Pictures from Art and Soul Retreat Portland

Finally, I'm catching up with blog posts. I have lots of wonderful images of student work from my classes at our recent Portland OR retreat. It's taken me a while to collect them from my camera, tablet, and phone. And--we instructors and organizers have been busy preparing for next year's retreat here in Portland!

I'll be telling you about our exciting lineup of classes for 2015 soon but first I want to share this work below.

The first section of photos is from an evening class called "A Strange Little Book." Students decorated pages to become part of an unsewn book. We used cold connections of wire and embellishments to fasten the books. I think this work is awesome, especially as the evening classes are less than three hours!

I'd love to  have some images of these books all completed, hint, hint:)

The pictures below are from another evening class, "Waxing Literary with Charlotte." The students waxed vintage books with encaustic medium and paint. They added collage and embellishments, including a Frozen Charlotte doll in each one. I love how differently and beautifully they all turned out!

I'll soon be posting photos from my class, "Papers Wabi-Sabi" on my other blog. A hint about next year--I'll be teaching the class again with the addition of an evening class with Liz Kettle, who will be showing you how to sew a tote bag from your decorated papers! (If you've taken the class previously, bring those papers to Liz' evening class and sew them up!)

The Hunting and Gathering Report (with collage pages for you)

After my chiropractic appointment this morning, I took my newly aligned self for a little walk around Portland's Brooklyn neighborhood. I chanced into Brooklyn Antique Mall, full of reasonably priced goodies of all kinds. 

Today's Haul: An old Arabic/English dictionary, a 1918 Spanish textbook, a reversible Japanese purse, and a plastic thingy that should be great for cold wax texturing.

Side View of Dictionary

Front of Dictionary

Japanese Purse: About 5 x 6"

Reverse Side of Purse

There are some loose pages in the dictionary that I'll use for collage. I've scanned some of the pages as well as some from the old Spanish textbook. The textbook is ideal for an altered book.

Love the circular library stamp!

Below are some high resolution images from today's finds for your collage enjoyment!

Art and Soul Retreat Portland is almost here!

On the Brink
Vintage book, encaustic paint, teabags, vintage embellishments, chicken wire, plant material
I'll be teaching this class,"Waxing Literary with Charlotte" at Art & Soul

I'm so excited for Art and Soul which starts April 7 in Portland. I'll be teaching two day and two evening classes. I still have spots open, so check out my classes and those of all our wonderful instructors. Even though I live in town, I'm going to take a mini-vacation and stay three nights in comfort at the Red Lion Inn at Janzen Beach. Can't wait to hang out with instructors and students from years past! It's like a big family reunion (without the dysfunction:)

Friday of Art and Soul week I'm going to take a class myself from Jane Davies. I'll be sure to show you what I create in the class.

For the latest hunting and gathering report visit my Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop blog.

Valorie's collage from "Layers of Memory and Imagination"

Valorie, a student in my online class, "Layers of Memory and Imagination" ( at Creative Workshops) sent me a picture of her new collage creation . Here's what she says about it:

"This one is based on what I learned from lessons 1 and 2. I am really enjoying the videos. This is 8 x 10" board, using acrylic paint, re inkers and glazing medium and Neo color pencils. Thank you! Now I see some things I want to clean up a little bit so I will likely add more but this is the basic piece. I have several more in progress I am eager to play with."

This piece is so atmospheric! I can't help but start to create a narrative in my mind while at the same time I enjoy the mystery. Just lovely, Valorie!

More Mosaic Collages and Encaustic Class Reminder

More mosaic background collages from Linda Kunsman! The below is from her blog. Check it out to see this and other inspiring work from her.

