Getting Inspired in Mexico

I jumped on a cheap flight to Mexico City and took a bus to San Miguel de Allende, one of the most charming cities in Mexico. This colonial town is the home to hundreds of artists from all over the world. Art is everywhere. Whenever I need a shot in the arm, this is the place for me. Fabulous weather, fantastic food, welcoming people and unbridled creativity. Plus I must walk 10 miles a day here...which is easy because there is so much to see and do. It truly is a wonderland for artists.








Painted Torn Paper Collage Workshop in November

NOV 12th AT CLAY SPACE IN EUGENE

Create a work of art from bits of torn paper. Join me for a one day workshop and learn some of my favorite techniques for making art with a few simple materials. This method is perfect for those looking for a flexible, forgiving, and fun way to be creative. This class is perfect for all skill levels. Learn a variety of designing, gluing, application, and acrylic painting techniques in just 6 hours. Bring your favorite papers and an open mind to try something new.

DETAILS:
http://clayspaceonline.com/learn/workshops.html

Tutorial: Adding a Torn Paper Background

People ask me how I add my "newsprint" backgrounds to my paper clay pieces. So here is the process...After I have painted my paper clay piece, I tear up book pages, newspaper pages or whatever I am working with...removing headlines, lines, empty space, and anything that is not consistently the same size type.

Using Elmers Glue (I use School Glue because it can be reconstituted if you want to remove it) and water (equal amounts) I paint on the glue and add the paper scraps bit by bit. I paint over and under them as I go.

I always fit around the images first and then fill in the rest. Sometimes a little cutting is necessary to fit tight corners...but mostly, the edges are all torn.

When finished, I sand the edges to make a nice clean edge and paint the sides of the canvas black.

My last step is to paint the whole thing with Matte Medium. Sometimes, I will go around all the edges of the paper clay image  with a light black acrylic wash to help give it a more polished took. It helps to integrate the background with the paper clay image.
Take a class with me sometime!





Cleaning Out My Studio!

Whenever I finish a bunch of work, I clean out my studio so that I can begin anew. In the summer, I can open my garage door to the outside world...but over the summer everything gets pretty dusty and spider webby. So, having just finished teaching at Art and Soul, and making work for the vendor night sale, I am ready to begin a new phase of work. And that always begins with cleaning my studio.  It looked like a tornado hit. But now, it's all ready to mess up again.
 
Our Lady of Setting Your Soul Free  8x10    Torn paper collage/acrylic paint


Teaching a Workshop at Art & Soul in Portland

Not Today      Paper Clay/Mixed Media     8x10

If you are wondering how I make my art...you might want to take my 2 day workshop at Art & Soul on October 1 & 2. This venue is a wonderful place to make art, meet other artists and get all inspired for fall.

Here is the link to my class: http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/retreat-Portland2011-2002-workshop.php

The Creative Paper Clay Company has donated the clay for my class...so the materials fee (listed at $15.00) is actually only $5.00!

I promise you will learn all sorts of new ways to make art that you will LOVE!

Obsessive Thinking

Noxious Thoughts  9x12  Paper Clay/Mixed Media
Circular thoughts are the ones that keep coming through your head and making you feel anxious. Ever notice that they are not happy thoughts? Just the old stinky bad ones? Things you or someone else did or said that bug you. It's like being on a hike with a rock in your shoe. The only cure is to take it out. And only you know how to do that.

Relationships

It's not like love hurts all the time...but one false move and it can get kind of sticky. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Paper Clay/Mixed Media    10"x 12"   Love Hurts

Who's Bugging Who?

My latest insect collection honors those bugs that are now extinct or endangered because of humans encroaching upon their habitats. Next time you swat at an insect, just remember that they actually have a right to be here too. "But for the grace of God go I."

Bugged 1  5x7  Paper Clay/Mixed Media

Bugged 2   5x7 Paper Clay/Mixed Media

Bugged 3  5x7  Paper Clay/Mixed Media

Bugged 4  5x7 Paper Clay/Mixed Media

Bugged 5  7x7  Paper Clay/Mixed Media

Bugged 6   7x7  Paper Clay/Mixed Media

Bugged 8   7x7  Paper Clay/Mixed Media

The Going Away Party

I was invited to participate in a show at MECCA, our local recycled materials exchange organization. They provided me with items I needed to make into art: a slide carousel and slides. Here is the result...a game board with a spinner that works. It's a tribute to endangered animals. Looks funny but it's no joke.

Show: Objects Afterlife Art Challenge
•  Showing at the Eugene Celebration: Aug 26-28, 174 W. Broadway (next to NewZone Gallery)
•  Artist's Opening at MECCA: First Friday Artwalk, Sept 2, 449 Willamette St. (to the right of the Amtrak Station)

 

Detail

Detail
Detail

Confessions of a Stress Junkie

I have this crazy idea that I can do it all, all the time. So I have a history of over committing myself. But then I ended up with stress related health issues. So I am working on changing a few things. And it's not easy because now I feel guilty for relaxing.

