Holiday Wishes

With Thanksgiving coming, I ran card-making classes with my elders. I brought glue, scissors, card stock, and lots of precut autumnal paper, especially my favorites from Impression Obsession. Of course lots of leaves leaves (IO#030-S) but what really tickled their fancy were the black cats  (IO#083-K). So here is mine, made a few days later, with a tip of the hat to all my wonderful students.

O and of course the little birds (IO#154-A)  The card goes out this week to my mother-in-law, who have two fine indoor black kitties. I'm sure they are watching the birds right now.

Beach Daydream

Today's still heat reminds me of the beach. So I traveled there too,  in my paper dreams, for the Impression Obsession challenge. This card collages torn papers, acrylic, and Impression Obsession die cuts.

It's late in the day. Everyone's gone to the clam shop. The birds are overhead; the bunnies sneak on to the dunes, to nibble grass. Maybe it's after labor day.
Time for rest and clear ocean sky.

Into the Garden

After three classes, and lots of behind-the scenes prep, my Alzheimer's group's summer project is done. 

Final piece

Six weeks ago they painted over 50 butterflies, pre-cut with a Tim Holtz die.

marathon painting session - I still have more!

They glued the butterflies on to blue card stock, then painted the background and the butterflies with acrylics. At home, I built these into a wall piece, connected in back with packing tape, and stripped vertically with yellow to build out the width.

Painted and assembled, ready for collage

The bright lines served to guide today's project: adding leaves and flowers.

I like that the black marker shows on some of the leaves

 I arrived with glue, brushes, pre-cut flowers, fun foam, scissors, markers, stick-on dots. A cornucopia of art supplies. 

this woman stuck all her flowers together

 Seven residents gathered at the table. As the hour progressed, folks sorted themselves into tasks. Some like cutting, others gluing, others preferred to work with the less sticky dots. The very talkative person settled into her chosen project. The quietest person stood beside me and worked on placing leaves.

Notice the lovely circles and crosses in the background

 At the end of the class I held the entire piece up. You could hear the intake of breath. "It's lovely." "Look at all the colors." "Who made that?" "It's profound."

Dots were added to the butterflies and backbround

 I laid the piece back on the table. Aides came over. Everyone stayed to joke and admire.

Circle stickers for flower centers

The curmudgeon of the group looked me in the eye: "You did a great job. Someone should tell you that."

 Leading Alzheimer's classes is like doing improve. Just say yes, and take it to the next level.

rabbit rabbit

Another answer to the challenge: (a) use only Impression Obsession stamps/dies and (b) work in a square. Limitation spurs the imagination. So here are two rabbit/bunny dies at work. The mini-bunnies and grass help give a sense of distance. The text is edited from a holiday sentiment. 

Use what you have. See where it takes you.

Celebration

Another super-hot day. I'm a shade plant.  I relish the return of cooler weather. So in response to  Impression Obsession's square card challenge, here's a bit of fall.

two favorite stamps

 Their Print Pear always looks elegant. Against its clarity I enjoy experimenting with loose painting and scattered dots.

 

less paint, more color

Their Joy stamp seems a bit grungy for Holiday cards, but I like it here: an invitation to celebrate, whatever the reason.

Abstracted

For advanced Alzheimer's patients, the "still life" model of teaching fails. Too many steps. Too many instructions that slip away into the fog. 

So we sing instead, and play with color. 

Picking out the next color

The act of mark-making is enough. It is an effort that rewards with surprise. Often we start with circles. "Take the line on a trip," I tell them. "Let the colors dance."

"It's good to hold a brush again."

Some students painted their whole lives. I can still see that memory in the way they handle the brush. But most are new to art. Each week, I show them. "Touch it to the paper. Press hard. Pull with your shoulder. See the color grow."

Fly away home 

This artist hardly moved his hand for weeks. Then: surpise!  The oil pastels seem to make much more sense to him than watercolors. At the hour's end: "A bird in trouble," he chuckled. Success.

Abstracted

For advanced Alzheimer's patients, the "still life" model of teaching fails. Too many steps. Too many instructions that slip away into the fog. 

So we sing instead, and play with color. 

Picking out the next color

The act of mark-making is enough. It is an effort that rewards with surprise. Often we start with circles. "Take the line on a trip," I tell them. "Let the colors dance."

"It's good to hold a brush again."

Some students painted their whole lives. I can still see that memory in the way they handle the brush. But most are new to art. Each week, I show them. "Touch it to the paper. Press hard. Pull with your shoulder. See the color grow."

Fly away home 

This artist hardly moved his hand for weeks. Then: surpise!  The oil pastels seem to make much more sense to him than watercolors. At the hour's end: "A bird in trouble," he chuckled. Success.

Christmas in August

Walk into a cool evening

On a hot Monday, a cool winter night, from IO Stamps and reclaimed papers.

The idea of a square card piqued my interest.
Start with rectangle of midnight-painted paper. What next?

The Impression Obsession Birch Trees die, complete with cardinals, cuts too delicate for my clumsy ways. But wait. There's hand-me-down self-stick white paper on my shelves. Voila! Birch trees even I can manage. 

The wee red cardinals, cut from used watercolor paper, are turned over and colored red. The deer comes out of an old file card. (Turn it over and you'd find tenth grade history notes.)

