Category Archives: Studio

TOP TEN STUDIO ESSENTIALS

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Lyn Belisle Studio: TOP TEN NON-ART Studio Essentials That I Can’t Live Without

Here’s my list – what’s yours? Share these with a friend 🙂 Next week I’ll have a list of the 10 ART PRODUCTS that I can’t live without.

1. Baby powder

babypowderI use this to dust the inside of air-dry clay molds to keep them from sticking, to “de-stick” my hands temporarily when I’ve been using spray adhesive, to dull down a shiny gel acrylic surface, among other things – Johnson’s smells the best to me – makes me all nostalgic

2. Blue Painter’s tape

blueMasks the edges of watercolor paper, makes irregular stencils for stamping and painting, use to tape around unfolder paperclip to make a handle for a quick cutting tool, put strips sticky-side-up on work table to keep cat from stepping on work in progress (sorta works as a distraction when they try to shake it off their feet) – and so much more – available in bulk from Uline

3. Canvas clay cloth

clothI can turn my painting worktable into an earthenware clay workspace in an instant with this – it unrolls and has a great canvas non-stick surface for rolling out clay slabs. It also makes an instant “clean” surface for projects of any kind of you keep the back side un-clay-y – available at ClayWorld

4. Cheap white washcloths

wahclothsI really could not do without these – clean-up, texturing, wiping walnut ink off clay – it goes on and on. I wash them and use them over and over, and they are cheaper than paper towels and more ecologically responsible – $4 buys a bundle of 18 at Walmart

5. Drinking straws

strawsLet me count the ways I use these – hmm, ok, to poke holes in clay face shards and adornments, to cut into 2” sections and use as channels for cord backing on pendants, as cores for paper beads, drinking Diet Dr. Pepper – and so on. Get both sizes, the standard ones for big holes and the little coffee ones for smaller holes. Available at delis and coffee shops everywhere. If you happen to need 900 of them, get ‘em at Uline for less than $4.

6. E6000 adhesive

e600A sculptor in Colorado Springs told me about this, and the stuff can stick metal to glass and glass to rock, paper and scissors – you get the idea. It’s good stuff, kinda looks like silicone gel. Most artists and jewelers know about it, but just in case you didn’t, you can get it many places, including Michaels.

7. Heavy-duty hole punch

holepunchThis is the only semi-specialty item on the list. I use it for punching holes for stringing beads, for book binding thread, for tags – it’s great. It will punch through thin metal and heavy mat board easily. Mine is from EK Tools. Worth the $15 price tag over and over, and you can get it in two different hole sizes. I have both.

8. Lavender Essential Oil

lavYou guys know that I’ve studied aromatherapy since the 80’s – and lavender oil is great for balancing your frantic mood when things aren’t going well in the studio – just a sniff will calm and refocus. But it’s also the best thing for burns, and I keep a bottle right next to my hot-glue gun. It’s saved me from having more than a few blisters. It works for mosquito bites, too, and can take off gummy residue better than goo-gone. You should have lavender essential oil just as a general principle in your life – great stuff! I recommend Aura Cacia, and you can read about it here.

9. Nashua Clear Duct Tape

nashuaThe perfect tape for book-binding, labelling, tape transfer – it tears cleanly and is super strong. I must go through a roll a week at the Studio. I used it to attach the covers for my custom e-reader covers and have been using it and recommending it ever since. It’s made by Nashua and is available at Home Depot.

10. Quart Mason jars

masonI hear my ancestors might have drunk whiskey out of these – now *that* would be an instant tranquilizer and work-stopper – but I use these for water jars, bead storage, feather storage (the cats paw at the sides trying to get to the feathers), brush storage, clay slip, glazes, spools of thread – chances are I don’t have to tell you how useful these big jars are – and they are recyclable and reusable and work as a nice vase for just-picked bunches of herbs and flowers for the Studio table. I have a friend who uses a meditation jar – she cuts strips of paper with favorite quotes and thoughts on them and keeps them in a clear Mason jar to pull out when she needs inspiration.  Better even than whiskey? I imagine so.

