"Layers of Memory and Imagination: Women in my Family"

Two weeks ago I taught a class for PSU at Mt. Hood Community College. This group of students was engaged, verbal, and creative.

Friday night involved lecture and discussion of how women's participation in all aspects of life was missing from history books and general knowledge until about 30 years ago. At that time, women scholars began to unearth the stories of "ordinary" women, as well as those who were well known in their own time.

We talked about how strange it can feel to take a womancentric view of history. We discussed stories of women who came before us in our own families, what we do and don't know about them, and what we imagine they were like.

Saturday the students did creative projects, focusing on a woman or women in their families whose life inspires them and whose history is important to them to record and remember. We discussed how it is important for us to know the stories of those who came before us and who helped shape who we are.

The creative projects were focused on the good qualities and strengths of the ancestors or relatives, but we also acknowledged the mixed feelings that we all have toward close family members. Several students said the projects helped them integrate their feelings about the women they chose to portray.

This student had a great time aging a photocopy of her great-grandfather's citizenship certificate. She made a collage of the "aged" document and included photographs of her great-grandparents who immigrated to the U.S. She also included photos of her grandmother and her mother. The flower designs on the right are photographs of her grandmother's china, which she insisted on bringing with her when she left her homeland.


This collage is dedicated to the student's grandmother.It includes a copy of one of her grandmother's favorite hymns, photographs, and symbols of her grandmother's favorite pastimes.

This abstract collage caught the essence of the relative honored.

This collage has a lift-up "veil" to symbolize the inner self of the student's mother.

This student made a colorful freeform collage for her grandmother. Her mother-in-law took the class as well. I regret that the picture I took of the latter's collage didn't turn out--you'll have to take my word for it that the piece was evocative and moving.

This is what the student's assemblage for her mother looks like when closed.

Here's the assemblage open. The piece is complexly layered in execution and in meaning.



This student turned an old piece of cardboard into an elegant triptych for several generations of women in his family.

Here a student made a touching assemblage for her mother and sisters. She showed her mother before and after her stroke, and said making the assemblage helped her begin to adjust to the change.

This exquisite assemblage honors a close friend who died young. Underneath the lacy paper is a drawing by the student of her friend.

This assemblage honors several generations of strong women.



A rich collage of gratitude for women family members.

This collage celebrates the student's immigrant grandmother's love of her
new country.



This collage honors the Mexican heritage of the student. She chose vivid colors reminiscent of Mexicio. She placed "rayas' like those shown in images of the Virgen de Guadalupe, around a photo of her grandparents.

This picture is too blurry to really show this collage, but it shows a bit of the glowing colors, set off by black and white photographs and text.

My apologies to those whose work was omitted because the photo didn't come out right, or whose work was shown blurred! If anyone wants to send me a better picture I'll put it in this post. Next time, I'll be sure to charge my camera battery before class. Thanks to all of you for a wonderful teaching and sharing experience!

Treasure Chest , "Modernostalgia" and Student Work

Here's another garage find. Roy, Dale, and Trigger on the Chow Wagon.

Last week I bought a present for myself, something I'd been coveting for several months. Near my dentist's office is a store called AM Living that contains eye candy galore, much of it with a European feel. I made a point of stopping in there to comfort myself after a series of deep gum cleaning sessions. It's hard to describe the contents, so I suggest you stop by this downtown store and feast your eyes and imagination.

Not mentioned on the website are several old writing or jewelry chests found in India. Mine cost less than some, because it had more restoration, but there's still plenty of original charm. And it was on sale: 40% off!

Here's the outside of my wooden treasure chest with metal inlay

Inside view--that's the old mirror in the center in the inside lid

Of course, this chest fits my aesthetic perfectly. My rationalization for purchase is that it would inspire me to create and to work steadily on the garage-to-studio-project. (How about GASP for short?) So far this reasoning has worked. In the chest now, I have inks, pens, sealing wax, old postcards, acrylic ink, pen nibs, a few marbles, and stamps (rubber and postage).

All the lids come off and the sectioned compartments all come out. No secret compartment found yet.

Glass pen, ink, sealing wax, and seal

Can you stand more pictures of my treasure chest? Hope so.

Acrylic inks

Rubber Stamps

Inlay on front

Speaking of my aesthetic, I have just discovered Rebecca Purcell, a talented artist, writer, and lover of what she calls "Modernostalgia." I recommend her site and in particular her article here. She has interesting viewpoints on the importance of vintage everyday artifacts as design and art elements and in affirming women's affinity for the personal and well-used. Rebecca is the author of Interior Alchemy. I am saving up for a used copy of this book. It is not inexpensive, but Must Have It!

