Just when you feared it was hopeless –

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Aha! Here we come to save the day – Lesta, Jan, Alison and I are bringing out our best stuff for you and we will solve all of your gift shopping dilemmas! See how thoughtful we are? 🙂

Seriously, there’s nothing more fun that showing with these three friends. They are so creative and eclectic in their talents and craftsmanship. Jan’s been playing with some new metal clay pieces, Lesta’s got some amazing mixed-media work, and Alison’s fiber work is joyous and colorful. And me? Well, I figure I’ll have some new stuff as well – small Shardians and some tissue and encaustic pieces. And I’ll fill a basket with little face shards for everyone to choose from as an extra giftie. Chef Mike is in charge of refreshments so you won’t go hungry. Put Saturday the 6th on your calendar and drop by Lyn Belisle Studio – it’s a busy time of year and we can make it simpler – see? Take heart, all is not lost!

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Huipiles and votives and shards – oh, my!

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Studio update – it was a busy, creative, rewarding weekend in a zillion ways. Our show and sale of Guatemalan artisan goods for Friendship Bridge was a huge success – both money and awareness were raised! Thanks for all who came to shop and learn – here are some photos:

Sunday was a day of rest – well, not exactly, but I had a wonderful time at our relaxing Votive Workshop. Seven of us sat around the table creating these little candle screens. It was the perfect way to spend a cold and drizzly afternoon. The Studio is a magical place sometimes.

Finally, last night, this girl realized she need to get to work and get her hands in some clay! These little faces will go into the kiln today and perhaps turn into Spirit Dolls, assemblages or Etsy send-outs to someone else for their own creations. Have a happy week, Y’all, and stay warm.

Lyn and Lesta and paper surface design (and a fine afternoon was had by all)

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29Lesta Frank and I have known each other since high school, and we finally got together to collaborate as teachers for a half-day workshop at the Studio on Sunday. I learned a lot from Lesta about paper surface designs – she’s pretty fearless with stencils and rollers! And I taught everyone how to do stamping on-the-cheap with a foam plate and black construction paper, and then how to showcase our designs on the cover of an origami Lotus book.

We know that once you see this video, you’ll wish you were there 🙂, so we’re gonna do a second session early in the new year. Check it out! And thanks, Lesta, for the inspiration!

Trust the process . . .but visit Papa Jim’s

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I’m showing some new work at La Vida Gallery, opening on December 5th, and, in my typical procrastinative way, I’m still figuring out exactly what to do. So far, I know that some of the new work will be earthenware assemblage. Here are a few of the pieces in no particular order that are in my “Trust the process, you’ll get an idea” pile.

So for extra inspiration, I took a visit to that old San Antonio icon of eclectic voodoo and spirituality, Papa Jim’s Botanica. Here, you can find anything you might need for protection, luck, attracting a mate, getting art ideas, or paying a jail bond.

I did pass up the opportunity to buy the Special Mojo Bag ( IT WILL CONTAIN HERBS, STONES, TALISMAN, POWDERS, MEDALS, AND ANIMAL PARTS SUCH AS RATTLESNAKE FANG), but I came away with some nice incense and a fresh supply of ideas. Look! Something is starting to emerge from the “Trust the process” pile . . . . ooooooh . . . .stay tuned.

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Joanna and Aldermarsh in the spring

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aldermarshFYI – I just sent this note out to my Studio mailing list, and thought I’d post it here too in case anyone outside of San Antonio or Texas who subscribes to SHARDS wants to consider going to this retreat – here goes:

Hi, All,

Joanna Colbert Powell, who brought her wonderful tarot art and spiritual intuition to the Studio last month, is going to go live tomorrow with her promotion of her Gaian Soul Spring 2015 Retreat at Aldermarsh on Whidbey Island near Seattle. Most of you know that I will be teaching there that week (March 18-22) and she tells me that there are just four spaces left. The will probably fill up this week. So just in case you’ve ever considered a retreat like this, I’m sending the information out tonight. You can read the details here.

♥Lyn

 

 

Sunday at the Art League

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I am one lucky artist – yesterday’s opening at the SA Art League was exciting. Miguel Cortinas, fellow painter in the exhibit, did a beautiful job of hanging the show, and the pottery pieces by Eloise Stoker and Nancy Pawel complimented the paintings and mixed media works. The whole occasion made me feel like a real grown-up painter! Thanks to everyone who came out – and here’s a video of me trying to explain some of the work. There seem to be a lot more questions than answers. I guess that’s how the old art game works sometimes.

PS – Congrats to Dinah Robinson, winner of the Friendship Bridge Friday Freebie!

Fall giddiness, art abounding, Friday freebie

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This weather just makes ya want to dance – rain last night, sunshine today, temperatures in the 70s – it feels like fall! And I’m just in under the wire with the Friday Freebie and some other giddy observations about all the art that is going on this weekend.

