

Jill Scher – sneak preview – wow

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

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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Art Show report and poetry gig

Here’s a short video from the Art Show and Sale at the Studio yesterday – it was one of those soft, gray fall afternoons that makes ya feel all cozy inside. Lots of people came by (and shopped – yay). As usual, I was delighted to see what goodies Alison and Jan and Lesta brought with them. Take a look – so much talent and diversity!

twigYou want more? Well, check this out – Tuesday night at The Twig Book Shop, there will be a gaggle of poets and wannabees (including me) reading poems and short fiction and  words of all kinds to an assembled audience of brave folks. Jo LeCoer, who read at my first Studio poetry event is the amazingly-talended guest host/poet for the evening. Jo sez, “Readers include artists, poetry performers, song lyricists, fiction writers (one has a new book just out), journalists, current and former UIW faculty/students/alumni, and a couple of reluctant guitarist/extortionists holding out for bigger bribes.” Sounds like a literati fun fest. See you there?

Finally, Twigs remind me of Shrubs, and that reminds me of my friend Kathy Tarasovic and her new foodie venture, Well Seasoned Cuisine. They make Shrubs, an artisan beverage syrup blend of mellow vinegars and fruits. I saw her and her partners at the Quarry Farmer’s Market today – you should have a look at their web site – they have perfect foodie gifts for hard-to-shop-for people. Their business is a partnership with Good Samaritan Community Services, a highly respected community-based outreach organization – what’s not to love? Try a Shrub! It’s good in protein shakes, too.shrubs