Grosse Pointe Art Association } Art Makers at The War Memorial

Excited to have my work exhibited in this interesting show. The criteria was having taken classes from GPAA. I did have a great class and will probably continue with this form of image making. I love the graphic nature of a wood block print. There is going to be a reception to meet the artists and the instructors on Sunday, September 10 from 3 - 5 PM.

Woodcut Workshop with Nobuko Yamasaki

Last month, I was fortunate to land a spot in a wonderful workshop at the Grosse Pointe Art Association that was taught by the talented Nobuko Yamasaki. Nobuko was born in Osaki, Japan, studied printmaking in Kyoto and teaches the traditional Japanese method of handmade printing. It was a great way to spend the weekend with two days of instruction in the woodcut process. And the best part was being able to create prints without a press, just use a little elbow grease:)

Nobuko started by showing the class examples of various styles of woodcut printing. Then she helped the students choose which image to use for the project. I had manipulated several different photos in Photoshop to get the images down to a strict black and white format. I figured it would be easier to prep the images ahead of time so I could get right into the carving. These were a few of the images I was considering.

These are the two images I eventually used to create the woodcuts. The sunflower is one of my photographs and the image of Steven Tyler is from a photo reference I found online.

I really enjoyed the whole process. It did take a little bit of time to get the images carved but the actual printing was just as much fun.

The Grosse Pointe Art Association is sponsoring a show this month called Art Makers at The War Memorial and any student from a GPAA class is eligible to submit. I'm entering my Tyler print and a small artist book that I made called "PODerings" (because I was wondering about pods:). I created 8 different images approximately 4x6 and made over 100 impressions until I got the final prints to bind in the book.

*** UPDATE } Both pieces made it into the show  ***

These are the pieces I've submitted to the show.

PODerings

PODerings -- Eight 4x6 india ink prints on paper,
folded in half and bound in book form.

Creative Retreat -- Free Online Event July 8 & 9

There's still time to sign up: https://www.artismagic.online/

Really looking forward to this stay-at-home retreat. I've got just a little over a week to clean up the studio, get the supply list together and make sure I can get access to my computer to watch the workshop videos. Sixteen different teachers...ought to be a fun weekend. 

YAY!

Bring on Spring:)

Until the past few weeks, it's been cold, dreary and colorless so I decided to register for a floral design class at my local community college to break up the monotony. I've always thought that would be an interesting career path to take if I hadn't become a graphic designer:)

The class is so much fun and I get to bring home all the arrangements I create. All the texture and variety in the flowers is starting to wake up my muse. I can see some paintings coming out of this experience. Anyway, here are a few photos of what I done so far.

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One the first pieces assigned was a centerpiece display. I learned how to "green in" the base and then build the framework by using the first flowers inserted to determine the width, length and height of the arrangement.

I also learned about creating texture using different shaped flowers like the Daisy Mum with it's long skinny petals paired with a Carnation's tight ball shape. Baby's Breath and Seeded Eucalyptus added more texture as well.

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Another assignment was to arrange the greenery into a grid to aid in the  placement of the flowers in a vase. This one was a little tough. Every time I inserted a new stem it moved the whole bunch out of place. It is a neat way to keep the flowers in place without using the florist foam. The flowers used in this arrangement were Mini Carnations, Alstroemeria, Fuji Mums and Caspia.

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This was a fun project -- build a topiary out of Alstromeria stems and arrange some Daisy Mums and Salidago into a base to hold the stem. Our instructor also showed us a wrap and twist technique to use for the ribbon.

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And the latest assignment was to design a basket arrangement. The instructor only showed the class how to wrap the handle with Myrtle stems and then it was up to each individual to arrange the rest of the flowers which included Tulips, Mini Carnations and Salidago. I really enjoyed this and even though basket arrangements aren't the "in" thing I can see doing more of these and maybe doing them in mini baskets or other shaped containers.