Adventures in Pretty

A Wee Bit of Color

This is outside the gallery looking in the window. I love the reflections of the leaves in this photo.

Last Friday night was the big art walk. There were so many people! It was wonderful to see everyone out strolling with friends and family (some in strollers).  Thanks so much to my friends for coming by and saying, "Hi!". Businesses up and down the street participated by hanging art on their walls, throwing open their doors and putting out munchies. Making art is usually a solitary affair (which perhaps is a good thing or else you would have seen me dancing around the studio as I painted). Having a destination for your art is really helpful-and very motivating! The final part of the process is sharing your art with others. This takes some practice to feel comfortable with. Again we revisit the idea that art is SO personal that you should never give someone else's opinion more weight than your own. I know some will disagree with me here, but that is my perspective. We have no control over what someone else likes and just have to create for ourselves, knowing that when we love it, others who would enjoy it will find it too. 

I got several comments which were fun-one person said it just made them happy to look at my work. Another said they wanted to live in the place in my head, where all the paintings came from.

 

These are all acrylic on canvas. The little ones are 10" x 10".

Yes, that is a dancing olive in the upper left painting. I don't why, it just showed up. Then the glass appeared and the counter became a dance floor! 

 

All of these paintings were done out of my head-I didn't look at any references.

I think this one is my favorite. I don't often do abstracts but I think I may start doing more. Thanks for stopping by! And thanks everyone for all your comments. I love reading them.

Have a supercalafragalistic expealadocious day!

Altered Book Journals & Acrylic Medium Classes

Hello! I meant to get to the blog on Friday but I was enticed away from my studio by friends. So I'm back today to visit with you. Last week I went to Oil & Water Arts store on Bainbridge Island and gave a demo on Altered Book Journals. I'll be teaching a two day class there, July 16th-17th, in Winslow, WA. (class info here). I'm looking forward to the luxury of a 2 day long class where we have time to really sink our teeth into all the techniques. You can also catch my Joyful Altered Book class at Journalfest at the end of October (class info here). While some of the basic techniques are the same, we will be doing some different techniques in this class.

Here I demonstrate my ability to paint upside down and talk about what I'm doing at the same time. This is where that childhood game of rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time was good training (Or was it rubbing your head and patting your tummy?). Both sides of my brain get a good workout during demos. Especially since I'm making something that hasn't been already decided. Much different than just following directions..."drill a hole in each corner..now insert the screws..". My brain is trying to decide WHAT to do at the same time I'm trying to tell a room full of strangers WHAT I am doing and WHY. To make this even more interesting I am doing this all upside down. Well I'M not upside down-but the book is upside down and facing away from me. I tell you it makes for some funny conversations in my head. You'd think with all that is going on there wouldn't be space for inner voices to pop in with snippets like, "what the heck is she thinking?" Goodness knows what it looks like from their side. Actually I was delighted when two days later one of the woman who works at the art store, who had come to my demo, pulled me aside and told me that she was so inspired that she had gone home, gathered up materials and brought them to work on during her breaks! 

 

Below are photos of The Happy Medium class I taught here in Seattle. Everyone got to experiment with many interesting acrylic mediums including molding paste, crackle paste, and clear tar gel. We mixed in collage, and some three dimensional objects. Everyone made such wonderful and visual rich pieces. We had three work stations set up for different techniques. 

I have discovered that I love photos of artists' hands as they are working on their pieces. Something about seeing the story unfold. Aren't these fun?

These will look very different after they dry. You can really build up a luscious variety of textures by scraping into the mediums, staining porous surfaces and embedding objects. 

  
Thanks to all my students who let me photograph them and their work!!

Lastly, I'd like to warmly invite you to join me at:

The Greenwood Phinney Ridge Art Walk
Friday, May 13th, from 6-9pm. I'll be showing new work at: 
Avanti Art & Design
7317 Greenwood Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 784-8475 (MAP HERE)

Most of the businesses along this street will be open and participating, showing art work by local artists. Come join the fun, see fun art and enjoy the appetizers!

(Guess who is now going to work on her paintings??)

------------Info on: Upcoming Seattle classes:

Intro to Mixed Media, Saturday, May 14th
Photo Transfers and Other Mayhem
Sunday, May 15th
Joyful Collage, Saturday, May 21st
Watercolor: Putting It All Together
Sunday, May 22nd

What better way to spend a day than having fun making art and learning great techniques?

All class info here

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