COLOR Online in June

As promised, here are a couple of images from my color workshop at Studio Place Arts a few weeks ago.  My online version is "Unlocking the Secrets of Color", and consists of a six-lesson class with online discussion covering color relationships, vocabulary, and loads of exercises in using color.  As a one-day live workshop I sometimes call it "Color Theory and Practice".  We don't get through as much material in a single day, but students do come away with a framework for thinking about and using color.

Beginning a color wheel

Angela making a color gradation

Student work from Unlocking the Secrets of Color online

My next online color workshop begins on June 6. Read the description here.

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to go teach Scribble Collage at AVA Gallery in Lebanon, NH.  They have a great facility, beautiful classrooms full of light, and an awesome gallery with really interesting and inspiring shows.  The class is pretty full so far.  After class I'm driving to MA to see my parents for one overnight (and get in a Trader Joe's run), then teaching Fabric-Paper at Ink About It in Westford, MA.  That class is full plus a waiting list.  These both should be fun, as I will see old friends and meet new ones.  Thanks for visiting the blog!

Workshops at Studio Place Arts

I just did a really FUN workshop at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT last Friday.  We did Mono Print Collage, using the GelliArts gel plate.  I haven't had time to scan anything yet, but I'll post some photos.

Here are some of the papers we made:

 

 

 

Sally working on a collage-print:

A finished collage-print:

Marianne Mullen, the Creativity Maven, working on several collage-prints:

 

A couple of weeks ago I taught a color workshop at Studio Place Arts, but more about that in another post.  Thanks for visiting!

Mono Prints with Gel Plate

I am VERY busy with my two online classes, Sketchbook Practice and Text and Image, so I'll be posting a little less frequently for the next six weeks or so.  However, I couldn't help sharing this with you.  I'm sure many of you have heard of GelliArts' gel printing plates.  They are like very firm clear jello, but they are permanent, and you don't eat them.  For more information and video tutorials, go to the GelliArts blog or web site.  I've always wanted to try gelatin printing, but never got my act together to make trays of stiff jello.  This synthetic gel plate has been a blast.  I've added it to my vocabulary of scribble painting tools, and I'm exploring ways of making prints.  Here are a few images from recent explorations.

 This was made by pressing texture plates into the paint before printing; masking with sequin waste, and using my spritz-blot technique.

I had the idea of using string and thread as masking tools, and here is what I came up with:

This one is the "ghost prints" of another string paper:

On these next two I used "Plan B", described on GelliArts' blog.

In my Mono Print Collage class, which I'm offering at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT on April 20, we will focus on making richly printed papers, and then use those papers in collage.  I am, however, also figuring out ways of making prints, and I have a couple of early attempts to share with you.

I start with a sheet of printmaking paper cut to 8"x10", which is the same size as my printing plate.  I mask off the edges with 1.5" low-tack artist's tape.  Then I start printing, masking, collaging, and printing some more.  I have yet to get a handle on this technique, but it seems to offer loads of possibility. Let me know of your experiences with mono print, gel plates, or anything else!

Collage-A-Thon!

On Monday, July 18 I will be offering a Collage-A-Thon at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT.

Collage-a-thon is like a roto-tiller in the garden of your art-making practice. Churn up those ideas, get them out, let them breathe and give life to fresh work. If you are feeling a bit stale, in a rut, creatively blocked, or just want a day of fun artistic exploration, this workshop is for you! We will start with quick collage exercises, using basic materials such as paper and glue. We’ll move into the use of acrylic paint and drawing materials, and then work on small series. Give yourself permission to just create, without judgment, without pausing to decide whether a piece is “good” or “bad”, and without trying to finish each piece perfectly. We’re going for quantity here, sheer output; this approach lets you break free of limitations, and gets you out of your comfort zone and into new realms of possibility. Bring any papers or paints you would like to use or share, though I will be providing plenty for everyone.

Click here to SIGN UP EARLY for this, as there is limited space!!! (Description is towards bottom of the page; e-mail link is at the top of the page).

Color and Composition

I am offering my Color and Composition classes as individual one-day workshops at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT. Both of these are offered as online workshops as well, starting June 29.

Friday, June 10, 9:30 - 4:00 is Unlocking the Secrets of Color, in which we will learn to mix colors, alter their value and intensity, and use them to make beautiful compositions. Here are two examples of using complimentary colors in collage-painting.:

Red Square

Orange Circle

We will learn how to balance light values, dark values, bright colors, and neutrals, as in this piece entitled "Go!":


On Friday, June 17, also 9:30 - 4:00, is Keys to Dynamic Composition. In this class we will explore several different composition styles, including the grid:



The Cruciform:


The Abstract Landscape:


As well as color, pattern, texture, and other elements of composition.

By the end of this class you should have a better understanding of what makes a good composition and the many different ways of achieving this elusive goal.

