Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Artists and Makers

These days, a big announcement about a print magazine usually means that the publication is shutting down. Happily, Interweave -- the crew who publish Cloth Paper Scissors - has just released the first issue of a new print magazine called Artist & Makers. And it is good. You are gonna wanna have this one.


The features in this magazine bring the perfect blend of art and business. It almost seems more like a workshop for creative entrepreneurs who are trying to take their creative passions to the next level.


 It is filled with artist profiles, practical tips and supportive approaches. 


Thankfully it does not sugar-coat the creative world but rather shines a light on both the struggles and successes that we all as creatives experience.


 The magazine has a fresh feel, in part because by far the majority of people featured in and contributing to the magazine are outside the usual suspects that are typically seen in our community's magazines.


I contacted Jeannine Stein, the editor of both Artist & Makers and Cloth Paper Scissors, and asked her to share her thoughts about this publication with my readers (and by 'my readers'  I mean you).

In her words..."I've heard from so many artists that they've been looking for a magazine like this -- a publication with up-to-the-minute information on navigating all aspects of the business world, plus great features and profiles. It was really important that the magazine have a peer-to-peer feeling, and I think we've achieved that. Our columnists and many of our contributors are people who are artists and makers themselves, or who work with artists on a daily basis. They live what they write about. Artists & Makers is a fun, lively, entertaining read and I would love to hear everyone's feedback on it."

Click over to Artists & Makers Winter 2015 for more info and to order your own copy.

Monday, November 24, 2014

In My Bones: A Giveaway


 I have been working my way through In My Bones, the newest book by artist and art journaler Orly Avineri. 


I am taking my time and savoring every detail on all 188 pages, each of which is covered full bleed with her journal pages. 


Orly's voice and her imagery is so distinct and so unique that I believe I could recognize one of her pages from a group of one hundred artist journals.


 I am always impacted by her honest voice, poetic language, and powerful imagery. And thanks to Orly's generosity, you can be too.


Orly is hosting a giveaway on her blog for a copy of In My Bones. Leave a comment by 11/30 on her giveaway post to be eligible.


 And if you cannot wait, you can order her book here.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Week Links: 25

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week.
All previous links can be found here.

And here is Week 25...


Loving this piece from Finnabair. The colors and the layers are incredible.

For the upcoming holidays, pledge to #givebooks.

Next in the series on paint brushes from Ronda Palazzari: cleaning and care.

Best workshop review ever from Laura Roberts.

Fascinating video: live painting of of a women's life from infancy to old age. Link sent to me by Jacki Long.

Who knew that beer bottle tops and tea could make this? Alice Fox did.

I have been hearing great things about this book by Lisa Congdon. And here is one of her blog posts about doing the work.

The beauty of the discarded. Images of an abandoned textile mill via Patricia Thornhill.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

61 Seconds of Art Bliss

I absolutely love this video of Patricia Larsen at work...

Monday, November 17, 2014

Save the Dates: 2015


I am finalizing details for my 2015 workshops. Many venues and dates are already locked in through December. My teaching travels will be taking me to locations in New York, California (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose areas), Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington State, Virginia, North Carolina, and Arizona. I will also be teaching in the UK. And there may be a few more stops along the way.


I plan to retire all but a select few of my current workshops at the end of this year. Developing new workshops is quite time consuming and is still a work in progress. So although I have venues already scheduled, I have not yet fully finalized what workshops I will be teaching where.


Because I know that people often plan far in advance, I have decided it was time to post dates and locations for some of my classes taking place in early 2015. Registration is already open for some of my 2015 classes and links are included below. Think of this as a place holder or a save the date.


January

--Mixed Media Layer Conveyer: Workshop is filled.

January 16 - Gilding the Lily - Fullerton, California
--Majestic Medallions: Registration Open

January 17 - Make Art in LA - Los Angeles, CA
--52 Card Pickup: Registration Open

January 18 - Make Art in LA - Los Angeles, CA
--Picture Windows: Registration Open

January 24 - Artistic Artifacts - Alexandria, VA
--For Your Eyes Only: Please note that this has been rescheduled from the original date of 10/18/14. --Registration open

January 25 - Artistic Artifacts - Alexandria, VA
--52 Card Pickup: Please note that this has been rescheduled from the original date of 10/19/14.
--Registration open 

February

February 27 - The Queen's Ink - Savage, Maryland
--Registration Pending

February 28 - The Queen's Ink - Savage, Maryland
--Registration Pending

March

March 1 - The Queen's Ink - Savage, Maryland
--Registration Pending

March 22 - The Ink Pad - New York, New York
--Registration Pending

April


April 28-30 - Art & Soul - Kansas City, Missouri
--4 workshops: Registration Open

May

May 2 - Studio of MB Shaw - St. Louis, Missouri
--Collaborative workshop with MB Shaw
--Registration Pending

May 16-17 - Pacific Northwest Art School - Coupeville, WA
--Cover to Cover: Registration Open

May 18-22 - Pacific Northwest School Art School - Coupeville, WA
--If Walls Could Talk: collaborative workshop with Orly Avineri
--Registration open

May 28 - ArtWorks - Edmonds, WA
--In the Pocket: collaborative workshop with John Arbuckle
--Registration open via email to John at johnner55@yahoo.com: 1 seat left

Hope to be able to have place cards at seats for many of you. More details will be posted soon but if you have any specific questions or would like spaces held for workshops that are not yet open for registration, please do not hesitate to email me sooner.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

The Week Links: 24

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week.
All previous links can be found here.

And here is Week 24...


