The results are in . . . thank you so much!

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What a great response to my plea for help in my last post! We must trust and rely on each other in times like this, for sure, and your input on what online workshops should look like was invaluable.

Here are two charts from your responses (my geek side took over while I was compiling these stats). The first one shows suggested workshop topics by most votes – #5, Mixed Media on Paper, had the most, but everyone liked pretty much everything.

This shows preferred method of delivery – online classes with several videos and eBooks with videos tied for favorites. Excellent. Those are my faves, too.

These results mirror the topics and methods I love in my own teaching and learning. The new Postcards to Myself eBook with Videos is coming out in just five days. –

And you can sign up for one of my online classes with several videos today if you want to help give more feedback.

Here’s the deal:

I have been researching a platform called Teachable, like it a lot, and have put up a new “school” there called Lyn Belisle Studio. And — as a first move, I’ve decided to add the mixed-media workshops I made from my Artful Gathering classes from the last four or five years to the new “school.”
Artful Gathering, as some of you may remember, was a wonderful organization (thanks, Zinnia!) that subscribers purchased every summer. The faculty, including me, taught various intensive mixed-media online workshops for a period of about six weeks for each class.
While Artful Gathering sponsored and managed the events, the content remains the property of the instructors. It seemed a shame to me that more people couldn’t see those classes now that the Artful Gathering instructors have scattered.
So, I am going to make the classes I designed for AG available again on the Teachable platform all year round and at a lower price. Makes sense? I’ll also be developing new courses but this will get us off to a fast start with fun video workshops.
The first workshop that I’ve made available is called Story in a Story, and it has been reworked to fit the Teachable platform. What a learning experience that was!
There are ten videos totaling a little over two hours which show all kinds of techniques for creating portfolio covers for your kindle or iPad – or for whatever you want! I’ll put a link for the promo at the bottom. So . . . .
  • I’m asking some of you to help me test-drive this new workshop platform
  • I’m currently using the trial version of Teachable, which allows me to have just 10 students – later on, I can have an unlimited number
  • Before I pay the monthly fee for Teachable, I want to make sure you like it – I need your feedback
  • The Story in a Story course is available for registration right now, but again, registration is limited to ten students
  • The workshop price will normally be $39, but right now it’s $10 just to see how the payment process works and all of that – again, limit 10
  • If you would like to register, I will pass on your $10 tuition  to the San Antonio Food Bank (later, the tuition will be $39 and will go toward paying the Teachable platform fee).
  • If you are one of the ten students, please help me with comments on how you think it works, how easy it is to access the videos – all of that stuff.
  • You will help me immensely with my decision to go with the paid version of Teachable going forward. Oh, and I can have classes by other instructors there too – like Lesta Frank and Michelle Belto! It’s exciting.

Here are the relevant links:

If you’d like to register for the Story in a Story Workshop on Teachable for $10 (which will then go to the Food Bank) follow this link and scroll to the bottom for Featured Courses (there’s just one so far):
If you’d like to see the original class promo before you consider signing up to test drive the workshop, go here to Vimeo:
I’ll get notifications from Teachable when you sign up and will make a class email list for your feedback. No pressure, just thanks for considering this. I need your help to know how best to bring you new workshops.
Oh, and the next two Artful Gathering workshops to go up on Teachable if all this works will be the Citra-solv collage class and the Mystical Cat Shaman class! Those should be up in the next week or two, tuition $39.

One more thing- from all the names that submitted suggestions and data, Rosemary Uchniat is the randomly chosen winner of the lovely Johnny Was mask! Rosemary, decide whether you like the blue one or the green one, and I will get it in the mail to you.

Thanks for listening to all of this. There are important things going on in our world.  We are all learning – together.

 

♥Lyn

 

 

Chop wood, carry water

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“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” — Zen Buddhism 

I have a book called Chop Wood, Carry Water that I bought decades ago. It still helps me remember to focus on the things I can control in my day-to-day life, and to try to do those things with a full heart, to keep on keepin’ on.

