Painting Layers

I am so lucky to be taking Misty Mawn's online class, Painting Layers. I am having so much fun, and loving all the techniques. I have always been into image transfers. I have been using blender markers and acetone to transfer since college. The results are great for black and white, but I was never fully happy with the color results. Not to mention the toxicity factor. Gel medium transfers have always eluded me. I have tried and it didn't seem to work for me. The truth is, I just need to see it done to know what was right and how easy it is. Can you tell I'm in love? I made transfers until my fingers were sore yesterday. What we will do in the name of art. But even more than the transfers, I am loving the whole class. Painting backgrounds, building up surfaces with paint, ink, stamps, stencils. I had so much fun, and it's only week one. Keep checking back to see how things progress, and also check out my Flickr site for more images. Off to make more!

Seattle Trip

Here are some pictures from out trip to Seattle and Port Townsend. These photos were taken by Chad and myself with the Toy Camera App on our iPhones. These first ones are day one of our trip, taking the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. It was wonderfully moody and misty. Being in Bainbridge Island in October was like being in the most nostalgic memory of Halloween you have. Fall leaves were bursting with color, pumpkins at every stoop, and kiddos playing in the leaves. Wetness and the rustle of leaves filled the day.

The next day we headed to Port Townsend where JournalFest was held. Another picturesque seaside town will all my favorite things, good seafood, shops, and an old downtown very much like the one I always dream of living in.

After JournalFest we spent a few days in Seattle. We enjoyed the typical things like salmon and clam chowder at the market, ferry boats, just walking around town. My favorite though was Gasworks Park. How did i not know this existed? The imagination runs wild in a place like this! Here you see me with my Diana mini. I am testing her out. She is great to travel with because she is so small and versatile, but we'll see how she compares to my trusty Diana+ once the pictures come back. More on a project involving my Diana and diana jr. coming soon. Stay tuned!

Where the magic happens

Here is a little glimpse into my studio. Don't be fooled! This is most definitely an edited version of my space. The clutter is out of sight as is the towering shelving and overstuffed closet. One day I will share those corners of my room, but for now this feels like a good start. A friend of mine made a request recently for images of my home, and I realized how little of my home I actually share. It is such a comfort for me, yet is glaringly overlooked sometimes. I also noticed how much more art I make than is actually represented on this blog. I guess my art, like my home, like life, is a work in progress. I hesitate to share something until it's done, finalized, as if the process is somehow less important than the end result. This space holds all the half finished, just started bits of art that I cherish but don't always share. Sometimes this space groans under the weight of expectations and growing supplies that I place on it. But it's where I go that's just for me. It's there waiting for me at 2 am when my mind is racing. It's my safe haven where I can get the art out, and make what needs to be made. This studio of mine may be messy, and burdened, and over flowing, but it's there as I need it to be.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

In honor of Halloween and Day of the Dead I wanted to share this little piece with you. I made it as my trade for Journalfest, and all of the images are hand carved stamps by moi. I hope your day is spooktacular and you eat lots of candy, watch great movies, and have fun dressing up!

Back from Journalfest

I am back from the first ever Journalfest, hosted by Teesha and Tracy Moore, held in Port Townsend. Three days focused on what I most love to do (art journaling) was bliss. The classes were so varied as well as the students work, which really shows how diverse keeping a journal can be. The top left image is the cover of my journal in progress. Actually, all these pages are in progress, because very often there is just time to get an idea started, and it gets fully fleshed out later. My first class was Impulse Collage with Anahata Katkin (top center, top right, and bottom left). This was a phenomenal class for me. I feel that I already have a way of working and style that comes through my pages. But it is still forming, growing, and being influenced. Anahata is so generous with sharing her stylistic techniques which allowed me to see more ways of working an image and page. LOVED IT! And the student work was incredible in that class.

Day 2 was Love and Fear with Traci Bunkers (center left and center middle). This class was more internal and emotional, which is what I am about most days anyway. So it felt good to do writing about goals and affirmations and then translate that into pages. Much more work to do, but I am loving the direction these are headed in.

Day 3 was Words and Pictures with Theo Ellsworth (bottom right and bottom middle). Once again Theo got me thinking about drawing and doodling in a way I hadn't before. That there isn't a need to "make a drawing", but rather it can be an organic, growing process. I really learned something about myself. That though I am inclined to journal with collage and paint, drawing is incredibly centering for me. Time stands still when I put pen to paper, and the act of drawing becomes not only a record of my emotions and my life, but an act of meditation too. This is not a new feeling for me, but one I had not fully recognized. My hope is to make drawing a daily morning practice, because it seems to focus me and keep me from getting too scattered/distracted.

There is plenty more to share. Chad went with me to the retreat and it was such a good experience for him. We explored Bainbridge Island, Port Townsend, and Seattle at the peak of fall. So I have more pictures to show later once I have fully reentered. Many thanks to Anahata, Traci, and Theo. Each of you gave so much and I am deeply grateful for the learning and pure joy I experienced in your classes.

Here are the pieces I made in my recent intro to Silversmithing class. Taking this class was a dream I've had for as long as I can remember. My father made jewelry in the 70's before I was born and when I was an infant. I didn't grow up with him, but I did inherit his jewelry and have worn his pieces throughout the years. I remember wearing them as far back as middle school, looking at the rings on my fingers, the cuff on my wrist, and wondering how they were made. Now I have so much more appreciation for the massive attention to detail and laborious steps it take to finish one piece. And this is coming from a very patient person. It is definitely not a medium conducive to instant gratification. But the zen of sawing, the success of solder working it's magic, and making something from nothing is quite appealing. Needless to say I am about to start my next class.

Look at this crazy weekend weather we had! The trees were still a mix of summer green and fall gold and red when the first snow hit. Beautiful to see those rich colors contrasted with the stark, white snow. Now it is back in the 60's in typical Colorado fashion. It was a bit of an early snow, but so enjoyable. I went on my first "winter" walk of the season taking pictures of fresh snow and autumn leaves in the cold morning. The rest of the weekend was spent in the studio, journaling and painting. Looking forward to many more such winter weekends.

Sinners & Saints

This is a pice I did for a Round Robin journal project I am currently involved in. The theme of this journal was saints and sinners, so I chose the image accordingly. It was fun to create the good and the bad using the same angel/saint image. More subtle than the classic icons of evil, and much more human in that regard. Most of us delicately weigh our options, not really choosing between two polar opposites, but doing what is best in that moment. Only in hindsight do we usually see what our mistakes have been, and rarely are they worth regretting. Every twist and turn, every choice brings us to where we are now and helps to form who we will become. The next journal coming my way has such a great theme, Book of Magic Spells. I am so lucky to be able to work on this one during October!