And now, for your mid-week creative pleasure, here’s a short tutorial about how to manage that pesky gold leaf. What you apply the stuff to is entirely your business 🙂
Feel free to share!
Gilding the wax paper – or whatever
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Birthday fun
It’s Lesta Frank’s birthday – she’s a wonderful artist and long-time pal. We went to high school together so we always know how ancient we’re getting – yikes!
Lately, Lesta has been painting the most enchanting pet portraits – check out her website, and then wish her a happy birthday. Here’s the card I made for her. Leonardo said she was one of his best models (now that’s OLD) – heh heh.
A wordle-y diversion
You’ve all probably seen word clouds, those designs that are made from a selection of words in a paragraph. There’s a free online program called Wordle that I use with my students on the first day of classes at Trinity as an introduction. I have them write a little bit about themselves, then transform it into a design. You just paste the words into the Wordle window, choose your colors and layout, click Create – and voila! Here’s one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems, Wild Geese, as a Wordle word cloud (the poem itself is underneath the design). Give it a try, and have fun Wordle-ing!
Wild Geese
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You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Â
from Dream Work by Mary Oliver
Serenity and Serendipity
Michelle Belto and I spent a serene and serendipitous day with our workshop group making and celebrating happy artistic accidents (and a few on-purpose creations). We constructed book/boxes with rich collaged exteriors and a space for our Yupo inspiration cards on the inside. We also built a sense of community and retreat as we worked in the Studio space together. One participant said, “I haven’t thought of the outside world all day – I’ve been so focused on my work here.”
When Michelle and I plan workshops together, we want to bring this sense of retreat and contemplation to the experience as well as ensuring that everyone has a finished piece to take home with them as a celebration of their accomplishments and growth. And it worked again with our Book of Serendipity workshop – take a look at the video!
The Card Elves get the job done, faster than a speeding bullet
Shirlene Harris, recycling maven and artist, took on the challenge of making hundreds of business-card-sized artworks for attendees at the American Art Therapy Association‘s national conference here in San Antonio. At last Saturday’s Show and Tell at the Studio, she mentioned that she didn’t think she could finish in time. Several of the people there immediately volunteered to help. Calling themselves the “Card Elves,” they descended on the Studio last night and whipped those suckers out faster than lightning. It was a blast! These little artworks are inspiring, individually and collectively, and so are the generous and talented makers. Check out the video. Thanks, Elves!!
Solstice Weekend report
Thanks to everyone who came out to greet Pablo and Beverly Solomon this weekend. We had fun with them – we even got a chance to visit the Matisse show at SAMA. It’s astonishingly good and wonderfully annotated. Pablo had just read a two volume biography of Matisse and entertained us with some funny, slightly racy behind-the-scenes commentary.
Sunday’s Earthshard Pendant Workshop was a quiet respite from the excitement of the Solstice festivities and Pablo Solomon’s successful opening.  Many thanks to Ann Pearce for being my collaborator on this session – I always learn so much from her (and from the workshop attendees). Later in the week, I’ll pass along some information about how we did the finishes on our earthenware pendants (below). Happy Monday, All!
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- The worktable for finishing the fired earthenware faces
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- First comes the walnut ink for definition
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- Joe-Beth’s pewter and soft copper finish
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- LeAnn’s Art Deco creation
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- Dani’s work in progress – gorgeous colors
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- Joe-Beth’s finished pendant
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- Lyn’s Solstice pendant – with help from Ann Pearce!
All right, students – get out a piece of paper . . .
What? Bored with summer vacation already?? Here’s a little midweek tutorial that could come in handy in all kinds of situations. You could even use this for a sun hat if you make it big enough and turn it upside down. If you can’t follow the *very easy* directions and need an in-person demonstration, come to the Show and Tell at the Studio this Saturday and I’ll give you a step-by-step help session. 🙂 Plus, you’ll get to meet Pablo Solomon, our visiting artist – hey, he’s a sculptor – wonder if he can do this . . .
Watch out for flying pigs . . .
So I’ve always said, “The day I get my workshop page organized is the day pigs fly.” But guess what? I spent the weekend putting together a new workshop calendar for the rest of the freaking year! And I think it will be easier for you to find what’s coming up. Just click right here. You can also get to it from its new place on the home page. 
You’ll notice a few things – first, July is heavy on the Citra-solv paper, but that’s because everyone loves it and I’m not tired of playing with it (I’ve added a third session on July 27th). There are also some repeats – those paper purses that everyone asks about, for example. There’s a new workshop called Twiggies!! – check that one out. I think all of the links are in place, but if you see anything that looks goofy or won’t work, let me know. And none of this is set in stone — for example, if I were to get allergic to Citra-solv — oops.
You’ll also see all of the details about the one-day June workshop with Michelle Belto (yay for serendipity!) and the exciting Tarot-based weekend with Joanna Powell Colbert in early October. That one is filling very fast already with people from all over the country, so if you want a place, grab it now.
I sincerely hope to see you at some of these workshops – at least the calendar is organized if the presenter isn’t! Thanks, everyone, and don’t forget to drop by the Studio on Friday for Pablo Solomon’s awesome exhibit!
Where will you be a week from today?
Well, if it’s between 6-9 p.m. on Friday the 20th, I hope you’ll be at the Studio, at least long enough to have a drink and a nosh and meet the amazing artist, Pablo Solomon. He’ll be here in San Antonio celebrating Solstice Weekend with us – it’s becoming an annual tradition – hooray! When I visited Pablo and Beverly at their beautiful historic ranch and studio, we selected some stunning and very collectible sculptures and drawings for this show – for example, Pablo’s sculptures of dancers are exquisite and priced (unbelievably) under $200. Here’s your very special invitation:
If for some crazy reason you can’t come by next Friday, darn it, Pablo will be at the Studio from 2-4 on Saturday afternoon the 21st for an informal Show and Tell session to discuss the art market, the creative process, and what it’s like living in (and taking care of) one of the most historic houses in Texas. And the lovely Beverly Solomon can discuss what it’s like to be a muse and model for those wonderful sculptures! Please help us celebrate summer Solstice, dance, the arts and interesting people by coming by Lyn Belisle Studio this coming weekend. Cheers and TGIF!
The Book of Serendipity: Belto and Belisle – Saturday, June 28th
I spent some fine creative time with encaustic guru, author and good buddy Michelle Belto yesterday at her Hot Wax Studio. We experimented in various media with a small group of intrepid explorers. And now – tah-dah– Michelle and I ready to give you the exclusive final details on our June 28th collaborative workshop called The Book of Serendipity: A Celebration of Unexpected Gifts from the Universe! Click on the photo below to read the description – it really has something for everyone – and then sign up to spend a cool (in all ways) Saturday with us at my Studio. All materials and a yummy lunch are included – the day will be a memorable one (you’ll see what I mean when you read the description.) Limit eight participants, absolutely no art experience necessary. Please join us (and invite a friend).