"Transferred Secrets" at Art is...You in Petaluma

 I taught this evening class at the Art is...You Retreat in Petaluma last month. We covered three kinds of transfers: blender pen, gel medium, and packing tape. The students played with these methods and incorporated them into collages.Very lovely work!

Dolls for Big Girls at Art is...You

 I'm delighted to share these pictures from "Dolls for Big Girls" at Art is...You in Petaluma. This class was developed by Judy Wise. She was unable to teach in Petaluma this year and asked me to teach the class for her this time. I took Judy's class a couple of years ago and have been making dolls ever since.

I took pictures of the dolls in various stages of creation. It is so amazing to see lumps of Sculpey clay become little people with their own personalities!


 

This mischievous elf appears in a later picture, suitably aged

We all loved her sweet face

Look at this sculpted hair! You'll see it in living color later.

Such elegant braids!

Waiting to bake

Disembodied parts cooling after baking

Now he's subtly aged--I love him but not sure I trust him...

My demo doll left, Judy's mermaid, center, and my Miss Havisham, right

Glazing the face

We were in awe of this graceful arm and hand

Spiky hair in living color!

Coming to life with this great face

What an expressive face!

She looks alive and about to get up and dance

Time Travel: An Altered Book Diary: Pictures from Art is... You Retreat

Here are some pictures from one of my workshops at 
Art is ...You. Hope you enjoy them!

Time Travel Journal

In this workshop, students created an altered book journal in the form of a diary or journal honoring a  person or being they admired. You can see here how the work progressed, and I have included some of my class samples as well.

This student begins a journal written from the perspective of her great-grandmother

  The addition of a lace collar brings the old photo to life

My demo pages

The lacy page above was made by coloring with a white neocolor crayon over collage. I then used packing tape printed with a lace image over the layers below. The result looks like it was embroidered. On the left hand page above, I pasted a lightweight beige tissue onto the book page and then wrote on it with a steel nib pen and walnut ink.

 

 A beautifully decorated page using rubber stamps,

Tim Holtz tissue tape, added text and color

 

The beginning pages of a book dedicated to the Divine Feminine

 The student utilized the original design on the book pages, layering them with translucent colors, and adding text.

 

  Delicious pages to the Hindu Goddess, Kali

 

 Pages to Radha, consort of Krishna. 

The student combined a collaged image of a pillared pool, and image of Krishna and Radha, layers pf paint, and additional images to make a luscious whole.

The gold leaf embellishment was the perfect final touch for this page

 

A page from my demo journal

 

Wabi-Sabi Wax at Art is...You Petaluma

From Wabi-Sabi Wax

  

 This was the first of seven classes I taught at the West Coast Art is...You retreat last week. The retreat was fabulous, from the organizers and the adventurous and talented students to the helpful and friendly hotel staff. I have a lot of pictures to show you in upcoming posts, so I'll get started.

In this workshop the students worked in encaustic and mixed media to create images in the Wabi-Sabi style. We also got a couple of architectural details painted and decorated in what we called "Wabi-Sabi Steampunk" plus an ordinary wooden round box was transformed into an ancient looking treasure box.

Thanks Sallianne, Ellen, your helpers and all the wonderful students!

 

Focused on Retreats

Sample Work for "Who's Your Mummy?" at Art and  Soul

I am sooo busy getting ready for Art Is...You coming up soon in Petaluma CA, and for Art and Soul Portland coming right afterward. I'm so excited to be teaching at both of these wonderful venues. I'll be teaching 7 (!) classes at Petaluma, as I've taken over 3 classes for another instructor, and 3 at Art and Soul. If you don't hear from me for a while, that is why!

I've still got New Mexican folk art on the brain, as well. Here's the latest: