A Little of This and That

Just a few random things I've been busy with lately.  A few days ago, on the hottest day of the year (I don't know if it actually hit 100, but if not, it came close) Teri, Pat, and I ventured out to Wave Hill, a spectacular public garden very close to where I live.  Teri, who'd never been there, summed it up perfectly:  it's like a trip to one of the gardens in Europe without having to get on a plane.  We found some shade and spent a couple of hours sketching.  I was anxious to share with them one of the warm up exercises I used to do when I took drawing classes at the garden many years ago.  We did drawings of each other with two unusual rules:  you can't look at your paper, only at the person you're sketching, and your pen (yes, we used Sharpies) must not be lifted from the page.  So, as you can imagine, you wind up with lots of lines and very Picassoesque drawings.  Later, at home, I filled the many shapes with color, and I just love how these crazy pictures look.

And in case you were wondering, this is how my lovely friends actually looked that day.

Here's a watercolor I did after mangling those faces.

And here is only one of many reasons I think Wave Hill is one of the most beautiful places I've seen.

I signed up for an altered cigar box swap at the Kindred Souls group, and was paired up with Neil from England.  I really admire his work and wanted to do something special for him.  It's always a bit of an extra challenge to make something for a man, but I think I did OK.  No full reveals yet; I would like it to be a surprise, but here is a tiny little piece of it.

The other thing I've been busy with is Joanne Sharpe's online lettering class, Letter Love.  She actually launched it in February, and many of my friends have taken it, but I'm a little late to the party.  I am loving it, by the way.  I already decorated my composition book (which we use for practice), created my inspiration sign, and have been working on lessons each day.  It may be slight right now, but I do see improvement in my lettering.  I will be continuing with this class for sure.  Luckily, once you register you have lifetime access.

Now, for some exciting news.  My friend Michele has a wonderful studio in a great location (the upper west side of Manhattan), and she has started to reach out to some of the best mixed media artists to teach classes there.  So far, she has confirmed dates for Ingrid Dijkers and Dawn DeVries Sokol. The venue is a great space, the location convenient, and the class fees reasonable.  Space is limited, so if you live in the tri state area, check out Michele's Meetup site for all the details.  Ingrid is teaching three different all day classes in late August, and Dawn is teaching two different classes in mid November.  I'd love to see you there!  I was fortunate enough to take a class with Ingrid at the 2011 Keys4Art retreat, and both the class and the teacher were fantastic.

More excitement......recently Michael DeMeng started a FB group called Art Abandonment, and within days it has grown to over 2,000 3,500 members, including moi.  (Wow! Another 1,500 members since the last time I checked).  The idea is to leave some of your art in random places for complete strangers to find.  Some people like to do it anonymously, some include a little card explaining the concept, and some also add an email address so that whoever finds the art can (if they choose) let the artist know all about it.  It's actually more fun than it probably sounds, and I abandoned my first piece in the ladies room at Wave Hill.  When I checked back an hour later it was gone, so either the cleaning staff tossed it or it was found and taken by someone.  Restaurant bathrooms seem to be a popular place to leave art, but some folks have abandoned theirs on park benches, tucked into bushes, and one even tied hers to a tree.  I am not a big FB person, but I love to check back there to see what others are doing.  Wanna join us?

Living On The Edge

Keys4Art2011 -- Day 2

Just so you know, even the strongest Cuban coffee will not totally counteract the effects of too many mango mojitos from the night before.  But it helps.  I'm just sayin'.

Today we began the fabulous On The Edge journal with the even more fabulous Ingrid Dijkers.  Back several months ago, when Elena announced that she had gotten Ingrid to come to the Keys to teach this class, I had no idea I'd be learning so much.  Of course I'd heard of Ingrid, but wasn't that familiar with her work.  A visit to her site really got my heart pumping.  Her work is gorgeous, and full of techniques I was anxious to master.  We all got to vote on which of her journals we wanted to do, and On The Edge was the winner.  That's Ingrid, standing and explaining a page to Sarah and Jen:

Marita, Gina, and Lill working on their pages:

Tracy is the hands down queen of the "fussy cut."  She adds shading with pencils to the graphics she uses and her pages are all gorgeous:



As the name implies, the edges of the pages are the focus of this book.  They may be folded, shaped, beaded, or wired with buttons.  Some pages are larger than others, so the edge of one will peek through behind the edge of another.  Here are some of Ingrid's pages, from the sample book she brought:

                                                                                   

And a few close ups of her beautiful edging techniques:

                                                                               

We began with ten sheets of book board that Elena was kind enough to prep with gesso in advance, so we wouldn't waste class time doing that. How many was that, Elena?  At least 150, I'd guess.  I've said it before, but Elena's energy, enthusiasm, and generosity are awesome.  She is a true force of nature. 

We basically applied some torn text from old books to the gessoed page and then added some color with whatever medium we wanted.  Here's one of my yet to be colored pages:

And here is a page with color and some beading on the edge:

You can see that the color is kind of roughly applied.  At this point I had no idea if I'd be adding text, graphics or doodling to it.  Here are a few more of my pages.  I don't feel any are totally finished, and that's fine.  I'm glad to have a project to work on at home.

The pages all go into a chipboard binder that Ingrid's husband cuts down for her.  That way it looks less like a school looseleaf notebook.  We decorated it inside and out with a variety of papers, inks, paint, etc.  This is my cover:

The great thing about working in a binder is the ability to switch pages around.  In a project like this one, where the edges are the stars, this is very important.  I had a great time moving my pages around, searching for the best layout.  As I complete the pages and add journaling, I'm sure I'll be doing even more rearranging.

I'm sure the pictures of Ingrid's work speak for themselves, but I'm telling you, if you ever have the chance to take a class with her, DO IT!!  She is not only talented and a patient teacher, but she is also good people.  She's warm and friendly and funny, and I feel like I can now call her my friend.

Tomorrow.....glamour girls with Julie Nutting!  You won't want to miss that.