Beginnings

We all know there’s such a thing as writer’s block, but how about fear of starting a new journal? Actually, fear is probably the wrong word to use here because it’s more like the I might wreck it so I’ll wait until I know I can do something fabulous with it syndrome. In other words, you just keep putting it off until you’re feeling perfect, which as we all know is basically never. Enough of that, I thought to myself. I’ll just jump right in and do whatever. Whatever turned into a big question mark for me, so what else could I do but go with it?

Liberate Your Inner Writer

When Artful Blogging asked me to write an article for the Summer 2009 issue, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something about writing. When I first started my blog, I thought coming with interesting visuals would be the hard part. But as it turned out, my main challenge was writing entries.
Of course you can do what you want to when you blog, so I seriously considered dropping words altogether. And just when I thought I’d made up my mind to go this route, a huge snowstorm hit our area.
Now you’re probably wondering what a snowstorm has to do with all of this. Well, what happened was that I saw two of my neighbors leaning on their snow shovels deeply involved in conversation across the street. What was so interesting to them that they would stand around talking instead of shoveling, especially when the snow was coming down so heavily?
That’s when I realized that I had to keep writing. One picture may be worth a thousand words, but it’s good to hear (or read) at least some of them too. My article: Liberate Your Inner Writer covers a few of the ways I’ve found that make blog writing go easier for me, and, hopefully, for you.

The Lynne Perrella Experience

While I was looking at my photos from Artfest this afternoon, I realized that I hadn’t written a post about the workshop I’d taken with Lynne Perrella. But this probably has more to do with procrastination than oversight.
Over the years I’ve taken quite a few art classes. Most of them of them have been focused on incorporating new techniques into a finished project, so this kind of workshop is usually easier to write about. However, a show-and-tell really doesn’t do Lynne Perrella justice because she’s on a different wavelength entirely.
Even though Lynne shared plenty of techniques with us, what you take away from her is an experience rather than a how to. Personally, this is my favorite kind of class. I figure you can always pick up techniques from a book, and while you may not do them well, at least you have a starting point. But once you’re given a window into the mindset and practice of an artist you admire, you gain the kind of inspiration that stays with you long after the latest technique has galloped off into the sunset.
Lynne herself is an interesting mix of the controlled and the spontaneous. If I could describe her method of working, it would be that she has a definite way of proceeding, but will deviate from this in a heartbeat if takes her to where she wants to go. And where she’s always headed to is that place where she expresses herself best by staying engaged in the process.
Of course I went off on a tangent myself and didn’t finish the class project as usual (see a snippet above). In my opinion, another couple of days with Lynne would have been ideal. But it was the Artfest workshop I gained the most from, not only in terms of what I could do with my own art, but also how important it is to stay tuned into your own vision of things and to stick with it.
P.S. If you want to see more from Lynne Perrella’s class and other Artfest stuff, visit my friend Janne’s blog and check it out.

Self Portrait

This photo of me as a child was one of the first things I worked on when I started learning Photoshop. I rarely use images of myself because I find other people more interesting visually. But I like this picture because I can see my present self in it, albeit with no wrinkles!
Of course I know a lot more about Photoshop now than I did seven years ago. Still, I did manage to use the Threshold command properly and to add wings, But now that I understand about layers and digital painting, I had to color me up and put in a background.
If you would like to use the canning label, you can download it for free from the Graphic Fairy’s blog.

For Leslie

The April theme for our ATC group was music. Even though I couldn’t make the meeting on Friday night, I thought I’d join in digitally anyway.
While I do have a jukebox stamp that would have worked well here, somehow I kept thinking about this image—In a Garden: Corfu, painted by John Singer Sargent in 1909. When I finished my ATC, it immediately reminded me of Leslie, music muse and ardent reader …so girlfriend, this one is for you! (After all, there are few things more enjoyable in life than reading and listening to music, especially when you're doing them together).

