Art Unraveled, Part III

Patricia and I both took a class with Barbara McGuire (http://www.barbaramcguire.com/), "Matchbook Pendants". Barbara was so professional, she had most of the pre-work done, so that we could spend our time learning the important parts, rather than doing the "grunt work". After a short evening class, we each walked out with a completed pendant necklace that we were utterly proud of.


My sweet friend Patricia, at Art Unraveled in
Phoenix, AZ, August, 2007.


Patricia took this picture of me at the airport as we
were getting ready to leave for Phoenix ... sketchbook/journal
in hand, I couldn't wait to get started!


Barbara McGuire with one of her tiny matchbooks, which is
about to be magically turned into a fabulous pendant.


Here's the one I made, with an image transferred onto the
polymer clay.


The back of the pendant, showing the impressed stamping
and distressed painting, as well as the imported metal belt parts
that were used as findings.

de ting about DeMeng ... (aka Art Unraveled Part II)

OK, I might as well come right out and admit it. Michael DeMeng is my current Pretend Boyfriend, knocking long-standing favorite Kevin Costner right out of the saddle. I mean, Kevin's still cute and everything, and he still makes my heart go pitty-pat, but Michael? Michael is not only the author of Secrets of Rusty Things (see http://www.michaeldemeng.com/ and http://tinyurl.com/2tvrun), but he's a great teacher, a funny (and cute) guy, and did I mention cute?

Seriously, it's rare to find an artist who is also an excellent teacher. I would highly recommend jumping at the chance to take a class from Michael DeMeng. He kept our class at Art Unraveled, "3D Polaroid Assemblages", hopping with excitement and laughter. I'm planning to take another class (or two) with him next year as well. Well worth the price of Art Unraveled, all by himself.



A fuzzy picture of a kind of cool assemblage, if I do say so myself.
I loved the process of creating the "rocky" frame.




At work in class.



A fantasy self-portrait.




Patricia working on her assemblage piece.



I captured a better photo of Patricia's fantastic assemblage.




Michael "critiqueing" my work.



Me, Michael, and Patricia, at the end of the day. I told you
we had fun!

Art Unraveled, Part I

Last month, Patricia and I went to Art Unraveled in Phoenix and had a ball for 4 days. We took several classes each, and my first class was with Jacqueline Sullivan, "Transparent Collage". We made all kinds of transparent papers with paints, glues, coffee grounds, and other wierd things. My last class was also with Jacqueline, "Secret Geisha Book", which had a cubby-hole concealed in the cover and pages made of paste paper. Here are pictures of both projects.

Transparent Collage, built on a gallery-wrapped canvas.

Secret Geisha Book, Front Cover.

Secret Geisha Book, Interior (unfinished)

Secret Geisha Book, Back Cover.

A Birfday Pome

Having missed my "baby" brother Craig's birthday earlier this month, I decided to write him a poem to let him know how much we all appreciate him (even though we forgot his birthday!) Here's the card he's receiving this week, from all of us.

For some reason lost in the mists of time, Craig is often known as "Der Craigle" in the family. I always make my own cards with the Printmaster program, and he loves John Cleese's Minister of Silly Walks, so ...




A Late Birfday Pome for Der Craigle
(Sometime in August, 2007)

(inside ...)

AN ODE TO DER CRAIGLE:

Der Craigle is Der Master
at keeping things in check.
He always knows just what to do
When things are goin' to Heck

Der Craigle is our Hero
He makes us toe the line;
To keep us from our dreadful fates,
He rescues us in time.

Der Craigle is De Bestest One
He always does his part;
He never lets us down because
He has the kindest heart.

We love Dat Boy, we must admit
We cannot tell a lie;
Appreciation ain't enuff ...
We'll Luff him till we die.

---------

(I'm hoping he won't read my blog until after he receives the card ... I'll be without a computer this week, so must post this now or never ... i.e., I'll forget!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRAIGLE!

A Night Study in Browns

Inspired by a recent class with Fran Skiles, here is a mixed
media collage in 3 stages ... so far.



Stage 1: White cotton canvas, black and white gesso, machine
and hand stitching, tea bag, coffee grounds, hand-dyed papers
and fabrics, acrylic paints, matte medium, rusted silks.


Stage 2: Acrylic paints added.


Stage 3: The added color was a bit too bright for my taste, so
I went back in and subdued it somewhat. Still not sure if I'm
finished with it.

A Double Birthday Celebration

The Art Girls met at my house on Sunday, and we had bagels & cream cheese for breakfast, champagne mimosas for a mid-morning Birthday Toast, and pizza for lunch. (Oh, in between eating and drinking and gift-giving, we managed to do some artwork.)

Gloria ... Birthday Girl #1 -- isn't she beautiful?

Martha ... Birthday Girl #2 ... but always #1 in our hearts!

Mary Ellen, looking fabulously fit since beginning

her new job utilizing her skills as a Master Gardener.

Adorable Patricia: "WHAT are you doing???"

XCU (Extreme Close-Up): Patricia's Matchbox Pendant,

which she made in Barbara McGuire's polymer clay class

at Art Unraveled last week.


Me taking a Mimosa Break.

(We missed you Ann!)

Next time we get together maybe I'll actually have some pictures of our artwork from that day.

Fresco II Sold

Gerald Tobola of the Copper Shade Tree Gallery (http://geraldtobola.com/coppershadetree.htm) called this evening to let me know that my "Fresco II" has been sold ... Yay! Now I feel more confident in going forward with this series. My next one is in a similar style, but with a very different subject matter. Here's "Fresco II", as sold:


See my July 5 entry for more images ... and wish me luck for the future of this series!

Copper Leaf-worthy?

