The Big Decision

Sometimes, one has to make BIG decisions that include leaving what we love and know and hold dear to our hearts.....and that is what I have been doing: making BIG decisions.  It is time to get back out in the world and teach, and as I have been applying for art positions, and flying around visiting private schools, I have had to think about what I value, and what will balance the grieving I feel about leaving my home, my kids, and my grandson.  At the end of 14 months of interviewing, I have chosen a position at the Orme School of Arizona in Mayer.  I will be the Department Chair of Fine Arts, and teach painting, drawing, ceramics, and a foundations course.  Chelsea, Jack, Willow, and I drove there last Monday and visited the school, and explored the great mesa, and I, of course, had to pick up any meaningful mementos.  It seems that the ravens were molting, so there were large, black feathers all over the ground.  When I first interviewed at the school, I read a brochure that stated, "Riding across this range in late spring, you may come across yellow-green flowers blooming on a low-lying vine from which seed pods will grow.  Later, as these tough pods dry out, they curl and split open. The pointed ends from sharp claws hook onto the animals that move through the range and the mature seeds are thus shaken out and scattered abroad.............[this] unique plant is indigenous to this area........and these devil's claws seem an appropriate symbol of the Orme School Fine Arts Festival."

As I was walking Willow, I finally found one of these devil's claws, so of course, had to add it to my collection of nature's treasures.  Perhaps finding it finalized my decision, or maybe I had just made the decision, and then I found one.  Or....maybe, it found me.  What this devil's claw doesn't know, however, is that it may be here in Southern California now, but it will be returning home again soon.

The land is beautiful, and the climate is fine.  It will be the next leg of my journey.  I am excited, overwhelmed, and grateful.  Being able to take my animals with me was a priority, and all three of them are accepted and have a home in this awesome environment.  Pepito will continue to chase coyotes until he's too old (or until he's eaten), Tillie has a new ranch, and Willow will have hundreds of acres on which to run and jump.  Willow pouted all the way home when we left on Wednesday.  Is it almost time to change the title of my blog from "From the foothills" to "From the mesa?"

Finishing Work

                                                                                                
I thought it was important to include my finished piece along with all of the others that I posted from Michael deMeng's workshop last Saturday.  I had heard that my dear auntie was dying and I needed a way to honor her presence in my childhood.  She was an extraordinary character, and we all loved her very much. I briefly shared at the workshop that my childhood at her house was filled with ponies and baby raccoons and ducks and chickens, and of course, dogs and cats.  It was a beautiful little Victorian with a full porch and a weeping willow on the front lawn (hence, my pup's name: Willow).  Gladys Chadbourne died today at age 84.  She will be missed.

CAVE OF PAGES with Michael deMeng at Zinnia

I have promised to be a bit more consistent with postings on this BLOG project, so since I shot a number of photos after working with Michael yesterday at Zinnia, I decided that this was a good place to share them.  This is the second time I have taken a workshop with Michael, and I am always struck by his mad, little professor mentality at resolving visual problems, creating new ideas, and using materials that are not traditional adhesives/products.  Although I have never been truly competent at manly power tools, he seems to overlook that flaw and indulges me when I need to insert a found stick through a riding boot to attach a cat skull, or to drill through a wooden block on which to place a nest and a maternal figure!

The Cave of Pages concept is very similar to many of his assemblage ideas, except that it focuses more on the "tunnel effect."  It reminded me several times of teaching the traditional Victorian tunnel book to high school students.  I was pleased visually when I noticed that a few students had placed their focal point on the next-to-the-last layer (as opposed to the very last "page"), so that the image created a shadow, thus implying deeper space behind that focal point.  I will try and post enough samples so that you can see that for yourself.

Because I have supported and held an informal "critique" time with my students at the completion of their work, I want to note an important quality of Michael's critiques.  Yesterday I had an "ah-ha!" feeling in my heart that made me want to say aloud, "You do good things for people, Michael, and that makes my heart happy."  He has a special way of pointing out specific details on each piece that educates, informs, honors, and appreciates each person's work.  Whether the artist made the decision consciously, or not, Michael highlights that visual choice and explains why it is successful.  He is able to say, for example, "This is clearly not my palette, but look at how successful it is with her choice of objects, and the way in which she distributed them across the visual field." I think every single student walks away with a good feeling.  I think that he encourages and supports creativity in a very personal way that is real and tangible.  I think some people are inherently good teachers.  Michael deMeng has no choice, really.....the gods of creativity touched him with their magic goop and sent him out in the world to create order out of madness with materials that a semi-normal person would declare as junk (I know no such people, of course).

