I'm ready for fall with ArT for the FuN oF It! and Happy Hour

This fall we are trying something different in the Studio and we are expanding the types of classes we are offering. Painting canvases is fun but so it painting on old china or a wooden football cut out. Grab your friend and come down and get your create on! Have some wine and relax. It's all good......

Go Team!
Show your team spirit!  House Divided? That’s ok too! There’s room for both teams on this 12” x 19” football. Wire and ribbon included.
Thursday September 8^th @6:30 PM
Saturday September 17^th @ 1:00 PM
Thursday September 22^nd @ 6:30 PM
FEE: $24 per person

Fall Tiny Canvas Collage
Celebrate fall with this series of 4x4” gallery depth canvases using tissue paper, leaf skeletons, paper cut outs, paint and gold leaf. Place them on a shelf or hang them on a wall.
Saturday September 10^th @1:00PM
FEE: $35

Hand Painted Vintage Plates
Serve up a daring display with this novel idea for old plates. Each plate is hand painted. There will be a variety of designs to choose from for fall or Halloween.
Thursday September 15^th    @6:30 PM
FEE: $22 per person

 “Autumn Gold”

Try this new painting technique without a paint brush and capture all the colors of autumn.
Thursday September 29^th @ 6:30PM
Fee: $35 per person

“Stitches”

At Artworks Studio we love Halloween!
10x20” canvas
Saturday September 24th @ 1:00PM
$35 per person

Contact Laura or Kelsey to register for any of these classes.
laura@artworksandbeads.com
(712)775-2035

Happy Hour, Bob Ross and Happy Accidents...C'mon get Happy with us!

A couple of years ago we realized how lucky we are to be able to do what we love-and as like most people we wanted to share it with the world. Happiness is best enjoyed when shared with others.

"More people need to DO this!" 

We didn't want to hog it all to ourselves. So we tossed around a lot of ideas on how to share with all those downtrodden adults around there. Something for those people who want to join my kids art classes but are too shy because they are 

"afraid they won't fit in and OMG I can't draw a stick figure let alone paint an entire canvas! "

(Does this sound familiar? Yeah, adults are just big kids with huge responsibilities)   We wanted a catchy title. We wanted people to feel comfortable and socialize. We wanted a way for people to relax and let the world disappear for awhile.....

happy hour

Noun

(plural happy hours)

1. A time of day, usually in the afternoon or early evening, when a bar or pub offers its drinks at a discounted price.
2. Any small gathering, usually in the afternoon or early evening, set aside to relax and have a drink.

Since we are not a bar, pub or tavern  the first definition really didn't fit. But when I read the second one I had this "Ah-hah!" moment.

HAPPY HOUR ART

was born

Several times a month we offer art classes for adults. We encourage them to bring a beverage (non-alcoholic is just fine too), turn off their phones, relax and socialize. We take each person through a step by step process and at the end of the evening they walk out with a finished original piece. Yes we are all painting the same picture but we encourage participants to put their OWN mark on their piece. Change the colors! Change the layout! Add extra flourishes! Leave out certain elements!

 There are 

NO MISTAKES IN ART

We take the Bob Ross approach to being creative:

"People might look at you a bit funny, but it's okay. 

Artists are allowed to be a bit different." Bob Ross

Since its inception we have branched out into more than acrylic painting. We've added Mixed Media, Collage, Jewelry making and a Pinterest night. Since moving into a larger studio we are actively seeking out new ways to encourage adults to discover how much fun art is again. We have even started hosting an Open Studio one Sunday a month where you get to pick what you want to paint. 

If you want to see what classes we are offering in the Studio and surrounding communities please check in at the Artworks Studio Facebook page. You'll find the most current class schedule on our Notes page. 

stop pinning and start doing

I'm a Pinterest junkie. With over 5000 pins I would say I have a problem. I'm like a book geek in a book store, or library, or book sale.....you get the idea.
The problem is I do an awful lot of pinning, but I don't DO much with what I've pinned. It's like hoarding DIY projects for later and later never comes. 
ENOUGH! 
I pinned this several months ago. 

Pretty cool isn't it and I like maps and globes and I was kicking myself for donating the globe my mom had for years in the house when I moved in- WHAT was I THINKING!.  Then I stumbled across a globe in a second hand store. 

And it rolled around the studio for a few months. It didn't have a stand but it did have that metal ring on it. Which took an enormous amount of effort to remove until I discovered that a new saw blade is  magic. Pure magic.

Breaking apart the globe is like cracking an egg. You keep bouncing it on the seam- gently - until it separates. Did you know that most globes are made out of cardboard? Me either.

 I painted the inside white because it was t shirt gray and that's not a very attractive color for this project. I also stared at it for a few weeks and thought - that's pretty boring. More people will see the inside than the outside.

So I decided it needed more. Because well, it's me and I can't just let something be boring. So I got out my printed tissue papers- printed with vintage maps of course- and my gel medium and transformed the inside from boring to better. And, as if THAT wasn't enough after I wired the fixture in it I got a reproduction "vintage"  light bulb. 

