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ArtFest part 2

This was the ArtFest bag that was given to all the participants. Isn't it super? Of course I really liked all the different patterns. Although this was only my second year in attendance, I agree with my friend Catherine who said this bag was the best one yet. She would know since she has been 8 times or so. On to Day 2 of classes of ArtFest 2009. My instructor was Michael Demeng who refers to himself as an assemblage artist who has a love affair with rusty things. His class had the biggest supply list of the three classes that I took this year. Aside from various different adhesives and other stuff to adhere things together like wire, we also brought recycled and "found" objects from yard sales, salvage centers, second-hand stores, etc. As I collected all of my treasures throughout the months leading up to ArtFest, husband extroadinare would always ask me what I was going to do with them. What a silly question! After 27 years together, one would think he would wise up and realize just how delightful something like an old electrical fuse can be and that there are limitless artful ways to use one. In addition to the trinkets, we were asked to bring a picture frame which would end up being the primary structure that everything else was built upon. I brought a framed mirror that I found at Tuesday Mornings in their clearance bin. As you can see from the picture above, I adhered some old kitchen drawer handles to both sides and bottom. These were purchased from Urban Ore, a most wonderful salvage yard full to the brim of stuff that other people throw out. I love it! Also the top piece that has a fleur de lis look is from Urban Ore. Next to this piece are those old nob & fuse electrical fuses that can be found in old homes like ours. But I got them at a garage sale because ours have been removed and upgraded so that we can have homeowners insurance. Then in the center where the mirror is, I first layed down some mesh to make it less shiney. On top of the mesh and hanging from a nail is an old metal frame that used to have a ceramic rose adhered to the center of the red corduroy fabric backing. I gleefully yanked off those roses and glued on Shiva & Shakti. In the Hindu spiritual tradition, Shiva represents the destroyer or transformer and Shakti is responsible for creation... quite the power couple, and I write that will all respect. Below them is Ganesh who is one of their sons. He is the remover of obstacles. Lastly there are fine copper wires laced through the top piece and looped around the handles on both sides. They were meant to be temporary while the top piece was being attached but then I decided I like them and now they are a part of the piece. Well, all that attaching and adhering took the whole day for me and that was only half of the process. I do admit that I really liked using the power tools and was more than willing to help my classmates who were more timid about weilding a power drill. Next there is still painting and adding patinas to make the piece look more cohesive... like it is all supposed to go together. But I am glad that I have a picture of it in this stage. Above I played around with the image in photoshop giving it a sepia tone look so I could get an idea of how I might apply the paint, etc. All in all, I am really happy with the piece. It sits right in front of my studio table watching over me while I create art. It is helpful to have Shiva, Shakti and Ganesh there as all their attributes are so much a part of the creative process. And below, here are 2 more pieces of lettering that I did from the first class that I enhanced using photoshop. I am really enjoying marrying the hand done work with the digital. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed it. Next is imaginary creatures!

Some Jewelry

I have another post about ArtFest that I'm still working on but in the meantime, I thought I'd share some jewelry that I finished recently. It turns out that one of Todd's client's really likes handmade jewelry. So he mentioned to her that I made some jewelry and directed her to my blog. Well, she found a piece that she liked and inquired about purchasing it. The one that she wanted had already been sold but I had some pieces that were partly done and needed a bit more work to be finished. So her interested was just the kick in the pants that I needed to finish up a few pieces. Even though I have decided that I don't want to sell my work, it was fun to get out the tools again. The piece at the top is a pendant that I made of fused dichroic glass. After making the glass piece, I used the silver to "encase" it. It is so different from most of my work. More of a happy, shiny look versus the more urban feel that a lot of my jewelry has. I like both and it was fun to do something so different. I would like to do more with fused glass. This next one is actually 2 round "drapey" discs that I connected with little posts that you can't see. I really tried to photograph that part but just couldn't do it with my little "point-n-click." (Digital SLR on the b-day list and Christmas list.) You can kind of see that there are 2 layers in the photo below. The other interesting thing about this piece is the brushed finish that ends up looking like a shell. People often think it is Mother of Pearl because when the light hits it, lots of lovely colors reflect off the silver. This last one is a remake of the piece the client wanted. It has a moon stone in it. Get it? Moonstone as the moon in the trees? I had made the second one long ago and it just needed some finishing work. It is actually a design that my instructor, Hadar Jacobson came up with and was generous enough with her students to allow us to copy and sell. She is a wonderful teacher. Check out her blog to see her newest obsession - copper and bronze metal clay. She pioneered this new product and has been incredibly generous providing information to the metal clay community about the best ways to work with it. Some day I'll go back and take more classes from her. Well, that's the jewelry post. Hope you enjoyed it. More on ArtFest to come.

