Pictures from "Wabi-Sabi Workshop"

Lots of texture, scraping and piling on of paint and medium. Yummy.

I had a wonderful, magical time at Art Unraveled. In telling about my adventures, I'm starting with photos from the class I taught there. I had 18 students, all of whom let loose and did some amazing work! I hope I got a photo of everyone's work, if not, I apologize for the omission. My hastily taken photos can only approximate the delicious-ness of the work produced!

The circles on the lower part of this piece were made with alcohol ink.
The vertical shapes were formed with candy wrappers.

Texture, drips, and circles combine into a rich piece.
The slate alcohol ink sets off the warm orange delightfully.

The red spatters really set off this minimal, yet complex work.

The lovely variations in surface and color were done
with what the student termed "the dirty paper towel" method. It works!

A palette knife produced these superb brushstrokes and textures.

This student used cut out pieces of bamboo printed
paper to set off this evocative landscape.

This textured landscape composition gets its powerful
"Sweet Spot" from the vertical stripe of blue at upper left.

This piece soars with textured and colored paper and vintage
book pages. Collage with a painterly effect.

Payne's Gray and a "dirty" pink combine beautifully in
this piece, together with a textured collage element.

Rich tones and a subtle use of textured, lacy paper produced this grouping
with an aged and mysterious feel.

Gorgeous fall hues with great texture variations.

This encaustic-like piece has soft layers over a base layer
of a free-form ink design. The work seems to shimmer.

This fascinating piece begins with gauze and a painting knife.

Rich blues and siennas layered in complex textures.

The first layers go on.

Another wonderfully complex, "dirty towel" piece.

Layers of paint, ink, and gauze created this enchanting piece.

I want to go to this gorgeous place--such richness.

I provided written and visual prompts for the students. One used her haiku prompt to wonderful effect as shown in the next three photos.

"A Mountain Village/

under the piled-up snow/

the sound of water."

The bird image came from a cheaply printed "throwaway" paper, whose qualities made it blend in subtly and powerfully.

A vibrant and glowing piece. The student worked on
the piece from this direction, and she was reminded of trees.

I first saw this piece in this direction--being from Portland,

I of course saw a bridge!

Representational images, texture, and swathes of color combine
seamlessly in this dreamy landscape.

Metallic paint adds a subtle glow to this piece. I can almost hear the water in it.

Two hymns to color and joy.

An eloquent small piece done on cardboard expresses the essence of Wabi-Sabi.

This piece completely captures
the texture of the rocks and the light of the area
where the student hikes in her faraway home.

I wish I'd had time to take photos of all the work from this class. Many pieces not pictured still stick in my mind. A heartfelt thanks to the students from this class!

Goodbye, Sophie and more art

Sophie a few years ago

Our beloved Sophie cat died yesterday, age 19 years and 8 months. It was time for her to go but she'll be much missed. It's the end of a long era. Sophie used to watch "Night Court" every night with my daughter when the latter was in high school. Even when Karuna wasn't home, Sophie would go in the TV area at 5 PM, waiting for the show. She fought at first with Emma(who we got during the first year we had Sophie.) They later became good friends until they both got old and cranky. We lost Emma a few years ago and Sophie grieved. Sophie had little use for Lester, the cat who adopted us a couple of years ago. She put up with him, but let us know she thought we were out of our minds to give him house room. She complained a lot and ruled the roost. Thank you, Sophie--we love you!

*****

Tomorrow I leave for Art Unraveled. A week of teaching a class, taking classes, no housework, and meeting wonderful students from all over. Whee!

The Beginning

Me ha dado tanto

Ghost River

Boating in the moonlight

Sunday night we celebrated my son Ian's birthday by taking him and his fiancee, Ruby, on a "Moonlight Paddle" on River Lake, a tributary of the Columbia. Despite all my stepfamily and my partner being avid kayakers, I had not even stepped into one before! It's never too late, and I had a wonderful time. Can't wait to go again. The event was put on by Ridgefield Kayak who did a wonderful job.

I don't have any photos yet, but the "Wabi-Sabi" piece below is an impression of how I felt as we paddled in the light from the full moon with small lights clamped onto the back of each boat. We paddled up to a beach where we picnicked and roasted marshmallows. The area where we were was once home to about 900 Native Americans. It must have been so incredible then...

Moonlight Flit

I made above piece by pouring on self-leveling gel medium, troweling in extra heavy medium and letting the piece dry. Then I added re-inkers and acrylic paint. The colors wouldn't come out right in the photo, but it gives you an idea.


I've been making Wabi-Sabi samples like mad for my upcoming teaching at Art Unraveled. Below is one of my favorites.

Big Love

(Re-inkers, acrylic paint, acrylic medium)

Another Chance for Altered Book Workshop

Anyone want to make an altered book on July 30 or August 1? An art lover from Texas will be here in Portland on those days and would like to attend "Altered Alchemy" with other students. Please let me know here if you'd be interested!

New Encaustic Work

Lessons of History 20" x 16" Encaustic/Mixed Media




detail of above

Shipwreck
20" x 16"
Encaustic/Mixed Media

Demeter Wept
Encaustic/Vintage Book/Mixed Media

The Medium (New Version)

12 " square
Encaustic on Panel

Return to Blogland with a Few Pictures

Catching up before I leave for Art Unraveled in two weeks. Hope you're all having a wonderful summer!

Carol and Rob with Cannon

Once again my family trooped out to my stepdad's woodlot for the annual 4th of July picnic and shooting of the cannon. You can see the tiny cannon at the bottom left of the picture above. It came from a 19th century riverboat and was used to signal that the boat was coming around the bend. Though small, the cannon is Loud!

We all have to plug our ears

My grandson and I had a great time recently at the OMSI members' night. We viewed the Einstein exhibit and Dexter got a chance to see himself as a TV weatherman.

Dexter as OMSI Weatherman

Dex in Space

This past Sunday Marie Schumacher, a wonderful singer/songwriter/music director, held her birthday party at my studio. She and six other women experienced my workshop, "Journal to the Center", an introduction to visual journaling.

They started with preparing painted backgrounds and then received a prompt for their first page.

Birthday Girl in foreground

Some of the women said they tend to be more left brained but once they got going their creativity blossomed. One attendee said her mind was filled with the exactness of measurements for her current kitchen remodel. She took off once she found out what a little bling can do!

Before bling

After bling!

A delicious unifying yellow

Subtle purple and lively green make a great combo

A soft glaze brings this bright collage together

Bits of red make this page pop

Marie's lovely "older and wiser" pages

This page creates depth with lights and darks, writing and images

An unusual and compelling use of space brings movement to this page

PSU Summer Class

Attention PSU Students!

If any readers are currently PSU students, I'm looking for you! I am scheduled to teach my four credit class, "Women, Creativity, and Healing", this summer term on the main campus. The class covers many women, famous and not-famous, who have used their creativity to heal themselves and their communities. You'll make an altered book, have spirited discussions, and explore your own creativity.

This is a great class to teach and to be part of. Feel free to contact me with any questions. The class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays in Cramer Hall from 4:30-7. You'll find the class online at the PSU website under Women's Studies, WS 399. Register online.