 
Those of you who stopped by last week know I shared my enthusiasm for a tutorial  YouTube video Serena Barton shared on her blog recently. Curb your enthusiasm? Not me! If you didn't check it out, go here for the links. I have two more canvases to share this week :)

  This is how the canvas started:

                                                   just  squares of paper scraps in my stash


   And finished:

                                                    Seek Within      (6" x 8" canvas board)

Reinkers, acrylic glazing medium, blue acrylic paint, card stock stencil, door image (Paper Whimsy), recycled dryer sheet, dress pattern tissue paper, typed words, pencil, black ink pad.

  the second canvas base:

  And the finished  canvas:

                                             My Heart Has a Window    ( 6" x 8" canvas board)


Reinkers, glazing medium, green/ green black acrylic paints, Victorian pattern wall stencil, window image and girl image (Paper Whimsy), found words, recycled dryer sheet, black ink pad.

 What I love most about creating these is just laying down the various papers,  seeing the transformation and  really just playing with mixes of reinkers and glaze directly on the substrate for some really good results. I either start with a word/ sentiment or an image and go from there.  BTW, Serena kindly took the time to send me a note and share my work on her blog. She also heartily agreed that if you create something inspired by her videos or her book or classes to contact her and let her know.  I so appreciate the time she takes with everyone and the fact that she has given me a way to put my  art and spirit into these projects.




Thank you, Linda!


                                                                          ***



Reminder to those in the Portland OR area:
Coming up on March 8

 

Chosen        Encaustic/Mixed Media on Wood Panel

  Layers of History with Encaustic

The translucent qualities of the encaustic (beeswax and resin) wax medium and paint create depth, mystery and complexity. You will learn to make encaustic medium and encaustic paint, incise, add oil paint, use cheesecloth, specialty papers, and more You'll leave with several paintings and/or mixed media pieces and all the information you need to get started on your own!

March 8, 2014 1-5 PM
Tuition: 90. Supplies included 

Register on my website

Creative Work from My Online Class

I'm excited to share images from students in my online class,  "Layers of Memory and Imagination" at Creative Workshops.

Valorie sent this image of her first collage inspired by the class. I love the energy in this piece and the way she created a visual narrative for the girl in the center. Valorie thought the collage was a bit busy, but I think it works great, as the focal image of the girl is so strong and because Valorie tied everything together with her bold color scheme. Great work, Valorie!

12x12" canvas board, acrylic paint, photocopy, glazing medium, alcohol ink, collaged papers.

I've posted several pieces by Linda Kunsman on this and on my Wabi-Sabi blog. Here's an excerpt from her blog showing the collage she created after viewing my recent tutorial from my "Layers" class. The transformation of this rich collage is amazing. Beautiful and evocative!

"My last project for today was inspired again by Serena Barton who recently posted a You Tube tutorial on her blog. For some reason I wasn't able to put the actual video here but you can use this link or go here to see it. It is really worth watching!

 My stretched canvas began like this:

 And here is the finished piece:

                                                         Beautiful Dreamer (6" x 8")

   Vintage image; patterned papers; dress pattern tissue; stencil; reinker glazes; acrylic paint; black ink pad.

  I've already begun two more canvasses which I'll share when completed. I'd love for you to share if you watch the video and create your own project (and I know Serena would too:)!



That's right, Linda, I would! Thanks to Valorie and Linda for sharing their lovely work.

And the Winner Is...

Cissy is the winner of one of my new wabi-sabi DVDs from North Light. Congratulations, Cissy! I hope she won't mind if I share a description of her from her blog.

I was exposed to art at a young age. My mother was an elementary school art teacher, therefore we always had projects around the house. I in turn, did the same with my three children, painting and drawing with them as toddlers. Although I took some art classes in college, I am primarily self-taught. I didn't start seriously painting until the summer of 2008 when I became interested in the emotions of non-objective paintings by use of mixed media and collage. Recently, I have been experimenting in oil paints. During a difficult and trying time in my life, I picked up a brush as means of an outlet. I found inspiration from a song, a verse, a friend. My paintings are statements evolving from personal experiences in my life. By not being bound by any realistic representation, I can communicate through my work, my feelings, gratitude, faith, and my past. They often give a glimpse into my life, a reflection of myself.

I can relate very well to her process as I'm sure many of you can.
Here's a link to Cissy's blog.

Thanks so much to all of you who posted. I loved learning about your wide range of current projects and I will be exploring your blogs and sites for weeks to come.