ArtFest 2009

It has been just over a week since I returned and it is still hard to put into words all that I experienced at ArtFest this year. Pure, unadulterated bliss comes close. You might wonder why it was so wonderful for me. Spending time with 600 other artists for 4 days... all of us creating amazing works of art... appreciating the energy and power that was manifested... spending time with dear friends and making new ones... waking up every morning knowing that I would spend the day writing, drawing, painting, hammering, drilling, gluing... that each meal would be spent talking with many other artists about all the art we were making... that each evening I would go home feeling a wonderful exhaustion that comes from spending that day doing the thing I was born to do... then although exhausted, spending more time with my housemates, drinking wine and sharing our day with each other as well as the art we made that day... laughing until the wee hours of the night or actually the next morning... knowing that I would get to wake up the next day and do it all over again... all of this and more made me feel such happiness which at times left me wondering if I would burst with it. I feel the great fortune that has been bestowed upon me and my gratitude is immense. I know that I am at an apex and will be leveling out. So these days area sustaining and writing about them is important to me. I am glad to share them with you. The first day's class was called Tats & Graff taught by Lisa Engelbrecht. She is an amazing calligraphy artist who I have admired from afar for years. Although she is trained in the more classical forms of calligraphy, she also has mad street cred with Tattoo and Graffiti artists. She taught us lots of different ways to do lettering and tons of tricks. I had taken traditional calligraphy classes about 25 years ago and enjoyed it. Since then I have been looking for a teacher like Lisa. She is generous and encouraging and the work that she got out of all of her students was energetic and vibrant. I bought her book and have been carrying it around with me since I returned. Well, that's all for now. Next, day 2 at ArtFest!

Barack's Personal Message

I'm getting pretty excited about having Mr. Obama for president. I really do feel that I can be a part of making our nation one in which peace, compassion, justice, diversity, understanding, and lots of other good adjectives prevail. I haven't really felt this before in my lifetime. I have been hopeful but really being a part of the change has seemed like a distant thing to me... not something that I could really be a part of. I appreciate that our president-elect is asking for our help. It is uplifting.

Michelle Obama - USAService.org

I'm giving blood as part of the National Day of Service, Monday, January 19th, 2009. I really like the idea of everyone in our country coming together in service. Now really is a time to give if you can and there are lots of ways to do it... from simple to complex. There is a blood donation center that is a 5 minute walk from my house that I have been meaning to go to since I moved into my home 10 years ago. Silly, huh? I used to donate through the Blood Mobile when it came by the office but I haven't worked where one comes by for years. So this is the perfect reason to go do it... especially since it is something that I don't mind doing at all. I encourage you to think about what you can do too.

ArtFest Adventure

Off we went into the wild blue yonder on our way to ArtFest. We hit the road on Monday, March 31 in the evening and drove for a few hours before checking in at our hotel. Then we set off Tuesday morning for the longest leg of the trip up. This was the beautiful view out the car window for a lot of the morning. It felt like Mt. Shasta was blessing our adventure.

That evening in our hotel room we worked in "Catherine's sweat shop" as we lovingly referred to it. She was putting the last touches on the jewelry that she planned to sell at "Vendor Night." So we helped out by polishing, tagging, and giving our approval of her prices, which is one of the most difficult things to decide.

I'm still unpacking so I'll have more to post soon but this is one of the pieces that I completed in Anahata Katkin's class. I'm obviously happy with the outcome. Here's a straight on shot.

And some detail shots.

This is me in the class... my version of heaven... art supplies everywhere & the people who love to use 'em!

