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?

A Honey of A Weekend

Beautiful gardens and breathtaking river views might not be the first things you think of when you think of the Bronx (if, in fact, you ever think about the Bronx), but those descriptions surely fit Wave Hill.....fabulous public gardens right in my neighborhood.

Wave Hill has great educational programs including regular art activities, always with a nature related theme.  The "Honey Weekend" just ended, with Saturday devoted to beekeeping and honey, and Sunday all about beeswax and candles.

I went with five friends on Sunday to enjoy the grounds and roll up some beeswax candles.

We were given several sheets of beeswax, and directions. 

This is just what I had leftover and brought home for future candle making......we really were given LOTS.

We also each received little bee pins to decorate our finished candles.  OK, all together now, everyone say, "awww, how cute." 

Watching a demo of how to make candles that look just like beehives.

We stayed for about two hours and we each made several candles. I did a pair of tapers, and one odd little barrel shaped candle.

But my favorites were the ones shaped to look like beehives.  I made a whole family of those.

(Thanks to Amalia who provided the Wave Hill  photographs!)