So I’ve found comfort, as usual, in art and teaching. Now that my duties as President of the San Antonio Art League are over, there’s more time to return to those beloved foundations.

The new eBook workshop I’ve been putting together, called Postcards to Myself, will be finished by June 10th. I’ve been working on it since February, off and on.

It’s actually kind of metaphorical. First, you make a big, mixed-up picture with lots of words and images, and then you focus only on the most beautiful small areas and take notes on why those little parts make your heart sing. This helps us remember that there are little patches of beauty in today’s crazy-quilt of chaos.

Anyway, before I get too carried away, here’s a short clip that tells you more about this interactive eBook book and the 19 (!) videos. Or if you like, just skip to the bottom of this post where I have a question for you.

VIDEO LINK

Here’s the question – I’ve been talking with friends in my circle (Lesta Frank and Michelle Belto among them) about how we can continue our work in art and teaching during this time of physical distancing and beyond, into whatever the “new normal” might look like. Interactive eBooks (like the one above) can almost substitute for an in-person workshop, as can online classes and Zoom critique groups.

As part of this change, I’m updating my own email list so that anyone interested in sharing their thoughts and getting further information about all of this can be included in the discussion. I won’t be sending out a zillion newsletters or anything like that – who has time? – but I may send occasional updates on new classes and collaborations from my studio and with other artists like Lesta and Michelle. And I’ll be asking what you think.

If you’d like to be included in future updates, just click this link to submit your email.

And there’s more! If you submit you email (and optional comments) before Friday, I’ll put your name in a drawing to win a lovely new face mask from Johnny Was. Winner announced Friday afternoon, shipped to you or available for pickup.

In the meantime, chop wood, carry water, put one foot in front of the other, and keep on keepin’ on safely and kindly. Thanks for your help.

♥

 

Postcards to Myself – take a second look at a mess

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So my next big project is called “Postcard to Myself” and it’s an expansion of a workshop I taught several years ago, this time in eBook form with eight or ten fun instructional videos embedded in the pages.

The idea is that we all have artwork that we make along our journey as artists, and every time we create, we learn something worth remembering. Not everything is worth saving and storing as a finished piece, obviously, but experiments can be saved in postcard size 5×7″ format with notes on the back about the process – what worked, what didn’t, and what were the profound surprises. These are the “postcards to myself.”

It’s kind of a different way to art journal, I guess. Every piece is an inspiration and a reminder of where we’ve been and what we’d like to remember. I should be finished with the eBook and videos by the end of June and will be asking some of you for reviews before it goes up for sale (cheap) on my website.

Anyway, part of the process besides writing the book is the experimenting and note taking. Yesterday, I was playing with an ink-jet transfer technique using matte medium. Here’s the image I found on Flickr Commons that I wanted to use.

I got the “bright” idea to undercoat the surface with white tempera paint before I did the acrylic medium transfer.

Well, duh. The tempera paint just kind of glopped into the gel and it was a big mess when I tried to peel of the transfer image.

Oh, well — there was a big fat failure. Until . . . .as the gloppy paper dried, the figure with its veil of tempera started to emerge a bit. I smoothed it out and gave it another look.

What if I cropped it and enhanced it just a bit with a wash of Quinacridone Azo Gold acrylic (aka “Secret Sauce“)?

This is the result – not a masterpiece by any means, but a 5×7 “postcard to myself” about an accidental process that has possibilities. I took notes to remind myself how this happened to attach to the back of the work.

Here’s the piece in a mat. I always encourage you to view your work this way when you can in order to isolate it, elevate its status, and give yourself a new perspective on possibilities.

So that’s an example of how a “postcard” might be useful when you’re working out of your comfort zone. And if it doesn’t work, you don’t have to let anybody know – although you can still make a note.

I’m going to end this post with a video about image transfer that I did back in the Old Studio days. The process uses matte medium and actually seems to be successful most of the time – here it is:

Video Link

Stay safe, stay in touch!

