RANDOM OBSESSION?

I have been deep in creative play mode lately. Alcohol ink techniques and treatments and paper play to produce abstract pieces seem to be the primary modes chosen.

Re what I'm calling "Abstractions" for want of a better term have led me to play in my many boxes of scraps. Some of these are from junk mail or random handouts. Some are drawn or painted on tissue or other papers.  At any rate, while it is starting to feel a bit obsessive, as I do one each day, the near-random choices made are very freeing.

Creative play is soooooooo important and however it shows up, follow it.  I am.

FLASH!

I like the thought

The weather folks keep talking about the possibility of flash floods, but, luckily, not any yet.
One of the things we do in Sunday Studio Workshops is create at least one piece that can be sent as mail art to a name drawn of another participant in the workshop. I get one too. It always brings me a smile of pure joy to get these in the mail. And my mail lady likes them too. This one came recently from enthusiastic student, Camillia. What a great reminder to us all!

TRY, TRY, TRY AND TRY AGAIN

confused? maybe

I'm not sure just what my attraction to faces, especially those of women, is but my drawing hand just keeps playing with them. Perhaps it is about the issue of success and failure. I'm drawn to the relationship between them as well.
In the continued drawing of face after face after face, playing with small changes to see the result, I find I feel like young Gerald Hodges (and if you don't know his story you should!)
He is quoted as saying about joining his high school swim team when he could not even swim: I felt like if I couldn't handle not being good at something, then how could I consider myself a successful person?
Well said, young man. We can all learn from you.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

MAKING ART IN LAGUNA

Watercolor leaves

The leaves are falling from the trees. There is a chill in the air mornings and evenings. We've finally had some rain...and some wind. It is definitely feeling more wintry here in Laguna. 
As these weather changes occur I ponder the promised changes to my workshop schedule for the coming year. Some are simmering still like the warm soup on the stove in my kitchen. Others are firmly in place. 
Making Art in Laguna--the idea of it as well as the manifestations--is invigorating.  To see some of what is in store you may click on the link to the right of this post--Mixed Media Workshops. I hope you will be as excited about some of the offerings as I am.

CELEBRATIONS AND ENDINGS

Endings can be a little sad sometimes. Celebration of the ending can often alleviate some of this. With that in mind tomorrow one of the Round Robin Journal groups in which I participate is getting together to celebrate. We will toast to the fun we have had with this exercise, the new friends and old, the creativity, the pure joy, the discipline, the play, the exploration, the inspiration, and so much more.  We will toast to what's next as we move past this ending and on to new beginnings.  CHEERS!

CLANG, CLANG...

...went the trolley as it came to a stop.  What a treat these neighborhood trolleys have been so far this summer.  I am finding more and more ways to use them to ease traffic congestion, parking issues, and any other summer driving issues you might think of. Riding the trolley to the Sawdust Art Festival for my shifts, I get off at the depot and walk the rest of the way.  To round out the day, walking from the festival grounds to the library gives me a great chance to unwind.  Such a treat and a blessing! I arrive everywhere refreshed and ready to teach, to sell, and to enjoy meeting new friends and visitors to our great community.

BALANCE?

Tools of the trade

Another great Sunday Studio Workshop this past weekend. The creative energy was practically bouncing off the walls in spite of the heat.  There was good food and even a bottle of wine to share as we played through the afternoon.  "Let the joy rise to the surface" was never more apparent. Sometimes I wish that my studio could just stay open all the time for these events.  Balance always comes with a price, eh?