Stencil Happy

View towards my studio window

 Monday was a vacation day. This meant someone else was home to walk the dog, and I could stay at my Lowell studio, happily printing away. I used a new stencil to rework a half-dozen silk scarves. One failure, but o the successes.

green and black on yellow

This was pale yellow with gold circles

pale sky blue reinterpreted with black, blue and purple

Now back to sewing. Boro scarves: two commissioned, finished. Delivery tomorrow.

Invitation to the Muse

Start a sketchbook. Play with paints. Experiment with pattern.

Registration open at Arlington Center for the Arts.

Hope to see you there.

 

A tale of two commissions

I invite commissions because I enjoy the journey.
Customer's requests often take me places I would not otherwise go.

Two people commissioned Portable Art just before the holiday. 

Here are the pieces that resulted. (My apologies for the dark photos.)

 

This customer wanted rich colors, specifically gold and purples. 

Two pieces spun out of her request, and she loved the second version.

This customer asked for a "more masculine" feeling, with musical elements. 

But he rejected the resulting piece as too dark, "not uplifting enough."

A lesson in mismatched understandings of vague terms.

I like it, though. Eventually, it will find its home.

Another Journal Page

 

Pears pears pears. They have the most sensuous shape. And they are forgiving: no perfect circle, not even perfect symmetry. Just that feminine slope and curve.

So many layers on this page. It started with text. Then I played with watercolor through a new Seven Jewels stencil from ArtistCellar. A bit still peeks through on the bottom.
As I laid in a color gradation with acrylics. Once that was dry, I doodled with markers, and the pears  began to emerge. So, more acrylic, some waters-soluble crayons, sandpaper (to take areas back a level) and white correction pen to bring some bright to the page.

Not a finished composition by a long shot, but perhaps some ideas.


Time to turn the page and see what's next.

Thermofax Class and more

    I'm offering two classes this month.

Thermofax Printing on Fabric:
2-day workshop
  Sundays, 1/22 & 1/29, 1-4pm

  Returning students and newbies
will work side by side. Experiment with multiple images.
Create repeats, resists, watercolor effects, and improvisational prints.

We'll discuss cropping, stitching, and appliqué, and
make at least one personal collage in class.

Visual Journaling
Fridays, 1/20-2/17, 10am-1pm

We will explore layers of color, texture, text and image. 

Student will create beautiful pages with personal meaning.  

Learn how to capture time while you tempt the muse.

Registration now open at Acarts.org.

Do Everything You Know

A motto to consider.

As Lynn Krawczyk, aka Fibra Artysta, noted, interest has grown this year in art journals. I've been surveying the literature, gleefully bringing home armloads of picture books from the library.

 I love picture books.

A spare table became art journal central. I check in with my sketch book during my morning coffee. In the evening, I settle in again for a second round.

This is just for pen and pencil work. But the journal work at this table often leads to a messier idea, and I drift upstairs to my studio. The second wind carries me through until bedtime.

But just what do I do? My method seems quieter than much of what's  on-line. So I thought I'd post some pages and talk about how they came to be.

This page began out as notes on True Visions, by L.K. Ludwig. You can see the list of recommended journal artists in the corner. Later I added a pair of pears
So, in December, this was a nearly blank page:

But then came Christmas and the arrival of new stencils from ArtistCellar plus a new box of colored pencils. I took these and my trusty Koi watercolor set to the in-laws house. (They're used to me now.) After dinner, I doodled away. So the result was unplanned, and unexpected: the accretion of layers and colors, each answering or ignoring what came before. It's a meditative place to be. I have no idea what is coming next.

Portable art to Lowell

Three of my Portable Art series are up at the Loading Dock Gallery, part of our annual "50 under $50" show. It's a wonderful chance to snap up art by your favorite Lowell artist for a bargain price.

Open Studios this Saturday, noon-5pm: I have a commission to finish for then, so get thee behind me, internet!