WORKSHOP WEDNESDAY

Our amazing Art Center in town holds education classes once a week called Workshop Wednesday. I knew they were doing printmaking yesterday, so I made my kids go. 

C-Man shows us his foam matrix of a school house.

I can't believe they didn't want to come. They had fun once they got there.

Princess P cutting out her foam matrix.

C-Man's print.

Princess P's turtle print.

My print. C-Man taking a selfie with Princess P photobombing.

I {LOVE} ART!

WORKSHOP #2- watercolor

The second week of my Summer Snow workshops was a watercolor class taught by Osral Allred. He is my favorite watercolor artist in the world. If I could paint like anyone, it would be him. But, alas, I can not.

Oz, the Great and Powerful, with Me!

It was so amazing to watch him paint again. I haven't had a class from him since I was at Snow College (20+ years ago, and we won't go into how many plusses.), so it was great inspiration for me! He has ALS (or Lou Gehrig's) now, but you'd never guess from his work. He is just as incredible as he always has been.

Osral paints a tractor.

Some of my favorite paintings of his are his farm equipment. Do NOT ask me why. I don't like farming or anything, he just creates these amazing images that are just so fabulous! I wish I had a couple thousand dollars to buy one, or even two, of his paintings! Click on his name up there and look at his work on Facebook. You will love them.

Our watercolor class.

I painted quite a bit this week, so I will have to post some of my paintings too... if when they get done...

CUPCAKE PRINT

As you may have remembered, I am taking Printmaking 2 again and we are on the assignment 'Unnecessary Accessories.' I chose cupcakes since they are so popular right now, but aren't really a necessity (unless you are in New York and can go to Magnolia Bakery...). 

Cupcakes (sintra and woodgrain print)

I used sintra for the cupcakes and then we sandblasted a piece of wood for the wood grain print. I really like the end product! 

Cupcakes in color (sintra and woodgrain print with hand tinting)

I wanted a little more color in them however, so I hand-tinted a few of the copies with watercolor. I love it!

EXPOSED BINDING WORKSHOP

I was fortunate enough to be able to take a book binding workshop yesterday and came home with 2 and a half books finished! It was SO MUCH FUN! I have no idea why I love making books so much, I just know that I do!

Double Needle Ethiopian Coptic Stitch Binding.

 The coptic stitch binding was complex for me. It looks fairly straight forward, but got confusing. I need to hurry and make another one so that I can keep the processes in my head. I tried to take notes, but I don't know how much sense they will make.

The Secret Belgium Binding by Ann Goye.

This book (the Secret Belgium Binding) is my favorite. I love the patterns I used, but I love the binding even more! I am so excited to learn these new techniques. If any of you are interested in taking some classes and learning to make books, here is the blog for Karleigh Heywood. She is the one that taught the workshop. She teaches all over. I highly recommend her.

ESPAÑOL PROJECT

This is my son's Spanish class project that they made today. ¡Es muy bueno!

Here are the stars of the show! They had a lot of fun doing it. I just had to take a photo! Their mustaches are awesome!

MY ART TRIBUTE TO BOOK CLUB

Not really, but it could be. The title of the assignment for this print was 'Unnecessary Accessories'. Not that books are unnecessary, (S was very insulted that I would even suggest such a thing), but I have an addiction to buying books that I really don't NEED, thanks to Amazon and how easy it is to just push a button and have books delivered to my door!!.... But I digress... I also have similar compulsion to buy shoes, teapots and earrings that I don't need either, but my drawing for the books was my favorite, so this is the result...

It is a dual color (two plates-one for each color) sintra cut. Sintra is a plastic substance made out of PVC- like plumbing pipes, and very nice to carve out. I am not sure what I'm going to call it yet...

PRINTMAKING UPDATE

I've been working on woodcuts in my Printmaking 2 class. It has been VERY time consuming. We had to do an allegory (click for link if you can't remember what that means).

Here is the small study I did to get used to the wood we were using. I am actually going to hand tint the hands a yellow to look like rubber housework gloves (adding a domestic feel to it). I think I'll call this one 'There Is None So Blind.'

My final assignment is 20 x 28" or around there, so they are HUGE! It took me 20+ hours and many cuts all over my finger tips. This is the process we use. We outline in black and then color everything else in red. That way, while you are cutting you can see what is left and what has been cut. You can also sort of tell what the texture will look like when printed. Many of the lines are left on purpose to add texture and interest in a print. It is called 'noise' and is one of my favorite things about a print.

This is my final matrix, carved and ready to print. Notice that it is a mirror image so that it will print the right way onto paper. Can anybody guess what my allegory is about?? I did some prints of it yesterday and they turned out great! I am so excited about my first major woodcut! I'll post a few prints on here when I get a variety printed.

NEW MONOTYPES

We started Printmaking 2 with monotypes. I have enjoyed monotypes up until this point. Now, I am very frustrated! They are VERY time consuming and I still don't have one I love.

Here is the first one I did. It is a tree (hopefully that was obvious). It took me about two hours (the plate is about 23"). The left side of the tree is lacking in foliage, but it wasn't supposed to be. It is hard to tell what is going to print and what isn't, so things end up lighter than you think they are going to be. But even though there are problems with it, there are still things I really like about this one. The textures are awesome!

This is a multiple color, multiple 'drop' monotype on top of a Xylene transfer. The yellow wheat is subtractive and the figure is additive. All total it took about 5 hours.

My aspens were a bit disappointing. I did another one too, but I am having computer issues and it won't let me download any more photos. It took me about 4 hours and the second one took me about 6 (multiple drops/multiple colors). There are things I like about this one and things I like about the second one. Will I EVER get it right??? I have the faculty show coming up and I am really feeling the pressure!!

