Exploring Color & Creativity

Santa Fe Workshop canceled

2009-07-09T16:31:00.004-04:00

I haven't had official word from the workshop director, but since she has sent out a refund notice to students who signed up, it appears the workshop has been canceled. I'm disappointed. I've taught several workshops there and it's such a fun place to teach and visit. So much art you can't take it all in.

Workshop and Webinar

2009-07-08T17:57:00.003-04:00

Just about ready to leave for Rising Sun, Indiana, for the Creativity workshop. Wish I could say I'm all caught up, but I'm not. I've been working on my live Creativity Webinar from ArtistsNetwork Online Seminars, Tuesday, July 28, at 1:00 p.m. titled "Develop Your Natural Creativity and Grow As an Artist." In addition to the PowerPoint presentation, there will be a live Q&A session following the program. I'll be driving to Cincinnati to do it live from F+W. Two more projects have dropped in my lap, so there may not be any down time this summer.

Spreading the word on triads

2009-07-06T17:41:00.005-04:00

My class has been doing so well with my series of lessons on color harmony triads. They're finally learning that they can use a limited palette of 3-4 colors and don't need a dozen or more. They've been doing swatches and small sketches up until this week. The challenge for the next two weeks is to do one high-intensity triad and one low-intensity triad painting from the eight they have been working with, which are found in Confident Color. One student has been having so much fun that she has taken the lesson over to Wet Canvas to her watercolor group.

Confident Color workshop in Santa Fe

2009-06-04T13:28:00.003-04:00

(Canceled)

Express your unique color personality in your artwork. Master organizing principles to use color with confidence and develop your own color style. You’ll never mix mud again when you understand split-primary color mixing. Working with color harmonies and contrasts enhances your use of limited palettes. Understanding color schemes provides you with unlimited possibilities for using an expanded palette, including modern colors, to create mood, energy and color vibration in your art.

Artists in all mediums may benefit from this workshop, which covers a brief review of color fundamentals, followed by numerous color-mixing and painting activities at all skill levels. Each day begins with a brief demo and lecture and ends with a helpful group critique. Artists receive individual attention throughout each day and may bring one or two pieces of artwork for private critique during the week.

Cathy Jeffers, Master Quilter

2009-06-02T10:08:00.006-04:00

Cathy has had this quilt accepted into Quilt National now showing in Athens, Ohio at The Dairy Barn. Only 79 were selected from more than 1000 international submissions for the show. She's quite an artist with fabric. I love the picture--"The Artist and the Mermaid" 72"W x 87"H. Cotton, commercial and hand dyed fabrics, synthetics, mesh, wire, floral mesh, hand and machine pieced and machine quilted.
The closeup is the artist's face. Here are some of Cathy's comments on the piece:
Inspired by famous painting of artist and mermaids- also inspired by Van Gogh's bedroom painting where everything is out of perspective.The artist has never been able to capture the mermaid's beauty. (He is having an absinthe cocktail.) She has a sour face annoyed that she has been asked to continue to pose. She is likely to slip away. The shape of the quilt is irregular, and by a happy accident looks like the state of Ohio. So maybe the mermaid lives in the Ohio River??? It was fun... took many months and was done in sections. Comments have been- Where are her breast? It's my favorite! to "Oh- Mermaids are in!" I was trying to go for the most unlikely couple. Art like life brings individual's odd qualities together... and sometimes... they need to go their separate ways."

Facebook problems

2009-06-01T11:05:00.002-04:00

Has anyone ever been blocked by Facebook? I'm finding it nearly impossible to get to my pages, if at all. Occasionally I can get on from an email link for a friend request, but I can't go anywhere else after that and have to shut down. I've tried to log on and it won't let me in. I would really appreciate any help or information. Is there a tech support for Facebook somewhere? Help!

My Creative Journey blog

2009-05-30T20:08:00.005-04:00

Please visit Trish's fun blog for an interview with Nita Leland. Oh, that's me. Well, okay, so you can get the rest of my story there. The link should work now.

