365/3 work continues

As I wrote last week, I'm starting to find my mojo again and a big step in helping me was taking a class with Seth Apter (the Altered Page). He actually came to teach in north Seattle so, of course, I took a day off work so I could attend the workshop.  Remember I said I was ready to have painty hands again?  They are truly painty!

We spent the morning learning, working, playing and trying new techniques as we covered our papers with paint, stencils, stamps, and whatever we had on hand. 

My pages underway:  (#110, 111, 112)

After creating all this painty goodness, we stitched and folded, tucked and glued, and ended up with charming pocket books.  Mine drying (#113):

Above is a sample book showing how the pockets can fill up with treasures, making this book a wonderful showpiece as a place to display postcards, photos, memories/treasures of your choice.

Here's a few closeups of the delicious texture I was able to create:

Such a great class and it was such a pleasure to meet Seth in person after following his blog for so long. He's a warm, genuine, delightful man and I'm here to say - if you get an opportunity, take a class with him; you'll love it!

365 /3 continues

I'm happily working along in the Jane Davies 100 Drawings class and learning lots.  That's probably going to be the bulk of my 365 project work for the duration of the class since each lesson takes such a time commitment. My other commitment to myself is to continue the Documented Life project.  You can see it here as well as on instagram (#dlp2015).

#15 - DLP - prompt is to use gesso to cover a blank page - I chose to use my black and fill in (to reinforce!) some of my goals for this year

#16-18 - lesson 2 of Jane's class....continuing instruction in the use of line and layers.  She shares many of these techniques with quick videos on her blog - and her layering tips are so very helpful.  I made a dozen paintings - here are my 6 faves though I don't necessarily love them all..... (all done on 9x12 80# Blick cheap drawing paper using acrylic paint and various black marking tools)

Though the 2 above started life as verticals, they soon pulled me to horizontal.

The one on the right is my fave of the dozen I painted.  I feel like it's the most successful use of layering and line, interesting without being boring or too busy.

I think both of these have possibilities and I may rework them a bit to see if I can pull something more finished from them.

That brings me up to date for now.......hope you find time to make this a creative week!

my first ever art class

Yep, I finally sucked it up and overcame my uncertainties and insecurities and went to my first ever art class. I took two classes at the Art and Soul retreat in Portland, OR - both from the talented Jane Davies (who did a great job of making us all feel capable, creative and oh-so-artful).

The first class was abstract landscapes and using collage and paints and whatever combination we liked, we were encouraged to play with technique and color within the lightly defined idea of a landscape format.  First we laid on a bright and busy collage strip to create the horizon then painted in the top and bottom, obscuring part of the collage edges.  You could also paint the background first and collage a horizon on top of the paint (like I did below).  These are maybe 6x8" or so, the orange one is an 8x8" square and the long narrow one is about 5x10".

Jane gave great feedback and direction by first asking "what do you see" - that helped focus ideas and evaluation of the piece by defining what you were looking at, what strengths did you see and as you studied the piece (from afar) it became easier to see where it might be improved.

In the above piece we were encouraged to exaggerate the horizon line in some way - in a way I feel this is my most successful piece because the depth of color and layers in the top portion is more interesting and the contrast in value between the top and bottom is more evident.  As I look at the scanned images the day or two after the class I have the added perspective of some time away from looking at them during creating them.  And it's obvious to me that, while I like my color choices and basic ideas, these pieces are not done.  There's room for improvement in the depth/layering of color and, more importantly, in the use of value.  Right now everything is kind of mid-value range and I need to lighten and darken areas to create more movement and interest.  I can't wait to find the time to get back to each of them - I'll show you the new, improved ones when they're done.

The second class was scribble painting with the express purpose of painting freely, loosely, with abandon and with the intention of creating hand painted papers to be torn up and used in collage or other pieces.  I felt more successful in this effort - Although it's not a completed painting (nor was it intended to be), I feel like there's lots of movement, variety of value, interesting colors and textures.  Watch for pieces of this to show up in future collages or mail art!

As a first-time experience, these two classes were an unqualified success.  Jane's accessible, friendly teaching style is just what I needed to reduce my insecurities and feel successful.  The other women were all SO friendly and willing to share ideas.  There were people who usually work in beads or fabric, people who'd never painted or who always painted but had never collaged.  Ladies came from all over the country and were taking 2-13 classes (yes, 13!) in a wide range of art disciplines. I sure hope I can attend again next year!!

If you have the opportunity to take an art class in your area - through a community college, at a private studio or from a big organized retreat like this one - I certainly encourage you to do so.  It's worth the information, the learning and exploring in a new way and most of all the creative energy boost!