Homage to Vegas

John was so intrigued by this mini Las Vegas sign that he had to make a video. It really made me laugh and I hope you do too. Just turn up your volume before you begin.
P.S. Yes, I did a little gambling and actually made five dollars!

Moo Challenge #49

One of the things I love about Photoshop is that I seem to be able to do it anytime, even when I’m feeling jet-lagged like I am right now. So—home is where the heart is—this week’s theme at Make a Moo or Two seemed tailor made to get me back into the swing of things creatively.
I decided I would do everything from scratch digitally, and as I was working (or rather: playing) away, I realized that it would probably be much easier to accomplish this in Illustrator, an Adobe program I basically know nothing about. Maybe one of these days I’ll give it a go, but somehow it makes more sense to build on what I already know instead of thinking that I need to learn something new in order to express myself.

Back to Reality

How can I describe the Las Vegas experience? I think the clichéd expression: What a trip! says it best. Where else can you take a helicopter journey into the primal majesty of the Grand Canyon, and then visit scaled down versions of Luxor, Paris, Venice and New York? Half of you longs to go on your own personal vision quest to the Grand Canyon or desert for several days. The rest of you can’t wait to load up on tacky key chain rings, mugs and T-Shirts emblazoned with the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas logo.
Emma and I had a wonderful time together. We visited as many over-the-top resorts and casinos as we could fit in, went to Cirque du Soleil, shopped (mainly window), relaxed by the pool and trekked out to Viva Las Vegas Stamps which has more rubber stamps than I’ve ever seen before in my life. Most of them are designed by the owner Stampo who takes his Bichon Frises and cats to work with him every day. Speaking of cats, there is a lion exhibit at the MGM Grand that we were fascinated by. And did you know that the Las Vegas area is the biggest producer of kitty litter in the world?
One night we went out to dinner with several of Emma’s friends who were in Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Then we drove down the strip in Mustang convertible (top down) and headed off to the top of The Palms—55 stories up—to go clubbing. I had a pretty good idea that I would be old enough to be everyone’s mother there, and I was right. Instead of it being a weird experience though, I actually had a lot of fun.
But the best part of Las Vegas was spending all that quality time with Emma. When you love someone, you can never get enough of her (or him). Thanks for the trip baby. It’s something I’ll never forget.

Off to Las Vegas

I don’t know whether or not I’ve mentioned this on Artopia Update before, but Emma gave me a trip to Las Vegas for Christmas, and the two of us are off first thing in the morning to fly to Sin City.
I am super excited about spending five days with Emma. We’re booked on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon—something I’ve always wanted to do—and also visiting Viva Las Vegas Stamps and going to Cirque du Soleil.
It hardly took me any time to pack. All I did was open my suitcase and toss in a pile of clothes. Not like Artfest, that’s for sure. I even had time to do this week’s challenge at Make a Moo or Two, which is “eggs.” I love eggs because they seem to be full of possibilities to me.
Have a great weekend and I’ll see you here when I get back on Monday.

The Encaustic Class

Wax the Casbah was the only Artfest workshop where I managed to finish both of the in-class assignments (see above) …although the one on the right could use a little something extra now that I think about it.
I don’t know whether or not encaustic is something I’ll pursue because I’m sure you need way more than one day to get the hang of working with wax. I’ve never done anything with glass, but judging from what David says, wax is like glass in that you must adjust to it rather than it adjusting to you.
What I enjoyed most was the painting. I’d taken a full set of Claudine Hellmuth’s new Studio Paints with me, and as I hadn’t used them yet, I decided that I’d christen them at Artfest. I just love them!!! Nice and buttery with great coverage, and they really worked well with my set of Portfolio Oil Pastels.
Waxing the painting was more of a challenge. I tried a number transfer on the left hand piece but applied too much heat and it fragmented. When I asked Judy Wise what I could do to correct it, she laughed and said: “You’ll have to learn to love it.” I think this might be my new mantra …i.e. I’m going to love it anyway.

