TINY BUBBLES...LET THEM BEGIN!

Happy New Year (inspired by Jacki Long)

Beginnings and endings...this day into night marks them for so many of us. At this time of year, rather than resolutions, I strive to embrace something, while letting go of something else. There are always possibilities.
What will those things be for 2018? I don't yet know. I DO know that I seek to explore more, to spend more time with family and friends, to say "yes" to more...the list is unending.
Workshops are a place I am already stretching
and hoping for changes. The schedule has only 
just begun to show up.It will start with some 
fun in January creating fun figures in collage and
move in February to an intensive image transfer
session. I hope many of you will join in for the
fun.

Always possibilities

CHRISTMAS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Baja Christmas tree

Remembering Christmases past as we nudge ever so close to Christmas present.... This one was several years ago, celebrated with great friends in beautiful Baja along the coast, camping.In spite of tight quarters for packing I had dragged the makings along with me. This holiday was our last Baja trip and holds many fond memories.
What will Christmas present hold? Time spent with close family, watching the grandchildren go wild will be a cherished memory just as the camping one from the past is. We hope for many more memories to be made as we move forward and hope the same for all of you. 
Cherish the memories from the past, enjoy these present moments, and hold bright possibility for the future.
Happy Holidays to all!

OH, BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

There IS a song in my heart. Winter Solstice is here and it actually feels like winter. How long will it last? Not long, I hear. But for now, enjoy as it helps with the season. 
2017 is nearly gone and it has been quite a year on many fronts. Workshops are done for me for this year and I look forward to the possibilities for those to come in the new year. 
Creative possibilities, as always, abound. Look for more birds in new and different ways in 2018 along with a continuation of the Celebration of Women series. The latter is my quiet show of defiance and I have a lot of fun with it so why not, eh?
Meanwhile, Happy Holidays to all! Keep a song in your heart too !!!!

OH, WHAT A DAY!

Evening sky

It was yet another great Mixed Media Playtime workshop. A wonderful group of women. Good food. Champagne and carrot cake. Art questions and solutions. Great conversations. As usual, I was just too engrossed in what was happening to take any photos, but the sunset put the cap on it when we were finished.
A lovely, lovely day! I am soooo fortunate to do what I love.

DECEMBER ART JOURNALS

December entry

This month marks the final entry into the latest of our round robin journals. The year began with 12 of us each making our book and designing the cover. The book was then sent to the next person on the list who had a month to play with their own inside spread. On it went at the end of that month to the next person.
These journals are a fun adventure in creativity, allowing each of us the opportunity to try out new techniques. The end result is, hopefully, a treasure for the original person to keep and learn from as well. It has been fun!

AND THE ROGUE'S GALLERY GROWS

Silver haired lass

It is a busy time for us all, that is for sure, but I am not much inclined toward Black Friday or Cyber Monday so have been busy adding to the GALLERY.I am grateful for the time to do this and hope you like the new images...as well as the old.
All of the images in the gallery are available as reproductions on wood, 8" x 8", ready to hang, $70. They make fun gifts for friends and family members.  Celebrate the women you know and care for.
Contact me: cherril@cherrildoty.com

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF IT ALL

Susie

In spite of the downer of having a bad chest cold and having to cancel most of my activities, the week had a few creative "ups" to it as well.
Two custom pieces got finished at last--Susie and Mary. Both had me wondering at times why I do custom work, but ended up pleasing after a few false starts. (I'm pretty sure most of you artists can identify with the problems here.)
Journal work for November was finished and mailed and December's journal is moving apace.
But the big accomplishment...at last there is something on my GALLERY page. While not complete as yet, it is a good start and something put off far too long. Check it out! Just click on the GALLERY page in the right side column to see it.
These small feats remind me of the statement that it is not about judging the work, but DOING it that counts. Back to work!!

NATURE INSPIRES ONCE AGAIN

Evening view through the bamboo

I've been a bit pissed ever since my husband's bamboo planting began to take out some of my views. Nevertheless, as so often happens, there are some quirky rewards. Peeking through the bamboo and holding it a bit aside I was able to get this shot of the sun's beautiful reflections in clouds over the ocean. I was thrilled...and once again, inspired!

