JUST ONE HOUR

Trial...

Teaching has come up yet again. Normally in the summer during the Sawdust Art Festival I teach a small, quick-off workshop on Wednesday nights. Faith Fickett helps me out and we have a lot of fun with it, making bookmarks and the like.  
Well, I thought the same would be the case this coming summer season until I got a call.  Would I instead teach an hour-long class on those nights? The offering would be that for $45 patrons could get admission to the Sawdust, a glass of beer or wine, and a one-hour class.  
The challenge: come up with a class that could be done in the allotted time...and have needed value.  I'm close, but not quite there yet.  Still, it will be something similar to the image above, yet not so much to it.  I would love to get your feedback on this one.

Mixed Media Playtime

I LOVE teaching!  Sharing what I know and am experimenting on with new and returning students is one of the highlights of my life.  I just have a hard time understanding when fellow artists say, "Oh, I could never teach" or "People would copy my work."  Bah!  Teaching is totally rewarding and most copying isn't really.  I find students want to impart something personal to whatever they create, not re-create my work.
The AHA moments, the laughter, the frustrations, the camaraderie...all are a joy to me. 
Teaching is just plain FUN!
Click on Mixed Media Workshops to the right to find out more about the fun.

Yet another bird

IT FEELS LIKE SPRING...IS IT?

The days are getting warmer again.  The herons at Dana Point Harbor are building their nests.  Hummingbirds flit about everywhere.  The sound of cooing doves mingles with the rattle of baby crows and the hammering woodpeckers and the shriek of the scrub jay.  Perhaps it is spring. 
Where did the winter go? I think maybe it was spent making plans--more workshops, the summer Sawdust Art Festival, travel plans.... And through it all, the creation of some fun art journal pages.  What a great way to try out techniques and combinations!

Today's journal pages...FUN!

BLOOM WHERE YOU GROW

Bare tree on Crystal Cove bluffs

 The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started on Sunday and so, though I started out to go to the market, I found myself on the bluffs above Crystal Cove for a short walk in the blustery air.  
It occurred to me all of a sudden that I have been putting a lot of leaves in my art work lately.  Could it be because of the many wintry and leafless trees? If the trees are not yet in bloom perhaps it is possible to bloom right on the page as we create a piece of art.  I just seem to be taking this all too literally, perhaps.
But it's fun to think about it.

Leafy pages in Art Journal

PLAY DATE

Nevr-Dull and collage

Sunday morning dawns and I am enveloped in fog here in the canyon.  It is a peaceful feeling to start the day.  I am looking forward to teaching today and having an opportunity to share some of the new techniques I've been quietly trying.  I can already hear the chatter of the students in my head just as I now hear the chatter of birds in the trees. These days bring me energetic joy...and good potluck food :)

I look forward to the sweet, tense moments of exploration as we all find our way on this day of focused creativity.  Bring it on!

OPENING

It is not yet spring, but the Round Robin Art Journal experiences I have taken on (thanks to student Cindy Schaben) are a bit like watching the opening of flower buds.  My heart sings when I open my email to see some of the comments from participants in this monthly experience.

"This is so great!"
"Can't wait to add my two-page spread."
"This is so fun."
"I love the beach scenes."
"My fingers can't stop touching it!!!! I'm dancing in the aisles! Yippee!"

The beauty in all this is that, not only are the participants creating art pieces, they are also sharing the experience, building a community, helping each other, stretching, exploring, and boldly spreading their wings.

If you have not done an art journal, whether Round Robin or solo, I recommend you give it a try.

VISTA

Crystal Cove State Beach

As artists, we spend a good deal of our time in close work--sometimes even minute.  It is essential, I think, for some time to be spent looking far and my favorite place for this is in the outdoors. On this spring-like day a long walk on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific filled my soul and cleansed the way for an afternoon of close work.