More to come...

self portrait

Although I am swamped with homework, fortunately I had to take some time away from it to create something for my page in this years ArtFest fatbook. This is what I ended up with. I learned part of this process in a workshop taught by Traci Bunkers. I took a picture of myself with my Quan Yin statue and enlarged it so that each quadrant was approximately 8" x 11.5". Then I collaged and painted each quadrant separately. After that I put the quadrants back together again. I planned on adding some more collage and paint to the whole thing at his stage but it went into standby mode while I got overwhelmed by textile design school. So there I was worrying about what I would do for my fatbook page and trying to think of something that I could be proud of but would not take tons of time that I didn't have. While I was looking around the studio for inspiration, I happened upon the unfinished portrait and thought it might work. I took a picture of it since it was too big to fit on my scanner then dropped it into Photoshop. I've been wanting to play around with my non-digital art in Photoshop for quite some time now but usually get stuck pretty quickly after it is scanned in. Not this time. I used the hue/saturation feature on lots of different parts of the image and messed around with the brightness/contrast some and this is what I came up with. I then croppped and scaled it down to the right size for the book and printed out 60 copies. I mailed them off to the host tonight. It will be so awesome to see what all the other participants have come up with.I'm really happy with this process and am inspired to do more of this kind of work. I think my new dog Foxy needs a portrait. She would make an awesome subject.

Final Abstract Scribble Painting

This is my final Abstract Scribble design. I'm really happy with the way it came out. I really like the refinements of the linework and having each motif include 3 colors which came out of the collaborative process. Now on to the next assignments and workshops.

back to my textile design...

Although my new dog, Foxy, has been the most awesome distraction from school, I am getting back to it. In this post, I showed you my motif and layout in black and white. The next step was to create color comps and here is what I came up with... This last one is what the client/instructor chose. She helped me refine my motif by adding some more purposeful line work and color accents. Next I will show you my final painting and some of the motifs I am working on for 3 new assignments.

Check out this great series

From the website overview:

"AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 again journeys deep into ancestry of an all-new group of remarkable individuals, offering an in-depth look at the African-American experience and race relations throughout U.S. history. Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returns as series host, guiding genealogical investigations down through the 20th century, Reconstruction, slavery and early U.S. history, and presenting cutting-edge genetic analysis that locates participants' ancestors in Africa, Europe and America. Joining Professor Gates in the new broadcast are poet Maya Angelou, author Bliss Broyard, actor Don Cheadle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio personality Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock, music legend Tina Turner, and college administrator Kathleen Henderson, who was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and DNA tested alongside the series' well-known guests."

For me this series does an excellent job of laying out the legacy of the dehumanaizing effects of slavery on our country as a whole for all races. The effects are still being felt today although we don't always make the link. Watching this series helps make the link as well as helping me to better understand the feelings I have about race issues.

Foxy meets the Snow

Her name is Foxy...

and she's the newest member of our family! I've wanted a dog for at least 15 years and finally here she is. When we lived in apartments in San Francisco our landlords were never OK with dogs. Then when we moved across the Bay and purchased our own home, our cat was a senior citizen and it didn't seem fair to him to try to introduce a dog into his sedate life. Sadly our cat died in April and we grieved the loss of him. He was 18 years old and had been a wonderful companion for us. Although we knew that we would eventually get a dog we took our time allowing ourselves to miss our kitty. After eight months, right before the holidays I started looking online at the local Humane's Society and SPCA as well as other rescues. I spotted Foxy on the East Bay SPCA's website right away and really liked her. I spent a few days fantasizing about her and the day I was ready to go meet her, she was adopted by another family. Although I was disappointed, I let it go relatively quickly knowing that the right dog would come into our lives and I assumed that it wasn't Foxy. So we kept looking online and visited a few shelters never finding the right dog for us. We had already planned to go look at some other dogs at the East Bay SPCA yesterday. Then the night before I checked the website to see if there were any new arrivals and there she was! So we met her and found out that she had been "surrendered" by the previous adoptive family because she played rough with their 6 year old daughter and they didn't have the time to train her to learn to play gently with kids. We were a bit concerned about this because our 7 year old niece is a big part of our lives. We see her almost every weekend and since she cannot have a dog where she lives, we decided to share ours with her. After talking with the trainers and spending some time with Foxy we felt that we would be able to work with her so that she would be a good member of our family. The next step was to introduce her to our niece today at the SPCA. They met and hit it off really well. So we adopted her! I'm not sure who was more excited, me or my niece. She had a good ride home in the car - no mistakes or car sickness. Since she was doing so good we went straight to the pet supply shop with her and got all the stuff - crate, food, toys, leash, treats, etc. That visit was pretty stimulating for her. Lots of smells and other dogs to get excited over. She is a Great Dane/Lab mix and is just over a year old which makes her an adolescent and she weighs 80 lbs. Needless to say we plan to put a lot of time into training her because we want and need her to be well behaved. We don't like dogs who are out of control anyway but with her size it would be really irresponsible to let her misbehave. She's been on 2 walks with us today and did really well with some corrective instruction from us. We also introduced her to her crate which she went into fine but didn't like staying there with us out of the room. She has an interesting whine, almost a yodel, which she used to try to get us to let her out but after 10 minutes she accepted her situation and calmed down. We'll see how she does tonight since that's where she'll sleep. She already tried to get on the bed and we definitely don't want an 80 lb. adolescent dog sleeping with us. Right now she is chillin' in the living room while I work on this post and my husband watches football. She's already fitting into our routine. We are so happy and are looking forward to having a wonderful life with her.

