Classes this weekend

Greetings Everyone!

Just a reminder about classes this weekend. On Saturday I will be teaching my Bottled Spritis class at Scrapbook U in Fremont. This will be the last class I teach at Scrapbook U as they prepare to close at the end of the month. So if you live in the area and are interested at all Saturday will be your chance to take this class. Here are the details:

Saturday October 9th Where: Scrapbook U in Fremont Class: Bottled Spirits Description: On a foggy day I was walking along the beach on one of my morning rambles. As usual I was beach combing for shells that I had picked up a hundred times before and didn’t need. But this time instead of a shell I found something else. As I drew closer I could see it was a bottle half buried in the sand. I dug it out. It was crusted with barnacles, small shells and ringed with rusted metal. As I turned it around I noticed a clear area where I could peer through the hazy glass. But wait something looked back at me! What will your spirit be? Will it be a fairy of dreams offering you 3 wishes? Or will it be an imp of mischief? Items to bring: A pair of scissors, paintbrushes and small non-melting items like charms or beads. **Note: We will be heating diamond glaze so if you are easily susceptible to smells this class may be difficult for you to take. But also please note that there have been no problems in my previous classes. Time: 11:00 to 4:00pm Lunch break at 1:00 Fee: $55.00 Class limit: 8 To sign up for class please call Scrapbook U at 510 490-5065

And at C.Andrews studio on Sunday Ingrid will be presenting her Halloween clock glass hangings. Let me tell you guys I took one of Ingrid’s clock glass classes and it was a wonderful class! She brings a ton of beautiful images and mouthwatering embellishments to choose from. And you will end up leaving the class with an Heirloom quality ornament. Ingrid will be bringing not only Halloween images but also some of my favorite: Angel Cemetery Statuary-Yummy! Why not make a day of it here in beautiful Half Moon Bay? Take a class with all supplies and treats provided, buy a pumpkin, have a nice dinner and go home with a glow! You can see some of Ingrid’s samples above. Sunday October 10th***Featured In Somerset Studio**** Instructor: Ingrid Pomeroy Class: Halloween Clock Glass Hangings Description: The holidays are upon us, and what a better way to get ready for Halloween than to create something spooky and eerie. So, how about a vintage convex clock glass hanging wrapped with trim and collaged inside with lots of fun images, papers and findings? You can choose from vintage ghoulish images or cemetery statuaries that will definitely get you in the Halloween spirit. And, Half Moon Bay is the perfect place to spend time during the Halloween season. Time: 1:00 to 4:00 Class Fee: $50.00 (All supplies provided, plus sweet treats) To sign up for this class please email Ingrid at ipomeroy@peoplepc.com

We hope to see you soon!

Great Art Journaling class!

Greetings everyone! Its grey, cold and windy here on the coast and I am looking for a little sun in some art. But before I disappear and become an art hermit I wanted to tell you about an incredibly wonderful art journaling class at C.Andrews Studio. Now most of the people that know me know that I'm not one for blogging or journaling my deepest darkest secrets, pitiful woes or mystical thoughts. And if you've read my blog at all it's self evident that Art makes me happy. But on occasion I have been known to keep an art journal to work out class ideas or experiment with new techniques. So when Maria (known as rinda to some of you) offered an art journaling class at the studio I jumped at the chance to take a class instead of teach one. I can tell you guys that I was thoroughly happy that I did so. This is one of the best classes that I've ever taken. As good as any of the art retreat classes that I've taken from Nationally known artists which is a lesson in itself. This class was in three parts held on three consecutive Sundays. The first class started with a little homework. We were to take 10 of our favorite works of art and to look at any subject, colors and materials we may use on a consistent basis and also what we liked about each piece. This was submitted to Maria by email and we were given a sheet of stamped images to use in the class. I found this a very helpful exercise. It got me to realize that I do indeed have a method for my madness. From this exercise I now understand that I gravitate to fantasy images, love lush colors, and like my viewer to step into different worlds and times when looking at my art. The second class was all about using your stash. All those inchies, Atc's and paper dolls that you are laying around can be used in your larger artworks as well. Maria had this wonderful woman art doll with horns which I chose to use in a piece that had a little more edge. And lets face it a woman with horns is pretty cool. The second exercise in this class was to take a collage image or image from an ATC and reproduce it by drawing it. I realized that I grew up drawing and just don't do it anymore. I really enjoyed drawing again and this is something I might have to do more of in my larger works. Plus I really liked my page. Its a little edgy and asks the question What do Mannequins dream? I must have been in an edgy mood that day. The third class had what I consider to be one of the most valuable exercises that I've ever done in a class. It was the restricted means challenge. We could only use 7 materials to create 4 to 6 journal pages. The very difficult thing for me was that I could only use a collage image if I had four of the same. I didn't have that supply with me so I was forced to choose a rubber stamp to utilize as a focal point. Of course I chose the rubber stamp of winged death. I think Maria might have brought that one for me. How well she knows me! I liked that you had to work fast and not over think these pages. I did make four pages but I still consider a couple of them incomplete without some journaling on them. For that reason I have not included these pages below. I promise to scan them at a later time for your perusal. What was really spooky about the image I chose was that when I cut out one of the winged death images and used the negative stencil it became an Angel. There's something profound about this but again I'm not one to blog about that. The last exercise was to create a collage on a canvas using the techniques above. I chose not to use the stamped image but I tried to incorporate the same colors, feel and subject from the exercise as well as some of the first two classes. Other things I learned in this class: 1. I don't like using spray inks as a background I really like my acrylic paint, gel medium and of course highly textured surfaces. 2. Experimenting with other materials is a good thing it helps you understand what you like and what your art is all about. 3. Restricted Materials is difficult for collage artists because collage is all about using different materials. 4. I still would probably not use a rubber stamped image as a focal point even though I did like the journal pages I created with my winged death. I prefer a random collage image. 5. I tend to naturally pull a theme together with words. The journal became a "dream journal" with absolutely no planning at all.