Books in high places

2009-05-23T19:32:00.003-04:00

I can't help myself. I have to tell you how good I felt when I saw Confident Color on the shelves of the bookstore at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. That is such a thrill. It was also at Barnes & Noble in Cambridge. When my first book came out in 1985, I visited my son in Boston, and we went to an art store in Cambridge. I slithered around looking for a book department, but there wasn't one. As I made a purchase, I mentioned that I was looking for Exploring Color, but I noticed he didn't carry books. He said, "Well, actually, I do carry that one--it's the only book I have." Sure enough, there it was, in the middle of the painting department. He was so excited to meet the author that he had me sign all the books he had in stock. A shining moment for me. I can't believe that was 24 years ago! I seldom mention my books in stores, although I suppose I should, for the sake of marketing. But, I do check to see if they're there, and usually, at least one of them is. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I see myself with four books in print at the same time. I thought the first one was a lucky break.

Weird connections

2009-05-21T12:47:00.002-04:00

I take my laptop with me when I travel, so I should be able to blog while I'm away at workshops. It would help if I knew my passwords, wouldn't it? I forgot to pack my cheat-sheet, so I didn't have them, except for a few I have memorized. Dopey me. Also, I didn't have secure connections in some places, and that always worries me. I go online, grab my email, and go offline as fast as I can. Am I paranoid? Yes. My laptop security program won't let me send email from these connections, so I have to wait until I get home to send my replies. I also have to forward all my received email to my main computer. Is there an easier way to do all this? Just wondering. Anyway, I'm back from Louisville, Cazenovia NY, and Boston, and just about unpacked. It has been a great two weeks--meeting terrific people, teaching a great class, and enjoying my son's company and events. I have book orders to ship and new projects to get started, so not much time to kick back. But, no travel on the schedule for awhile. Yay!

I love fog

2009-05-05T17:05:00.004-04:00

I have no idea why, but when I saw today's post The Colors of Fog on one of my favorite blogs, colourlovers.com, I realized what part of the attraction is. The differences in fog colors aren't usually so apparent, but certainly for an artist or photographer there are innumerable ways to generate color excitement in what most people think of as dull gray. Don't you love it?

International Art Materials Association Survey--do your part!

2009-05-04T16:10:00.004-04:00

Katherine Tyrrell reports on her Making a Mark Reviews that NAMTA and American Artist magazine are sponsoring an industry-wide survey of artists, art retailers and art suppliers to better understand the needs of artists and how the art materials industry can meet these needs. Do your part and take a few minutes to fill out the survey. The details are on the blog link.

Conservator at Work

2009-05-03T17:18:00.002-04:00

Daytonians have a rate opportunity to watch a professional conservator at work restoring a painting at the Dayton Art Institute for another couple of weeks. I hope I can stop by this week before I go to upstate New York to teach a workshop. Per Knutas will be working in Gallery 220 and is happy to answer questions as he works. He's on site from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. until completion of his task. Admission is free.

Kid in a candy store

2009-04-30T17:27:00.003-04:00

And no time to shop. Next Thursday I'm going to Louisville to demo in the North Light/F+W booth at the NAMTA international trade show for retailers. Can you imagine sitting in a convention hall with every art supply in the world and not getting to browse? My demo on Confident Color is ongoing for 4 hours. I'm driving down and back the same day (total 5 hours), so that pretty much shoots the day. I've done these trade shows before, and they are so huge, you can't see much in an hour or so. Maybe with roller skates. I'd stay overnight and look around on Saturday, if I didn't have to leave on Sunday for my workshop in upstate New York. And going from there to Boston to visit my son. Got myself on another merry-go-round, didn't I?

Lost Weekend

2009-04-27T21:22:00.003-04:00

I spent most of the weekend trying to delete a virus that showed up on my Friday night automatic scan. When I got home from baby-sitting on Saturday afternoon, I ran Norton Anti-virus and it said the Delete failed and directed me to their Web site for instructions. I was involved in this merry-go-round until bedtime and most of Sunday. The virus is "adware.gen" and it was on my external backup drive. You wouldn't believe how many times I tried to get rid of it with Norton, then had to rescan to find out if it was still there. It takes hours to scan that big Seagate drive. I even tried to do it in Safe Mode; still no luck. I finally realized that the file I was looking for wasn't named adware.gen. When I got the correct name, I went to the drive's Windows System32 directory. As I passed my mouse down the list, before I got to the file, a Norton screen popped up and shouted that I had a virus, and they deleted it, just like that. About an hour later, another Norton screen appeared and in a self-congratulatory manner announced to me that they had rescued me from the virus. Now, why didn't they delete it the half-dozen times I ran the virus-scan program?