Everyday Saint Series: " Our Lady of the Overcommitted"

Guardino Gallery Show

Spring Cleaning
Here are some of the images from my last show at Guardino Gallery in Portland, Oregon. Most of these are done with Creative Paperclay® and mixed media.
Bless the Heart and Soul of Phoebe Snow


Anticipation


These are a pair called "The Wedding" painted on pressed board panels

Green Architecture

If She Could Only Fly Away

A Bird in Hand
My Fettered Friend: Chickadee

My Fettered Friend: Meadowlark

My Fettered Friend: Robin

My Fettered Friend: Varied Thrush

Upcoming Art Show and Workshop on Alberta Street in Portland, Oregon

Just Imagine

Sometimes Things Need to Grow on You

This Too Shall Pass


 































































In the next 2 weeks, I am going to be in a show at Guardino Gallery in Portland...and right down the street, at Collage (the coolest art/craft supply shop EVER) I am teaching a 2 day workshop on Paper Clay and Mixed Media.

Check it out!
 http://collageonalberta.typepad.com/
 http://guardinogallery.com/

Bird is the Word

I made these birds for Valentine's Day with tissue paper maché and paint.
You are my hero      Mixed Media
You are a rare bird     Mixed Media

You are the life of my party      Mixed Media


Signs of the Times

Ok...so I worked on these for 2 years and finally finished them. It's not that they took that long...but I kept changing them and redoing them. I used  the images to design bookmarks for my dearest friend Johanna Mitchell who is an amazing astrologer in Eugene...with clients all over the world. And now these finished pieces hang in her office because they wanted to be there.

They are mixed media using matte board, paper and paint. Hard to tell but they have dimension.
Happy Birthday to all of us.












The Releasing

Sometimes you have to let go of something in order to allow something new to come in.  Old habits, old patterns, old ideas of who you are.  It is not always comfortable. Sometimes it is like releasing a favorite pet into the wild. Just go for it.

Releasing Self Doubt

Everyday Saints

These are some of my Everyday Saints. 
Those who watch over us when we need them.
All were inspired by my daughter and the phases of her life so far.

Our Lady of Biological Clocks      Paper Collage/Mixed Media

Our Lady of Decisions of the Heart    Paper Collage/Mixed Media

Our Lady of Sleeping Through The Night     Paper Collage/Mixed Media

Our Lady of Things I Wish I Hadn't Said         Paper Collage/Mixed Media

Friends of a Feather

Spring is everywhere. And I am celebrating it with my friends that hang out just outside my studio window. What a blessing they are.





Art & Soul Retreat in Portland this Fall!


I will be teaching at this wonderful week-long retreat in Portland this fall! 
Classes begin Sept. 26 -- I am teaching Oct. 1&2, Sat & Sun 

Link to Portland Art & Soul Retreat

Hundreds of art makers gather to take workshops from dozens of teachers that come from all over the country. It is a Mixed Media Mecca! You can learn so many techniques from such masters that it will leave you creatively stimulated for months! Below are listed JUST A FEW of the many awesome artists teaching there with links to their creative BLOGS!

--Jane LaFazio (click here for Jane's blog)
Colorful and charismatic work...be excited at the opportunity to take one of her classes.

--Jenni Horne (click here for Jenni's blog)
Inventively whimsical art. She'll be teaching about how to paint a story.

--Peggy Krzyzewski (click here for Peggy's blog)
Fusing glass in new creative ways. Clearly this comes from her heart.

--Doreen Kassel  (click here for Doreen's blog)
Papier mache clay folk art. I love it! Doreen's pieces look like vintage storybooks.

--Sharyn Sowell (Click here for Sharon's blog)
This artist is a letterpress wonder. Making art the old fashioned way, one letter at a time. So imPRESSive.

--Corey Celaya (click here for Corey's blog)
Collaged jewelry? Not sure how she does it, but she does it beautifully.

Encaustics...painting, layering, encasing creations in wax. She makes it look so easy.

--Jen Crossley (click here for Jen's blog)
She creates amazing jewelry out of odds and ends...bits and pieces. The most charming of charms.

--Barbara Lewis (click here for Barbara's blog)
Enchanted enamels, beautiful beads...fresh approaches...she is inspiring.

Sign up as soon as you can because these workshops fill up FAST.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love that LOVE gets honored once a year.
For our special show at Passionflower Design in Eugene -- Objects of Desire --I made a series of Valentine Hearts using paper maché clay.
Hopelessly devoted to you.

Every rose has its thorn
For Frida
I will always love you.