Radical Layering Workshop at Tanque Verde Ranch

Radical Layering is the name I'm giving to a process of collage and sanding, with layers of paint and drawing. You can see my video post here. I taught this workshop for the first time last week at Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, organized by Madeline Island School of the Arts. They offer workshops at their home campus on Madeline Island (WI), and in the cooler months in Santa Fe and Tucson.

We had a FABULOUS time! What a great group of women - brave, fun, willing to work way outside their comfort zones. And they made gorgeous, surprising art. The ranch was not so shabby either. It borders the Saguaro National Park East, and offers many hiking/riding trails on its own property, as well as great food, two swimming pools and hot tubs (indoors and outdoors), beautiful views, a spa....

Here is a peek at some of the work we made (there is more on Facebook!), along with a few images of the workshop and the environment. Enjoy!

Demo piece, 11"x14"

Demon piece, 11"x14"

Using the brayer to lift paint

The dining room building at dusk, photo by Shelly Campbell

 

Eileen taking a walk, photo by Shelly Campbell

Sanding on terrace just outside our classroom, photo by Shelly Campbell

Demonstrating the sanding process, photo by Shelly Campbell

Student work in progress, 11"x14"

Student work, maybe in progress, maybe finished, 11"x14"

Student work, in progress or finished, 11"x14"

Student work, 10"x10" approx

Student work, 10"x10" approx

Student work, texture detail

Student work, 14"x11"

Student work, 10"x10" approx

Thanks for visiting. I will be back at Tanque Verde Ranch in January 2021, and also January 2022. Check MISA's website and my calendar updates.

Radical Layering

Here is a video on a process I'm calling "Radical Layering". It involves many layers of collage and paint, and then sanding down the layers with a power sander.

There are a few spaces available, due to cancellations, in my Radical Layering Workshop in Tucson next month. See details here.

First, some examples of finished pieces made with this process:

11x14

11x14

11x14

12x36

12x12

The Body of Work

From the previous post you will see that several people expressed the need for more focus. They feel like they are all over the map, artistically, and have a hard time deciding on a direction. In my workshop "The Body of Work: Freedom and Focus",  I am addressing this exact issue. I think many of us feel like we get pulled from one medium or type of imagery to another to another, and we feel like we "should" settle down and focus. Me too. All the time.

Look at this more-or-less random selection of my work from the past few years:

These are all different sizes, from 10"x10" to 36"x36". I just re-sized them for ease of layout in Photoshop. To me, these are all over the map, and each one is part of a different series. What do you see? I also work in encaustic occasionally, and dip into oil media as well, so that takes the work in yet more directions.

I think as artists we NEED the freedom to explore broadly. I also think there is a time and a method to focus and go more deeply into a particular exploration. There are just a few spaces available in my workshop at Madeline Island School of the Arts in July, where we will tackle this issue and move more easily towards building bodies of work.

Prints and Transfers

I teach a workshop called "Monoprint Collage" in which we explore gel plate printing techniques along with collage. For this spring's edition of Monoprint Collage, in Santa Fe, I will be including some deli paper transfer techniques. The video below shows just one of the fun ways you can use deli paper as a printing plate and transfer paper.

Deli paper blobs, scribbles

Deli paper blobs, graphite scribbles

Deli paper blobs, line transfers, scribbles

 

Deli paper blobs, scribbles, and collage

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Back from Madeline Island

Wow!  And island in Lake Superior is a fabulous place to spend a week.  Here are a few pictures of our Series As Process workshop at Madeline Island School of the Arts. In addition to the workshop space being well appointed and well laid out, the meals were terrific, there were beverages of all sorts available at all times (water, seltzer, coffee, soda, wine) at no cost, great wifi in every building, and bicycles available for anyone's use.  The staff seemed delighted to attend to our every need.  The studio is accessible twenty-four hours, so students could work at night if they chose, or go in early in the morning.  And the island is beautiful!