 

A crazy-quilt week(end) of good things

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makingfacesAll sorts of things have been going on in the Studio and around town – and in the virtual creative cyber-village. My first online art class opened on Monday at Roses and is going great – 26 students so far, and lively forum discussions on making shard faces with air-dry clay. It will be open until December with ongoing tips and examples if you can’t make the October 13th workshop at the “real” Studio.

ww8Tomorrow’s Wax and Wings workshop is full – how great is that? Very. My friend Victoria is here from DC and will be one of the participants – yay! Michelle Belto, my partner in collaboration, just got back from teaching a sold-out encaustic seminar in Canada – can’t wait to hear about her adventures during the workshop tomorrow. We’re already thinking about planning our next collaboration – stay tuned.

paulbookSpeaking of friends, my new email pal, Paul Wank from Eureka Springs, Arkansas, emailed me a photo of himself with one of his marvelous Book Dolls. The doll’s body is a blank book. How metaphoric! Paul is a craftsman and handmade book specialist. He’s also involved in the thriving Eureka Springs art and gallery scene. I’m luck enough to have one of his amazing miniature book necklaces. Paul is a great source of info about the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. I hope to go there this coming spring or summer. Have any of you guys seen it yet?

raichlainAnd speaking of galleries . . .tonight there’s a book signing at La Vida Gallery – owner Matt Weissler has snagged Steven Raichlain is the TV host of Primal Grill and a multi award winning author of the cookbook series Barbecue Bible.  He is touted as the man who reinvented barbecue. He is also an Iron Chef winner, having defeated Rokusaburo Michiba in a “Battle of the Barbecue Gods” on Japanese television  AND He has a degree in French literature and trained at Le Cordon Bleu and La Varenne cooking schools in Paris. Not your average barbecue bubba. I’ll be there, hope to see you at the coolest gallery in Southtown.

hadesOn a family note, my son Rick starts his House of Hades book tour next week – now that he’s living in Boston, I don’t get immediate feedback from those events, but I know it will be great. And, yes, I still worry about him being safe and eating right, and no, the title of the book doesn’t refer to his growing up at our house (I hope!). You can see him reading from the book at this link – unless I have worn it out from watching.

riverHave a wonderful weekend, everyone – don’t forget that the last section of the San Antonio River Reach opens tomorrow – it should be a great day for a stroll or walk or paddle along the beautiful riverbanks.

 

Tonight’s opening and a poem

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It’s  Fotoseptiembre  – and I’m especially delighted that my friend Ramesh arrives today for the opening of his photography show, TERROIR. His Oregon wines arrived before he did, and are waiting to be opened and shared with tonight’s guests. I’ve already purchased one of his spectacular orchid photographs. This one – wow.

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Each photo is printed on stretched canvas and other forms of prints will be available by special order. I love Ramesh’s work (and I hear those Oregon wines of his are pretty good, too!). Please come to the opening.

Anyone who creates anything know that it takes work, imagination and most of all, tenacity and optimism – so here’s a Friday poem to remind us all of that.

Optimism

More and more I have come to admire resilience.
Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
returns over and over to the same shape, but the sinuous
tenacity of a tree: finding the light newly blocked on one side,
it turns in another. A blind intelligence, true.
But out of such persistence arose turtles, rivers,
mitochondria, figs — all this resinous, unretractable earth.

 ~ Jane Hirshfield ~

Thanks to Joe Riley and Panhala for sending this along today. Hooray for figs and turtles and friends and art!

 

 

Workshop Video: Spirit Boxes!

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Oh, my – Sunday’s workshop was great. I am sharing the video, below, because I loved each and every Spirit Box that was created, start to finish, during the two hours we were together. My pal J. Janak brought two of her foreign students, and their work reflected their cultures. One Spirit Box had Spanish nuances and the other reflected the Asian culture. It was very cool. Thanks to all of the participants. The next regular Sunday workshop won’t be till Sept.29th – it’s Collage on Canvas, but on the 21st, Michelle Belto and I are collaborating on a very special all-day collage and encaustic workshop called Wax and Wings.. More details about that later in the week, but email me if you’d like to join us – it’s gong to be an amazing experience. Anytime I get to work with Michelle is a very good time indeed!

Sunday odds and ends

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Celebration Circle’s Altar Show – my altar second from left

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A transformed treasure in progress to benefit the Salvation Army

It’s round-up time at the ol’ Studio – here’s a round-up of what’s been happening. This evening at 6:00 is the opening reception for Celebration Circle’s Altar Show at the Bijou.  Here’s a link to the article, and you’ll notice that my King of the Wood is front and center – yay! Come bid on one or several for a good cause.