From Interior Alchemy

From Interior Alchemy

Rebecca's spaces and work appear in the new issue of Where Women Create, a quarterly magazine full of delicious pictures of women's art studios and shops. I got my copy at Paperdoll, where I'll be soon be teaching Altered Alchemy (there's that word again) and Assemble Your Muse.

Student Work Photo Gallery

Lisa's second encaustic piece--intricate carving and painting! (Art of Life Group.)

Jodi's encaustic combining movement and stillness in a harmonious way. (Art of Life group.)

From the PSU class "The Helpmate and the Courtesan." This student dressed herself as a woman of the past in her collage of Veronica Franco, poet, and Judith Leyster, painter.

From the PSU class: A student's fictional diary entry for Veronica Franco.

Student working on a collaging her personal journal for her creative project.

A fictional diary entry for Judith Leyster. I think this student was channeling her, the language is so perfect for the time in which she lived!

Trash and Treasures in the Garage

Tuesday I worked for several hours on The Great Garage Cleanup Project, and managed to throw away and recycle tons of stuff. I also organized items in boxes to redistribute somewhere else. I felt so energized and excited to have made a beginning toward studiohood for the garage. I was surprised and pleased to discover several items of sentimental value that had been missing or forgotten for years.

Organization begins

My friend Julia came over today and we threw away a bunch more trash and I found a few more treasures. Going through the stuff in the garage is like reviewing my whole life, but randomly. Here's the first membership card I ever had, though I'm sure it was not safeguarded by me when issued. The Cradle Roll refers to the baby care at the First Congregational Church in Eugene where I was deposited when my parents attended services.

Am I still a member?

I've been wondering for years where the next two items had gotten to. They're photographs of my great-grandmother, Mary Belle Denhart, and her cousin Carrie.

Great-Grandma Mary. I love the leg o' mutton sleeves. She was an excellent seamstress, and probably made this dress herself. I remember her a little bit. She used to call me "tweety heart". I thought she meant I was like Tweety Bird in the cartoons. That was okay with me.

Cousin Carrie

I found another missing picture of me with my first baby. I'm so happy to have found this!

Me with Baby Karuna

Here's an old Fifties dollhouse that I bought years ago because it was the same as the dollhouse in my first grade classroom.

The dollhouse interior. I also found "Prince Albert in a Can", a leaving from former owners of the house.

To explain the Prince Albert reference to those not as ancient as I, in the "olden days" kids would phone a store and ask, "Do you have Prince Albert (tobacco) in a can?" When the owner said he did, the kid would say, "Well, why don't you let him out?" Great yuks in olden times.

The dollhouse nursery. Wow, a soldier. Just the thing for a nursery...

I found this poster from the old Portland Women's Theatre Company, whose boards I trod back in the 80's. This is a timely find as the PWTC is about to have our first reunion in many years. This came about due to the efforts of one of my students at PSU. I had told her about the company as she is doing a project on Social Change Theater. She was excited to know about this piece of Portland women's history, and tracked everyone down for a reunion next month.

Pretty good poster for the pre-computer cut and paste era. I think Laurie Vail was the artist.

I also found a bunch of my kid's drawings and school papers. My son had done an exuberantly colored tree. The teacher's written comment was, "Take More Time." Pooh. Fortunately my son's creativity and dash still flourish.

Ah, Sweet Miscellany of Life

The Horror, the Horror!

Why am I publishing these frightful images that should stay locked in a chest at the bottom of the sea? Maybe because the more I desensitize myself the easier it will be to start clearing out the garage-to-be-transformed-into-a -studio. (I need to think of a shorter name, or an acronym.) Maybe the more I share the truth the more courage and motivation I'll have to start the purge. And maybe I hope the studio fairies will take pity on me and do it in the night while I'm asleep.

The Horror # 2

How Did This Happen?

Besides all the c--p, there are a few cool things in the garage. There are a bunch of vintage doors and window frames, a WWI footlocker (I'm keeping that), a bunch of vintage glass light covers, old stretcher bars (come an' get 'em), squirrels, a hula hoop, old nails, geegaws and doodads, and who knows what else.

This weekend I taught a PSU class, "The Helpmeet and the Courtesan" about Dutch painter Judith Leyster and Renaissance poet Veronica Franco. My camera battery gave out. I then went to my phone camera and one of the students took photos also. It seems my camera battery charger has gone walkabout, but I have another on order. So here a just a few photos of class projects with more to come as soon as I can liberate the images from my camera. This was a very lively and involved group and I had much fun teaching the class. The projects included: painting, assemblage, poetry, fictional diary entries, and collage.

Lisa's first portrait painting on the inside of her assemblage. The image is of Judith Leyster.

