My First Art Class (as a Teacher)

I taught my first art class today with a delightful group of kids and one mom/friend who got the group together. The kids made wonderful journals with painted burlap covers.

As always with kids, I was amazed at their natural artistic abilities. How do we lose that confidence as we become adults?

Here are the kids (and Melissa!) hard a work:











And here they all are with their beautiful books:



















Working outside in the sunshine helped to make it a truly enjoyable day.

Jen's Recycled Sweater Purse

Just finished a purse for my sister, which she really loves. If you look back in my January posts, you'll see her daughter Alexa with a pink and dark gray sweater I made her, and Jen requested a purse in the same colors. So, here's what she got:







I lined this one, since I know she'll be giving it some abuse, and the lining helps strengthen the purse, since it's not stretchy like the felted sweater fabric.



These are so quick and easy to make. My friend Melissa came up last week and made one for her daughter, and she's hardly sewn before. I'll post a photo of that one as soon as she sends it to me (and you can bet I'll be bugging her about it!).

I'm hoping to get back to posting more often. I've been working on some personal artwork lately that I'm not ready to share. I picked up a pretty profound book, at least for me, called The Soul's Palette, and have been doing some of the exercises it contains that are purely process-oriented. Thus, not a lot of showable work, but I'm stunned at the personal transformations that can take place when you let your feelings out on paper and pay attention to the images you choose to work with. More on this topic later!

February is for RED

Somehow, without conscious effort, I've been making a lot of red art this month. Now, I'm not big on Valentine's Day, as i think it's a Hallmark Holiday, but red has been speaking to me this month.

SPOILER: for those of you in my postcard exhcange group, I'm posting photos of my Feb. cards, which you have not received yet!

First, I was inspired by a broken red glass bowl a friend of my Mom's gave me, as she knows I do mosaic. It was this gorgeous, thick red glass with a scalloped edge tipped in gold. I tranformed it into a candle holder, which ended up with more of a gothic feel than I intended:





Here's the best photo I could get without a tripod when the candle was lit:



Looks like it belongs in Kyle's apartment. Hmmm . . . .

February's color theme for the postcard exchange was red, and somehow I ended up with an India and Yoga theme for this one. The background is created with gesso and tissue paper and various texturing effects:





It's kinda cool to see them all together:



And I'm only sending ONE this month!

Susan's Freeform Purse

I'm absolutely fascinated by freeform knitting. I'm just beginning to understand all the amazing artwork that can be created with it. I just finished a purse in purples and aquas. As often happens, after I was about halfway finished, I realized who should have it. My friend Susan loves these colors, and it just looked like her kind of thing. I gave it to her a couple of days ago she seemed to love it.

Here's the front of the purse:



And a closeup of the front:



Here's the back:



And a closeup of the back:



To see some incredible examples of the ultimate in ths art form, go to Prudence Mapstone's site.

Black & White Postcards

I joined an online group in which I'm doing a monthly postcard exchange with eight other women. Each month has a color theme, and other than that we're free to create whatever moves us at the moment. The first month's colors were black and white, which I found much more challenging than I'd anticipated.

Black made me think of crows and ravens, which are a current fascination for me, so I started with an inket transfer of a raven and a really cool doorknob, plus a quote from an article about ravens and their mythical significance, and came up with these cards:



I just wasn't sure about this one, as I'd never seen any of the artwork from the other women in the group, so I set it aside and created something a little more "mainstream." I started with a vintage black and white postcard of a gargoyle, and some black and white scrapbook papers, and came up with this card:



I went ahead and sent this one, then had second thoughts and sent the first one too! So, the first impression the others have of me is a schizoid, insecure artist. That's okay, though, wait until they see what I'm working on for February, in reds!

Scarves of Sanity

Knitting has become one of the threads that tie me tentatively to the real world. I don't like to blog about my health challenges, but lately I've been itching like mad, all over my body, including inside my ears. I've been to five different doctors, including a team at UCLA, and they're still not sure of the cause.

Anyway, in the evenings, knitting keeps me from ripping my skin to shreds while I watch TV. I've become a bit manic about it, but it's better than drugging myself, I guess.

So, here's a scarf I finally finished for Kyle. It was meant to be a Xmas present, but I made it extra wide, used small needles, and chose a pattern that required close attention, so it took me about a month of a couple hours a day to finish. I love the feel of it; it's really springy and soft wool.





My next scarf was a lot quicker to make. I used recycled silk and larger needles, and just did a diagonal pattern, so it only took about a week. I just love the colors, and I had fun adding beads to the fringe.





Since I'm running low on yarn, I started another freeform bag using bits and pieces of leftovers in purples and aquas. At the rate I'm going, that will be done within the week. I'm already stressing about making sure I have enough yarn to start something else when that's done.

Sorry if I'm scaring you. Just imagine living with me right now!

What Kids Can Do

I spent last Sunday in my studio with my 10-year-old nephew Ryan. He has an amazing attention-span when it comes to art, and it struck me how natural it is for kids to create, without all the self-doubt and striving for perfection we somehow pick up along the way to adulthood.

I had him choose a cigar box, and he chose one with a beautiful orange finish, and was determined to leave some part of the orange showing. I showed him how to glue old book pages all over the box, and that's the only part of the project where I actually touched the box, as he got a little tired of that labor-intensive effort. I worked on a tissue box while he was working on his box, and demonstrated how to paint over the glued pages with a transparent wash, then add depth and interest with a darker color and drybrushing. His natural eye for color made that part easy for him.

