Gallery talk and hand sanitizer

Posted on by
2

Tonight’s gallery talk at Nueva Street Gallery should be fun. It starts at 5:00 – hope you can be there. My title is “The Face: An Enduring Iconography,” and I’ve done a short slide presentation of how faces inform and inspire my work. I’m giving away little face shards, as well – and this is kind of interesting because I used the same press mold for each one, yet they turned out so varied. They look like they are related, but not identical. Here’s a photo of the freebie faces that I’ll give away at the event:

facesnueva

OK, now about that hand sanitizer. . . yesterday, my friend Gloria Hill helped me do some experimenting with transferring digital images onto fabric for my upcoming online collage-on-canvas class at Artful Gathering (checkout their catalog). We used hand sanitizer to transfer the images, and it worked! See the pics below, and in a future post, probably the next one, I’ll give you the directions. Till then, hope to see you tonight at Nueva Street Gallery!

hs1 hs2 hs3

 

Boston spring break retreat and finding answers to all of life’s artistic questions (sorta)

Posted on by
1

snow

This was the view out my window on a snowy spring day this week in Boston. I’m home now after my short getaway – I took an evening printmaking class at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and did a bit of shopping on Charles Street at Black Ink, a very cool store. Retreats like this are s’posed to help you figure out the answers to the Big Questions. I didn’t come up with many of my own Big Questions about art and life, but did have fun painting some answers. This is an acrylic-on-canvas triptych I did while there. They can be hung in any order depending on your desired outcome:

triptych_edited-1

Today I’d start with the one that says “Yes” –  glad to be back working at the Studio and yes, also, to being very grateful for the time away to recharge and visit with family. (And “no” to living all winter in the snow!)

 

Mask, Robe & Rune

Posted on by
2

I spent this afternoon refining and working with the free-standing structure form for the Mask, Robe & Rune Workshop that Michelle Belto and I are doing on March 29th that combines encaustic monoprints with mixed media faces. The results are exciting so far (see the first slide after the title for my completed construction – it’s still kind of a prototype). Here’s the video, below, of work in progress and you can find workshop details here on my website. It’s going to be an amazing day of creative discovery – consider signing up and joining Michelle and me!

GAGA

Posted on by
8

GAGA is the acronym for Gentileschi Aegis Gallery Association, and I’m a new member, jumping in with both feet. The group’s name comes from Artemisia Gentileschi, a painter from the Early Baroque period, and invokes the protection of the Greek goddess Athena’s shield, Aegis, named in “The Iliad.” The upcoming GAGA group show opens on Friday, May 9 at the Southwest School of Art. (Save the date!)

This GAGA exhibit is nicknamed ROYGBIV (colors of the spectrum), and each artist member received two paint chips from a selection of house paint colors which had to comprise at least 70% of their 12″x12″ works. Cool concept! The group’s 120 pieces will be installed in color progression order. So – here are my two pieces, just finished tonight. And, yep, that’s Behr brand house paint you see on the pieces – one lighter chip (“Gumdrops”) and one darker (“Orioles”) of the same hue. Now I get to go clean up all those tiny little glass beads that rolled off onto the studio floor! Art’s a tough game.

gagadark gagalight

 

Saturday morning discovery time

Posted on by
Reply

Hooray, it’s the weekend! My exhibit opening at the Carver was great – thanks to all who came, images to follow. This morning, I turned my attention to the upcoming ADC workshop at the Studio on March 23rd. This was the image I used for that workshop – it’s a fun little piece I did using clay on canvas:

Surfing around, I found this amazing work by Joanna Mozdzen, a sculptor from Ontario who who was born and raised in Poland. Isn’t it fantastic? But wait, there’s more if you scroll down.

I followed the trail to one of her videos on You Tube and was just blown away by her five-minute tutorial on sculpting a female head. Take a break and watch this. It’s totally mesmerizing. Yay for Saturday surfing and awesome discoveries like artist Joanna Mozdzen! Have a lovely weekend.