Big Bay State Park is just up the road, with hiking trails, beaches, places to jump into the lake.  And the Big Bay Town Park offers access to a beautiful lagoon and an awesome beach, with canoe and kayak rentals.  With daylight extending until about 9:00 pm, I was able to explore both of these parks in the evenings, hiking along the shore, canoeing in the lagoon, and I did jump in the lake (brrrr!) too.

I will definitely be returning to MISA in 2019, July 22 - 26.

One Student's work on one project

Demo example, in process

BIKES!

Series of Texture Studies

I've been looking at visual texture, which is to say "implied" texture, or very shallow physical texture that is enhanced by paint.  Here is a series of studies that explore texture against flat color and line work.  The translucent paints, like the Quinacridone Gold I've used here, are great for getting texture.  Opaque colors like the white an bits of turquoise (not sure how I mixed that) are good for flat areas.  These are all 10"x10" (20x20cm), acrylic on paper.

Texture Study #1

Texture Study #2

Texture Study #4

Texture Study #6

Texture Study #7

Detail of Texture Study #7 above.  You can see that just the brush strokes of the previous layer offer a great opportunity for texture.  This is simply black paint applied to the surface, then wiped away.

Working in series like this is a great way to explore different options within a focused area.  I am teaching Series As Process, in which we take this approach, at Madeline Island School of the Arts in July.  Take a look here, and register soon, as there are only a few spaces available.

Series As Process

I am teaching my Series As Process workshop at Madeline Island School of the Arts in July.  Focusing on a group of paintings, rather than one painting at a time, is very freeing in many ways.  If "creating a series" sounds intimidating at all - as it does to me: it conjures pressure to finish a number of paintings so that they all hang together - consider "working in series" as a process.  It is the process of keeping multiple paintings in the works at once, so you don't get stuck on just one.  It gives you a way to move forward and gain momentum, and get OUT of the habit of becoming stuck.

I've talked about a recent series here and here. 

Here is part of a recent series of Big Fat Art pieces.  They are each 19.5"x25.5"

What makes them a series?  It's an attitude I brought to the work as I worked on these and others over the same period of time.  More finished pieces came out of this, but many many more of them are still in the works.  I like having a lot of works in process so I have room to play!

Three more  in the same size as above, that emerged from a process of working on multiples.  These are brand new (and photographed in bad lighting with my iPad, not professionally done) and I am excited to continue in this direction.

Below are some of my 4"x4" pieces from 2013 - 2015.  I've grouped them in "sub-series", as I generally worked on them in groups of six to eight at a time, but I consider the whole project as one series.  It is based solely on the size, so I was free to explore any content within that format.

See details and register for my Series As Process workshop here.
Thanks for visiting!

Working in Series - a Perennial Topic

Many of us tend to work in series, whether intentionally or not.  What I mean by 'series' is really just a group of piece that hang together in some way, be it thematically, or in terms of visual vocabulary or technique.  Here is a video I did a couple of years ago about beginning a series:

I am offering my Series As Process workshop at Madeline Island School of the Arts in July.  MISA is a new venue for me, and I am excited about it!  Northern Wisconsin in July, studios open 24 hours, and housing and meals on campus.  Sounds like the perfect retreat!  

This is the one I worked on in the video. The next three are subsequent pieces in the same series.

• Working in series allows you to explore ideas more thoroughly, give them some breathing room.
• Working in series gives you the opportunity to try out different solutions to visual “problems”, and explore multiple possibilities.
• Working in series gives your art practice focus and momentum.  Rather than face the blank canvas with too many possibilities to choose from, the parameters of your series create clarity of intention.
• By considering the series the basic unit of art making, you lose the preciousness of the individual piece, the fear of “ruining” it, which can keep you stuck.  Get un-stuck by working in multiples.
• Committing to a quantity of pieces allows you to push through blocks and discover new solutions.

Below are three more series:

This is an ongoing series of 4"x4" pieces which can be mounted in different configurations.

This is part of a series about edges, each is 12"x12"

A subset of the 4"x4" series I did a few years ago.

 

In this workshop we emphasize the series as a way to format your art practice, rather than a method of creating a group of finished pieces.   Get un-stuck, and give your work new focus and momentum.  It's FUN!