GLORIOUS FALL!

Look closely at all the shapes and colors!

My daughter sent me this picture from Long Island in New York. I was impressed with the myriad colors and shapes and textures presented. Not sure exactly why but it was just what I needed to get myself in creative gear and I have been working non-stop ever since. I cannot wait to see what transpires.
I love the happenstance of it.
What inspires you?

TRICKS AND TREATS AND JUST PLAIN FUN!

From just a few of the techniques learned

Sunday's workshop was just full of fun techniques, many of which turned into Halloween fun in honor of the season.
We played with backgrounds, adhering materials, skins, image transfers and more while munching on good food...and treats (Nadine's pumpkin cookies were a big hit!)
We spoke of many things--upcoming trips, tests, book clubs, and lots more while getting to know each other in the midst of all the creative energy. 
What a full and wonderful day! I'm always grateful and happy that I have this opportunity for teaching...and play!

ROAD TRIP REDUX

Oregon color at Natural Bridge

Another road trip with daughter Jenna has ended. This year we headed north to Oregon and Washington. We were just ahead of California's disastrous wildfires. As we traveled through wind and smoke, we were saddened for all the terrible loss.
On our hikes to so many beautiful waterfalls, through so many heavily forested areas in Oregon, we met some interesting people and got some good exercise. Then, Jenna's knee acted up and our travels became a bit more sedate. Still great though to be in the beauty of it all.
Heading through Portland to Port Townsend, around the Olympic Peninsula and back up to Gig Harbor we saw many sights and visited with friends. Then, down the Oregon Coast before heading back inland to Ashland and straight down the 5 to home. 
A great trip! It was good to be away from news, social media, and traffic while seeing so many wondrous sights. I look forward to the next road trip, but for now had better hustle to get ready for the upcoming mixed media workshop and finish commissioned pieces put on the back burner til now.

10/5/1937

Today would have been my dad's 103rd birthday. A really happy guy, he lived his life with ease and played right to the end at age 90. Though he had macular degeneration and was mostly blind, even in his last week he played golf with his buddies. They graciously would help as needed and he loved the game, just as he had so loved basketball through his first thirty-five years. 
This isn't anything about art, but since play is so important to art in my mind, it seems appropriate to honor one of my "sources" on this day.
Happy Birthday, Dad. You may only have made it to 90, but you live on in all of us.

WHAT A DAY!

One of the many images we played with today

Wow! I'm beat. But what a great way to wear myself out...a day steeped in creative energy. We had stretches, successes, failures and flops, good food, great conversations, and more. It was a day of ease in joyful creativity--something I for one had missed. Looking forward now to more of the same in the next months. Mixed Media Playtime is just that--playtime! And like a child after playtime, I'll sleep deeply tonight.

SEPTEMBER SONG

Gone today

September is waning and there has been so much going on.The first workshop is tomorrow, is full, and I am really looking forward to both the teaching and the doing.  
Thanks to friend Laurel I was able this summer to have reproductions on wood of many of my celebrated women. They have been very well received. This lovely lady to the left is a 16x16 reproduction of a portion of a large piece that sold this summer. A fun guy came in on the last weekend and asked if I would take the "Sold" sign off the original. I laughed, but it opened the possibility and so today he picked up his slightly canted version of the original. 
So forward...what will show up tomorrow? I have birds on the brain right now...maybe.

FRESH STARTS

Footprints in the sand

Each day I have started to write a post for this blog lately has ended with one word--"delete." I just could not get out of my own way I guess. Frustrated by many of the things not going my way, I managed to miss all those things that were good. 
I am blessed to be able to do the work that I love. I am grateful to live in this beautiful place where I can walk on the beach each day and see things above and below me that are purely wonderful.
So get off it, Cherril.  Move on and make a fresh start with this new week stretching out ahead.
Play! Let the joy rise up to the surface.

JUST DO IT!

Just did it!

