Show and Tell is back . . .yay!

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Pueblo – 5×7″ collage – Lyn Belisle

Think of one of those art workshops that features fantastic artist who show you how to do cool stuff and charge you a ton of money . . . now, forget the money part. At the second Show and Tell from 2-4 at the Studio tomorrow, you’ll get to see some amazing demos and tips from artists who are sharing with all of us just ’cause they love it! If you need further encouragement, here’s a video from the first S&T last month.

Sherry Christensen, Fiber Artist - wrapped and sewn construction

Sherry Christensen, Fiber Artist – wrapped and sewn construction

At that last Show and Tell, I learned so much about Citra-solv papers from Bonnie and Rosemary that it inspired me to try some new collage techniques. You can see the results in these pics – I love this altered paper. Bonnie will be back tomorrow, and so will Michelle Belto, Sherry Christensen (detail of her beautiful work in photo on left) and other super-creative people to show us lots of new ideas. And even I will demo – I’ll show you the simple transfer process that we did in the last workshop. It involves nothing more than wax paper and an inkjet printer. Honest!

Strata - 5x7" collage - Lyn belisle

Strata – 5×7″ collage – Lyn Belisle

Come to the Studio from 2-4 p.m. tomorrow to get great ideas, network with other interesting people, or bring ideas of your own – it;’s very informal. There will be refreshments and info on upcoming events. Email me with questions (especially if you want to bring something to show). Yay for Show and Tell and the generous artists who are sharing with all of us!

ArtTech Networking at the Studio

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monaipad_edited-1Here’s part of an email invitation (below) that I sent out last week to the Studio “regulars” – and the response has been amazing. About 20 of us are getting together tomorrow @ 5:00 at the Studio to discuss how we can best network together to learn new skills in social media and digital imagery – like giving the Mona Lisa an iPad – it’s easy!!

“Dear All – Just in the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a number of requests for help with tech issues for artists, such as learning Photoshop, creating on iPads, blogging, and using other social media for art promotion. There’s a huge need for this these days, and I am “lucky” enough to have been forced to learn some of it when I started teaching at Trinity ten years ago. My idea would be to discuss what the needs are and then possibly set up either individual sessions or a small group workshop or two during the summer (these would have a small tuition charge), but then we would go further than that – you could partner with a tech buddy (or several) who is interested in the same things you are and you could help each other when I’m not available. It would be like a learning circle. I can give you all kinds of links to resources and tutorials so you could learn on your own in the direction that best suits you. What do you think? ~ Lyn”

I expect people will want to learn new things in two areas – how to work with digital images in Photoshop and other editing programs, and how to get more exposure for their art via the Internet. We’ll see how it goes, and I can set up some classes to fit the needs of my fellow artists. Come by if you’re interested and share ideas with us. It should be fun. If you can’t make it in person, do read Alyson Stanfield’s book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio. It’s a great guide to promoting your art. And if you’d like some free (free is good) beginner Photoshop Lessons, here’s a link for you.

We’re all in the together – might as well share what we know!

Visiting Pablo and Beverly Solomon – an astonishing art space

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Rarely am I totally enthralled with a place the way I was with Pablo and Beverly Solomon’s ranch and studio. Just outside of Lampasas, Texas, the Moses Hughes Ranch is graced with Pablo’s sensuous stone carvings and whimsical art objects. We spent last Friday there enjoying the art, the spring weather, walks along the stream, and the entertaining conversations. At the end of the video, you’ll see a small bench in a tree that Pablo and I put together from shards and tiles (Pablo had already done the heavy lifting, thank goodness!). You’ll also see a series of enchanting small sculptures that Pablo presented as a proposal for the Houston Jardin de Dance. Each is a maquette which can be cast into bronze either at original size or scaled up. The best news is that Pablo will visit the Studio on June 20th with 15 of these figures as part of his Summer Solstice show and sale (and they are amazingly affordable for any collector) – save the date and stay tuned for details. You will love meeting Pablo and Beverly – they are both so gracious and fun to be with! And they welcome visitors!

Wash Your Brushes, Make Your Bed

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catbed_edited-1Shards of wisdom, free of charge – these two five-minute practices will make your  life much happier. They are little gifts to yourself.

WASH YOUR BRUSHES
No matter how tired you are, wash you paint brushes before you go to bed. And do not even *think* about leaving them in the water because “the paint won’t dry and I can do it later”. You *know* it will ruin the bristles eventually. For you non-painters, this means straightening up your mess, however minimally – line up your tools, put the top back on the glue – YOU know what I mean.

MAKE YOUR BED
No matter how rushed or sleepy you are in the morning, make your bed. Tuck in the sheets, fluff up your pillow. You’ll get on with your day and forget that you did it, but at night when you’re ready for bed, you’ll smile and say, “I loved me enough to prepare a smooth and comfy place to sleep.” If you have had a bad day, you’ll appreciate it even more. And you’ll sleep much better.

Just to show you that I practice what I preach, here’s a photo of my brushes that I washed last night, almost didn’t, but did it anyway – boy, was I happy this morning when I went into the studio (after making my bed) to see clean brushes ready for a fresh start! It’s the little, free things in life that you do for yourself that make you want to make others happy. So, Happy Wednesday! 