Got to Studio Place Arts or register for an Online Workshop.

Thanks for visiting!

Tools, Not Rules

Next Friday, the 28th, I am teaching my Art Basics workshop for the first time. It will be at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT, and I am way excited about it. We're calling it "Creative Beginnings: Unlocking the Secrets of Color", just to have a fun title, but it is really about the basic building blocks of painting/collage: color, composition, and I'll cover materials as well - paper, paint, mediums. The class is almost full, but we may be able to squeeze in a couple more students, so if you are interested and can get there next Friday, call Studio Place Arts.


Yes, we will begin by making color wheels, and then various sorts of color gradations, just to see what to paints do, and to anchor the rest of the discussion and establish a vocabulary for the composition studies. My theme here is "Tools, Not Rules"; the color wheel and gradations, and the elements of composition are tools, just as your brushes, your eyes, and your palette are tools. They do not constitute a set of rules that must be followed in order to make good art.

Here are a couple of composition samples:
We'll be working "off the grid", doing lots of sketches and playing with variations.

OK, on to the next topic: the Sketchbook Challenge! I have found that I am reluctant to draw in my sketchbook because I don't want to "waste" the fine printmaking paper I used to make the book. Plus, I am just starting to draw, so my drawings are pretty basic. "Not worthy" of the fine paper or putting in a hand-bound book. See? So why not paint in my sketchbook? BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE TO PAINT IN A BOOK! Who knew? I prefer to paint on a sheet of paper. But today I seem to have broken through this little self-made obstacle. I just started doing color study/painting/collages in the book, and guess what: I feel freer doing these as "studies" in the sketchbook than I do when working on paper. Here are a couple of pages, and I'll do a post on the Sketchbook blog in the next couple of days.
Thanks for visiting!

Encaustics Experiments Continued

In my recent encaustic experiments I've been trying to embed texture such that it sits just beneath the smooth polished wax surface. I'm also exploring techniques for creating line. In the top image, I used Friskars plastic texture plates to get the swirly pattern pressed into the warm wax, then I applied further layers of encaustic medium, and scraped it back with a razor blade. The circle is made by incising a line into the warm wax, then filling it with black pigmented encaustic, and scraping it back. In the second piece, I scraped texture into the first layers of encaustic with various tools, then rubbed oil paint into it. After another coat of encaustic medium was applied, I incised the lines, filled them with paint, and applied yet another coat of medium. I am not looking for any particular result at this point. My experiments are just that, experiments, in search of whatever comes out. I got a sheet of birch faced plywood and had it cut into 8" squares. That makes 72 panels! Before applying the encaustic, I'm laminating each panel with a sheet of watercolor paper to give it a white background. Stay tuned!

I am finding these two books VERY helpful and inspirational: Encaustic Art, by Lissa Rankin, and The Art of Encaustic Painting, by Joanne Mattera. I'm also taking an encaustics and collage workshop at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT, on November 12. Beth Kendrick is a fabulous teacher!

Studio Place Arts Workshop

Here are a few pix from the Scribble Collage workshop I did at Studio Place Arts in Barre, VT last Friday. The top photo is a collage I did: I challenged myself to make a collage with ONLY scribble painted papers, no layers and layers of paint, as is my usual m.o. I found myself paying a lot more attention to composition, but it didn't seem to cramp my intuitive style. Five fabulous and creative women came to the workshop, and we spent the whole rainy day happily making gorgeous papers and then using them in collage. All of the participants claimed to be beginners at art, but they showed sophisticated visual sense, and picked up on the techniques quickly. I love teaching this workshop! The next one I'm teaching at Studio Place Arts will be on January 28. I'm offering an Art Basics workshop focusing on color, composition, and materials, and using paint and collage as the medium. More about that as I develop the projects and themes. Thanks for visiting my blog! And thanks to those of you who have taken my workshops!

encaustic experiments

I took a one-day encaustics workshop back in April at the Studio Place Arts in Barre, Vermont. I got OBSESSED with it, of course (everyone who tries encaustic seems to get obsessed). Eventually I set up a workspace in my studio devoted to encaustics, and have been experimenting a bit. A little bit, that is. Between collage-painting, teaching workshops, and still doing some freelance art, I haven't carved out nearly enough time for this, but little by little... baby steps. So today's project was to experiment with ways of getting a smooth surface and translucent colors. I set up a heat lamp (the one I used to brood baby chicks this summer) over my substrate (plywood laminated with hot-press watercolor paper) to heat it up before applying the beeswax and encaustic medium, and I kept it warm between applications. Way more experimenting to do with this heat lamp set-up, but I did want to share this one little result. For the forseable future, my encaustic "pieces" are all to be viewed as playgrounds. Experiments. Not even works in progress, just playing around to get a feel for the material and practice techniques. OK, I mentioned the chickens. Here is a picture of them on their first day at my house back in July.