San Antonio Art Educators Workshop

Thanks to the SAAE for inviting me to teach a workshop to art teachers! We met at the North East School of the Arts where I did a session on collage using three of my favorite art materials, walnut ink, gold leaf and rice paper. I printed some of my own collage images on rice paper for the teachers to experiment with, but despite this, the collages they created were all different. Here’s a video I made of the process as I was planning the workshop – it’s really pretty easy and the results can be surprising.

And here are some of the great collages that were done during the enjoyable workshop this afternoon.

ws5 ws6 ws4 ws3 ws2 ws1

 

The Artist’s Way 12.03

Starting a new project is scary for me – what if nobody gets it? What if it doesn’t say something that’s worth anything? Then, as serendipity has it, this was yesterday’s excerpt from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, Everyday: A Year of Creative Living. Hooray, I feel connected again! Whew, back in the nest with the rest of you birds 🙂

“We are like songbirds. When one of us gives voice to our true
nature, it is contagious and others soon give tongue as
well. There is an infallibility to the law that as we each
seek to express what we are longing to say, there is always
someone or something that is longing to hear precisely
what we have expressed. We do not live or create in isolation.”

Grid of Nests – Richard Barnes, 2000/Artstor

Friday How-To for You!

But first, this Special Reminder! Open House/Open Studio tomorrow, 3-7, 119 Robinhoodthere is so much food I’m starting to panic – leftovers till the new year! Come get fed, steal some art ideas, pick up a free little shard face and see which blog subscriber wins a custom shard face pin (I’ll email the results to subscribers tomorrow). Now back to our regularly scheduled How-To for You.

Check out this cool little folder ornament that has a note or a wish inside. You can hang it, put it on a package – it’s easy for kids to make, too.

Here are the steps:

Want more cool ideas? Sign up for a workshop in 2013!

 

Collage on Canvas – Gina and me

Gina and I had scheduled an unannounced Collage on Canvas workshop several months ago, and it ended up being a very enjoyable one-on-one afternoon. Gina is a talented crafts-person in her own right and has made some beautiful journals for me – today she brought photos and mementos from her trips to Ireland. The hardest part was deciding on the central image. She chose a Irish beach photograph she had taken, and she also had shells from that same beach, including a razor clam shell that ended up being an integral part of the composition. We had a great time going back and forth about colors and textures and her collage is just lovely, organic and serene. Take a look.