The Clayboard Class

I’ve never been very good at following verbal instructions when I’m taking a workshop. What often happens is that I hear (and see) what I’m supposed to do, then I immediately wonder how I can give things my own spin and go off on a tangent. I get so involved that I ignore what everyone else is doing (even the instructor), and I usually end up with something completely off base. That’s what happened here in the Clayboard workshop at Artfest, so I wasn’t very happy with what I “produced.”
Sometimes I think my main role in this kind of experience is to make everyone else feel better about what they’re doing! Not only was I the slowest person in this class, but I also failed to use most of the techniques that Mary Beth Shaw showed us—like how to mix colors—and I could certainly have benefited from that if I’d been paying more attention.
One thing I did notice was that I spend way more time on composition than other people do, instead of just going with the flow. While there are times when this works to my advantage, in this case, the means didn’t justify the end.
Martha told me that she always follows exactly what the instructor says so that she can pick up new techniques and use them properly. I just wish we’d had this discussion before Artfest instead of on the plane coming back.

I'm Back (sort of)

I don’t know about Martha, but I’ve felt wrecked all day. Our journey home started at 8 ‘o clock yesterday morning from Fort Worden, which is about 2 hours northwest of Seattle, and our plane landed at 11:30 last night. (I took the photo above from behind the dorm where I was staying just before we left). Although I never mind traveling on my own, it was certainly a lot more pleasurable sharing the experience with Martha. We gabbed, traded reading material, had takeout McDonald’s in Chicago and even took pictures of a mouse running around the terminal there.
Both of us had a fantastic time at Artfest. I know I enjoyed it even more this time than I did in 2006. Most of the anticipation I experienced beforehand revolved around the workshops I knew I’d be taking, but I’d forgotten how much fun it is socializing with so many like-minded people especially Brenda, Anita, Antoinette, Adriana and Tammy. There were serious discussions, hi-jinks and lots of laughter. One high point was meeting the poet Susan Wooldridge and getting to know her. Another was going to the journaling bonfire night on Thursday. I’ll post a couple of photos of what I did in the workshops and tell you more about them soon.

Artfest Bound

Well, I’m finally packed for Artfest and off at the crack of dawn. The picture on my blog today is on the front of the little booklets I’ll be trading with other people there. (This year’s theme is sea monsters).
I’m really looking forward to seeing Brenda and Martha, and participating in the three workshops I signed up for: Wax the Casbah with Judy Wise, Lynne Perrella’s A Face in the Crowd, and Spontaneous Intent Clayboard with Mary Beth Shaw.
I swore when I came back from Artfest last time that I wouldn’t do any painting classes if I went again because of all the supplies involved. But here I am with a truckload of paint ...even though Jeanne encouraged me to exercise restraint. Hopefully I’ll actually be able to finish something and then share it with you.
See you next Monday and have an artful week.
P.S. If you live in the Toronto area, don’t forget to visit the One of a Kind show to see Carmi's new fleet of book assemblages and cards. Check out her blog for pictures and more information.

We’re in ATC Quarterly!

Today got off to a great start when I received my copy of the Spring 2009 Artist Trading Card Quarterly. I’d written a piece on our group of Toronto area traders, and it was exciting to see so many of our talented participants published in my favorite zine.
Beverly Dalton, Colette Copeland, Daniza Benic, Diana Yee, Susan Venditti, Katie Maksym, Kris Fenwick, Ludgera Mueller, Marissa Decepida-Wong, Martha Brown, Mary Ambrose and Sandy Camarda all have their work featured in this issue
For more information on Artist Trading Card Quarterly, check out editor extraordinaire Ronna Mogelon’s blog.