The turnaround for this month's Round Robin Journal just seemed to come up in my face way too fast. Booth teardown from the summer's Sawdust Art Festival, stitches in my hand that hampered, clean and clear stuff that had been waiting too long, appointments put off until now...just too many things screaming to be done. Creative play just did not seem in the cards. Still...I felt guilt at not pushing myself harder. To just write "save for Cherril" seemed a cop-out. So I pulled the journal right back out of the envelope and went to work. Such a satisfying thing to do. Innovative? Ground-breaking? Nope. But an accomplishment nevertheless. Mailing tomorrow...on time even :) And I loved having the creative time and my fingers in paint once again.

JOYFUL END OF SUMMER TREAT

The best of uplift

Be sure to see this invigorating show at the Laguna Playhouse through September 10th. What a treat!
Joyful!
Interesting!
Rollicking!
Leaves your head and your heart singing!

AND THEN THERE'S LIFE

Left hand but still much used--normally

Went into the doctor with a painful pimple-sized growth I thought just might be yet another of the skin anomalies. Biopsy said I was correct--squamous cell. No messing around. Sawdust Art Festival or not it was coming off. This made the final week of the show a bit cumbersome, but no more so than the darned humidity and heat!
In so many ways this seemed like another long summer and yet it went by quickly too. It was a good summer all told and I am happy to be rid of the squamous cell dude--stitches out next week and I get to go back to the gym tomorrow and return to creative work next week along with a bit of PT.
Life just gets right in the path of our plans some days, but we adapt, eh?

I'VE GOT THE MUSIC IN ME

Just one of many

Got on a Barry Manilow kick this week thanks to one of our local trolley drivers. It got me thinking about what drives me as an artist.  "I've been alive forever....I am music and I write the songs. I write the songs that make the whole world sing. I write the songs of love and special things....Oh my music makes you dance and gives you spirit to take a chance....I write the songs."
My fingers constantly play a song on my steering wheel only I can hear. It feels the same is true in my art. The difference being I do share the art. Anyone is welcome to join in.
The summer long Sawdust Art Festival is drawing to a close. I hope to see some of your there to enjoy the music in the art and in the air.

MID-WEEK MIXED MEDIA FUN

Sawdust Art Class

While the Sawdust Art Festival continues through the summer I am unable to offer the usual weekend five-hour workshops. However, that does not mean that creativity has to stop for any of us.  Wednesday evenings I teach at the festival itself. The classes alternate: 
In Studio One from 7 to 8:30--$2 to make bookmarks/gift tags with Faith Fontan and me.
        August 2
        August 16
        August 30
In the Jewelry Classroom from 7 to 8:30--$45 gets an hour and a half of mixed media fun with a glass of wine or beer and you take home a finished piece, matted and ready to frame.
         August 9
         August 23
Why not come down to the festival and enjoy the cool breezes, entertainment, an appreciation of many kinds of art, AND a fun mixed media class?  Hope to see you soon!

MOODY MUGGY SUMMER

Mother of Exiles

The Emma Lazarus poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty is a not so gentle reminder of what our country has long cherished. We are a melting pot of cultures and countries that is currently challenged in these troubling times as to how to continue upholding these values while protecting our shores. So it seemed fitting that, as a part of my Celebration of Women series, the Mother of Exiles (as the Statue is called in the full poem) be represented. Come see the complete collection of women at the Sawdust Art Festival until September 3, Booth #202.

AH, THE COMPLICATIONS!

selling now!

Complications continue to arise as the summer season gets underway, yet all continues to seem wonderful and the days are filled with joyful moments.  
The Celebration of Women series showing at the Sawdust Art Festival in my booth #202 is being well-received for which I am ever so grateful.  
Exciting news is that I have begun doing reproductions of the ones sold on wood and they are really beautiful, top quality pieces.  YAY!!
So, complications aside...all is well!

LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN!

The very first of so many

A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN: the series

The presidential election of 2016, while divisive on many levels, seems to have catapulted women into joining together in action on many fronts. Following in the footsteps of many honored women before them--and creating some paths of their own--these women are marching...speaking up...speaking out...standing together...demanding many long-needed changes...showing unquestionable courage, strength and determination.

This series, showing at the Sawdust Art Festival from June 30 thru September 3, is in honor of all of those women and the many others who still have no voice or who have been silenced.

