The Artist's Way Week Eight: Recovering a Sense of Connection

Last week’s group had two empty cushions as two of our members were absent. One woman was on a trip and out of the town and the other was sick. I do miss anyone when they are absent and I think the group feels a little incomplete. The women who were present were lively and interactive and were delighted with our creative project of the evening: masks. The glitter was a flyin’ and the hot glue guns were in continuous use as feathers and sparkly trims were attached and affixed. They used every last minute to get their masks just so. This is such a fun activity and the completed masks each reflected a bit of its creator.

Alley Art Resurrected!

I received a call last week asking about my bowling pins. Bowling pins? I hadn’t thought about my pins in quite some time. Alley Art was my brainchild a couple of years ago when I needed a final project for my Artist’s Way Creative Cluster. My Hubby had brought home a set of bowling pins, thinking the grandkids would enjoy playing with them. I saw those pins every day and somewhere from the whorls of my mind I came up with the idea to collage on one of the pins. From that first pin morphed the idea to collage more pins and the result was an eclectic art style that incorporates collage with 3-D mixed media using found objects and handpicked embellishments – all on the simple consistent form of a bowling pin. I got the idea that it would be fun to market the pins and came up with the name of Alley Art (it was a double play on words because at the time we were living in an old house on an alley . . .). Alley Art creations were juried into the Silverton Fine Arts Festival in 2006, and that same year, I was juried into Salem’s weekly Saturday Market. I sold pins at a couple of holiday markets and took special orders throughout the year. As my art has been zigging and zagging into different directions, I sort of put Alley Art on hold. It still has a full page on my web site, but I haven’t been actively marketing any of my creations for over a year. So when my phone rang and a friend asked about buying a pin as a 50th birthday gift, I was reminded of that “other” part of my life. I went to the basement and dug out about six pins I thought would be suitable for this friend to take as a special birthday gift. One of the pins was perfect and she purchased it on the spot. It was a reminder of this past artistic pursuit, a pursuit that gave me creative confidence to move forward and into so many different and varied directions.

If you would like to see more photos or get information on Alley Art, please visit my website.

I Won a Drawing (Again)!

First off, it you aren’t familiar with DIY Alert and you live in the Portland area, then reading this blog right now is a great introduction to an important art resource in the Pacific Northwest! Sister Diane, the creative force behind the DIY Alert, sends out weekly messages alerting everyone about all things crafty in the Portland area: classes, artists, stores, web sites . . . Diane is also the local organizer of the Church of Craft (among many other things). So be sure and check out both of these two websites (and follow the various links for a journey through crafty Portland). Oh, back to the point of my post. Diane occasionally has drawings for gifts related to art making and a couple of weeks ago she offered up an issue of Indie Arts, a DVD magazine. The magazine includes an art gallery, featured artists, interviews, and artist ideas. I have considered subscribing in the past, but didn’t follow through, sort of wondering what the format was like before plunking down the money. Along comes Diane, who offers a free issue of the DVD magazine. I submitted my name (gotta submit to win, right?). Well, yesterday I received word from Sister Diane that my name had been selected! Today she put my copy of this art DVD in the mail – I can hardly wait to receive it and pop it into the DVD player.

Matchbox Shrine Workshop

On Saturday I offered my Matchbox Shrine workshop at the Stampin' Cat Studio in Salem. Five lovely women came in from the beautiful sunshine to spend three hours playing with my bins, boxes, and jars of wonderful embellishments (glitter was a big hit!). I began the evening by having them do a five minute stream of consciousness writing about what they hoped to get out of making a shrine. They dove in and got their pens moving quickly across the page. When I (finally) turned them loose, it was with a ferocious intensity; they moved around the table picking up papers, choosing paints, and adding bits to the inside and outside of their matchboxes. Their finished shrines reflected reverence and playfulness: some were made for friends as gifts, two honored their upcoming weddings, and one ended up honoring her father who passed away in the last year. Thank you, ladies, for spending the evening with me and for sharing a glimpse into your personal lives.

The Artist's Way Week Seven: Recovering a Sense of Abundance

I continue to be amazed by the commitment these six women have made to our weekly groups and their attendance has been sterling! They are taking Julia Cameron's book to heart and demonstrate this by writing Morning Pages, taking themselves on Artist's Dates, working on weekly assignments, and by sharing from their heart every week. This past week we focused on abundance, both in how we spend our time and our money. Our activity was blind contour drawing, also known as "zen" drawing. This was a three-part exercise, which involved drawing a crazy object in the center of the room (a scraggly branch with rose hips at the tips), doing a self-portrait, and then drawing each other: all without looking at their page or lifting their pen! The groans were audible, especially when I asked them to write about the experience . . . with their non-dominant hand!

Accepted! Women Over 50 Show!

I never thought I would be so excited to be over 50 until a piece I submitted was accepted as part of a show honoring Women's History month and the art of women artists over 50. Gretchin Lair initially sent me the information about the show at the Utrecht Gallery (thanks, Gretchin) and I had tucked the e-mail away thinking it might be something I would like to do. I started a piece when I was at Sunriver earlier in the month, then, over the past couple of weeks I dabbled at it whenever I had leftover paint on my brush. The deadline was approaching, February 11th, and I pooped the day away. When evening hit, I realized I really did want to submit my piece, so I tackled the canvas, adding paint, scrubbing it away, layering and layering, removing, and layering, grateful I had been playing with it all along. Around 11:30 pm, I snapped some photos and selected the best of the lot, then e-mailed a photo of my submission, just under the deadline wire.

We were gone the past several days and when I finally fired up my computer last night, there was a message waiting from the curator of the show. It started with: "Thank you for submitting work to the Utrecht Gallery for the upcoming March group show. The positive response I received has been wonderful, and many more submissions have come in than I anticipated. Because of this, I've had to limit the number of works I can accept from each person, but am pleased with the variety of artists who will be represented in the show." As I read this paragraph, I was bracing myself for the "Thank you, but . . ." But it never came. Instead, I read on: "That said, I'm happy to tell you that 'Becoming' has been selected for the show." What!!??!! Accepted. My little 10 x 10 acrylic on canvas will be part of the Utrecht Gallery group show. The gallery is located at 1122 NW Everett, in the heart of the Pearl District in Portland. Pinch me.

The Artist's Way Week Six: Recovering a Sense of Possibility

What to do, what to do. I "forgot" to post about last week's Artist's Way session, then dashed off to Washington for a few days with my family. Here it is Monday afternoon already and I'm in a quandry: is it too late to post? Being the obsessive-compulsive person that I am, I feel compelled to at least post a note about last week's group and show off the Valentine-themed centerpiece I created. Our activity last Tuesday was story telling. I started with a sentence, then turned it over to the women, who took turns adding and embellishing the story. Wild women, that's all I can say about their story-telling abilities. The second part of the evening involved some collaged cards they had made at the beginning of the evening, which were then used as illustrations and a springboard for a new collaborative story. The title? Jack and Jill Go on a Freaky Journey. 'nuff said.