SPRING IN THE AIR

 
Spring is definitely in the air though the calendar has not quite caught up yet. Birds are all a-twitter from early dawn to dusk and even beyond. The hills are greening. Buds are sprouting in a vast array of color everywhere. Nature is creating its best for us these days. Gotta love it!!

I'm excited about spring and all that it brings of course. I will be participating in the Spring Fling weekend at the Sawdust Art Festival April 4-6 and have several monthly workshops upcoming as well as a Torn Paper Collage class for Sawdust Art Classes in May. 

Things are coming up roses, as they say :)

AN APPRECIATION

some art from 5/7 workshop

 Lots going on as spring sets in and summer approaches way too fast. 

Even while creating new pieces for the summer festival season I took time to check the calendar and have set dates for workshops through the end of the year. These workshops so feed my own soul that they just have to happen 💓

It does not escape me that I am super fortunate to have regular students who are wonderful and super gracious with new students. There are so many instances in life when the "regulars" are perhaps act a bit proprietary when newbies show up. The welcoming attitude of our regulars is a blessing indeed.

AH, YES...THE ANSWER....

 

And of course the answer to "Will there be crows?" is a resounding YES! Whether one, two, three, or an entire murder of crows I seem to not be able to create without including at least some of them here and there.

At the summer's Sawdust Art Festival this year you can find them in many forms, from cards to card collections, to prints, to originals. Several have flown away, but we will be there until August 28th is you want to meet the remaining ones. And of course, there are likely to be new ones coming along too.

POOHLOSOPHY...ALWAYS THE BEST

 

There's just something about the character of Pooh Bear and his words that somehow always seems to ring true in the very moment of reading.

I can only hope that I never take for granted the birdsong and the ability to listen to it. Such a gift! I remember several years ago having a young lady who was a client who thought that the nearby birdsong at her home was neighbors chatter and it thoroughly annoyed her. Once I had told her it was merely the birds in the bushes and trees she had a completely different take and began to enjoy the sound. I have wondered many times since what exactly it was about neighbors chatter that she found annoying. At the time she was unable to articulate. I hope that to this day she is finding the good in the sound and is grateful for it.

Sunday during the Mixed Media Workshop here several times someone would mention the birdsong in the nearby trees. It is such a gift! As are these workshops for me. To join with a group of convivial creatives for several hours of uninterrupted creative adventure is wonderful. And these talented folks always pull out the stops to make some delightful pieces of artwork.

Oh, yes, I AM grateful!!!!

ANY SEASON IS A GOOD ONE FOR GIVING

Sometimes it is necessary in this blog to veer off course just a bit. This is one of those times. Let me tell you a bit about a giving project that is going on...

Picked up the first set of kits yesterday for the SAEF WorkshopTo Go project. When all are collected there will be a total of eighty kits to go to the military families. Each kit has all materials and instructions or a link to an instruction video included.  

Three local artists put together these kits that are offered to the military at no cost to them. The artists get paid well for their efforts and SAEF is able to gift the kits. Win/Win.

The Sawdust Art Enrichment Fund (SAEF) is a philanthropic effort that supports education of the public about art while providing a hands-on experience to underserved populations. As one of the trustees of the fund, I have found the rewards of serving to be many and am grateful for this opportunity.

This year has been a challenge for SAEF as in person classes were not a possibility. We kept holding out hope, but realized at some point that we needed another way. Thus was born the Workshop To Go concept. Three artists stepped up and pushed to create the kits and the trustees appreciate Rosanne Nitti, Brynne Cogorno, and Erin Proctor for their hard work.

The response from the military was overwhelming once we posted flyers and we thank Diane DeBilzan and Che Ward for their assistance in getting this part done. It really has taken a village to get this done. SAEF trustees want to acknowledge the Festival of Arts Foundation for the grant that got this going, the artists for their diligence and, Diane and Che for their work in linking us up to these great families at Camp Pendleton.

Such a great project! I'm pretty sure there will be more Workshop To Go projects going forward.

GRATITUDE FOR GRATITUDE

Katherine's postcard:I am grateful for so many wonderful students.

One of my favorite all time poets is Mary Oliver. She  wrote of nature in such a way that you could be right there with her,  tasting, smelling, touching, feeling.

She also wrote often of gratitude. In a couple of my favorite poems she asked these questions:

What did you notice?
What did you hear?
What did you admire?
What astonished you?
What would you like to see again?
What was most tender?
What was most wonderful?
What did you think was happening?

I have found over the years that if I ask these questions in most situations I am ultimately able to arrive at gratitude...sometimes when I otherwise might not.

Why not give it a try? I'd like to hear back if it works also for you?

POLLYANNA???

