A Great Resource

A sweetheart from The Vintage Moth

Hey, all you collage artists and those who love vintage photographs--I just found out about an amazing site called The Vintage Moth. Abbie has 2010 (2011) if you count me, followers and you may well want to join us. In addition to showing us her own lovely art, Abbie gives away, yes gives away, a large selection of vintage photos from the 19th century and other times. What a generous spirit! Check it out!

Photos from "Living to Paint/Painting to Live" at PSU

Some images of the wonderful work created by my PSU students this weekend in "Living to Paint/Painting to Live". The students outdid themselves on their creative projects for the class!
The class covers the lives and work of Sofonisba Anguissola, Renaissance Italian painter and Artemisia Gentileschi, Baroque Italian painter.

Tammy's piece in process,
inspired by Judy Chicago's place setting
for Artemisia in The Dinner Party

Roxanne's standing piece for Sofonisba,

featuring text by Sofonisba and a burnt-out heart,

referencing the artist's marriage for love in middle age

Stephanie usually makes functional ceramics, but
today she made her first sculpture, of Sofonisba

Pam created her first pastel painting--Artemisia from the artist's self-portrait

Pamela referenced Sofonisba's black clothing and white collar, along

with Sofonisba's style of painted hands. In the center, Sofonisba

winks at us, which refers to the artist's visual wit and coded messages

Monique's collage contains symbols of the wide eyes with which
Sofonisba viewed the world, and the expressive eyes and faces
that populate her paintings. The blue waves symbolize the ocean
where Sofonisba met her future husband, whom she married for
love against familial and political pressure

Monica created these altered book pages for Artemisia, the

blue referencing Artemisia's self-portrait as "The Allegory of Inclination"

Heather painted this pastel portrait after one of Sofonisba's self-portraits

Karleah's piece combines collage and original drawings in honor
of both Artemisia and Sofonisba.

Gail painted her first picture ever for this piece to Sofonisba

DeeDee created this collaged and painted piece for
Artemisia. The painted face on the left shows Artemisia's
strength, while the prone figure on the bottom represents
Artemisia's attacker, Agostino Tassi, in the guise of Holofernes

I'm sure some of these names mean little or nothing to the readers of this blog, but my hope is that some of you may be inspired to check out the work and lives of these two remarkable women. Here are some places to start for Artemisia Gentileschi and Sofonisba Anguissola.

The Medium

Encaustic Medium (beeswax and microcrystalline wax) on Wood Panel
12" square

I played around some more with this piece and am happier with the new result. I'm getting the hang of the micro wax now, and was able to get a smoother effect all over. I wanted to make the medium more wispy. I blew her hair around and added some deliberate drips. Now she looks like she is in a pleasant trance. Someone from the beyond must be giving her a positive message. (This image is digitally altered as I took the original picture under artificial light so I could post it now. Natural light will provide a better picture later on.)

Sometimes it is hard for me to tell if I like a piece once it is finished, or I think it is finished. Sometimes I try to convince myself I like it when really something is niggling me about it. That's when it's so important to put the piece aside for awhile, which is hard for me to do. I get impatient, and want it to be "right" this minute! This is one good thing about having several jobs (art-making, teaching, and counseling). It's hard to switch gears at times, but getting away from the studio sometimes saves me as much as going into it does. This painting is a case in point. Now I am happy with it, and am okay with it if others like it or not. I need to remember that when this feeling comes over me, to leave the piece alone!

Anyone have any thoughts on that age old question: How do you know when your piece is done? How about you writers out there--do you have as much struggle with this as we visual artists do?

Waxing Experimental and Poem Prompt

The Medium (large detail)
Beeswax, microcrystalline wax, pigment

I'm fascinated by the creative process and how inspiration ebbs and flows. I tend to have a low ebb during the winter. I want to make art but I feel uninspired and inept. Even though I'm always working with people to mobilize the muse, I am not exempt from roiling with frustration when she takes a vacation. As spring returns so does my inspiration, and I now have a series I'm working on and another percolating.

The above cropped images shows the newest in my series of encaustic faces. I tried something really different this time--something I've long been curious about but afraid to try. This bold move involved adding some microcrystalline wax to the beeswax I use for encaustic painting. I melted the micro wax along with the beeswax. I was relieved that the delicious beeswax smell wasn't compromised (I've heard micro by itself smells awful.) I was also relieved to have an exhaust fan in my new studio, as micro wax is more toxic than beeswax.