Actual clean brushes in a semi-clean mason jar

Actual clean brushes in a semi-clean mason jar

 

Klimt-ing Mother Earth

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Yesterday’s workshop celebrated the archetypical woman as Earth Mother through influences and interpretation from Gustav Klimt. OK, *enough* art jargon – we had a blast. Two parts worked really well – drawing the faces in a lesson that showed how the face works on the entire head, and making our own pattern stamps using foam shapes.

The face-drawing lesson I’ll share in another post. The stamps are easy – take 1″ sections of a large dowel or 1×2″ board, trace around any outside edge onto a sheet of sticky-backed craft foam, cut out and adhere, then add a second layer of foam in any shapes you wish. Stamp away. We used tissue paper, mulberry paper, foil and construction paper and applied cut and torn pieces to painter board. Here are a couple of photos of the stamps and the patterns.

As always, even though we all started with the same premise, each artist’s style shone through in the finished works. I’m anxious to try the same kind of pattern building in another project – still thinking about possibilities. To all who came, thanks for sharing Sunday afternoon with me at the Studio! And I’m especially excited about the upcoming drawing workshop on May 25th. If you don’t think you can draw, you have another think coming – I dare ya to sign up – LOL. And now, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video of yesterday’s diverse visions of Mother Earth.

All GAGA about the Rainbow Corpse

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Why this installation is called “The Exquisite Rainbow Corpse” eludes me – but it opens this evening at the The Southwest School of Art. Created by members of GAGA (including me), the Corpse consists of 90 12″x12″ works that correspond to individual ROYGBIV color chips (the rainbow color sequence: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Want a sneak preview of the installation?corpsetogether TA-DAH!
My two pieces are in the third row on the left-ish side (how appropriate – so are my politics) – you may remember the pieces from this post, but here’s one – gives you a sense of the scale of the overall installation. Please come by tonight (5-8 pm) and see the exhibit. There are so many styles represented that it should be most interesting. Ya get gagalighta big group of women artists together and you’re gonna have some crazy-good collaborating!

Now, if you want a weekend art challenge, go to the paint store, pick a color chip at random (or choose a color from this site), and create a small piece in which 75% of the content is that color – it’s a very thoughtful exercise . . .and not an easy one.

Happy weekend, everyone, and Happy Mother’s Day – we all had one, and we’re here because of her. Thanks, Mom – I sure do miss you!

 

Jane Dunnewold’s Design and Print Your Own Fabric

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I’ve been a fan of Jane Dunnewold’s work forever. Her book, Art Cloth, is a must-have encyclopedia of surface treatment for fabric, and a design inspiration for every artist. Recently, she asked me to review her new video for Interweave called Design and Print Your Own Fabric. Wow! So, I’m not really a fiber artist but this video opened up a whole new area for me as a digital artist. She is great at de-mystifying the process of taking an idea for a design, getting it into your computer for enhancing and refining (she effectively explains those thorny pixels and resolution), and ending up with fabric-on-demand from Spoonflower.

janeVery very cool! And way too much fun. The download is just $14.95. I have a ton of art book and videos, but this one is truly useful for those of you who are somewhat befuddled by digital design and how it can work for you. I’m so glad Jane asked me to review this and I am happy to share my enthusiasm with you!

Happy Monday, all, and thanks to everyone who came to the Spring Fling show on Saturday!

 

Spring Fling: the Trailer (approved for audiences of all ages)

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Alison, Lesta, Jan and I had the best time setting up for today’s art show. Here’s your special sneak preview – I took some photos with my phone as we were finishing up and made this little video. My three fellow artists are just amazing in their versatility and creative talent – please come see for yourself – 10-5 today at the Studio, and here’s a map for you so you won’t lose your way!

 

 

It’s showtime! Come fling with us . . .

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Spring Fling springs open tomorrow morning at the Studio. My pals Lesta Frank, Alison Schockner, and Jan Longfellow will join me in our first show and sale of the year – hope you can drop by. There’s always lots to see, and lots of ideas and techniques to steal – er, I mean, emulate. I’ll have some new small textured earthenware adornment pieces, most around $8 or sotext1 text2 text3. Here’s are a few samples:

I’ll also have the new Milagrito hanging constructions and the first series of Shardian Angels (what a name).

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Anoba, Celtic forest goddess

Anoba, Celtic forest goddess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out this elegant necklace that Jan Longfellow will have tomorrow – love the stone! And Lesta and Alison will have a huge assortment of gorgeous fibers and watercolors and treasure of all manner. See you tomorrow, 10-5, at the Studio for Spring Fling!
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Wonderful workshop weekend – not just one, but TWO videos filled with great ideas

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Well, happy Monday, everybody! Hope you had a great weekend – as for me, I had the most fabulous time at the Studio. On Saturday, ten amazing NEISD art teachers met to experiment with Citra-solv altered magazine pages as collage components. And on Sunday, a flock of beautiful Spring Goddess Spirit Dolls were born. Thanks to everyone who graced the place with their creativity – take a look at what they did! (Oh, and congrats to talented and generous Vicki Siptak, random drawing winner of the Milagrito Friday Freebie.)

Art Teachers’ Workshop

Spring Goddess Spirit Doll Workshop