Page created with a fairy image Maria gave me and stencils. This includes one of my favorite quotes from Walt Disney"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them"

There's that Turquoise as usual.

Tons of texture in this page and of course rich lush color.

Utilizing napkins, and decorative papers. Here again is my fantasy image and lush colors.

One of my own photo images, Nickel Azo Gold and Turquoise!

Horned woman page. I like the edgier style.

My drawn image and an edgier style and don't forget about the Nickel Azo gold!

As I hope you can see I really had a blast in this class and I thought it well thought, well organized and well taught. What do you think? Send me any comments you might have. Also if interested in taking a journaling class from Maria let me know. Maybe we can talk her into teaching this wonderful class again next year!

Cheers!

Art Flea Market and Trunk Show tomorrow!

Greetings, Just a quick reminder about the Art Flea market and Trunk Show tomorrow (Saturday October 2nd and can you believe its already October?) The show starts at 9:30am tomorrow until 1:00 or whenever everyone gets packed up and leaves. There is no fee for entry. So what will we have there? Found objects and lots of lovely junk to add to your art, art and crafting supplies, beatiful candles from a local artist, one of a kind collages and assemblages, beautiful cards and collage packs and sheets. This is a great place for all of you Art and Soulers to find that special found object at minimum prices. It will also be a great place to buy one of a kind art or that special gift to give for Christmas. Or just come by to say hello and chat for awhile! C.Andrews Studio is located at 103-1 Harvard street in Princeton-by-the-Sea. If you have any questions or need directions please email me at connie@isbjorn.com. See you at the Flea!

Bottled Spirits from some Kindred Spirits

Greetings Everyone! Well it was one of those incredibly beautiful weekends here on the coast. But it was even more beautiful to me becasue I was teaching art to another room full of Kindred Spirits at C.Andrews Studio. This was my second Bottled Spirits class and as you can see above there were some wondeful pieces created. Everyone of them was so totally different from the next! Here are some close up scans of each bottle.

This was Maria's Spirit. Sorry for the glare on this piece. I love that Maria used colors that she doesn't use alot and I think that helps to make this spirit a slightly knowing but Kindly one. This is a spirit that would kindly grant you a wish or two.

This Spirit was created by Maria's daughter Clara. Isn't she beautiful? She's slightly pouty and introspective. Just what you'd expect from an adolescent!

This was Cindy's bottle. She has infused this bottle with a little Team Edward. He's looking dreamy as usual! But whatever you do Cindy don't let him out-we don't want to tempt him with our blood.

This little spirit was created by Maureen. I had to show you this spirits face close up. Maureen thinks she's sweet. I think she's up to something. And something not entirely nice. Be careful what you wish with this one!

Cheers everyone!

Bottled Spirits anyone?

Greetings Everyone! I wanted to show you the incredible art created by my students today! I taught a totally new class at Art Max in Seaside called Bottled Spirits. You can see all the spirits, and evil gins lined up above. Thank you to all the students that attended class and of course to the lovely staff at Art max for putting up with the spirits and their whims. I am truly blown away by what was created today. These are phenomonal pieces and totally freaky and you gotta love that. Here are close up of each bottled spirit. Enjoy!

Round Robin Journal entry #2

Greetings! Here is my second Blog entry for the Half Moon Bay Altered Book Club. Now I thought that I should explain before anybody tells me how gross my spread turned out. Its really not my fault. This time I received Ammi's book. You can see the cover above. Sweet isn't it? A patch work quilt with butterflies and the title of Happiness is... But this book isn't what you think. Below you can see Ammi's first spread

Yes that's right it says Happiness is having six leopard sharks swimming around my feet! Huh?!

Leopard sharks around your feet? Now how sick is that! Not to mention leopard sharks really aren't very nice animals. OK so you see what I mean? Not my fault. I live in Half Moon Bay where there is at least one Great White shark attack per year so naturally the entrie group's thoughts turn to shark attack. All I can say is that Ammi is totally responsible for what happens next. Oh yeah guys it's on!