Can we say "light bulb" moment?  
It's available for purchase- just contact me. 

It's a give away! Collage/Mixed media paper pack

I am giving away this packet of hand painted, gelatin printed papers to one randomly selected lucky winner.
leave a comment on this post on blogger= one chance to win
follow the blog = one more chance

Pretty simple for pretty cool papers! Good Luck :)

You will receive everything you see in this picture- plus a few extra goodies to collage with

It was too damn cold to do anything else so....

This past weekend was my 3rd annual ITDCSWMAWMA Retreat
(It's Too Damn Cold So We Might As Well Make Art)

My sister Cecelia from Chicago flies in - she works in water color and mixed media collage

My friend Shari drives across town- she is also a mixed media artists and right now she is into encaustic

I host the event here in the studio.

Here are a few pieces we worked on:

we experimented with color mixing ( Thank you Mary Beth Shaw  for color mixing 101)

we made some really cool art papers!
(Thinned down gloss medium, tissue paper and string, Golden acrylics)

I purchased some Derwent Artbar crayons and we got to play with them. We used Tattered Angels Pure Mistable Paper Frayed Cotton

I think the Artbars are my new favorite wet/dry material to use. I like them better than watercolor pencils.

Shari Kratoska  played with encaustics- I think I need to just spend one whole day with her and the wax

 

   I revisited an old canvas and added more to it

 

We played, experimented, discovered, laughed, ate, talked and bonded. My daughter Biz was home unexpectedly and spent Saturday with us working on a project for school. I have been after Cecelia for several years to try her hand at an altered book. Last year I got her to start one using an old record album book. She painted the sleeves and did some stenciling on the cover and then abandoned it. This year I showed her an up-cycled book I had made using just a cover and filling it with new pages. She made this beautiful book with recipes in it to give as a gift. I was slightly jealous because hers was way better than mine.

 

 

    I started a new canvas. I am trying to paint faces. I am only brave enough to do this since I bought the Stencil Girl face map stencils. I have a long way to go before this one is finished. It was a great weekend and one we look forward to each winter when it's just too damn cold to do anything else!



 



 

 

 

 

 

Art Battery- Fully Recharged and Loaded!

In my studio I have an art program that runs through the school year ( September-May) and I work with 75+ students Pre K- high school.  My summer program begins the first week in June. This June and July I had over 490 students walk through the doors in an age range of 3 to 16.

That is a lot of kids.
And a lot of art.
And a lot of energy.

When August 1st came I had nothing left in my art battery.
Couldn't imagine teaching again.
 Couldn't think of new or different projects.
 I was on automatic pilot.
I cleaned and rearranged the studio.
Picked up new boxes of crayons and markers.
Got the new art journals ready for the kids.
Made some vague notes in my curriculum notebook.
But none of it was done in anticipation of seeing my students again.

I needed to recharge my art battery- it was dead.

A couple of months ago my sister and I talked about getting together in August. It had been a few years since I went to Chicago.  So we found some creative classes to take while I was there.
I just got back to the studio today and my batteries are FULLY charged and ready to go!

On Thursday August 22nd- I spent a rainy afternoon by myself at the Art Institute of Chicago where I saw the special exhibit "Impressionism Fashion and Modernity"

 

It was so wonderful to see the art work and then to look at actual gowns worn by models in the paintings. Looking at the gowns and accessories made these paintings that I have seen many times even more real. Also- I have read many books over the years where gowns designed by Charles Frederick Worth were considered the height of fashion! To see real gowns actually designed by him almost made me swoon! 

 

 

Next I made my way to the new modern wing where I spent a few hours looking at the collection. I took pictures... 

 Max Ernst- basic shapes and simple lines can tell a story!

Kandinsky's use of color and his brushstrokes create the energetic movement of the troika  and his simple lines tell a wonderful story and is so spontaneous

Emil Nolde- Red Haired Girl is a portrait that is more about the color, energy and emotion than anything else.

and Joseph Cornell's assemblage pieces were wonderful and curious and so full of little stories....the ideas flew across the pages of my notebook. So much to see. So much inspiration. Who was Suzanne Duchamp? I knew all about Marcel but nothing about Suzanne.

Mondrian's "Farm Near Duivendrecht"  - I have been working on a collage of trees and have been stressing that my trees weren't tree enough- his trees are not perfect- yet they capture the lines and movement that only bare branches can. I think I am ready to finish my collage because looking at Mondrian's painting gave me the permission I needed to continue and the affirmation that my trees were just fine.

 

Max Ernst and Joan Miro- and their simple almost calligraphic lines. I tell my students over and over again- simple basic shapes- everything you look at can be broken down into basic simple shapes. They ( my students) want to make them so complicated!

 

Surrealist Objects- I had not heard of them before. I knew of Duchamp's Ready Made pieces but not these....these pieces reminded so much of pieces I have created.  Pieces I have encouraged my students to work on. Now I have sources to show them museum works.