Then he chose all kinds of animal images, both printed and rubber stamps, and added them to the box. I showed him how to add more paint to integrate the images into a whole, which he took to like he'd been doing it all his life. As a last step, I handed him a box of 3D embellishments, and he went to town with those.

Here is his finished box. The photos don't do it justice. Amazing.







And here's the tissue box I made at the same time. Of course, I had to spend another couple of hours tweaking it after he left. Damned perfectionism! This is a "commissioned" project for my daughter and her boyfriend, who requested it after seeing the ones I made my parents for Xmas. They wanted blue and a sea/beach theme.

The Last of the Xmas Gifts

This post will complete the chronicles of all the stuff I made for Xmas this year. Which is good, 'cause I'm ready to move on!

Here's a tissue box I made for my Dad's office. It's collaged with maps and travel-related stamps.



And here's my mom's tissue box, which matches her red color scheme in her family room. I don't know why I went with a bird theme. Probably because I had a cool brass bird I wanted to use!



This is one of two ornaments I made for my sister and brother and their families. Somehow I missed getting photos of the other one. It's made from a paper mache form covered in lace and then painted, rubbed with Rub 'n Buff, and then little beads glued all over.



These two photos are the two sides of a large heart ornament I made for my parents. It's not really for Xmas, so can be displayed all year, or until they get tired of it! It's made the same way as the ornament above.





I enjoyed immersing myself in these projects prior to the holiday, And it was fun to watch my family members open and appreciate them. They all give me a hard time about my intricate handmade gifts and how I make them feel inadequate, but you can bet I won't let that stop me!

Bachelor Pad Art

Here's round two of the handmade Xmas gifts. Kyle's new apartment needed some color and interest on the walls, so when I got home from Colorado I dove into two collages for him.

The idea for the first came from a comment he made about hating blank walls above the toilet. We joked that only a guy would really notice that (since they face that way when, well, you get the idea). I had purchased a stack of 1940s Esquire magazines at a garage sale, so those pin-ups and funky "be manly and wear this brand of sock garter" ads just begged to entertain Kyle when he might otherwise be bored. ;-)





The other collage is a little more mainstream. His guest bathroom is done in a shell theme with red and tan, so here's what I came up with:





Kyle liked both collages and is now pretty well entertained in both bathrooms!

Xmas Recycled Sweater Gifts

I promised to post photos of my handmade Christmas gifts, so I'll start with the recycled sweater felting items. They were well-received!

Here are my three nieces with their gifts, Maris, Alexa and Lindsay:



And here's little Lexi, a born photo model, and a close-up of her sweater, which was the first recycled wool item I made and got me hooked:





Maris's book bag up close:



Lindsay's purse up close:



I'll definitely be doing more of these types of items. It's so easy! Just wash the old sweater in the washer in hot water, dry it in the dryer, then use it just like fabric. When you cut it, it does not unravel. The only part that was time-consuming was the knitted fluff on the book bag and purse. It takes a while to punch holes in the felt, get the yarn situated ont he needles, then do the knitting. But I love the touch it adds.

New Year's Resolution (singular)

I'm doing something different this year. Just ONE resolution. And I'm posting it here so it's on the record and everyone knows about it. I want everyone to ask me how it's going, okay? And I mean from now through December. Because it's going to be tough, but I think it will be worth it.

I resolve to draw something every day this year. Even if it's my pen or my coffee cup or a floorplan for a room in my house, I am going to put pen or pencil to paper do so something OTHER than write words.

My goal is to improve my drawing skills, which I think will have a positive influence on all my other artwork.

I started this in Sedona over the past week. Here are a couple of my drawings. I'll post some here every once in a while so we can all see whether I'm making any progress, okay?

This one includes objects I found in my aunt and uncle's house and in my parents' house in Sedona. And the background sketch is the view of Chimney Rock from my aunt and uncle's breakfast room. As you can see, I have some work to do. That basket ended up looking like a space ship that landed on the rocks.



This one is a copy of a drawing on a large tile at my parent's house. It sure is easier to draw something when it's already flat!



Okay, I haven't drawn anything today, so I'm off to my studio . . .

Beautiful, Inspiring Sedona

Wow. The end of the year is like the second half of the biggest hill on a roller coaster. The past two weeks have gone by in about 48 hours!

I guess I'll work backward to try to catch up on all the news and artwork.

First, we just returned from a wonderful week in Sedona with Lianne and her boyfriend Dan. My sister Jennifer was also there with her family, and we had some fun game nights with them. The kids AND adults were mesmerized by the new Wii game system. It was amazing to watch my two-year-old niece play it successfully!

Here are a few photos of the gang and the incredible Sedona scenery:

Here are Lianne and Dan and my nephew Ryan and his stepbrother Jimmy at the top of a rock formation just behind my parents' vacation home that we call "No Name." I felt like I might throw up when I got to the top, but it was worth it!



Here is part of the hiking gang at a beautiful lookout spot on the way up. Even Tinkerbell made the trip.


This is my sister playing Vanna and showing off coffee pot rock from the viewpoint at the Sedona airport.


And here's the entire gang (minus the photographer).


I do occasionally insist that someone else take a photo, so I can prove I have been to these places I always talk about!


I can't say enough about how it feels to be in this unique place. I will always be grateful to have found a vacation spot that is so relaxing and renewing and unique!