Change is in the wind...Watch out!

LEMONADE FROM LEMONS

Postcards to business cards

Last year when I ordered postcards for the Sawdust Art Festival to hand out I received 1000 printed with markings and margins...ugh! These were then replaced by the company, but what to do with the ones made in error? I used many as "identifiers" on back of work, but still there were sooooo many remaining. Just sat down with them last night and turned the ends into business cards. Why not? There seems never a reason to toss things if only you turn on your imagination!

RUT OR SERIES??

"Resist"

Friend Catharine had a birthday recently. Here is the piece I made for her then.  It was so much fun to create something specifically for a person I know. 
There will be a lot of these pieces this summer at the Sawdust Art Festival. I had been asking myself the question was this a series or a rut until I did this one.  Not a rut, but sure a level of creating that I love.
Hope you will all come to see the entire collection/series this summer. 

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MAY?

Section of the 20 x 24 "I plead the first!"

Well, no question but that preparation for the summer festival has taken precedence for the past month. Still...I should have been able to get in a couple more posts. 
It was a busy month with birthdays and play dates with grandkids and creativity galore. Gotta say it has all been pretty much fun and I find myself giggling a lot!
There is almost a month left before Preview Nite and there is still much to be done, yet if I don't finish even another piece I will be fine. 
I look forward to the summer as it is going to be a great one, filled with joy and laughter and new friendships mingling with old.
Here comes summer!

HALF AND HALF?

Half way through May. Half way through Sawdust Art Festival booth building.Half way through many of summer's decisions. I am grateful for this dose of half full and am moving on completion of all (well, maybe May could slow down just a bit :)) 
Looking forward to the summer's art festival while still in the midst of springtime happenings. I am co-building with artist Laurel Meister and anticipate a joy-filled shared space. (This, too, half and half.) We are right near the entrance behind this year's "Selfie" bus.
I will be teaching my last Sunday Studio Workshop on June 4th and then all teaching for the summer looks to be at the Sawdust every Wednesday night (halfway through each week).
Sure hoping to sell more than half of the fun art I have created for this special summer festival and that more than half of you will come see me.

CODA

Scenes from the fundraiser

In January many of us gathered together in my studio with guest instructor Catharine Cooper to create some fun canvas bags for this fundraiser to help those in need in Loreto, Baja California.  
Here are some pictures from the event itself, held in April. I can spot several of the twenty or so bags that our group made. And it looks like everyone had a great time while raising a good amount.

WHY RED?

Funny how this fine weather seems to lend itself to more studio time. Guess it's just a feel good kind of thing!
More and more lately I am drawn to collage work and faces.  But what's with the red hair?

Maggie?

PLAY ON!

Getting ready

What a beautiful day! A walk at Dana Point Harbor with a friend started it off.  Read for a while as the breeze blew briskly through the trees here.  Lunch on the deck in the sunshine with a great blue heron circling overhead.  Then, at last, time in the studio making postal art to send to a friend.  Just a lazy springtime day!  What a wondrous and joyful blessedness I feel!

PLAYFUL NEW DIRECTIONS

Who knew?

While working on the latest Round Robin Art Journal entry I suddenly found myself going in an entirely different direction than intended. What was in my head going to be an under sea scene became a bold and dynamic female who proclaims she is strong and beautiful. Something about this piece really spoke to me and now I find myself playing with female faces speaking out their fantastic truths. Way too much fun, right?
Have you ever found yourself thinking your art was going in one direction only to discover it seemed to have a mind of its own?  This is one of my favorite things about the creative process...when IT directs, not you.
Wherever this leads, I see fun hours ahead.
What are YOU up to?

JUNK MAIL JOURNAL JOY!

Faith's beautiful cover

What fun we had with guest instructor Cindy Schaben's class on making a junk mail journal.  Old friends and new gathered together in joyful camaraderie to play with turning junk mail into some fun artful journals.

We were busy as bees!

