I got to play  at the Studio today as a student of fiber artists and friend Rosemary Uchniat! Rosemary will be presenting a special workshop at my Studio in July that teaches us how to dye artful fabric the easy way with spectacular results.  I’ll let you know as soon as it’s scheduled, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak preview (see pics). Sidney Burnette, Nita Hazel and I learned three techniques that just blew us away because they were simple to do (with Rosemary’s help)  and produced results that looked as if we knew what we were doing! It was very cool.

This was a trial  run for the upcoming July workshop with Rosemary as a guest artist/teacher, and based on our experiences today, I know you’re gonna love it – so stay tuned for date and time. This workshop and all of the others for late summer and fall will be announced before the end of April.

We just got our first look at the Artful Gathering Catalog for 2015, and I am blown away. This is my second year on the faculty – lucky me! When you click through the classes, the pages make a cool whooshing sound, and every page has tons of beautiful photos of all the workshops that will be offered during this hugely-popular online Summer Art Retreat.  C’mon, take a look – click on the image below to check it out, and then come back for a little more info:

Did you come back? Hope so, because, here’s something new at Artful Gathering – it’s the very first Two-Person Collaboration, and Michelle Belto and I are teaching it! Mask, Robe and Rune is an online version of the full-day workshop we taught at the Studio in 2014. If you couldn’t join us then, join us in cyberspace! There are lots of extras (see p. 17 in the catalog).

I’m teaching two classes by myself, both of which I’ve done many times at the Studio – one is The Magic of Spirit Dolls, and the other is called Small Worlds, fantasy landscapes with Citra-solv paper and another altered collage papers.

So many of you who live far away have said you wish you could take workshops here at the Studio – well, now you can! They’re filmed right here at Lyn Belisle Studio, and include my usual goofiness and user-friendly teaching style. I’ve been taking online classes myself for a couple of years, and I have to say that it’s a great way to learn. Hope to see you  at Artful Gathering! Early Bird Registration is OPEN!

Workshop prototype – Lyn Belisle

Sometimes you commit to an idea but you have no clue about how (or even IF) it will work. That was the case when I scheduled a “Beeswax Collage” workshop as part of my 2015 calendar, . But two serendipitous things came together to help me. The first was the online workshop that  Michelle Belto and I designed and filmed called Wax and Tissue (available at Roses on my Table website) The second was the PhotoEncaustic class I just finished with Clare O’Neill – both were invaluable learning experiences.

The premise for yesterday’s hugely successful workshop (whew!) was to combine collage elements, rigorous composition guidelines (my AB3 System), inkjet printed tissue, and elementary encaustic techniques to produce a fusion piece that was more than the sum of the parts. To develop the prototype (above), I started with gesso and walnut ink on board, adhered paper and photos, layered inkjet-printed tissue, painted beeswax over everything, scraped and distressed the surface, added more walnut ink and wax – well, it was just plain fun – I’ll play and refine, but it has lots of possibilities.

The participants thought so too, and produced an amazing assortment of beeswax collages, two pieces each, in just over two hours. I always tell my students that there is more than one right answer to a art assignment, and every one of these was a winner – take a look!

PS – Congrats to Rhonda Austin, winner of the little steel Asian chop that represents “understanding.” Rhonda, if you’ll send me a mailing address, I’ll get this to you right away.

Have a good week, everyone!

I had the loveliest Valentine’s Day – two sisters asked if I would give a private drawing workshop at the Studio for their mother as a birthday gift for her. We had a great time! In two hours, we covered several drawing media from Prismacolor to pencil to vine charcoal, and we drew lots of small objects from observation, paying careful attention to detail. The idea of Contour Drawing (which is still one of the best drawing disciplines ever) is to look at the object as you draw rather than the paper itself.  You  pretend that your pencil is touching its actual contours, as if it were an ant crawling around the edges, recording every bump and irregularity.

Workshop participants drawing studies of feathers, roses and pistachio nuts for practice and discipline

Our favorite subject of the afternoon lesson was a pistachio nut. We got to know our own nut intimately as we drew its every detail – it’s a challenge, for sure. But the drawings turned out beautifully – and at the end of the lesson, we mixed the pistachios up and had to pick out our own from the pile – everyone recognized their nut! Then we ate our models.

Note to self – do more drawing! It’s a wonderful way to observe, to meditate – and to snack.

Roll the newsreel – it was an eventful week!

• MONDAY: At the Fiber Artists of San Antonio Meeting, plans were announced for the 19th Annual Fashion Show – it’s always a sell-out! Get your tickets early cause they go fast.
• TUESDAY: Whoopee – my friend Sherrill Kahn, the super-talented mixed-media artist, emailed me to confirm she’d be at the Studio in late May for two workshops! Stay tuned for details.
• WEDNESDAY: Had an amazing painting session at the Studio with pal Gloria Hill – here’s her latest large abstract – great work, Glo!
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• THURSDAY: Got a call from Pablo Solomon, sculptor and designer, whose annual Solstice Show at my Studio will coincide International Yoga Day! We’re planning a YogaArt Celebration the weekend of June 20th. Also on Thursday, my classes started at Trinity University – looks like a super-bright and friendly group of students.
• FRIDAY – hey, that’s today! Monika Astara, fashion designer and dear friend, is coming down from Austin for a visit to brainstorm some new ideas with me – and to shop the Niche Warehouse Sale, of course.

OK, enough about MY week – how about a Friday Freebie for YOU! I found these little Kantha cloth bags at Ten Thousand Villages right before Christmas, and I’m adding one of my Florentine Face Shards to it as this week’s Friday Freebie. If you are a SHARDS subscriber before midnight on Sunday, you will be in the drawing. These Florentine Shards are available in my Etsy Shop in case you want to see more of them. Good luck and happy weekend!!

Kantha Cloth Bag with Florentine Shard Face

I’m in Colorado Springs visiting my dear friend and  long-time former studio partner, fiber artist Carol Mylar, whose yarn collection rivals pretty much anyone’s – complex textures and myriad colors and soft cords and strands of fur and glitz and homespun. It ‘s beautiful to behold.

While we were talking in her living room (and watching it get dark about 4:00 – yikes), I put together two twigs that I had found outside and began winding an Ojo de Dios, partly because I wanted to work with the yarns somehow, and partly because I’m giving a workshop on that subject later next year.

It’s a meditative process, turning and winding, tuning and winding – I had forgotten how nice it is to watch the “eye” grow in size and complexity. My little Ojo is not a thing of beauty, but it is a symbol of the woven, continuous threads of friendship and a reminder of a lovely Colorado afternoon.

Nothing like starting off the week with a really bad pun. Yesterday’s Gold Leaf and Walnut Ink workshop was a shining example of a perfect artful learning group! All nine participants (welcome, Ruthie from Poteet!) played beautifully together, encouraging each other and sharing ideas. This was a process workshop rather than a “product” one – we experimented and developed a slew of artistic options using only gesso, walnut ink and metal leaf. Take a look at the video and check out some of the beautiful results:

I’m excited about the upcoming 2015 workshops and am gradually getting everything linked. Beeswax Collage and Experimental Surface Design on Fabric are almost full, as is the new Spirit Dolls and the Sacred Traditions.

I’d love to have your feedback on workshops – send me an email if you have ideas! I’m headed to Colorado for a few days on Wednesday to see my dear former studio partner, Carol Mylar. A visit to her six years ago inspired me to get back into my art and to develop workshops. So, yay! Who knows what ideas I’ll come back with? Will send a report from cold Colorado Springs. Have a lovely Monday, and thanks for reading SHARDS.