The ground and sentiment  are scraps of notes, sheet music, and an old novel. Even the purple card-stock was hand-me-down. 

Next time perhaps the birch trees will continue into the purple. But I like the off-center composition. It feels like a window into another world.

Reclaimed art materials + Impression Obsession + the Holidays = inspiration on a hot summer day.

Dreamy day

Do you have those days that looked primed for productivity, that disappear in a swoon of experiments and ideas?

After three days of energy - so welcome after as many weeks stuck on the couch, I thought more intense sewing was ahead.

 But today felt like drifting downstream, paddle on lap. The notion of making my own images on fabric keeps turning over in my hands and head. Today's attempts varied from sentimental to autumnal.

Playing with stamps and brush on muslin

These were printed after a slow walk around the block in the mist with the dog.

Working back into long-ago dyed fabric, with acrylic paints

 I'll let them dry and see how I feel about them tomorrow.

Color, cards, and a tip of the hat

After a hot, productive day, I decided to take on Papertrey Ink's invitation to play with color in the spirit of Andy Warhol.  

 Inspired by the current state of my work table,

My work table tonight

I picked out a stamp from a set about art supplies:

Part of the set - Anyone know the maker?

The Papertrey video explains the steps well enough for even a slapdash person like me to follow. More or less. 

Sticky notes, printed and trimmed, mask the stamps. Painter's tape masks the grounds, one at a time.

Getting started.

 When I slipped up doing the backgrounds, the result reminded me of a shadow. So I repeated the effect in the other quadrants. A soft pink frame and a Papertrey wish finished it off.

Finished

 Lots of fun. Might just do this again tomorrow.

Add and Subtract

The track of memories has drawn me to this photo, taken by my father over 50 years ago. Me and my big sister, in matching outfits made by my mother's mom.

Easter bonnets. Easter flowers.

  

 Old photos often serve me as source for sketch book explorations. 

Recently I realized that even  my rudimentary Photoshop skills were enough to manipulate images on the computer.

experimenting with addition and subtraction

What to add, what to remove, to evoke change, loss, memory?

three layers of past tense images

Every idea is a branching path.

I picked this one to follow this spring.

Layered image, reversed for transfer printing

Printed and transferred onto vintage tea napkin, the image argued with earlier random dying. It ached for color. So I painted, collaged, and stitched.

After a month's rest, that seemed too chaotic. Perhaps I'm responding to the news. It seemed important to bring more unity, to echo pattern, to calm and center the piece.

12x12, mixed media, mounted on board

What do you think? Finished now?

Snow in July

Sometimes it's good to lean back. Imagine chilly winds, while hot sun streams through studio windows.

Papertrey Ink's newest demo prodded me to test watercolor effects with stamping. This was the best result, worked on smooth Bristol. Spritzing  the tree stamp before printing gave the image a kind of mystery glow. So I moved the scene to night, using silver embossed snowflake images as resist  for night sky watercolor layer. At the center,  JOY and the wee feather stamps, from Papertrey. The tree image is from Indigoblu. And of course, a deer, standing in the snow.

Working BIG - Art with the Elderly

A facility where I teach is adding a new wing. The activities director decided there should be ART on the temporary walls. My Assisted Living class got one panel. So with short notice, on the fly, I drew flowers and dogwood blossoms, to create two work levels for my students. Most are in wheel chairs.

First brush strokes

The aides seated the class in a semi-circle. 

The effect was so relaxed: art as in-the-moment miracle, one you could relax and observe.

Painting together

The mural took three one-hour sessions to finish.

Two artists, side by side

What made it so fun? No one was totally responsible, for starters. Fine motor skills no longer mattered. Big marks were easier to see with older eyes. But I think it was also the thrill of the forbidden - how many of us long ago were told never to draw on the walls?

Our panel's on the left. Two more panels, center and right.

 In between sessions I filled in the big areas. Sky first, greens last. 

Finished!

 In another week or so, the sheet rock, and the paintings, come down. 

Someday, though,I'm painting on my own house walls.

ArtBeat 2016

Get ready, Davis Square!

 

Sommerville's ARTBEAT happens today. 

Two stages, 70+ vendors, and a "toddler rave."

How can you resist?

Put on your sunscreen and stroll on down. 

Food, music, and vendors

waiting to show you a good time. 

My friend and studio pal Arlette Laan will be there with her delightful dolls:

Sock dolls to love.

 Easy, car-free access via the Red Line and the bike path.

Support the arts.

Show up.

Enjoy. 

And maybe buy something.

Your support keeps artists keep going.

Supply Sale

This August Lowell Fiber Studio joins the artists of Western Avenue Studios for a building-wide 

ARTISTS' DE-STASH SALE

Imagine: Five floors of artists, 

letting go of supplies. 

Paints, trim, paper, yarn, fabric. 

You name it, it will probably be here  on August 6. 

Come to Studio 512 to grab thermofax screens at bargain prices

Gently used and brand new. Text, florals, images, and texture. 

Jump start a new project. 

Share ideas.

The Great Artists' De-Stash is part of  

Western Avenue Studios Open Studios 

August 6, 2016

122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA

Noon-5

Free parking

Food Truck 

 Start on the fifth floor!