Moo Challenge #47

Because of everything I have to do this week for Artfest—and Emma is taking me to Las Vegas for Easter weekend too—I hadn’t planned on participating in the Make a Moo or Two challenge this week. But how could I resist the postal theme?
For several years I was an active mail artist and participated in shows all over the world. Unfortunately it was one of the things I had to put on hold to write my book, but I plan to get back to it when I have more time. There’s something so satisfying about sending and receiving mail. I also loved making my own artistamps. Hmmm …maybe it’s time to get my perforator out of the garage and start using it again.

Anxiety

I’ve been thinking about everyone going to Artfest tonight and wondering if they’re as excited—and anxious—as I am. My guess is they probably are.
I’ve always found packing for major trips stressful because I’d just like to transport everything I have there and not have to make any decisions about what to take. Plus there’s the whole will-my-luggage-go-missing thing, which I hate. Not that it’s ever happened to me, but the last time I went to Artfest, one woman’s suitcase didn’t make it and it was awful for her. We all pitched in and gave her supplies, but I never did find out how she managed without clothes and important things like a hot water bottle.
At the moment I have little piles of stuff organized everywhere and I’m just hoping everything will fit into my suitcase. I also have all my trades done—80 little booklets—and some idea about what I’m going to do in the three painting workshops I’m taking. Because I usually spend several hours contemplating a piece before I begin, I have to get some of that out of the way or I won’t be able to finish a thing.

For Irene

When Irene left a comment here the other day saying she missed my weekly ATC, I realized that I haven’t been indulging in that particular pleasure for a while—so girlfriend, this one is for you! To create my ATC, I superimposed one of my favorite old photos onto a vintage book cover and then played with the Saturation and Hard Light blending modes in Photoshop. The book itself is called Spirit and Life and was published in 1896. Apparently it was a popular compilation of church music and you can download it for free from The Graphics Fairy. If you’re interested in images like this, you might also want to check out another free site: The Vintage Moth.

The Sunset

John took this picture of the wonderful sunset on Wednesday night. He has been documenting the sky off and on for a few months now, and each photo is different because the sky changes so quickly.
Speaking of skies, if you love the work of Joseph Cornell, there’s a new book out on his work by Kirsten Hoving called Joseph Cornell and Astronomy: A Case for the Stars. I haven’t read it myself, but I did flip through a copy in a bookstore recently and the art is amazing. It’s definitely on my to-buy list.
There’s something so inspiring about the sky in its many incarnations, and I’m sure that’s why Cornell was moved to express this in his art. I think this quote by Rumi says it best: The universe and the light of the stars come through me.

Moo Challenge $46

Hermine is the guest hostess over at Make a Moo or Two this week, and her challenge is to incorporate a jigsaw puzzle piece into your moos.
Even though I had trouble coming up with something I liked, I found this challenge really appealing. There’s something about a jigsaw puzzle that intrigues me—maybe because life is like a puzzle, and we’re trying to fit the pieces together to make sense of it.
In any case, I used the custom shape tool in Photoshop to generate the pieces I used here. But if you want a whole photo to look like a jigsaw puzzle, there are a couple of ways of doing this.
Use the Texturizer tool in the Filters menu. For a complete step-by-step tutorial, check out the Photoshop Talent website.
Download Panos Puzzle Effects which installs as a Photoshop action. There is a lite version that’s free, or you can buy the one that creates a more complicated looking jigsaw.
I prefer the results of the Panos action to those of the Texturizer tool because I think it looks more realistic. But if you’re a Photoshop user, you might want to try both and see what you think.

More Polaroid Fun

Azirca emailed me recently to tell me about Poladroid, a simple program you can download that turns your photos in faux Polaroids.
It’s easy to use. All you need is a picture saved as a JPEG. You just slide your photo into the Poladroid icon and wait for it to “develop.” Then, right click on the picture, and a message comes up asking you if you want to save it to your desktop. Click the message and you’re done.
Once it’s saved, you can post it to your blog. Or if you want to add something else, you can import it into Photoshop like I did here.