JOURNALING JOY

Simply fun

The joys of art journaling just keep coming.  Doing a round robin with eleven other participants keeps me committed to continuing of course, but the simple joy of doing it is the real motivator.
Art journaling allows for the perfect opportunity to play, to have no "purpose" for the art other than that. Or...it can be a means of expressing emotions in a way that feels safe. All in all, art journaling is not only fun, it is valuable to each of us in whatever way we choose.

JUNK , BEAUTY, and FUN!

Studio play

Sunday's Studio Workshop produced some award-worthy play from all of the participants. And, oh, the fun that we had doing it! Play was definitely the watch word as everyone moved quickly to try new techniques just to see what transpired. We laughed. We shared stories. We found wonderful connections. The day itself proved to be very award-worthy for all...and not need for statuettes to take home.



Next Sunday's workshop will be taught by guest artist Michelle Burt. She will lead you through all the steps to create a beautiful 12 x 16 acrylic painting of a seascape...something you will be proud to gift or hang on your wall! This is a wonderful opportunity. Won't you join us?

Who knew you could turn the ordinary flotsam and jetsam of junk mail and other toss-outs into a playful art journal? On Sunday, March 19th Studio Workshops will host guest artist Cindy Schaben who will guide us through turning the mundane into the beautiful, playful, and rich and colorful.

A sampling of junk mail

A sample page

PERSPECTIVE AND POSSIBILITIES

Down it came!

No, this tree didn't crash through the roof of the studio in this storm but a previous one years ago. The tree is long gone now so this cannot happen again. But as I lugged pails of water up from the flooded basement I was reminded that things could be worse. What's a little water after all?
Instead, the studio is clean and ready for the fun classes coming up over the next few weeks.
I will be teaching my usual mixed media playtime on 2/26 with some new students and some returning ones. We will play with old and new techniques and take home lots of fun pieces.
Then, on March 5th, another guest artist will show up. Michelle Burt will teach her fantastic acrylic seascape painting class where everyone will go home with a beautiful 12 x 16 painting on canvas.
I am excited about the possibilities and happy that the storm did not do more damage...at least here. It's time to get creative and begin the move into spring!

BAG LADIES SUCCESSES!!!

What a wonderful Bag Lady Day!! The participating women came together with laughter, good hearts, and an amazing amount of unforeseen past connections. The five hours passed too quickly and we did linger a bit after to finish up and chat and laugh some more while making plans to get together again.

The first of the guest artists in the Make Art in Laguna plan was nothing short of a HUGE success by all measures.

Here is a display of most of the bags

Just a few

BAG LADY TIME!

Too much fun!!

I have been having a good time playing with possible techniques in anticipation of tomorrow's fun class taught in my studio by friend Catharine Cooper. I am really glad to be able to offer some fun classes taught by others as well as my own mixed media playtimes. It seems that with the auspicious happening of a full snow moon, a lunar eclipse, and the new year comet all occuring in the course of the next 24 hours, we are set for some powerful creativity.
We will be making our first bag for charity's sake, the second for ourselves, and who knows? there may even be time for a third one. In any case, a lot of fun with some great folks. I look forward to being the student.

FUN! FUN! FUN!

I had to laugh aloud this morning when I read my horoscope for the day:  There are people who are daunted by pressures of "having fun," unsure exactly how such a thing should be accomplished.  These people need you.
I guess we all want to feel needed, especially as life's changes take place through the years. 
Well, I'm here.  Wanna have some creative fun? (This feels a little like "for a good time, call....") I'm always up for it, whether it is through the scheduled mixed media workshops (see right column under "Pages") or unscheduled creative play time in the studio.  I'm your gal! (I guess "for a good time, call..." wasn't so far off after all, now that I think on it.

CREATIVE CHARITY

LET NO RAGING STORM DETER...

While the storm raged outside eight intrepid women joined in this Sunday Studio Workshop.  They shared stories, created art pieces, learned new techniques, played, ate wonderful shared food, and more.  When the power momentarily went out, without pause cell phones popped out with light to enable them to continue the work at hand. 

What a joyful day! My heart was full. This group of women was warm and welcoming to each other, to me, and to the new adventures in creating. The storm was as nothing to the beautiful energy inside the studio.  As student Nadine said, they were "immersed in creative mojo." So bring on those storms! The mojo is working.