Thank you to Michael for another inspiring workshop, and to all of the students that participated in such an industrious, creative day.  As always, I am grateful, and my heart is full.

P.S. ...and now you can see I have NO idea how to control the lay-out of these images with text in this blog world!! :/  I have tried 100 times, and ???

Rebecca's Gift

While thinking about former models I had designed for student projects, I was reminded of a middle school class I had taught several years ago when a high school student posted her most recent drawing on my Facebook wall for my input.  I thought, "Hmmmm.....Rebecca was in that class....what are the chances of her still having a little book she made when she was 12 or 13 years old?" 

SO I dared to ask her if she remembered that project, and to my surprise, a photo of the book appeared on my "wall" within seconds!! Is that an amazing gift?  Not only did she save it, but she knew exactly where it was, shot the photo with her cell phone, and I had it in record time.

Here is the photo Rebecca sent. As you can see, it is a flag book with her self-portrait, and when opened, the flags spread apart to reveal her art work.

It is evident that teaching visual arts is a miraculous experience!

Shadow Box Books

When Paul Johnson was in Los Angeles a couple of years ago, he stayed here in my cabin for a few days and worked with my students for two days.  During one of those workshops, he taught us a 4-step shadow box that can be used as a single or as a multiple (no math and no rulers involved!).  You can incorporate drawings, paint, photos, collage, etc..

I have loved those boxes, and have always been amazed at what my students can do with them.  I have decided that I want to put together both a workshop (I shared them with Tamara last night), and also present them to high school students.

Working with a few layers allows you to address the background, mid-ground, and foreground in a very tangible way.  Here are a few results from my recent experiments.  Kudos to Paul.  (P.S. Have no fear, I did make a Valentine with this format; hence, the day!)

GREAT class today at UCC

Today I took my first class at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica with book artist Jeannine Stein.  I am slated to teach there in March and again in April, but I had not taken a class yet.  I had read about Jeannine's book Rebound, and was very impressed.  I love the idea of creating art with recycled materials, but I have to admit that it's rare that I see "recycled" work that looks like NEW art, and not just....ummmm.....trash put together for recycling sake. (Does that make sense?)  It is also difficult to find a group of book artist instructors  that are organized, have materials prepped, and are truly dynamic people who love what they do, and love to share ideas.  (Sad to say, that may be the one thing on the east coast that was in abundance!  Hmmm....okay, I also miss picking my own blueberries, raspberries and blackberries abundantly.)

So meeting Jeannine in this fabulous space was a treat, and I am delighted that I pushed myself out this morning to join them.  Jeannine is organized, has materials prepped, shares open-heartedly, and knows her medium well.  Her work is clean, concise, and professional.  And, unlike me, she is truly "hip" to all the latest craft gadgets that make cutting corners easier (literally), and punching a variety of holes, and using rivets to adhere covers, etc..  I was disappointed that her published book wasn't available, but, hey, that's what Amazon is for, yes? 

I want to say that I LOVE THIS "ROMANESQUE" BINDING!  It is indeed beautiful.  So thank you, Jeannine, thank you UCC, and thank you to the other students in today's class.

Scrapbooking.com -- Article - TYVEK in My Craft Room

Scrapbooking.com -- Article - TYVEK in My Craft Room

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The Flag Book

For many years I have taught variations of this simple, yet appealing structure. Initially, I had middle school students use it as a format to display "painted tags" pertaining to lessons on color theory. Later, I designed a self-portrait version where we divided up the face onto the flags of the correct proportion, and then when the book opened, all of the flags spread apart to create the face.

For Christmas this past year, I wanted to give a dear friend a gift that would be a memento of our brave explorations with throwing 25 pound blocks of clay (without any real "expert" advice or guidance). We picked up a few tricks watching people throw clay at Xiem Clay Center, but had not taken a class where this amount of clay was being addressed. For the most part, I hadn't yet thrown more than 6 pounds; my friend, maybe 10.

I like to make a double cover so that an inside layer acts as a protective cover for the interior, as well as provides more support if you want to stand it up to be viewed sculpturally. HINT: When you make a double front cover like this, make sure you double the back board by laminating/adhering two together so that the weight feels good and balanced in the hand.

Good luck and have fun with this very versatile structure! (P.S. I just recently read a great book called Magic Books & Paper Toys by Esther K. Smith who recommended using something floppy as the flags like band-aids! A new terrain to explore!)