All of my artist friends who are participating in the Uptown Art Stroll this weekend should have fabulous crowds – I’ll be there as an onlooker and idea-stealer :). The array of talent and variety of media in this neighborhood show is impressive. I participated several years ago – so many interesting people come to this event.  If you’ve never been, here’s a link to the map – it’s a lot of fun!

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On Sunday, please stop by the San Antonio Art League Gallery in the King William area for the opening of the exhibit I’m in with Miguel Cortinas. Many thanks to Clarence and Helen Fey for inviting me to participate in this venerable annual exhibit. Here’s one of my favorite new paintings – it’s called “Stroll” (speaking of strolls), and where these guys came from and where they are going, I dunno – I just painted them and didn’t ask questions. My other favorite new piece is “Buddha and the Chocolate Box” – it’s underneath the birds – makes me wonder where these weird inspirations come from! Ain’t art great?

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“Stroll” 36″x40″ Acrylic on canvas Lyn Belisle

 

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“Buddha and the Chocolate Box” 16″x16″, Mixed Media Lyn Belisle

Last but not least, the Friday Freebie for SHARDS subscribers is this lovely little purse from Friendship Bridge, an organization that helps impoverished Guatemalan women find self-reliance and empowerment through their art. My friend Teresa from Friendship Bridge will bring a beautiful assortment of textiles and jewelry to the Studio on November 12th. You can read more about it in the November Studio Newsletter. And if yours is the lucky name drawn from the list of subscribers on Sunday night, you’ll win this little purse (and I’ll even put a Shard Face inside).

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Happy Friday – hope to see you at an art event this beautiful weekend!

Lesta and Lyn – a half-day workshop exploring mixed-media surface design

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Finally! Lesta Frank, my much-revered artist pal, is coming to the Studio to pair up with me for a half-day workshop on Sunday, November 9th. It’s called Exploring Paper Surface Design, and it’s going to be amazing. We’ve been talking about doing this forever and now it’s really gonna happen.

Lesta and I go back a looo-ooong way (like, high school). She’s a popular teacher as well as a well-known watercolorist  – funny and innovative, as those of you who’ve seen her at the Show and Tell Saturdays already know. Here’s a very short sneak preview from one of those sessions – I love the part when Lesta says, “If you don’t like it, just keep adding stuff”! There are four spots left for the workshop at the moment if you’d like to join us. Have a great day and thanks for following SHARDS!

That’s my story

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Making art for an audience is tricky, and it brings out my Creeping Cowardly Conformity. I’m discovering that as I finish up a series of small collages on canvas that will be included in the San Antonio Art League show which opens Sunday, Nov. 2nd. The Art League is a venerable organization with lots of Real Painters, and being invited to participate is rather intimidating. Here is one of my pieces in a five-part series called “Copper Koan.” Like a lot of my work, it deals with the concept of shards and fragments of incomplete stories. A “koan” is a paradox to be meditated upon, and it seemed like a fine concept for this series (the series title is also a take-off on “copper coin.”)

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“Copper Koan: Wand” Lyn Belisle 2014

 

This is what it looked like yesterday (below) – I didn’t want to add a little face or any text because I thought that would make it look “too crafty” and “not sophisticated-ly abstract enough.” Arg . . .Creeping Cowardly Conformity makes us compromise. You make like this one better, and that’s super OK, but I kept thinking it looked incomplete and anonymous.

koan-reSo what the heck – I added the distressed earthenware face and the text fragment on my little Copper Koan, and now that they are there, I’m much happier with the piece. I hope my audience likes it, but we, as artists, gotta remember that we’re driving this Art Bus and if we take directions from our passengers, we’ll get everybody hopelessly lost. That’s MY story and I’m sticking to it!

PS. If you’d like to see the exhibit for yourself, please know that I’d love to have you there to discuss all of this and to see the work of my fellow artists – here’s your invitation! Feel free to share 🙂

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Last Dance for Medina Mud Band

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The Medina Mud Band – (from the left, clockwise: Larry Adamson, Gene Dowdy, Don Stephens, John Burke, Rod Enlow, Dave Williams, Bill Kurtin, and Me!)

Some of you guys are old-time MMB Groupies and have followed our band for the last 35 years – thanks, podners! I had had the time of my life playing music with these guys. We got together on Saturday for a day in the country and had this picture made..Our favorite gig (and one that we’ve played for over 20 years) is the Quihi Dance Hall Benefit for Inner City Development, a more-than-worthy cause.

This year’s gig on January 31st, 2015, will be our last, and to commemorate it, I’m designing a “farewell tour” t-shirt for the band members and friends. Here are our three choices – if you’d like to vote on the one you like best, we’d sure appreciate it. We can’t decide! I’ll enter the names of everyone who votes in a drawing for a t-shirt with the winning design. You can cast your vote for Design #1, #2, or #3 on the Google Form below the designs. The first design is bigger, not because it’s necessarily my favorite, but because it’s more horizontal. Thanks for your help!

Design #1

Design #1

Design #2

Design #2

Design #3

Design #3