REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Learned a Lot Today From Tim Holtz

Today I went to the Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson, CA and I sat for a long time at Tim Holtz's demonstration table. He's an educator for Ranger Products and his work and sense of humor are second to none when he teaches. 

This is Tim hard at work showing us alcohol inks and everything under the sun. What delighted me personally was I asked if he could show the resist technique as I haven't figured that out on my own yet. 

He said that he thinks the easiest way to use resist with regular Distress Ink pads is to rubber stamp with white acrylic paint. Ranger makes acrylic ink dabbers and the one he recommended was Snow Cap. Using several different stamps, he covered the images with the dabber. Then he dried it and began using several different colors of Distress Ink on a tag using Ranger's Ink Blending Tool. At Tim's website there are many demos including the resist technique he uses.

I over think most of the art pieces I create, but he moves very quickly and I was amazed at the end product.  

And, I discovered his blog tonight which links from his main page. 

I got to take the resist demo tag home. Hooray! And he even signed the back. 

One of the things I was reminded of today, even though art journaling was not part of this particular convention is that the techniques are interchangeable with journals, scrapbooking, ATCs and altered art. It also works well with some of the mixed media collages I have been making. 

Tonight I watched a really feel-good movie from 2006--"The Ultimate Gift." I cut and doodled and glued in my art journals glancing back and forth. I needed feel good. 

It's getting colder now and I am having to work very hard at making sure I don't hole up. Friday I took one of my grandsons to school in the morning and worked in the library for my other grandson's kindergarten class. That night we all went to the Book Fair. Saturday I went to a few estate sales (nada), to an art opening at the Palos Verdes Library with friends, and then out to dinner. 

Church went by the wayside this morning as I knew I had to feed my creative soul. Tonight I went out to dinner with my son and grandsons. The weekend, in spite of having to work at smiling and being with people, was a good one. But now I'm ready to go to bed with a book--and the electric blanket on 5. 

Part of me wants to stay up all night doing art, but----

Let's Hear it for Kelly Kilmer's Art Journal Classes

Yesterday, Halloween, I drove to the Urban Craft Center on Main St. in Santa Monica to take Kelly Kilmer's class on making an art journal from scratch. The first class I ever took on using rubber stamps, making cards and collages was from Kelly, way back when. 

This is Kelly working in her own art journal towards the end of our class. I can't get over how happy and in the moment I am when I am making art. 

Kelly teaches often in Southern California, but she travels all over the United States offering classes. This is her class schedule. 

Right after Cookie died and the So Cal windstorm blew in last Tuesday, I've had my usual winter creeping crud--allegeries, sinuses dripping, and that awful cough that not only scares people, it embarrasses the hell out of me. I forewarned everyone I was not sick and loaded up on antihistamines. 

With a lot of help from Kelly, who is infinitely patient, I did indeed make a journal and slopped paint on several pages just to get started. Here is one page I completed. 

I usually put up my Day of the Dead altar at home each year but this year I just didn't have the oomph to do it. So, this journal pages honors my ancestors and friends who have gone before me. 

By the way, Kelly also teaches an online daily journaling class called A Prompt A Day. You'll see the link on her blog listed above. I have two friends taking it--Paula in Denver and Connie in DC. and they are enjoying it very much.  

Red Collage 72 is Finished

For those of you who read here regularly, I just completed a six week class at Summer Studios in Lomita in collage/mixed media. A few days ago I posted a collage of Emily Ann, my mom. 

Here is Red Collage 72 actually in a frame and as completed as I'm going to get it. This was a steep learning curve for me where I learned several new techniques and how to use mediums I had never used before. This piece is 8 x 10 and I must admit, I kind of like it! I usually find fault with most things I do, but I think I will actually hang this one somewhere instead of adding it to the pile of finished work. 

 

Mixed Media Collage: "Emily Ann"

For the past six Monday nights I have been taking a mixed media collage class at Summer Studios in Lomita, CA. If you live in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, I can’t recommend classes—and visits—here enough. You can check out their classes and events at the site above. Their fourth Friday Art Jam nights are fabulous although there won’t be another one until January because of holiday conflicts.

As it turned out, I was the only student in Anita Dixon’s Monday night class, but she faithfully met with me and taught me many things I didn’t know. Anita is "an old soul," and I am always drawn to people like her. Her own art work is superb and at least three of her pieces are currently hanging in the gallery. 

I have one piece completed and framed, another two completed (a key case and a collage box which I had made years ago but now knew how to make them better), and five pieces are in various states of completion.

I call this piece, which is 8” x 8”, “Emily Ann.” The photo is my mother when she was about 16. One of my most cherished possessions is a hand-written baby book my mom kept the first year of my life. The writing you see are snippets from the first entry she made. (I photo copied the original.) That is my handwriting of her name. I am probably going to mount this piece on masonite or some kind of board.

I just laid down some more layers on two of the pieces. Ever since Cookie got really ill, I spent time each day working on my class projects. I am choosing not to work on any Cookie art pieces right now, although I have written every day in my journal about her.

As a dog lover, I sure resonate with the studio's name. David Parsons, the owner and Executive Director, named it after his dog Summer. Summer is always there to greet people with a bark. There is also a large exotic bird in a cage who interacts with everyone and a tiny finch who also trills periodically. 

Summer Studios is a very special place to learn and visit. 