 

 

 

 

Here’s to YOU, Old Chap . . .

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Sorry about the corny title, but I wanted to share a little tutorial with you about how to make a chapbook journal.

Chapbooks by Lyn

I made the video for my friend Alexandria van de Kamp, Executive Director of Gemini Ink, San Antonio’s Literary Arts Center. She loved it and thought it might be a fun project for poets and writers. I thought that most artists could always use another small journal, too.

This one requires nothing more than 20 minutes and uses materials that you have already: paper, string, scissors, a glue stick, magazines or other collage stuff.

Here’s how to do it, Old Chap:

Video Link

And if you missed it on Facebook, here’s another helpful video (OK, so it’s a commercial for my eBook, Wax & Words) that will give you some composition tips that you can use on the cover of your chapbook.

Video Link

As I say in the chapbook tutorial, these little journals are so easy to make for yourself and for friends. Make several and record your cheery thoughts about quarantine, plague. . . . .oh, wait, never mind. We are artists! We create joy!

HERE ARE SOME QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOUR CHAPBOOK MUSINGS:

  • “Because most artists are ‘sensitive’ in every sense of the word, if you don’t take charge, negative emotion can ruin you.” (Gaye Adams)
  • “I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.” (Winston Churchill)
  • “When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup.” (Sam Lefkowitz)

Stay safe, everyone – hope to see you soon! And dare I say, “May the Fourth be with you” ? ♥♥♥

Mexican Folk Art to Color – have fun!!

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A long, long time ago (1987) I worked with Dr, Marion Oettinger at the San Antonio Museum of Art to produce a coloring book of some of the engaging pieces of art in the brand new Latin American Folk Art collection given to SAMA by Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller. The Museum itself was only a few years old then.

I was working as a free-lance Illustrator for the San Antonio Express News at the time, and this was a fantastic chance to go behind the scenes at the museum to get a first-hand look at this comprehensive collection. Fun!

Long story short, earlier this week while I was doing my hunkered-down-at-home book organizing routine, I came across a copy of the coloring book we did. It’s called, appropriately enough, “Coloring the Folk Art of Mexico” and it was published by my dear friend David Bowen, whom so many of us still remember.

There are lots of folk art coloring books these days, but back then it was a novelty. We did a second printing with a different cover, but here’s the original version.

And here are a few original images from that coloring book for you to download and color (oh, boy!!) – you’ll be enhancing a little bit of San Antonio history with every mark you make!

Click on the download link below the small images to open and print the page-sized versions. The Devil Biker is my favorite. The Siesta one is the easiest to color. Staying in the lines is NOT required.

Download the Blouse

Download the Delivery Man

Download the Devil Biker

Download the Jar

Download SiestaTime

HAVE FUN COLORING . . .  AND TAKE GOOD CARE in your safe shelters !!

 

Small Comforts

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Don’t know abut you, but I have felt pretty disheartened and non-productive during the last two weeks. I look at all of those articles and posts about what to do when you’re at home, and yet, somehow, my energy has shifted to hibernate mode (“Wahhhh . .just leave me alone!”). But knowing in my heart that it’s important to keep busy and creative, I started cleaning out my studio shelves. That’s always a recipe for inspiration.

I found lots of duplicates of things I thought I’d lost, and then bought more of – right? Every happen to you? Case in point – a bunch of bar magnets. I must have three dozen of these guys!

Why? Back in 2014, I taught an online class with Artful Gathering that featured little clip-on art-to-wear pieces that also function as displayed artwork. These pieces were one-of-a kind mixed media collages designed with a super-heavy-duty bar magnet on the back so they can also be displayed in a frame. I called them “Magnetic Adornments”.

Here are some examples from an old class worksheet:

Those re-discovered magnets were the kick-start for me, and I decided to play with that project again. I needed something small to work with, something that I could use as art therapy, something that was fun and had no real rules.

The base of the little collage is archival matboard. You choose a focal piece and just start building a miniature assemblage. I used my clay faces, but you could use an old piece of jewelry, a shell – whatever!