I had been wanting to make a necklace worthy of the hand-hammered copper leaf made for me by Gerald Tobola of the Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas ( http://geraldtobola.com/ ), but just hadn't come up with anything I liked well enough. Finally, the Spiral Rope technique that Ann taught me the other day struck me as just right, so I made one in copper and antique blue beads, to show off the copper leaf. Here it is.


The leaf itself is about 1-1/2" x 4", and the rope is 18" long, with a dyed fresh-water pearl for the catch.

Silver Wire Wrapping

Yesterday, Martha and Patricia and I did some silver wire-wrapping to make some more funky earrings. Here are the results:



My SS triangle earrings with Toho triangle beads. I think I'll try again with a heavier wire.


Martha's pod-shaped earrings with dyed freshwater pearls. I like the size and shape of these earrings, and they will go with everything.


Patricia's arrowhead earrings with white freshwater pearls. She was concerned that they wouldn't show up with her white hair, but I think we convinced her that they are very elegant and beautiful!

In the meantime, Ann came to keep us company, and while we played with silver wire, she worked on replacements for her woven beaded bracelets that are selling like hotcakes at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery http://geraldtobola.com/coppershadetree.htm in Round Top, Texas. I wish I had a picture of one of the bracelets to show you ... will get an image next time.

Thank you, Annie, for teaching me the Spiral Rope beading technique yesterday ... I worked for many hours last night and today, and here is my finished 19" necklace:

earrings & things

On July 14, Martha and I visited Patrica at her house for a PMC (Precious Metal Clay) day ... we each made a pair of Fine Silver earrings (some of us made more!) It was easier in some ways and harder in others than you might think. Here are a few pics.


Martha & Patricia


Martha & Me


Martha's earrings ... these are actually 3 layers of silver, regardless of the gold color of this photo. Sorry this is so blurry!


Patricia used a patina on her earrings ... they turned out gorgeous!


Mine ... no patina ... I liked the matte silver look.

Harry Potter Fever

We've all been in a fever over the latest (and last) Harry Potter book, released this week. But how many of us actually made a costume to go and stand in line at the bookstore for its release? Well, my friend Maggie Winfield, for one! Isn't she the most adorable Sorting Hat Student EVER?

Clay Play Day

A few weeks ago, 4 of us Art Girls had a get-together to play with polymer clay. Patricia, our resident Mokume Gane expert (because she's done it before and was willing to teach us) came with a lesson plan and hand-outs! She even went so far as to create templates and cutting mats for us, and showed us how to make a "guillotine" for making perfectly straight and even cuts in the clay tiles and tubes.

Here are some pics from that day ...

Linda (me), Martha, Patricia, and Mary Ellen.


Martha & Mary Ellen, with ME's Diva Art Doll


Mary Ellen's Sister Shrine


Mary Ellen's Box Shrine ... for some reason, Mary Ellen was the only one with Show & Tell that day.


Our sweet teacher, Patricia.


At last! The 4 Mokume Gane Tile Bracelets ... it only took us 5 hours, LOL!

Fresco

Here's my latest piece ... "Fresco" ... no time to write much about it, just that it's the first of a new series for me. Quilted and surface-altered to resemble an old crumbling Roman fresco. Mounted on stretched canvas, which I also painted to resemble stucco. The full-image shot shows the piece framed, with museum glass.


"Fresco", framed to 35" x 29"



"Fresco", Detail 1





"Fresco", Detail 2

This piece is going up to the Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top ( http://geraldtobola.com/ ) tomorrow, if I can get a minor problem with the frame corrected.

We have a winner!

Tonight was the night ... the drawing for the Tommy Dixon Opportunity Quilt (see my May 4 post).

In the midst of much celebration and hilarity, we searched for the perfect "uninterested party" to draw the winning ticket. First one candidate, then another, was discretely rejected, due to one lack of perfection or another. This one was too tall, that one too short, this one didn't smile enough, that one drooled in his black bean soup. We were very picky about picking the picker to pick the ticket!
Finally, the perfect person came along! A young man named Connor came up to our table to compliment us on our silly costumes. We immediately fell in love, captured him, and made him our honorary Prince of the Evening, whereupon he fulfilled his princely duties by drawing the winning ticket forthwith.


Following instructions to the"T", Connor clenches his eyes tightly shut while digging through the hundreds of tickets to pull the winner.


At last! The Winning Ticket!



With much fanfare, the winning ticket was drawn and read aloud by our Queen for the Night, Sharon Dixon. And the winner is ...

Donna DiFiore!

Congratulations, Donna, you are the lucky winner of your choice of one of the two quilts made and quilted by Sharon. (It's my understanding that Donna has chosen the double-ribbon-winning Batik quilt.)


Sharon immediately called Donna to give her the good news ... and Connor also wanted to congratulate her. I think this adorable young man was as excited as we were! Thank you, Prince Connor, for helping us in our Hour of Need!




Sharon wanted me to thank each and every one of you who has contributed by buying a ticket (or tickets) for her Opportunity Quilt. So many times over the past few months, she has been almost overcome by your kindness and generosity.

Tommy is doing very well since his return home from the hospital, and is exercising diligently in order to regain his strength. He joins his voice with Sharon's in thanking you all for your help. It is something they have both said over and over that they will never forget. (Tommy told Sharon, "Quilters are powerful people! I'm sure glad they're on my side!")

Here are some more pictures of the evening's festivities.


Queen Sharon


Princess Linda


Princess Betty


Princess Barb


The Celebratory Dinner

__________________________

P.S. I just learned that Connor and his Dad rode the MS-150 charity bike ride for Multiple Sclerosis, and Connor placed 14th in fundraising for kids under 17 (out of 13,000 riders)! Double-Hooray for Connor! (That's his proud Dad, second from left.) And look at that way-cool two-seater bike, too!