It's a Great Weekend for the Redondo Beach Art Group's Power of Art

 If you are in the Los Angeles area, don’t miss the Redondo Beach Art Group’s 2009 Power of Art the next two days. The artists opening reception was tonight and I volunteered at the silent auction. The building that once housed the Red Onion and later Camacho’s, 655 N. Harbor Drive, was turned into “Living Art.” The building has been empty for a long time and is slated for demolition, so the City of Redondo Beach let us use it. It will next become a boutique hotel. So many people have worked countless hours to make this happen.

There were hundreds of people attending tonight and the weather is very warm, but fortunately the building is right on the Redondo Beach Marina so some breezes floated in.

I loved this purse in the silent auction and was glad when my friend Jianulla won it. It’s an upcycled piece created by local artist Penny Richards and features the 1908 image of early feminist Susan Walker Fitzgerald. Be sure to click on the image to read the words.

Here are Jianulla and Penny (right), but I’m too tired to take the glare out of the photo in PhotoShop. It’s time to go to bed with Dan Brown’s “The Last Symbol.”

Be sure to click on Penny's name--a fascinating woman! And she has other purses for sale in the boutique and you can visit her Etsy shop at Pennamite. 

 

 

The Cats of Mirikitani

A friend recently recommended a 2006 documentary called "The Cats of Mirikitani." I got it from Netflix and was literally mesmerized. It's the story of a Japanese-American artist living and working on the streets of New York who is befriended by filmmaker Linda Hattendorf. It won the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007 and was featured on PBS and several other stations, but I just heard about it. I can't recommend it enough.

This is a clip from YouTube:

Artists Gallery Annual Studio Tour in Palos Verdes: Best Ever

I’m still feeling really grateful for the incredible art studio tour my friend and Orma went on yesterday. The creative spaces of 10 local artists were open to the public during the sixth annual Artist Studio Tour. Sponsored by the Artists Studio, a cooperative of approximately 70 artists affiliated with the Palos Verdes Art Center. The day was spectacular—sunny and clear, and I met so many people and watched so many artists at work.

Twenty-one additional artists demonstrated their skills and discussed their work at the various studios and on the Art Center patio, where a light lunch was served.

The first stop was at the home of plein air artist Don Crocker in Rolling Hills whose studio is in an old horse barn. There were dozens of his paintings on display which I’ll share with you as time permits.

It’s Christy Armstrong’s work I want to feature tonight. Her professional name is M.C. Armstrong and she teaches art at the school where I work. She showed her raku dishes and menagerie of whimsical ceramic animals.

She had made two hollow ovals and put them together while the clay was wet. This was the beginning of a whimsical series of insects she is currently working on. 

 

 

Here is one of her animals surrounded by her bowls.

Christy's animal series are currently featured in several galleries. Be sure to click on this guy to see him larger. 

But, it's Christy's hands that fascinated me the most. 

Christy doesn't have a website, but I'm hunting around the web for more of her animals to show you. 

And just imagine, not only does she teach children art, all the kids learn ceramics in her classes, too.  

Palos Verdes After the Recent Fire

On August 28, a large fire roared through the hills and canyons of Rancho Palos Verdes just above what was the old Marineland and is now the Terranea Resort.

My friend Orma and I went to an all day Art Studio Tour in Palos Verdes today and I saw the post-burn for the first time. The houses around the two pictures you see below were evacuated and the man who owned the home where I took these pictures from had his home burn to the ground in 1973. 

My next entries will feature the studios and artists we visited today. It was a fabulous day.   

Summer Studios Friday Night Art Jam

I have been hearing a lot about Summer Studios Arts Academy in Lomita and tonight I got to experience it for myself. On the last Friday of the month they have an Art Jam which features lots of art, various musicians jamming on stage, and eight poets reading. What a lovely space this is--and the evening was informal and stellar. I was very impressed. The class schedule also impressed me and I'm seriously thinking of taking six weeks of mixed media on Monday nights. 

Following are a few photos from the evening, but I took a few dozen. 

This is the sign at the front of the studio. 

This is a mosaic project that is being made by several of the artists involved at the studio. When it is finished and sold, 60% of the profit will go to a non-profit, probably Homeboy Industries in L.A. With all the budget cuts and the bad economy, their good work is struggling mightily.

This man was one of the eight poets who read. His piece was the story of his mule. This poem reminded me of cowboy poetry readings I've attended. 

These were three of the musicians who played off and on during the evening. Everyone who performed was beyond excellent. 

All the art was excellent, but this piece really caught my fancy. 

Redondo Beach Art Group Humongous Garage Sale Tomorrow

It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a whole lot of volunteers to get ready for a benefit garage sale to raise funds for the Redondo Beach Art Group's Power of Art Show in October. 

If you are in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, join us tomorrow at 8 a.m. at 719 N. Paulina, Redondo Beach, CA and I guarantee you will find bargains galore. The is a clean-up sale for an artist with lots of other artists making donations. There is something for everyone at rock bottom prices. I came home with my $10 goodie bag after my volunteer hours and it was jam-packed with arts and crafts supplies. But, there are household goods, tools, collectibles, clothing, linens, decor--and hundreds of great frames. 

Those of you who read here know I love garage and estate sales, but long ago gave up having sales myself. Too much work. And now I remember how much work. 

Come support us, pretty please?