Published on
November 15, 2008 in
Fibers.
I am in New Mexico on retreat. Working on some new art ideas and enjoying the community of fellow artists. The area is so very inspiring for color palette choices and imagery. The history of this area captivates my imagination and fills my mind with pictures.
We are about 20 minutes south of Taos and right along the Rio Grande River. Its great to finally have some experimenting and exploring creative time with no pressure to do it “right” I’ll share with you some of the fruits of my cretaive labor soon-ish.
For right now I’ll leave you with another southwest picture!
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Published on
October 31, 2008 in
Fibers.
I’m off tomorrow to New Mexico and I hope what will be the start of new work that I have been dreaming and brainstorming about since the summer. I’ll be posting from there and will share with you what’s happening!
I’ve got my new large journal with me to record my ideas, thoughts, sketches, goals, successes and failures.
I’ve done a few pages in preparation for the trip. It’s been a good way for me to spark my creativity which has been dormant for awhile. As I work on the page, I get excited about making my ideas and sketches concrete.
Published on
October 21, 2008 in
Fibers.
A big Thank you to all who attended the Creative Sparks Master Class with Alison Lee and myself last night. The time just flew by and I had a most wonderful time with all of you!
For those that couldn’t make it, there will be information at www.craftcast.com on how to get a copy of the class. I think you will enjoy the “sparkers” and they can become a part of your creative/studio life. Here’s pic of my Chaos Cards- one of the ways to help your mistakes become fuel for your projects.
I “sparked” my own self finally a week ago or so and cracked open my new big white blank scary journal- and it is a LARGE one- 10″ x 12″- and christened it with pages of thoughts and sketches of new work I will start next month. I seem to have a fear of working large so decided to begin with a large journal, instead of my usual purse-sized journal. I’ll share some pics next post.
Published on
September 28, 2008 in
Fibers.
I’m excited to be part of the CraftCast Master Workshop series created and hosted by Alison Lee. 
On October 20th I’ll be giving a class on Creative Sparks and I can guarantee we’ll have alot of fun along with good converstaion and ideas and techniques that you can use in your art life.
Please join us! Here’s the link to read more: www.craftcast.com/masterclass.html
I’ll have alot of ideas to share with you on some “tricks” to getting yourself in that studio when you either don’t feel like it OR you have the desire but not the focus (my problem at the moment). Alison has a geat post on her site www.craftcast.com with other topics we’ll be focusing on.
For me- this week is about cracking open and facing the scary white page of a LARGE new sketchbook I bought to document a new creative journey I am about to embark on. This new work is the result of alot of thinking, thinking, thinking I did this summer about what I want to be making. I hope to share the journey with you over the coming year!
Published on
September 20, 2008 in
Fibers.
There is a wonderful new book in the 500 series: 500 Handmade Books : Inspiring Interpretations of a Timeless Form.
The pictures of books made from every conceivable material are truly inspiring. I haven’t yet had time to sit and savor every page slowly but I see that several book artists using polymer clay (including myself) have work pictured- check it out- its filled with great ideas!
Published on
September 12, 2008 in
Fibers.
It’s good to be home but I am already dreaming and planning for the workshops in France in July 2009. I’ve just posted the 2009 info and hope you will consider joining me in the future. Its a very special part of France and I would love to share it with you!
I had many weeks there without a studio to work in- while we were camping etc.- but I did do a daily sketch of something that I saw that struck me design or art-wise and it was a good discipline. This small sketchbook has provided me with not only a great remembrance of what I saw and did, but a possible resource for new work. I’ll keep you posted on that. Anxious to get back to making things as soon as I crawl out from under the pile of mail etc.
Published on
August 27, 2008 in
Fibers.
I decided to assign myself a photography project this summer so I would take some different pictures than my usual obsession with sunflowers, gargoyles and other architectural delights here in France. My subject was Mimes.
At many of the music and street festivals there are fabulously costumed mimes who change their pose as you drop a few coins in their box. I find them fascinating and fun to photograph. I captured these two mimes in Avignon.
And one special photograph (I’ll upload at some point) I caught the mime putting on his makeup at a cafe while having coffee and a cigarette.
Home soon, and I am really looking forward to some time in the studio, hopefully following through on inspiration from the la Belle France!
Published on
August 21, 2008 in
Fibers.
Les Cammazes is a little village about fifteen minutes from Durfort and I usually try to take the workshop classes there. They carry all types of pottery- decorative and practical. Beatifully painted tableware and those hardy (and heavy) rust or mustard colored cooking pots to make cassoulet and other French delights.
Outside there is large garden art which is a delight to roam through. La Cascade has a large stone pineapple on the gate leading down to the river. I love to photograph the many statues to use as transfers or inspiration for figures.
I’ll be posting updated info about the 2009 workshops in France in about 2 weeks and hope you will consider joining me!
Published on
August 14, 2008 in
Fibers.
I’m going to Gaillac tomorrow which is about forty-five minutes away. The drive there is through rolling hills of sunflowers and fields of hay and corn. Besides being a wonderful wine producing area, the town itself is an architectural delight.
Beautiful timbered houses with windowboxes spilling over with geraniums, great peeling-paint and colorful doors (I love deteriorating surfaces) and something I especially love- the painted walls and garage doors that some villages seem to specialize in.
Published on
August 7, 2008 in
Fibers.
I’m nearing the end of my camping trip in France, which has been a delight. On the way to Marseilles is this wild wonder! It has been created over several years by a local woman, an outsider artist (called Art Brut in France). Apparently the inside is as decorated as the outside but one can not visit the house. However she does have a studio where she works- we stopped by but she was not working today.
In Aix en Provence there are wonderful fountains around every corner. Its been very very very hot so in addition to providing great photo ops I have been experiencing the joy of cool water on the back of my neck!
I am in New Mexico on retreat. Working on some new art ideas and enjoying the community of fellow artists. The area is so very inspiring for color palette choices and imagery. The history of this area captivates my imagination and fills my mind with pictures.
We are about 20 minutes south of Taos and right along the Rio Grande River. Its great to finally have some experimenting and exploring creative time with no pressure to do it “right” I’ll share with you some of the fruits of my cretaive labor soon-ish.
