Boston Journal

I'm off to Boston tomorrow. I'm actually going to Harvard to participate in Project Zero, a week long session for arts educators. I will have 5 classes, 5 study groups and two night events. I was really worried about it being so academic and not hands-on enough for me. So, I decided to create a journal that I will use in all my classes. Watch out Harvard academics, I have sharpies, crayons and a glue stick in my bag and I'm not afraid to use them!

I created this journal by tearing out the pages of a hard cover book I got at the second hand store. Then I covered it with some of my painted canvas. I sewed 4 signatures in the spine. I then prepared the pages for journaling by collaging and painting. Now, I can't wait to journal in it. Score one for Art Sisters everywhere!

I love this quote! Especially where I'm going.

Prepared journal pages

The Evidence of Thinking

I love to paint and do art with my Grandkids. Every summer we pull the easels out onto the back patio and have at it with paint. I always let the kids use the "good" materials. So, they each got a stretched canvas, first they did a layer of collage with tissue and table napkins and matt medium. Then they started adding color with acyclic paint and large paint brushes. I usually ask them to think about their color palette before they begin. That way we don't always end up with mud. (sometimes we like mud!) Once they have filled in some of the space, then they usually like to splatter paint or use smaller tools to add some more color. The tricky part is knowing when to stop! I usually act as the assistant and keep my hands off the project, just handing out materials or giving suggestions as needed. My favorite part of the process is the conversations we have as they are painting, "oh, I like that black line that you made across the bottom" or "Let's make big and little dots" and "I want to add some water to the paint so it can run down the canvas etc, etc. The painting becomes the evidence of their thinking!

The painters are 4 and 8 years old.

Latest Published Work

Oh yeah, I forgot about this one. My 13 dresses was published in "The Best of Stampington & Co.

Which is in the stores right now. This is one of my favorite journals. It's an accordion style book on the inside, with lots of mixed media dresses. I love love the polka dot belt on the front of the book. It was from my mother in-laws stash. Which I got after she passed, so it means alot to me. I will be teaching this class at journalfest, well more of a non-sewing version. But there will be some kind of stiching in it.

Hello!

Whew, it's been crazy busy since I got home from Artfiberfest. I went back to work at the Museum. I had to get something done and send into Sew Somerset, yeah, I got that stuff done! I love having deadlines and I will never never have enough time. So, now I must begin cleaning my studio and start all my projects I have been thinking about. And I promised myself to stay on track with my blog.

ART-FIBER-FEST 2009

Artfiberfest 2009! It was amazing! I taught for 3 full days and I loved it. The women in my classes were amazing artists and I really enjoyed them all. I hope that they all keep in touch with me. I didn't know hardly anyone and I drove up by myself. That turned out to be a great idea. Because then I got to know more people that way. The morning I left I felt a twinge of sadness to leave the creative, supportive atmosphere that we had created for each other. I have so many new ideas of things I want to do. In fact, driving home I had to pull over to the side of the road to journal some of the ideas. Lots more to come!

More art carnage! It's going to take me days to un-pack and get my studio back into shape. But it was all worth it!

Reed Collage

This is Reed Collage where we stayed for artfiberfest. The campus is beautiful, lot's of green. We all stayed in the re-modeled dorms, which where great. It was fun to stay with everyone and hang out at night. I didn't know anyone in my dorm, but it was great. Lot's of art, conversation, laughs and wine! Everyone is super friendly, I recommend to come, even if you don't know anyone.