cups and bowls

I'm a lucky girl....Richeson  Fine Art Materials sent me a big box full of art goods to experiment with and to share with my classes! In the box I found Richeson Pastels, pastels papers and boards, acrylics, and more!
Here is a sampling from my Pastels class demo I did on cups and bowls....this support paper is very "toothy" and a dream to work on. I just read that it will accept watercolor washes so I'll try that next.
Huge thanks to Richeson!

Create in California ....Registration opens today!

I'll be teaching 4 fab workshops at Create Orange County California in May! Registration opens today.....
Check it out!  
Here are some tid bits........

Happy Holidays Everyone!

The Holidays are here...bring in the cheer! Wishing peace and joy for all.......

Santa Ysabel Hike with friends

My art friends and I hiked at the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve on Friday...an absolutely beautiful day. The day just beckoned us to sit under the Engelmann Oaks on this dry, windy late morning and paint the surroundings. And to finish a perfect outing...lunch in town, Julian pies, and shopping at Santa Ysabel Gallery and Weaver's shop.....

an absolutely magnificent oak at the top of the ridge

The trail head starts near the Santa Ysabel Mission off the 78 in Santa Ysabel, CA. You need to open the gates to pass through the cow pastures...you can see the mission behind the curious cows........

Candy Wrapper Book...part 2

While recuperating from my bout with Bronchitis I managed to finish my Candy Wrapper book.

 I used embroidery thread to embellish the covers with some stitches that I kinda remembered how to do back in my hippie days.... I  added a hand milagro....good thoughts for stitching....and some flying bird charms. The wrap tie is a fabric scrap  from old sari cloth.

 This detail shows the binding. I taught this binding in my Fall  Book Arts Class at Fallbrook School of the Arts. The 2012 classes will be posted very soon! My next Book Arts class starts January 26 -1 to 4pm.

sorry I missed you......

Today was the Talmadge show. I stayed home...too sick to participate. I'll be back in next year.  Sorry I missed you! 

Candy Wrapper paper

 A question came up.....what do with all of those leftover candy wrappers from Halloween and Dia de los Muertos? Instead of tossing them, I had my Fallbrook School of the Arts Book Arts class save them for a book construction! We adhered them to freezer wrap paper, forming a great colorful collage, sprayed them with spray gesso with stencil patterns.
 I've embellished the paper with colored pencils, bringing out the patterns of the stencils. More embellishments next...think of the possibilities......stitching some beads perhaps?
These will be the covers of the book we'll make on Thursday........I'll post the book construction next!

Monotype workshop at SDWS

Great workshop coming up in December for all San Diegans and points beyond....
2 days of exploration with watercolor monotypes and collage on paper. This is your chance to experiment with watercolor printmaking and collage with rice papers, stamping, and altered surface textures.
December 4 and 5
San Diego Watercolor Society

Discover innovative techniques to create botanical grid compositions with hand transferred watercolor monotype. Monotype is an expressive additive or subtractive printing method which creates intriguing textured color fusion shapes. Spend each day printing and painting in watercolor exploring wet into wet approaches. We’ll add additional mixed media layers with dry mediums to exaggerate color intensity. Discover innovative techniques to create botanical grid compositions with hand transferred watercolor monotype.

Best of Show!

Extreme thrill on Friday night when I walked into the Fallbrook Art Center and saw that my pastel

 "Passion Flower Birds" won "Best of Show"....!!

I was very proud that this pastel painting was worthy of such a grand prize.  I enjoy composing an odd assortment of shapes in my still life paintings. The clay bird on the left is from Acoma, New Mexico. I bought it from one of the artists on top of the mesa in the village built on solid rock. I found the ceramic corn bowl in a thrift shop. Corn shapes are intriguing to me, as a metaphor and symbol. I grow passion fruit vines in my garden. The fruits are quite bright towards the end of summer.
My painting has a prominent spot right as you walk in to the center. Come see the exhibit ...for the next two weeks only......
.here are the details ......
Fallbrook Art Center
Open Daily

Oct 28 - Nov 13

103 South Main Street
Fallbrook,California    92028

a workshop with Jesse

 I took a workshop up at Art and Soul in Portland with Jesse Reno. His work is mind blowing, raw and honest. I played with finger paint all morning. It's such a release to feel the paint in your hands, applying pure color on the paper and mixing with your fingers. Touching the paper surface with paint is the extreme tactile sensation. Highly recomended workshop!

 Here  is my painting before the last paint layers.....

Here is the finished work......

and a work in progress......

and Jesse with my "Crow Cow" painting......very cool