 

On Friday I spent the afternoon at Ignite Glass Studio where I learned how to make

                           a glass paperweight

 

and a bowl

 

 

and now I had reached that endorphin state known as "artist's high" 

 

On Saturday I spent the entire day - from 9AM until 9PM  in two workshops with Mary Beth Shaw.

 

WOW!

From her website:



 



"Mary Beth Shaw worked in the insurance industry for 18 years before she quit her job in 2000 to re-ignite a childhood love of art.  She is now a full time painter and internationally known workshop instructor. Her creative process is largely self taught, spontaneous and joyful. She is author of  Flavor for Mixed Media published by F&W and is also a columnist for Somerset Studios Magazine. Her second book, Stencil Girl comes out in the Fall of 2013. "

 

These are the pieces I created under her tutelage.

 



 

 

Again the ideas filled my head and I filled pages in my notebooks with projects and concepts I want to teach my students this year.

 

Bring on the students for 2013-14. I am ready!

 

 

 

in pursuit of the elusive grease pencil

Over the past several months my work has taken a turn into interesting territory. I work in mixed media and collage. Sometimes I need to add some definition to a piece. Last winter I grabbed this wax pencil I had in my stash.

 I think I picked them up at the thrift store for .50
I am always picking up odds and ends at the thrift store and using them in my work.

anyway- I used the pencil in the piece and then blended it in with my fingers and it was amazing- it was just the grungy dirty edged look I was going for.

Sooooo........now here I am and I need some definition but soft edge blending but NOT black. Or yellow. or White.

I have spent countless hours searching for grease pencils in bright colors. HOURS! I know someone out there has to make them. I found all sorts of vintage ones on eBay. Found a website all in Japanese. And one form South Korea that was written in Korean then translated into English which made for amusing reading but I didn't want to place an order because I wasn't 100% sure.

Then this afternoon I found exactly what I was looking for

- GREASE PENCILS IN COLORS and they are located in the USA 

COLOR ME EXCITED!

 

I ordered some of each color and now I just have to wait until they get here.



Crop and Create

This Saturday at the Santa Maria Winery in Carroll I will be hosting my very first crop event for scrapbook and paper crafts. If you have never been to the winery it's located on the Old Lincoln Highway ( HWY 30) in downtown Carroll in a renovated historic building. It's beautiful with lots of atmosphere, good wine, fireplaces and good food.

There is still room for you! The cost is $35 and includes lunch, wine and snacks! Register by calling me at (712) 775-2035 or on my cell my (712)830-9514.

Cari Segebart of Scrapbook Synergy is bringing her portable scrapbook store so you can purchase any supplies you might have forgotten to finish your projects. You will get a chance to make an Artist Trading Card or two...


I will be demonstrating during the day new products like
 Mistables Canvas Resist

Tim Holtz Adirondack  Colorwash Spray Ink

Smooch!

 

And a few other products.

You will also find the current issues of Cloth paper Scissors

Somerset Apprentice and Somerset Studio

and Green Craft!

Come play with us. Bring your paper, scissors and glue!

 



 

 

 



Judgement call?

Recently I received a phone call from a young woman who has just moved here from another location. She was very friendly on the phone. She has a degree in art education and had been talking and asking about art opportunities here. My name came up quite often as THE person to talk to about art in Carroll. Anyway she said she had been all over my website and noticed that I do "crafty things" with kids and was wondering if I would be interested in her coming in and team teaching with me but on an art level.

 Am I being too sensitive?  Because I was kind of offended.

All she had to go by was my summer classes which I will admit are more crafts based because parents don't want to commit to 6 or more weeks of classes in the summer. Plus I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of summer craft classes as do the kids.

During the school year it's all art. Every lesson reviews the basics- line, shape, form, color- we discuss horizon lines , foreground, middle ground and background- we make sure to draw what we see. We use watercolors, pastels, ink, acrylic paint, pencils and charcoal. We discuss famous artists and what it was like to produce work in their day and what their style of art is called and then try to imitate it.

Please don't label me as craftsy.

Or artsy-fartsy.

Or arsty-craftsy.

I paint. I draw. I create.
I am a creative person and I like to share my creativity with kids.

Some day I'm going to be a real artist

I tell my kids all the time I'm not really an artist. I just pretend.  

Iowa Learning Farms has asked me to create some art work for all four sides their new trailer that will be traveling all over the Midwest to teach people of all ages about the importance of taking care of our water.

 I sent my daughter a text about this project.

Me: :wow I guess I'm a real artist huh?

Biz: Congrats! I though you were already an artist

Me: Nope. Been pretending all this time

  Biz: Well you're a pretty good actor

                                                            

I have always been interested in ecology and I conserve and re-cycle.

A lot of what I make for the studio comes from up-cycled materials. Like my hats and mittens- made from felted wool sweaters.

I am pretty excited about this project. They asked me to do this because of a collage I created for them for a CD that was released this fall. Called "Dogs, Frogs and Nature Songs" 

Pretty darn cool huh? I could be driving down the highway and see my art work drive right by me. This makes me smile.