Here is Lisa's Spread. A lovely bedroom with words that read: Happiness is a comfy bed to dream in after a swim with sharks. And yes the woman across from the words is holding a book called Shark Attack. Now it's definately on. The most natural thing for me to do is to continue on with the theme. RIGHT?! So here's my spread below.

So my spread reads: Happiness is finding your finger after a swim with sharks. I started the left hand side of the spread with a dyed paper towel (thank you Traci Bautista) because it had an under water look. The shark is my own photo of the cheesy shark billboard at the Point Montara Lighthouse advertizing their espresso bar. I've actually become kind of attached to this ridiculous sign. I thought this was a better image than a real shark just to keep the subject lighter.

The next page has a chipper Edwardian lady swimming in the water. The water texture was made with with gel medium and the sky with fiber paste. You can see the woman call out: Yoo Hoo I've found it! And below her is her finger. There is a little blood dripping down her arm and in the water. Well you gotta keep the art real.

Here's mister shark. He's in love because he just got the scent of her blood in the water. Awwww what a nice shark.

Here's a close up of the chipper lady and the final finishing touch-a finger book mark so that anyone looking through this book can keep their place.

Yes I know. I'm afraid this book brought out my darker instincts. I'll admit it. But hey at least it ends on an upbeat note. She did find her finger after all.

Altered Books class-Student Work

Greetings Everyone! Well the Altered Books series has ended and I've been anxious to show you some of the incredible work that my students have done in class. Since I hate telling people what they have to create, every student was incouraged to pick a subject that they were interested in or passionate about or simply to pick a book with a title that brought a subject to mind. We had altered books with subjects ranging from Film Noir to Dragons and strange creatures to houses. Unfortunately I started out with many more students than I finished with. As summer rolled around many students found that their commitments would not allow for more classes or perhaps just lost interest. At the least they learned that an altered book cannot be created in one day and that it takes an incredible amount of time and commitment to finish one. I did have two people that finished their books and I will start with their books first. The first book is Mary's. You can see her cover above and some pages below. Her subject was a cheezy Film Noir meets Vampires theme with a hero named Rip Murdock. This book was not only clever but fun.

This is one of Mary's pockets made to look like a pocket on Rip Murdocks coat We'll skip the obvious gun in the pocket pun. This page is just simply amazing!

Mary's pass through window was a keyhole that Rip peers through. And you've got to love all the cheezy blood on the next page.

Very mysterious and very Film Noir.

Mary's niche with vampire bad girl, bullets and vials of blood. And as Rip says" Dames are always pulling a switch on you. "

The next book is Maureen's fantasical Dragons book. The colors and textures in this book are phenomonal! This book is intended as a gift for her son.

Look at the incredible texture on this page created with Gel Medium and layers and layers of color. Yummy!

This spread incorporates a picture drawn by her son years ago and a niche that includes and a 3-D dragon with glowing eyes. I especially love the glowly eyes. They are kind of mesmerizing.

Maureens beautiful door including stained glass and a hatching baby dragon behind it. I'll bet Tiffany's never thought of that!

This is a beautiful and elegant spread. It makes me want to walk through it to visit this world. As long as the dragons keep their distance that is!

The next book was Ann's Strange Creatures book.

This incredible page was Ann's niche! It contains a creature swamp in beautiful glowing colors and textures. But I still would not want to step in it. Icky!

The next book was Peggy's. She drove all the way from Fremont to Princeton-by-the Sea to catch the last class. Now that's devotion. Unfortunately she brought the wrong book with her that day so she just started a new one!

I love how evocative this page is. I think it just says it all.

And look at this beautiful spread. This image was painstakingly cut out with an exacto knife and its simply gorgeous. I love the way the vintage image just works set against the modern abstract background. It makes the entire spread seem almost other worldly.

The next book was Jolenes. Her subject was houses. Jolene has created some exquisite backgrounds. Look at her torn pocket below filled with different little houses. I just wanted to take all of her little houses home with me!

This spread is just stunning! The colors-yummy. I love the collaged house above with the eyes looking out and the hand reaching.

How much more emotion can a spread hold than a much loved home? Again Jolene's colors are beautiful. The blue and pink together are amazing.

The last book I want to show you is Cindy's book. It may be last but not least. Cindy's book pages all visualize a different line of a poem from the book.

One of the things I really loved about this book is the pairing of black and white line images and painted backgrounds. This spread visually grabs me right away. I wonder where this half naked warrior woman is riding off to?

This spread has a slighly carnival atmosphere to it in contrast to the spread above. The painting is gorgeous but again lends a really other-worldly feel to this spread.

This line drawing paired with a real photographed window again gives me an unreal feeling when I look at this spread. Somehow this figure looking out the window is exactly where she should be. Cindy's painting is beautiful and makes this spread and the entire altered book totally work for me.

Well that's it for now. What do you think about the work above?