Also coming up is the Transformed Treasures show benefiting the Salvation Army. I figure if one King of the Woods is good, two is better, so I used the same idea on the cabinet I’m transforming for the auction event later this month at Oak Hills Country Club. I found a blah cabinet at the downtown Salvation Army store and am turning it into a piece of furniture art. Here’s the top door of that piece, soon to be finished (I hope).

Other fun things – the Spirit Box article for Cloth Paper Scissors is out in the current issue and there’s a workshop on just that subject at the Studio this afternoon – yay!

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“The Cat’s Pajamas” Random dyed felted wool, feathers, cotton fabric with heat transfer, embellishments

The Fiber Artists of San Antonio are always huge supporters of the Transformed Treasures show. speaking of which, I finished a piece for their juried show coming up in October. I used an accidentally-felted sweater and turned it into a wall hung fiber artwork piece called The Cat’s Pajamas. I need to add a couple of silver fish to it, but it’s almost finished and I had a blast constructing it. Hope the juror likes cats and has a sense of humor.

And finally, I’ll be announcing the details about this workshop on Tuesday, but Michelle Belto and I are collaborating on a fantastic all day collage and encaustic project called Wax and Wings. It will be give twice, once on Saturday, September 21st and once on Saturday October 5th. Email me for Early Bird details.

Here’s a preview of Wax and Wings – and happy holiday weekend, everyone!

 

 

 

Gloria and Lyn (and the golden rooster)

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The Friday Freebie golden rooster pendant goes to blog subscriber Sherrill Kahn! That’s really funny – Sherrill, you can pick it up when you come to visit in August, and I can’t wait for your workshops.

And speaking of August, (nice segue) please please save the date (August 16th) for Shared Spaces, an exhibit of paintings by Gloria Hill and me at my Studio. We’ve been painting together on most Wednesdays since the early spring, and you will see how two weird artistic brains can take the same media (and sometimes the same subject) and end up with totally different results. There will be the usual libations and munchies – here’s you OFFICIAL invitation.

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You, too, can make a rooster shard . . .

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Rooster shard necklace and other pendants by Lyn Belisle

Sunday’s Earthenware Shard and Adornment workshop will be fun, and there’s one space left for a brave soul. We’ll play with clay and create pendants and faces and roosters. Well, maybe not everybody will want to make a rooster, but a friend asked me to make some rooster jewelry for a rooster aficionado that he knows. Always one for a challenge, I did it (see the necklace, above). You can use regular decorative stamps like this one on thin pieces of damp clay in all kinds of ways. After Sunday’s workshop is over, I will take the pieces home and fire them to Cone 05, then we’ll meet again on Wednesday evening to finish them and string them at Ann Pearce‘s jewelry studio next door. It’s one of my favorite workshops. Even the rooster part.

Transfer and acrylic workshop report

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Workshop Report Card Grade is A+++! New workshops are tricky, and this one especially so because we were using a heat transfer on paper and then working with acrylics, which were unfamiliar to some of the participants – but should I have worried? Nah! Great results, great times, lots of learning and laughing. If you’d like to see the process itself, I demonstrate it here on YouTube, and if you’d like to see the participants’ spectacular results, just look at the photos (which, taken on my phone cause I forgot my cool new camera, don’t begin to justify the work). I also did a tutorial on another process we tried using Golden Fluid Acrylic Medium for transfers, here.

 

Magnetic attraction, creative workshop ideas

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My first evening workshop at the Studio began somewhatdramatically when a driving rainstorm started just before we gathered, but it turned out to be a happy omen because the creative workshoppers outdid themselves. There was something comfortable and cozy about being together in the Studio with rain on the windows and Mozart playing on the laptop speakers. See for yourself – the participants made the loveliest magnetic pins. I provided the materials, including the earthenware  faces, but they provided the magic.

Pins R FUN

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Dunno why I don’t make more of these cool little magnetic collage pins – they are really fun to put together, they come together quickly, make unique gifts,and you get to try different embellishment techniques. For example, on these I used a non-fire ceramic finish from Duncan glazes called Red Granite that I found at my earthenware supplier, Clay World. You can brush it on heavy watercolor paper and it looks all granite-y. Nice!

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Anybody interested in a  pin-making workshop when I get back from Boston? We could do it some weekday evening at the Studio. Email me if you’re up for it. Speaking of Boston, the link is up for the Beacon Hill Art Walk’s participating artists, including me – betcha I’m the only one from Texas.  I sorta fudged and said I had a “summer home” there so I could get in. Gulp. But I guess it counts if I visit the kids in Boston in the summer. OK, go forth, Y’all, and be creative.