Abundant azalea

Walking friend Dean startled me a bit by referring to me as a Pollyanna yesterday. In some way I felt I could own it, but....."characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything." Yeah, probably more true than not. But other associated terms like "sweetness and light"...well, nah!

We are probably all struggling some with the issues surrounding the coronavirus pandemic (and the panic pandemic as well.) I was disappointed to feel the need to cancel my own mixed media workshop for this weekend once the governor requested all of us over 65 self-isolate. It was only out of an abundance of concern for others that I succumbed to the wisdom.

I feel great (and am well over that cut off of 65) but others are at greater risk and so compassion wins out. And I am shocked a bit by those who would say things are under control and we should be going out to restaurants and bars to support them. How can the risk of disease spread be supportive? 

So, while, yes I am optimistic and I know that this like so many other things shall pass (and I actually do see some good even coming from much of this), consciousness and caring are important too.

So remember to wash your hands, please...and often.

MURDER OR SUICIDE?

Not sure if five counts as a murder of crows, but it's not a suicide and I don't know why not so here goes. These are crows I have been working on for the 2020 summer Sawdust Art Festival. It would have been my 21st consecutive year of showing in this great Laguna Beach festival. Sixty-six days of art, music, food, classes, and more. But, alas, I will be taking a leave of absence this year. 

It's time. I need to close this door at least for a while and see just what other doors might open. Road trips, time with grandkids hopefully, sunset watching, long walks, and so much more.

But what will I do with my crows now? LOL with them I suppose.

FUN CREATIVE MESS

Yay!! Tomorrow is another Sunday Studio Workshop aka Mixed Media Playtime. I'm like a kid in a candy store on these days, excited to sample all that appears.

We will be eight of us--creatives all! On the agenda (if you can even call it that) will be making journals for the upcoming Round Robin Journaling, Valentines, playing around with backgrounds, maybe some new image transfer techniques, and.........who knows?

We'll have some wonderful potluck nibbles, music, laughter, and more. See why I'm excited?

GOBBLE GOBBLE...IT'S COMING

It's all coming sooooo fast. Can't believe it's Saturday already.

Spent a fun afternoon with daughter Jenna making fused glass ornaments with artist Maggie Spencer. J had mentioned several times wanting a "special" ornament. We had even stopped at Christmas specialty stores on several of our past road trips...with no luck. So I thought...maybe making her own.

Don't know if the result will be what she was after, but it was a lot of fun and a bit zany. So, we shall see.
Meanwhile, hope you all will be surrounded by your family, unlike the turkey shown :)

SIMPLE

Simple

I thought maybe I would impart just a bit more of my ideas about teaching and what it means to me:

In my mind the doing of art should be simple. A piece may end up with layers of complexity to it and loads of meaning, but the doing can be just, well, simple.

Teaching is the same. I seek to simply commit to the students, to provide a supportive environment for imagining, dreaming, exploring and being venturesome outside their normal bounds. 

Above all else, I commit to a place where play is essential, for the soulful creativity is found there in that place, I believe. When creating, it is important to feel like the child stringing beads in kindergarten--happy, totally absorbed, and quietly putting on one bead after another.

Pablo Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." I would go farther, the problem is how to remain at heart a child and that is what I hope to bring to each workshop I teach.

Simple, right?

AUTUMN, YES...BUT NOT HALLOWEEN YET

BOO?

It was a small group this time, but we had a lot of fun. The mood seemed to be wanting to go toward Halloween imagery, but as you can see from this piece, I couldn't quite get there. 

Probably a factor was the issue of not having full use of my hand yet, but I could paint some, could tear napkins, could even use scissors and wield a paintbrush. So, while fine work wasn't happening, I definitely had a good time creating along with the workshop students. They did some great pieces, but I forgot to take pictures. Guess that's what happens sometimes.

Not sure where any of this fits with my series on what makes for a good workshop, but here it is.....

WHAT SHALL IT BE?

With heavy air drizzling on the skylights, I find myself thinking of the final workshop of the month scheduled for tomorrow. What shall we do? What should the main project be? Of course, we will go over basic methods, but I'm looking for that something "special" as focus. With the students all being repeat ones, I don't hesitate to ask them what is preferred.

Some would like "oh, anything." Others would like to focus on collage figures. I had mentioned focus on faces, so that is definitely one possibility...and there are myriad ways to accomplish this.

So...What shall it be?

AND ONE MORE...

Johnna did some fun tiles

The eight women showed up excited to begin the workshop in alcohol inks on Sunday. Five wonderful, fun-filled hours ensued, with beautiful pieces for each and every student.