Once the magnet is glued on the back, you can wear the assemblage on a scarf or a hatband. You can also clip them into a frame by putting the back piece of the magnet on the back of the frame. Here’s one that I just finished:

A few more of the “Magnet Adornments” I’ve put together the past couple of days:

Here’s that last piece taken out of its fame and clipped onto a scarf:

Small magnetic assemblage clipped on a linen scarf

OK, that’s it for today. I may go hibernate for a bit – I hope you’re well, staying inside and still staying in touch with friends in whatever way is best for you. I’ve been Zooming a lot with my family. Who even knew what that meant last year??

Please find some small comforts to work on today in your own creative space. It really is good for you. Better than Cheetos. Maybe.

 

 

 

 

Another gift of artistic diversion for you – Collage on Canvas

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There’s a helplessness in knowing this situation going to get worse before it gets better. My thoughts are with all of you as we circle the wagons and wait.

Just for inspiration, I’m giving you another little downloadable book about one of my most popular workshops called Creating a Dimensional Collage on Canvas.  It’s an illustrated step-by-step guide to composing a personal art collage that includes three-dimensional objects as well as images and textures.

It’s available for purchase as a Kindle book, but I’m giving you the PDF version which you can easily download and explore for free. You’ll find the access link a bit further down.

Here’s a full version of the collage example on the cover, along with another example using the one of the same faces with a different approach and emphasis.

You can see that there are all kinds of little items connected to the canvas that add symbolic and textural complexity to the compositions.

I hope you try it – it’s really fun, especially if you have some meaningful photos that you can print out.

CLICK BELOW ON THE DOWNLOAD LINK FOR THE BOOK (the file is compressed so it won’t be too big for you to get it to your computer)

Collage on Canvas – Lyn Belisle_compressed

NOTE: This project was especially designed for the wonderful women of the Gaian Soul Retreat at Aldermarsh on Whidbey Island led by my beloved friend Joanna Colbert Powell in 2015. “Creating a Dimensional Collage on Canvas” unites the visual, the spiritual, and the joyful aspects of the creative process. You may substitute your own “ingredients” from the Materials List on page three in the book.

Even if you don’t decide to do the project itself, it may give you some ideas for digging through family photos in this unexpectedly quiet time. You can also take inventory of your own collage materials. Inevitably, this always leads me to new ideas and happy distractions.

If you want to see the project in action, this video shows one of my first Collage on Canvas workshops, which was held in 2012 at my kitchen table even before I had my big studio on Nacogdoches Road.

I think you’ll especially like the personal photographs that the participants used with many different materials and techniques.

 

Know that I miss seeing you all, but one of the lessons we are learning through all of this is that it is a luxury to be with friends in person at a gathering of like minds – I hope I never take it for granted again! Stay safe in your creative confinement 🙂

 

Lift your spirit (dolls) in uncertain times – free for the making

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Hello from a planet holding its breath, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. This is not the post I though I’d be writing.

However, when I got an thank-you message from a woman in France this morning, I decided to write a blog post that might be of help to those whose plans have rearranged themselves because of caution and semi-isolation. Read on.

Hilda’s message described her frustration with trying to purchase one of my my Kindle books from French Amazon. She had tried three times, and while she kept getting refunds, she really wanted the book.

I asked for her email and sent her the PDF version as a gift. Here’s the note she wrote back, with a translation:

Wow.  “Like all the French population, we are confined because of the Corona virus…this book will allow me to escape for a moment and not let myself panic.“

Right after I read that, I got another message on my Etsy Shop site thanking me for a custom listing for her Spirit Doll faces and saying, “These faces will be therapeutic during these uncertain times.”

Finally a light dawned – a perfect project for us might be creating and sharing a bunch of little Spirit-Lifting Dolls made from natural materials that remind us of simple endurance and resilience?

We can stay busy collecting materials. We can keep these small sculptures as reminders of hope, and also give them to friends to lift their spirits! This might be a good project for kids, too – it’s a bit old-fashioned, but that can be a good thing.