Catch up time

2009-04-24T19:54:00.003-04:00

Busy, busy, busy. Our granddaughter had her spring break following Easter, so we were involved in a sleepover and a natural history museum visit during the week. I spent most of this past week sorting files on my hard drives, which doesn't leave a lot of discretionary time. Or leisure, either, for that matter. Today I did some Web site updating, so I'm almost caught up. Just in time to prepare for a demo at the National Art Materials Trade Association trade show, followed by a workshop in Cazenovia, New York. Other pots are beginning to boil, too, so it looks like a busy summer coming up.

The other day I came across an announcement from the Society of Canadian Artists regarding the artist who ran afoul of the American Watercolor Society last year. Guess what! The Canadian society revoked the artist's awards from 2006 and 2007 and have rescinded her membership. Here's their statement:
http://www.societyofcanadianartists.com/exhibitions/Statement0607.asp

A friend recently told me that the signatures on all her watercolor paintings have disappeared over the years. She had used ballpoint pens to sign. I knew that the ink wasn't permanent. I was shocked she didn't. I keep trying to get my students to sign with brush and watercolor. They counter that the pens are labeled "Permanent." Hello? That means they won't wash out. "Lightfast" means they won't fade. So far, the best pens I know are advertised as "light resistant." That isn't quite the same thing. Does anyone out there know of a lightfast pen?

Collage and Mixed Media books

2009-04-08T09:01:00.003-04:00

Alease Michelle's top 10 list of books on collage and mixed media. It's a great list. I've read seven of them and would recommend them all. Now I want to read the other three. Thanks to Alease for the recommendations.

The New Creative Artist South of the Border

2009-04-05T18:15:00.003-04:00

In Central America, actually. Margarita Hernandez (on the right) of Honduras, who attended my workshop in Plantation, Florida, in March, spent nearly a year working at her home with a group of eleven women artists using the activities in my book. First, she had to translate the activities into Spanish so they could understand them. (I wish I knew Spanish as well as she knows English.) At the end of the class, she presented each woman with a certificate of completion. Here are a few photos she sent me of her class. I asked permission to put them on my blog--she says they will be delighted to be internationally "famous" on the Web.

2009-04-05T13:39:00.001-04:00

Check this out: 10 Essential Money Skills for a Bad Economy" by J. D. Roth.

Little paintings make a big show

2009-04-05T12:20:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, April 19, the Wassenberg Art Center in Van Wert, Ohio opens an unusual exhibit of miniature art by sisters Pat Rayman of Ohio City and Janet Ravas of Scotia, New York. “Two Sisters” includes more than 100 watercolor and acrylic paintings, many smaller than 3 x 5 inches.
Rayman and Ravas paint landscapes and seascapes from Maine, Vermont, New York State, and rural Ohio, as well as flowers and animals. Ravas uses a magnifying glass when creating her tiny, delicate watercolors. Rayman employs some of the smallest brushes available for her impressionistic acrylic works.
The word “miniature” was derived from minium, the red lead paint used in painting small images in manuscripts in the Middle Ages. Miniature paintings are highly detailed, requiring much skill. Artists put the same amount of time and skill into miniature works as they do into large paintings, sometimes more.
“Two Sisters,” sponsored by Art-to-Art Palette Journal and Ralph and Jane Stuckman, will run from Sunday, April 19, to Thursday, May 14.
For more information, call the Wassenberg Art Center at 1.419.238.6837 or toll
free 1.888.238.3837, or e-mail wassenberg@embarqmail.com.
The Wassenberg Art Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging and promoting the visual arts, is located at 643 S. Washington Street in Van Wert, Ohio. Exhibit hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays). Admission is free.

Paint the Parks competition

2009-04-03T17:59:00.003-04:00

There are just a few weeks left to enter this year's contest. You can use any medium and paint any subject, as long as it's found in a national park. Paint America

HURRY! ONLY TWO MONTHS LEFT TO SUBMIT ENTRIES!
Just a reminder to be getting your entries together for the 3rd Annual 2009 Paint the Parks100 Competition. $10,000 Grand Prize Purchase Award; $5,000 Mini Grand Prize Purchase Award! Thousands more in additional prizes and awards! The Paint the Parks100 has become one of the country's top juried exhibitions for established and emerging artists. Save $10 on your early entries postmarked by April 30. 2009. Final deadline: May 31, 2009.
Paintings should be representative, and depict any area under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, in any way, in any medium.
Go to www.nps.gov for a list of eligible areas viewable by state.