After introductions (which kept getting stalled for some reason), we began with a brief demo and experimentation on a variety of papers. The energy was high and we ignored the heat as play was the most important thing!

I wish I could show all the fantastic work created here on this page, but you will just have to believe me when I say it was pretty phenomenal.

And as far as how a workshop should be conducted, well, I cannot speak so much to my own part, but on that beautiful, energy-filled day, the students stepped up to the mark on every level. They shared ideas and techniques as they tried new things; they laughed and shared stories; they shared the wonderful foods they had each brought; they shared about other classes they had or were going to take. These things and so much more made up for the perfect workshop for my money.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

The long view

On my morning walk today I paused at this inspiring view to just sit and ponder. One of the things that showed up was an article I had recently read on contributing to the good energy of a workshop environment as a student. While there were aspects with which I could agree, there were others with which I took exception.

With two workshops coming up this month, I thought long and hard as I sat about just what I think makes a good safe environment in which to play in the fields of art.

As an instructor, it is always my primary concern that each student should feel safe to create in his or her own way as long as it is done in a manner that is not harmful to self or others. Beyond that, the students should feel that both they and their creations are accepted and enjoyed.

In the student/teacher relationship there is always the accepted expectation of some critique. Nevertheless, I strive to keep this to a minimum, often waiting to be asked. Students are not to critique each other unless asked.

In a nutshell, beyond this, I strive to create an environment for my workshops in which there is a lot of daring experimentation, laughter, story-telling, good food, and new friendships gained. It is, after all, Mixed Media Playtime, and the joyful play I seek to see is implied, I think.

Always, I am grateful for the many opportunities of teaching.

SUMMERTIME BLUES? NO WAY!

Loving the blues

Summertime here in Laguna has been truly a blessing weather-wise this year so no feelings of malaise or blues for this gal. (Well, traffic is still what it always is in the summer, but....)

I have been working on putting the fall schedule of workshops together and the first one has already generated some signups. We will be focusing mostly on the use of alcohol inks. 

I provide a variety of papers to use, tiles, and all other materials needed to create some color-rich pieces.  And instruction, of course. All this for just $75.

Won't you come play?

When:  Sunday, September 22 from 11 am to 4 pm
Where: My studio space in beautiful Bluebird Canyon here in Laguna Beach.
Why?:  Well... some great folks always join in; it's a lot of fun; you'll get to play with all kinds of techniques; good food to share.......

Need I say more?

email me at cherril@cherrildoty.com

BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN?

Fun to do

A lot of folks tell me they don't think they can do one of the fun Sunday Studio Workshops that I offer. The truth is...they most certainly can! 

It doesn't matter the skill level with which you begin. Everyone proceeds at their own pace.

What seems most important to me is that each and every participant has a good time and feels super comfortable with the play at hand.

I am always reminded of a quilting circle. It doesn't seem to matter what particular focus we have...It's all about the camaraderie and good spirits that come about during the day.

Won't you join our circle of joy?

Check out the dates in the July 29th blog post!

WORKSHOPS WORKSHOPS WORKSHOPS!!!

While doodling (or dawdling) around, my mind turned to to autumn season workshops in my home studio. All materials are provided for each of the workshops and new friendships are formed as we play in the creative field that opens up in these five-hour Sunday Studio Workshops. Won't you join us in the fun? 

Play in progress

FALL SCHEDULE OF WORKSHOPS

Sunday, September 22  Alcohol Inks  $75

Sunday, September 29  Fun Figures and Faces   $65

Sunday, October 20  Mixed Media techniques  $65

Sunday, November 17  Mixed Media techniques  $65

All workshops are in my Laguna Beach home studio from 11 am to 4 pm

SIGN UP NOW!!

cherril@cherrildoty.com

MOVING ON

 At last! The chrysalis stage had darkened over a few days, with each day showing more and more of the lines and details of the butterfly to come. 

On Sunday, while I was teaching my Sunday Studio Workshop at home, friend Laurel sent these pictures. Suzanne also sent a video of the entire opening up.

Way cool, I was sorry to miss it.  But here is the pictorial proof for you to enjoy. The first of the caterpillars has now gone through its stages.

CAN YOU TEACH A SUMMER WORKSHOP?

So very true!

When asked if in fact I could find the time during the busy festival season to teach one of the five-hour Sunday Studio Workshops I have to admit I hesitated. Could I?

Well, as a Wizard of Winot (inside info), I of course said, "Why not?"

And, thus, was born the first summer workshop to be held this coming Sunday, July 21st. 

There are still spots left so why not join in the fun? We cover myriad techniques, laugh a lot, enjoy each other's company, nosh on good food to share, and so much more.

 click here to email me if you want to join us. You, too, could say, "Why not?"