 

Monday roundup

Posted on by
Reply
An example of Citra-Solv collage paper

An example of Citra-Solv collage paper

What’s up with this weather??  It’s 28F this morning – I stole the cats’ afghan off the couch and wrapped up in it. They have fur coats – I don’t. Ha. Moving right along, I’m excited about the upcoming Studio Show and Tell next month and wanted to give you a heads-up. Saturday, April 5th from 3-5 you’re invited to the Studio to bring a short demo, ask questions, brainstorm with other creative people,or just hang out and suck up the vibes. I plan to kick back, watch what others bring, and steal ideas. Sheri Lenora from Austin will demo her painted crinoline fabric, and Rosemary Uchniat and Bonnie Davis are going to show us their experiments with Citra-sol cleaning liquid and magazine pages for collage. There’s actually a Citra-sol site for artists if you want a sneak preview of this technique!

Sheri Lenora's painted crinoline fabric

Sheri Lenora’s painted crinoline fabric

I would be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful artful gathering at yesterday’s Beyond Abstract workshop – we had such a good time. Here’s a link to the video.

Tomorrow I’m hanging my solo show at the Carver Center – the opening is Thursday from 6-8. Please drop by if you have a chance, invitation below.

I hope y’all have a wonderful week! Keep warm, stay cool — whatever this crazy weather brings.
invitationFIN2

Artful Gathering: Dreaming in Color

Posted on by
Reply

Wowsers! I just got my first look at the Artful Gathering online catalog of classes for the summer – this is a fantastic group of creative artists that I’ve managed to hook up with – thanks, Zinnia! The AG page is getting over 13,000 his a week even before classes start. Just looking at the catalog gives me loads of ideas for my own workshops at the Studio. (Steal like an artist!) My first class is on page 12 of the catalog – and I’m so glad that my pal Michelle Belto is joining the faculty for the second session – take a look at all the cool stuff!

AGCAT

 

 

Remembering Pete

Posted on by
Reply

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a concert tribute to Pete Seeger, folk singer and activist, who departed this earthly realm on January 27th. The Inner City Coffee House was the perfect venue – lots of old and new friends were there to cheer on Inner City founders Patti and Rod Radle, with Bryce Milligan, Rudi Harst, and Tom Williams as they sang Seeger’s old favorites. The crowd joined in – it was an evening of nostalgia and hope (and trying to remember all the words to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.”) Bryce Milligan got in a fracker verse – always something to care about 🙂

Now I’m all inspired to share the love at today’s workshop on Exploring Air-Dry Clay. Who knew you could do so many sculptural forms without a kiln? I do, now! Here’s a small piece I put together this morning for the workshop. It’s all air dry clay, fun and easy:

small

Workshop preview excitement

Posted on by
Reply

I *really* am excited – Michelle Belto and I firmed up the plans and processes for our next all-day workshop on Saturday, March 29th. It’s called ROBE & RUNE – we’ll work with encaustic monoprints and shard faces and construct a lovely freestanding garment-like sculpture with layers of meaning, symbols and design.

I had never done encaustic wax monoprints on rice paper before today,  but the paper is transformed into a beautiful translucent panel of color and light that can be torn and manipulated. There’s no brush-layering or scraping involved. Wow! You can see the prototype that I did in the pictures below. I’ll be posting more photos and details, but if you’d like a jump on registration, go to this page on my site – for tuition and lunch and all materials, the fee is just $135. It may go up once we figure out our materials cost – LOL – so reserve your spot now if you’re interested. I’m so excited!!

rr1 rr2 rr3

Don Miguel Ruiz Jr. and Heather Ash Amara at the Studio

Posted on by
2

Talk about an enlightening weekend – authors, teachers and friends Don Miguel Ruiz Jr. (whose father wrote the beloved Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book) and TOCI founder Heather Ash Amara were our guests on the San Antonio stop of their spring speaking tour. The did their live webcast from the studio last night – hope you got to see it.

Afterwards, I asked Miguel to talk to SHARDS subscribers about art and the acceptance of our work – his answers are interesting and surprising. The bad news is that our work will never be accepted by everyone – but the good news is that we’ll learn a lot! I wish the sound were better (the iPhone was my only camera), but Miguel’s words are wise – and sometimes surprising!

At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to a great short video with Heather Ash on Living the Four Agreements. Thanks, guys, for sharing your practical wisdom with us!

Heather Ash Amara on Living the Four Agreements

haa