Michelle Ward shares her thoughts on the ritual of gathering and prepping.

In the middle of reading and loving this book from Susan Tuttle.

Ronda Palazzari continues her series on brushes with part 2 on shapes and sizes.

Craft the Rainbow. I love this idea from Brittany Watson Jepsen from The House That Lars Built.

Thoughts on art journaling with a fascinating process video from Tammy Garcia at Daisy Yellow.

Let Your Sparks Fly. Loving the message behind this post from Lynn Whipple.

Check out these indigo cubes from Lisa McGarry found via this post from Eric Adama.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Putting Down Roots


I am the guest artist today on the PaperArtsy blog, where I share a tutorial for a journal page.


Head on over for the full reveal in pictures and instructions.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The Big 'Small Studio'

I just got back from teaching three workshops at Small Studio in Westlake, Ohio. It was my first time teaching at Ginny Carter Smallenburg's amazing shop and the last set of workshops there for the year. The workshop space and shop are sensational, the students there were uber talented, and Ginny & her husband John were incredible hosts.

THE SHOP















THE WORKSHOPS


52 Card Pickup

My demo cards from the workshop

Amazing work in progress from the students

The 52 Crew

For Your Eyes Only

Page by page

 Books in progress

 Book makers

Text Tiles

Making Layers

Adding paint

Panels and more panels

Thanks Ginny and John. It was a weekend to remember!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Week Links: 23

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week.
All previous links can be found here.

And here is Week 23...
(short list this week as I am in Ohio teaching workshops)

Studio tour with artist Emily Jeffords on Decor8.

I do love bookstores and this post on the Chronicle Books blog highlights four special ones.

The paint brush series from Ronda Palazzari continues: shapes and sizes.

Thoughts on artistic suffocation and the need to be fluid from Cat Giglio.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Making Art & Making Magic

If Walls Could Talk

We can all be found somewhere on the same dirt road, kicking up dust, gradually revealing, feverishly working toward finding new ways to form and mature. We build substrates from which we obtain our creative nourishment and the courage to inscribe our visual stories...constantly seeking where everything outside of us ends and where we begin.


Join Orly and myself for a five-day, texture-making, art-journaling, book-binding experience...



...at Pacific Northwest ArtSchool on the magical Whidbey Island, WA.



On day one we'll come together at our creative space of the week. Soon after we'll go out to explore our new visual reality on the island. We'll be visiting the forest and/or the sea to find texturizing and mark making elements and explore man-made objects in local stores to join the ephemera we brought with us. On day two and three Seth will guide us through the creating of walls, substrates on which magical processes will occur. We will build up these solid surfaces with layers, textures, colors, and marks. This will be followed by two days with Orly wherein each of use will be adding to the pages our own personal narrative, which will surface through the addition of words and images. By the end of day five will be ready to literally tie our individual stories together as we bind our own books, thereby creating the most intimate of personal dossiers. 

May 18-22, 2015
Registration is open and space is limited.


------------

And also at Pacific NorthWest Art School on Whidbey Island, join me for Cover to Cover, a two-day workshop where we all will create a one-of-a-kind, unconventional artist book. Designed to help you break free of artistic inhibitions and explore possibilities, we will be creating layer after layer of color, texture and dimension using a tremendous range of materials. In this class, we will be putting the "mixed" in the media. 


May 16-17, 2015
Registration is open and space is limited.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

CHA Blogger Membership


I have been a Designer Member of CHA since July 2013. For those of of you who aren't familiar with the organization, CHA stands for the Craft & Hobby Association. CHA, according to their website, is an "international, not-for-profit trade association consisting of thousands of member companies engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and retail sales of products in the nearly 30 billion U.S. craft and hobby industry."

CHA offers its members many professional opportunities throughout the year and you can read about these on their website. They are probably most known for their Mega Show. This annual event held in Anaheim, California every January brings together manufacturers, retailers, designers and other creative professionals for a massive conference and trade show. In The Marketplace, hundreds of companies exhibit their newly released product lines. Workshops, business seminars, and demos are presented as part of The Education component. Round table discussions and chapter meetings make up the Community component. And there are endless informal connections and networking opportunities happening round the clock.

I experienced the Mega Show for the first time this past January and am looking forward to attending and teaching this coming January too. In order to attend, you have to be a member of CHA. Happily, CHA has just announced a new level of membership: the blogger.

If you are a blogger and have ever been interested in joining CHA, you can read the press release for more information as well as a post from CEO Andrej Suskavcevic. Please be aware that bloggers must meet specific criteria to be eligible as members. Click here to read those requirements and to apply for membership.

And if you join by November 17th, bloggers will be eligible for an amazing opportunity to win a 2015 Mega Show travel package.

Hope to see you at the Mega Show in January!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Week Links: 22

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week.
Week 12345678910111213141516171819, 20, 21,

And here is Week 22...


The basics of color from Darla Kirchner at Creative Biz School. Thanks to Carmen Whitehead for the link.

Martice Smith II posts on the Mixed Media Art website 5 ways to share your creativity and get
discovered.

Holly from Handprinted posts a great review of the Gelli Plate for beginners and experts too.

Excited that there are two exhibits of the incredible work of El Anatsui at two NYC galleries right now: Jack Shaman Gallery and Mnuchin Gallery.

10 point checklist for an awesome art website as posted on the Art Business Institute site.

Ronda Palazzari continues her series on the paint brush with information on shapes.

Carole Leslie from ZenDotStudio shares her thoughts on trusting that whatever is happening is okay and on dealing with self evaluation and judgement. She shares some gorgeous abstracts too.