Why did I want to do this, you may wonder? Why make my already challenging life more difficult? (Aside from many personality quirks that could provide explanations.) For one thing, one of my favorite encaustic painters for many years, Tony Scherman, uses micro wax exclusively. He creates haunting, atmospheric portraits that I've loved for years. In one of his books he states that he is able to create more detailed work with micro wax. So, I've wanted to try it but feared the toxicity and felt disloyal to The Cult of Wax Lovers. I mean, beeswax is IT--it is the bee's knees. It smells delicious and natural. I love it. But it was interesting adding a bit of the micro. Microcrystalline wax is also less expensive than beeswax, so there's another, though lesser, consideration.

The micro was more plastic and moved around more, for want of a better way to put it. I did feel like it made the medium work more like oil paint. The micro-enhanced medium took longer to set, which took some getting used to and it set very strongly when it cooled. I'm going to try some more experiments and I'll report back!

The image above was scanned, so it shows more details than a photo. I usually like photos better, as you get a better sense of the whole that way. But, since we're focusing on technique here, it's good to see the details. The subject of the painting reflects my fascination with the Victorian's fascination with spiritualism. Hence the somewhat creepy medium shown here. And of course, I can't resist puns--something my 10 year old grandson and I have in common.

Transfers

I posted this demo photo transfer piece recently in a post on my photo transfer workshop. My partner borrowed it for her blog "workshop/playroom" page where she posts writing prompts and the results her readers submit. April is National Poetry Month, so her prompts now revolve around poems. She used my piece for a visual prompt and I am pleased to share the result.

Here's what Deb wrote in response to this piece:

Ephemera

in those moments
of wanton want
i know you told yourself
pain
would be transitory
and fade
behind spattered veils

so you pasted
your flesh
on
my
body
confused canvas
hidden

willful artist
how did you choose
which pieces
of love
to tear
and paste
which soul
to slash
and reassemble

your words
soothing
embedded fear
on
my
body
preserved
shame
encaustic heat

Deb totally "got" the narrative in the collage and added layers of emotion and immediacy. I'd love to do some teaming up with writers, prompting each other with poems and stories on one hand, and art works on the other.

• Note

I have one or possibly two spaces left in the upcoming encaustic workshop. Here are the details:

"This is your chance to fall in love with the aromatic, luminous, and versatile properties of beeswax in the form of encaustic painting! We will cover basic techniques such as building up layers, fusing the wax layers, adding color, including collage elements, and incising. We'll explore various heat tools and many design elements. No previous art experience needed, only lively curiosity and a willingness to risk addiction to painting with wax! "

April 24 1-5 PM
Tuition: 75. All supplies included.

Go here to register and here to see photos of my work and of student's work.

Pictures from "Transferred Secrets"

Karol's blender pen transfer looks like a
great colored pencil drawing

Last Saturday I met with Karol and Cynthia for a wonderful afternoon of playing with photo transfers. We covered three kinds of transfer: gel medium with inkjet prints, clear packing tape with laser and magazine images, and blender pen with laser images. Here are a few of their experiments:

These gel medium transfers have
the effect of tinted photos.

Cynthia's gel medium transfer figure has packing tape transfer wings.

Cynthia made use of dried teabags also to excellent effect.

Here are some of the sample transfers I made:

I did this one over a transfer that didn't work,
leaving the striated image under the paint. The
main image is a gel transfer and the text is a
packing tape transfer.

Packing tape transfers from magazine
images with a band of fabric added at the bottom.

The images of people and the old window are
packing tape transfers. I also used an old dress pattern,
rubber stamps, teabags, novelty tape, a dried flower,
and some vintage lace.

This blender pen transfer is from a laser black
and white copy, as is the image below.

There are so many ways to transfer images! I feel like I could collage forever with just these three methods, but I do enjoy many more and am always learning new ones. I love the way transfers add mystery and subtlety to my collage pieces.

Here's how to do a gel medium transfer:

I use Golden soft gel medium in semi-gloss or gloss. Coat the surface of the support where you want to put the transfer. (We found that mat board works great for experiments.)

Place the ink jet image face down into the gel and even it out. Burnish firmly for a few minutes--I like to use a plastic paint spatula, but we had great success last weekend using a credit card.

After burnishing, use light sandpaper gently on the back of the transfer to loosen the paper a little. Then spray water on the back of the transfer and gently, so gently start to peel away the backing. You will see your transferred image begin to emerge!