I HAVE NO CLASS

My class got ixnayed for this semester due to lack of students. There was some confusion with scheduling and it only had 4, so we decided to cancel. I'm not sure if I'm happy about all the free time I'm going to have now, or sad because of all the free time I'm going to have now. I am going to take Printmaking 2, so that will give me something to do. And there's always plenty of housework...

MONOTYPE FLOWERS

Here's more art from my class. This is a demo I did for monotypes last week. Everyone enjoyed them quite a bit. I LOVE doing monotypes. I'm thinking about doing a large one for the faculty show in February...

HOME WORK

I am teaching a new class this semester and need examples of the assignments, so I have been doing the assignments along with my class.

I've actually had a good time. Give me a design problem and it is just like a puzzle. I just want to get started figuring out the solution. This one (above) had to do with pattern continuation and line direction within a composition. It was done with Sharpie.

This is an embossment (excuse the photo, my nice camera is still being repaired). They had to pick an emotion or concept and express it visually. Mine was fear- can you see the spider? The shot needle? The blood? The number 13? Not necessarily my fears, but dealing with fears common to many.

This is one I just did today using mixed media. They had to choose a color scheme and use collage and paint. I'm diggin' this one. Doesn't necessarily have a message, just fun.

PHOTOSHOPPED KEN

For a quick intro to Photoshop we had a choose an image and alter it in four different ways- a sort-of Andy Warhol piece. I chose Ken and I have no idea why except that the possibilities for alteration were endless.

I ended up using POSTERIZED KEN, ZOMBIE KEN, MIDLIFE CRISIS KEN, and HIPPIE KEN.

I think they turned out fun. My next assignment is a photoshopped self-portrait. I have never taken a self-portrait without photoshopping it, so it shouldn't be too hard. :)

MY MONSTERS

Assignment #1 DONE! I am happy. My skills on Illustrator have improved and it is no longer quite so daunting to me.

Here are my set of 3 black and white monsters...

... and my set of 3 colored. Bring on the next assignment!

NEW SKILLS

I am finally taking the computer art class I have wanted to take forever. I have gone from being VERY frustrated to very EXCITED just today!

Our assignment is to create a set of 3 images that relate to each other in subject matter as well as style. After a few different ideas I decided on monster dolls. I have NO idea why, but they were fun to draw and I liked them, so I kept going. Those are my sketches up above.

Yesterday I started working on a computer version (above) and HATED it!

U-G-L-Y!! It just didn't look like my drawings. I wanted them to look like little stuffed toys and it DID NOT even come close. I was very discouraged and thought about giving up. But somehow this morning I just got up and went to class. Gosh, am I glad I did!

I made quite a bit of progress and got some monsters that I really like (above). I only have one more to do and I am so proud of my first computer illustrations! Pretty awesome considering the fact that I just learned today!! Bring it on Illustrator! I'm ready!!

SELF-PORTRAIT POSTERIZATION

One of the assignments I give in my design class is a self-portrait. We take photos in class and the rule is that they have to decide on a non-traditional portrait pose. Then we take the images into PhotoShop, let the computer posterize them for us, blow them up on a big board and paint them. Some of them turn out very fun and I just thought I'd share a few.

Here is my daughter, S. I LOVE IT!! So much personality!

Very fun perspective of I. The foreshortening is great!

This flirty one is of T!

K's has lots of personality too!

This is definitely one of my favorites EVER! So fun!

So, if your facebook profile needs a new look, here's a bunch of ideas for you!

RELIEF SOCIETY ART GROUP

In my church our women's group is called Relief Society. We help each other when we are in need, teach each other, and learn from each other, all the while creating relationships that will last a lifetime. It is like having a built-in group of friends.

We just started an art group that I am in charge of. Some of the ladies have art background and some of them are just starting, but I am so thrilled to be sharing my love of art with them. Our first meeting was last night and we had a great time together. We are only meeting once a month, so I gave them lots of 'homework' to work on during the rest of the month. I hope they do it (me too)...

CONCEPTUAL SELF-PORTRAIT

Well, I am finally done (15+ hours into this drawing- it is large- 55 X 24") and my class is over. I'm sad about that. I really loved that class. I learned a lot and produced a lot!I was going to add a bunch of collage images and text, but it just didn't look good- it looked cluttered and a mess. So I just drew in the words (including text was part of the assignment). I really like the way it turned out and I can't say that about everything I do. Can you figure out what it all means?

SYMBOLS

I have been struggling with my final assignment for my drawing class. It is a conceptual self-portrait, but my instructor also wants it multi-faceted.

So... I have thought and thought and thought. What am I? Who am I? What do I love? What defines me? Wwaaay too deep for me. I had to simplify and think: 'what can I use to represent me?' Here are some things I am thinking about...

• Feather duster and vacuum- to represent housewife. I am proud to be a housewife!
• Faucet- because I want to draw it. I am going to have to think of something...
• Pitcher- I have a pitcher very similar to this that was my grandma's. My mom said my grandma would never put a milk carton on the table, so my mom remembers the pitcher filled with milk when it was meal time. (the formalities have lessened down through the generations.)
• Flower- I asked my kids what symbol I could use to represent me and two of them said a flower. I do love flowers, especially wild flowers.
• Venus- not because I am the Goddess of Love (okay, sometimes I am... wink), but because I am so conscious of my body and weight right now.
• Nest and eggs- has to do with my daughter turning 18 and getting ready to head to college and become an adult. She's leaving my nest. *sniff*
• Tree (not pictured here)- I am also using a tree to represent family and how important it is to me.

What symbols would you use to represent you?