Abstract scribble

I'm done with my holiday break now and am back in class. Although it continues to be demanding, I'm still loving it. Our next assignment is called an Abstract Scribble. First we were instructed to use a big fat marker and create quick, simple line drawings of shapes that were abstract. This is what I came up with.

Then the client chose this one to be my motif.

Once the motif was selected, I reduced it and made a tossed layout.

The client approved the layout and I am working on color comps now. I'll post those when done.

The way we arrive...

Although I don't plan on ever giving birth, this is a topic that is important to me as a woman. The film examines possible reasons why our country has one of the worst infant mortality birthrates in the developed world - I think it is the second highest. It looks at the way our western medical perspective can encourage pregnant women and their families to feel that birth is a medical catastrophe waiting to happen. In countries with low infant mortality birthrates, use of midwives, doulas, etc. is very high (approx. 80%) and home births are much more acceptable. My desire in writing about this topic is not to say that every woman has to have a home birth. Like most other women's issues, I really just want women to be informed about all the choices available to them and then make the decision that is right for them. I was privileged and honored to attend the birth of a dear friend who was very thoughtful in her delivery choices. Since she was an "older" woman her pregnancy was considered "high risk." Her insurance would not cover any aspect of a home birth. So she and her husband came up with a combination of a hospital delivery attended by a midwife, doula and a supportive friend (me). It ended up being exactly the right choice for them. The delivery was awesome and they welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. Afterward there was some difficulty in delivering the afterbirth and it was necessary for my friend to have additional medical care at which point we were all grateful to be in the hospital under the expert care of the doctors and nurses. Almost eight months later she and baby are thriving. Although this is a women's issue, it is actually something that we all experience in one form or another. We all have to come through that birth canal and that first ride should be the best of experiences.

dearest one...

Today is the 44th birthday of my dearest one. I was 16 years old when we met and he was 17. All it took was staring into his beautiful baby blues for me to be a goner. He was and continues to be unlike anyone else I've ever met. He can have me laughing by uttering a single syllable - it's more the look in his eye and the tone of his voice. He's sensitive when necessary as well as pragmatic when called for. He loves his family fiercely and surrounds himself with loving friends. One of his best attributes is that he takes wonderful care of me. So on this day celebrating 44 years of his life, I am definitely the lucky one. Here he is with the only other "honey" in his life other than me... our niece.

Happy New Year

A special gift from the Earth & Sun on the last day of 2007.

a white Christmas...

the view from the window of our mountain house in the Sierras.

light, shade & shadow

The last workshop I took in the fall session was called "Light, Shade, & Shadow." Although we learned about shading in the earlier workshops, this one was focused on shading from a more general perspective. We learned how light and shadows fall on different objects like rope and silk ribbon.

bamboo weaves & trellises

This artwork came from a workshop called "Bamboo Trellises & Weaves." The main idea we learned about here was where and how to shade it to make it look like the bamboo was weaving under and over itself. I found that taking the workshops also helped me to learn more about working with gouache so that I began to feel more comfortable mixing colors and applying the paint. My classmates agreed that spending the day painting with gouache really sped up the learning curve.