After the backing is off, I coat the transfer with the gel medium to seal it. The gel medium transfer is the trickiest method of the three, but when it works well it produces a lovely, ghostly image.

Altered Books from Women, Creativity, and Healing

I brought the books home in a suitcase--
just like Christmas waiting to open them!

My Winter Term PSU class, Women, Creativity, and Healing, ended a couple of weeks ago. This class was held in Salem through the Extended Campus Program. Few of the students had heard of altered books and none of them had made one before. I think some thought I was kind of nuts at first. But everyone came through with creative books that covered the subjects we discussed in class. Congratulations to all!

This student's cover was made with wadded paper
dipped in coffee and embellished with coffee beans
and foil candy wrappers.--we were all in awe!

This lovely page was done in response to our viewing art
and reading prose done by women surviving breast cancer.

(Sorry about some of the pictures being blurry!)

The students created their own special super-hera
( new female form of hero) or goddess--here we
see one student with small kids as SuperMom

Students were free to add subjects or interpret subjects
in their own ways. I can relate very well to these pages!

This student left the title of the book she altered,
while embellishing it with lush colors and textures

Sometimes just a visual is enough to say a lot...

A spirited tribute to our foremothers
(My spell check doesn't think foremothers
is a word--what's up with that?)

A unique and delightful cover

Another personal and inspiring cover

Just enough of the original cover left to say it all

This cover took form from a great quilted
piece the student had kept around for years

This is a rich Dios de los Muertos page for
our section on grief and remembrance

In two days I begin this same Women's Studies class on the PCC Rock Creek Campus. I feel so privileged to teach this class for PSU and to get to go to different locations. Each class is different, but the students all extend themselves to do some personal as well as academic work and to bond with each other in support.

I'm going to put in a plug here for Dot Hearn's blog. She is having a giveaway of Bonnie Hearn Hill's new book. Bonnie and Dot aren't blood relations--Bonnie was married to Dot's uncle for many years--but they share a passion for writing and reading. Stop by and read Dot's interview with Bonnie and enter the contest! I often find wisdom on this blog that applies to visual as well as written art, and Bonnie's interview certainly made me think and inspired me.

I loved Bonnie's book, Aries Rising. It is a young adult novel, but I was glued to it despite my having passed that age many eons ago! I look forward to the next in the Star Crossed series. And the book doesn't have any vampires or zombies! What a relief...Just good, entertaining, and thoughtful writing.

Hunting & Gathering We Go, tra la

Vintage Suitcase from The Village Merchants Store on Division

It'll be garage sale season soon, so just as a practice run, I've been doing a bit of Hunting & Gathering. I stop at the Goodwill in Salem which is just down the street from where I teach a PSU class for the Extended Campus Program. This has been a fruitful source of bargains, both sartorial and artistic. Today I went to the SE Art Walk. The most wonderful item I acquired was a pair of earrings. I stopped by Cheryl Cook's booth at Portico, where she gave me lovely earrings that she had made for me for my birthday last June. I hadn't been able to attend the annual gathering of four Birthday Girls where we exchange gifts, so she still had these. Thank you, Cheryl, for the wonderful treat!

I was just going to photograph the earrings for this post, but my camera battery ran out--later, you'll see them. I also stopped at the nearby Village Merchants second hand store, one of my favorites. I'd almost gotten out of there with nary a purchase, when I spied the above suitcase outside the store. I love old suitcases. This one was in great shape with a gorgeous pink lining with little pockets. The price was right, so now the suitcase is in the studio holding my hand made books.

Closeup of side pockets

Etsy is also a dangerous place for me to browse. I am thrilled, however, with my new shoes that I got from an etsy seller. Back in my youth in the 60's I wore a size 5 1/2 AAAA, so you can imagine that I had a terrible time finding shoes to fit me. There were so many adorable styles then that I had to do without.

Now that I wear a 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 B, I can find lots of shoes, but still love the 60's styles the most. My new shoes below had never been worn and came in their original box. The original label was on them telling me that they sold for 10.00 back in the day. Allowing for inflation, I got a good deal. They fit, and I love them! I got them from BabyHaHa, so check out her etsy shop.

Little black shoes, little black shoes...

These babies came home with me today. They are
Saks Fifth Ave. and seem hardly worn. They called to
me from the window of a vintage clothing store on Division.

A little bit of art, now...

Medici Princess Bride
Encaustic on Wood Panel
10" x 10"