Katrina's assemblage, view 1

Katrina's assemblage, inside view

I tried equalizing this seemingly all black picture I took at The Art of Life group several weeks ago. Here are Sarah, left, working on a project, and Jodi, consulting her muse. The image came out yellow, but at least it isn't just a blank anymore.

Sarah and Jodi

I was thinking this is a pretty disjointed post, but it occurs to me there is a theme: Transformation.

A Beginning, "The Forgiving Medium", and Next Month's Workshop

Extreme Makeover Needed

This doesn't look like an art studio, does it? It is the first "before" picture of my project of turning our freestanding garage into my new studio. A momentous step occurred today when a man from Cascade Auto Auction removed the old Honda which has been sitting in the garage, since 2002. (Embarrassing but true.) I was happy to donate the car to the "All Classical" local radio station in return for their broadcasts of glorious music. Next step, clean out the rest of the junk that's accumulated for the last 18+ years. I'll keep you posted on the progress of the makeover. It's pretty daunting, but I'm trying to keep focused on one step at a time and on the vision of a spacious new studio where I can work and hold classes with plenty of room and the tools and supplies I need (including an exhaust fan.)


Last Saturday I held "The Forgiving Medium" workshop at The Art of Your Life Studio. Originally I had five students, but due to schedule conflicts and family emergencies among the participants, I was left with two. I held the class despite the low number, and I'm delighted that I did! Robin and Lisa were wonderful class members. They experimented with various techniques and produced some fascinating work.

The two came to the class from different painting backgrounds. Robin is an experienced painter and teaches classes herself. She said she likes to be back in the role of student sometimes and experience how others teach. She also likes to put herself in what writer Natalie Goldberg calls "beginner's mind" in order to work differently than she usually does.

Lisa brought the one acrylic painting she had done before taking the class. She didn't think much of it, but Robin and I noted that she has a good eye for color and brushwork. Lisa comes from a creative family and it didn't take her long before she was coming up with bold and colorful work.

We started out just painting strokes on canvas paper using a variety of mediums for different effects. I had faux and real pears available as models. Lisa admitted to being a perfectionist so I suggested she start out using a painting knife and a heavy body medium. She was able to let loose and produce this brightly colored pear.

Lisa's second painting ever

For her second project, Lisa used a drawing gone over with glazing medium.

Robin experimented with a metallic gold paint and a transparent iron oxide paint mixed with glazing medium. She produced what she decided was a lovely background. After we put it on the wall, Robin said she saw the shape of a woman in the design. After she pointed this out, I saw the same thing. Robin then defined the shape she saw into an image. It was brilliant but a bit tricky. She wanted to define the image just enough, but not make it too tight. It worked out wonderfully. I love it when images seem to appear by magic and inspire us with what we need to complete the work.

Robin's mystery woman emerges

Lisa's still life in progress

Lisa's third project was a still life. Below are a couple of closeups of this piece.

Lisa's pear close up. She used glaze medium blotted with a paper towel to get this rich texture.


For the grapes, Lisa added a bright red over a dark purple.

Robin's layered, fascinating plant piece.

Robin decided to work from life on this piece, as she usually works from her imagination. It was a challenge for her to stay loose as she painted using a plant as a model. When the painting seemed a little stiff, she added broader strokes and more color. She then scraped away some of the paint, making the image more and more interesting and complex. We were all thrilled with the result.

Robin's small pear--it seems alive!

Robin painted a pear on a 4" square canvas using a painting knife. It's not easy to work that loosely on such a small canvas, but she got a lively and beautiful result.

Robin with today's paintings in the background

Today's work. At the bottom you can see part of Lisa's first painting that she brought. She may add to it later, now that she's experimented more.

Thanks, Robin and Lisa for a great workshop!

Cindy's window to the world

At the Art of Life group last week Cindy shared this painted window frame that she did for her windowless office. We're eager to hear what her office mates think when they see it--our group is certainly impressed and delighted with the new "window."


The next workshop at The Art of Your Life is one of my favorites. It actually starts at SCRAP and then moves to the studio. Hope to see some of you there! (You can register online here.)

Closeup of Jodie's assemblage from the last assemblage class

Assemble Yourself!

We’ll meet at SCRAP (School & Community Reuse Action Project) as it opens at noon. Your goal is to spend no more than 10.00 collecting all kinds of found objects, paper, fabric, and valuable junk.

When we go to the studio, you’ll create a 3-D collage that expresses your dreams, using the supplies you found at SCRAP. More supplies, including cigar boxes, will be available in the studio. You'll leave with a unique assemblage, perfect for a special gift or cherished keepsake.

February 8, 2009: 12-6 pm

Tuition: 75.

The Art of Your Life Studio

971-404-7664

serena@serenabarton.com

Last assemblage class at work (or play)