Making Shrines at Small Studio

Friends and fellow artists joined Gayle for the Enshrined class.

 As promised, the Enshrined workshop at Small Studio Productions was loads of fun. Gail Crum joined me to co-teach the class, and Ginny at Small Studio has affectionately dubbed us The Gales, and now in her new blog post, Gale Force. That about sums it up! Gail was in the very first Shrines class that I taught some twenty years ago. She says the class changed her life. All I know is that she has been creating shrines, assemblages and collages ever since, and is an amazing artist. It was fun to teach a class together.
There were several long-time friends in the class: Phyllis, Karen and Clare from the "Dye Group", a cadre of women artists who have played together for decades and still keep a journal about what they are doing. Clare just retired from the art department at Malone College, but is teaching her amazing encaustic techniques and other workshops around northeast Ohio and in Columbus at QSDS.

Phyllis, Karen and Clare are "Dye Group" buddies. Gail Crum
co-taught Enshrined with me.

Former studio mate and amazing painter Pam Dills came with two of her friends, neither of whom had done artwork before, but both of whom made amazing pieces. In addition, Zelda, Kim and Denette joined us, and made absolutely stunning shrines with their selected objects and stories.

Enshrined class students working away.

Kim's shrine about her garden-loving grandmother, in progress

More workshops to come, the next on May 17th. Hope to see you there!

Enshrined

Detail, Gayle Pritchard's
Pharmacy Shrine

I am so happy to be teaching a new workshop, Enshrined, at the end of March. I hope you will join me and my teaching partner, Gail Crum, for this fun workshop! Your choice of two shrines (styles shown below) is included in the workshop fee. Gail and I will show you how to develop your theme, make it meaningful and personal, all while building your shrine in class. Can't wait!

When: Saturday, March 29th, 12 - 4 p.m.

Where: Small Studio Productions, 26113 Detroit Rd., Westlake, OH

Phone (call to sign up): 440-808-8599

$50 includes the half day workshop with two amazing teachers

and your choice of the shrine styles, shown below.

Gail's Paris shrine

Front view, Gayle's Pharmacy shrine. It has many
movable parts. Check it out at the shop!

No Fear of Flying

As mentioned previously, I have been doing physical therapy on my hands for months now. So, what to do when one can't work a normal schedule? Well, my solution has been to reorganize both of my work spaces here in the house. My friend Ginny came over to have a look, and to give me her expert suggestions. The "blue" room, my office, has to accomodate my second laptop, a scanner, a pull-out futon for a guest bed, as well as inventory, collage papers and cardstock. I have also rearranged the blue room glass-topped desks to make room for my yudu screenprinter. I'll post pix when everything is clean and put away!


 In my last post, I showed you a silk rubbing from Mexico I had found while reorganizing my space. Here is another unfinished piece I found, a class sample of a black and white photo transfer on silk. I decided to make it into a collage, but I needed to paint it first, so that the bright white of the silk would blend in more with the cyanotype-printed fabric I wanted to use with it.

I used Jacquard paint with a watery brush to paint the transfer on silk.

The painted silk in the composition. I used cyanotype prints made
years ago, and created my collage from the scrapbag. The
wings are hand appliqued.

 

Here is a detail of the top of the composition, in progress.



Speaking of Engagements

The weeks go by, and I can't seem to keep up with my work, my emails, my friends. Oh, and yes, my blog. Last Friday I came down with the flu, always an unwelcome occurance to a busy person. Sigh. I don't think it was the swine flu, although I never got into the doctor's office to find out for sure. I just hunkered down for the past five days and waited to feel better.

Since I am a person who would practially have to be forced to stay in bed, I putzed around the house, organizing in my office, pulling out fabrics, and generally worked without working. I didn't attempt anything that required a clear head! Mainly I organized and brainstormed through my stuffy, fuzzy head.

I did figure out a new closure solution to my winter Magic Baby dresses and overalls.

Instead of using the adjustable knot closure I had created for the summer designs, I decided to design a tab in constrasting fabric. The tab is stitched to the "inside" of the reversible dress along the back shoulder. It slips through an elasticized loop, buttoning on the "outside" shoulder. The tab has two buttonholes in it, making it adjustable for extra growing room, one of the requirements of my Magic Baby designs. I am very pleased to have finally figured out an aestetically pleasing solution!

The fall and winter dresses and overalls are not only adjustable, but still reversible. I am using super soft pinwale corduroy on one side, and cotton on the "reverse", or cotton flannel with the overalls. I have also designed matching hooded and reversible jackets for winter, and hope to have the first ones finished this week.

It has been several years since I have participated in a vendor's mall. In fact, I think the last time was at the wonderful (and now defunct) Art Continuum events created and managed by my friend Ginny Carter Smallenburg. Ginny's fabulous event was one of the first, if not THE first, art events full of cool vendor stores and workshops that one now sees all over the country. She also managed them perfectly, treating vendors, teachers and students with respect, and bringing in the best of the best from everywhere. They were very fun weekends!

I am scheduled for a vendor's booth at the upcoming Cleveland Metroparks Reflections of Nature quilt show the weekend of November 14th and 15th. The director, Dan Crandall, had contacted me last year to be a juror for the exhibition, and to present a program and booksigning on Sunday the 15th about my book, Uncommon Threads: Ohio's Art Quilt Revolution. Since the event also has a vendor's mall, I will be setting up a live version of my etsy shop! My Magic Baby designs (dresses, baby blankets, overalls, jackets) will be there, as well as handmade journals, tote bags and other fun creations. Stop by and say hello if you're in the area.