First Workshops of the Year

The first workshops I'm teaching in 2011 are coming right up next week at Ink About It in Westford, MA. On Friday, January 7, it's the Panel Book, which is a special kind of accordion structure. We'll begin by creating a couple of simple accordions, and then move on to the panel book. Saturday's workshop is the Dream House Collage, in which we make a collage house structure using foam core. I know Sue Bleiweiss, from The Sketchbook Challenge, will be taking the Dream House workshop, and I can't wait to meet her in person! Both of us will be bringing our sketchbooks to share.

Clothesline, More Stages

OK, here are three more "stages" of the piece that I posted on December 22nd. Not sure where this is going. I've totally forgotten about the composition sketches I did before the painting. I think I'll let it sit for a while and see if it is finished or what else it needs.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday! I sure did. We have loads of snow here in Vermont. A true snow day. And fortunately, we haven't lost power yet.

The Sketchbook Challenge starts on Saturday, January 1. I can't wait to see what the first theme is! I hope you all will sketch along with us and post your pages on Flickr.

My first workshops of the year are at Ink About It in Westford, MA on Friday, January 7, and Saturday, January 8. Friday's workshop is the Panel Book, a particular type of accordion structure. In Saturday's workshop we'll be making a Dream House out of foam core. I'll post pix soon. Thanks for visiting!

In Stages

I've been asked by several of you if I could show a few of my pieces in stages of development, and that last post was something like that. The Sketchbook Challenge has got me thinking about process, and spending more time in the development of an idea. I don't ordinarily post pix of pieces in stages because I never know where a piece is going or if it is even going to make it. I don't want to interrupt the process to go scan something (I generally scan my pieces in at least two parts and then put them together in Photoshop). But since sketchbooks and therefore idea development are going public for the Sketchbook Challenge, here is a shot at showing a piece in progress. First, my fountain pen sketches in my tiny (4.5"x6") sketchbook. Then "Stage One" of a composition. And just for good measure, a photo of some of my sketchbooks.

In case you are wondering, here is how I did the "Stage One": 11"x11" watercolor paper; couple coats of gesso; lay down color (Naples Yellow); make big shapes (Jenkins Green and Quin. Gold) and press or draw texture into them; a layer of clear medium - can't remember what; scrape some Pthalo Turquoise over the green, let some green show through. Stop, think, scan, Photoshop, post a blog about it.... If this goes anywhere, I'll post the next stage.

Out On A Limb part 2

Thanks for your comments on the last two pieces. I decided that this bird one, Out On A Limb, was not quite done, so here it is in its later incarnation. I'm never sure if anything is done until it sits around a while to "cure".

Just Some More Work

OK, I'm going out on a limb here a bit and showing two pieces I'm not sure are finished yet. I guess if I'm going to be posting sketchbook pages, I may just as well post unfinished or not-sure work. Thanks for all your comments and insights about sketchbooks!! I made myself a book for 2011, and am dying to start drawing in it, but I am just going to have to WAIT! And use my other books in the meantime. No shortage of them!

I haven't posted any of my 2011 workshops yet (and I WILL!!!), but so far I'm teaching at Ink About It on Jan. 7 and 8; Studio Place Arts on Jan. 28; AVA Gallery and Art Center on April 29 and June 24; Art Unravelled (site will be updated soon) on August 7 and 8; my own studio August 15 - 19; and at InView (near me in VT) sometime in early November. I'll be filling in other dates as they come up. I've applied to teach at CREATE in CA in May and Chicago area in August. We'll see.

Holy CROW!!!

This Sketchbook Challenge thing is really taking off!!! And I feel like such a newbie, since my sketchbook habits are a bit underutilized. I have been using sketchbooks more often recently in order to generate subject matter, ideas in terms of Things, not just color, pattern, texture, etc. etc. We'll see where this goes! Come along with me, and please send me your comments, advice, suggestions, and constructive criticism. One thing I would like to know from you, if you do sketchbooks/visual journals, is: if you know you are going to show your pages to people (post them on your blog or web site), how does that affect your creative process?

Meanwhile, back at the studio I'm still working on collage paintings. Here are a couple of birds. More on the way. Thanks for visiting!

Sketchbook Challenge

I've been invited by Sue Bleiweiss to join a sketchbook challenge group starting in January 2011. I've never been particularly good at joining groups or making art according to someone else's direction, but I checked out the other artists in the group, and they look absolutely inspiring! I'll post a reminder early in the year so you won't forget to join in the challenge. I've got to choose which kind of sketchbook I will use. Shall I make one by hand? Get a spiral bound one?

Meanwhile, I am still working in collage painting, and would like to incorporate subject matter into my work. I have found Katherine Dunn's book, Creative Illustration Workshop for Mixed Media Artists, a real inspiration. Her style is SO different from mine, yet I feel a real connection to her work. Above are a couple of pieces I've done recently that are directly inspired by Katherine. I hope to evolve this into something more my own.