So here’s some free stuff that I’m sharing with you in in this post, hoping we can lift some spirits:

  • A free book from me on how to make a spirit doll – just click the link below to download the PDF:

Spirit Doll Book

  • A list of materials to make a Sprint doll – just click the link below to download the PDF:

Spirit Doll Materials List

  • A guide to making your own air-dry clay Spirit Doll faces with craft store materials – just click the link below to download the PDF. You can also make faces in many other ways – drawing on watercolor-paper circles, painting on rocks . . . .

Making Air Dry Clay Faces Instructions

  • A list of nice quotations about hope and encouragement to cut out and put inside your Spirit-Lifting doll or tie on a tag on the outside – just click the link below to download the PDF:

SPIRIT LIFTING QUOTES

  • A fun video on “short-cut” Spirit Dolls made with wooden grilling skewers that you can make in half an hour – click on the image to open it in You Tube:

Hang on to these instructions and resources. You may want to come back to them in a few weeks if you’re not totally stir-crazy right this minute.

It may be that we will get deeper in to hunkering down and distancing for the good of all. If so, remember that you might feel isolated, but you are never alone – I’m sending all good wishes for you to keep your spirits up, your bodies healthy, and your creativity flowing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shards and Tesserae

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Christa Lamb is a mosaic artist from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, who has ordered small shard faces from my Etsy shop several times. She sent me a message last week saying, “I thought you might be interested in seeing how I use your beautiful faces in my work,” and she attached some photos.

 I was amazed at her work. I often wonder how artists use these faces, but never expected to see them incorporated into such fantastic mosaics!

I asked her if I could share them with SHARDS readers, and she agreed – thanks, Christa!

She sent several more examples, all of which use mixed media materials to create rich panoramas in tiles, glass and found objects. I love these fabulous “storyboards.”

Here are some more of Christa’s mosaics:

The details are endlessly intriguing.

Look at this mysterious mixture, below!

Christa added, “Your faces definitely spark my imagination.” I think it’s the other way around – Christa’s work is inspiring all kinds of possibilities for fired clay pieces.
I found more of her work on Flickr – along with some gorgeous photos of Utah.
Thanks, Christa – so grateful for your work and your email ! Do you show your work in a gallery? We’d love to see more!
Keep in touch,
Lyn

 

 

 

Abstraction/Non-Objective: the emancipation of the mind ?

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I had the great pleasure of working with five friends, all whom create artwork that I admire, in an abstract painting workshop at my Studio last Friday.

From left: Pamela Ferguson, Bibi Saidi, Carolyn Royall, Robin Gara – not pictured: Nancy Vandenburg

Part of the fun was sharing thoughts about abstraction and non-objective painting. Here’s one of my favorite quotes written by Arshile Gorky:

“Abstraction allows man to see with his mind
what he cannot physically see with his eyes…
Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible,
to extract the infinite out of the finite.
It is the emancipation of the mind.
It is an explosion into unknown areas.” 

Emancipating one’s mind is a tough assignment. It’s human nature to try to direct the outcome of our work, and it’s difficult to let go of that control. We followed a “map” of steps to an unknown outcome. You can download the workshop outline here to see how we painted our abstract studies.

I try to develop a slightly different plan of attack for each painting workshop. Individual students react in different ways to techniques that get them to break the ice on a blank canvas. But we almost always start with mark-making, usually asemic writing.

It’s super-important to agree at the beginning that we will not create a masterpiece in three hours, but we might learn some new approaches to making meaningful paintings. Here are some of the first stages or our warmup:

And here are some in the second stage:

When you watch the video, you can see what some of our results were – all interesting! Several of the artists said that they were out of their comfort zone, but pleased with the final outcome, which may be the whole point!

Video Link

For further study, you can read a good explanation of Abstraction in Art from the Tate Museum.

Thanks for reading SHARDS – and remember, if you and a group of four or five friends  would like to organize a workshop at my studio, just send me an email!