PaintAmerica is a national, non-profit organization to support and promote the visual arts.
Proceeds support the PaintAmerica Scholarship Fund and the National Park Foundation.

Don't miss this important juried competition – enter now! Full details and entry form at www.PaintAmerica.org or call us at (785) 273-4502.

Spring is officially here--I hope

2009-04-02T13:44:00.005-04:00

It's getting warm enough to work in the woods a bit, so that's a good sign. Here are a few pix of some of the early wildflowers and naturalized bulbs that are blooming. In a few days, bluebells and toothwort will cascade down the hillside.

Never mind that I lost a pair of glasses on Monday when I went out to photograph the flowers--they were old ones, at least, and might turn up as I wander the woods.

There's a lot of debris on the ground from the two windstorms we've had since September. I break up the small branches and throw them around the woods. The bigger limbs I carry to the edge of the woods and pile them up until I can get to them.

I've found a couple dozen honeysuckle seedlings and a few garlic mustard sprouts, but if I keep after them, I won't have the onslaught I had to deal with when I started my woodland project 7 years ago.

Florida Collage Workshop

2009-04-01T10:08:00.006-04:00

Here are a few of the pieces, some unfinished, made in the collage portion of the creativity workshop for the Plantation Art Guild, including a shot of several students at work. I apologize for the quality of the photos. My flash reflected off the gloss medium in some of the pieces. I should have taken them outdoors to photograph. I love the variety in the work. These are all paper theme collages. Some used magazine papers; others applied cut or torn paintings.

Home again, jiggety jig

2009-03-29T11:05:00.004-04:00

After balmy 72-degree days in Plantation, FL, I'm back at 41-degree Ohio. The quarter-acre woods is blooming and soon will be even more colorful. I can't wait to get out and see what has opened up, but right now I'm knee-deep in laundry.

My trip home was one of the worst I've experienced in more than 20 years of air travel. Whatever happened to customer service? It started out well when the taxi arrived at the hotel 10 minutes early and only took 15 minutes to get to the airport. I thought it was a good sign. The lines at the Delta ticket kiosks were extremely long, but they moved fairly quickly. Even boarding was on time, but everything went downhill after that.

The flight attendant announced that there would be a delay in departure because they had discovered that the plane was 5000 lbs. short of fuel and couldn't take off without it. Then there was something wrong with a valve in the refueling mechanism (I think that's what they said), so we were at least 45 minutes late getting off the ground (might have been an hour, but I stuck my nose in a book and lost track of time). I wasn't worried because I had a reasonable layover time in Atlanta. I'm a pretty relaxed traveler.

They put us in a holding pattern near Atlanta. Heavy rains there and in many other airports had backed up incoming flights. Not much you can do about the weather. It took a long time to taxi into the gate, again because of heavy traffic. I still had time to make my flight, but it was getting tight.

We sat at the jetway for a half hour before they opened the doors to let anyone out. I didn't hear any explanation why they didn't open the door. I was at the back of the plane and it was past time for my flight. Still, I didn't worry, since they said all flights had been delayed because of weather conditions.

When I finally de-planed, I saw that I had 20 minutes to make my connection. We had come in at gate A-1 and my flight was at D-38, so I started to run-walk to D terminal. Well, guess what. The train to D wasn't running. Okay, I ran over to the moving walkway. Guess what. The walkway wasn't moving. I was huffing and puffing when I got to the desk. The plane was still there, but the doors had just closed. They will not open the doors once they're closed.

They sent me to customer service to get re-booked. I was next in line, behind a man who was changing 4 different flights with different airlines. One agent there, helping him. I stood in line for half an hour before another agent came. She announced, "I'll help anyone who needs vouchers first."

No more Mrs. Nice-Guy. I demanded that she re-ticket me first. She said the next open flight to Dayton would be the next morning at 10:30 a.m. What????

I went on standby. I lost 4 flights and the rest of the day. My position on standby was preempted 3 times by someone with "priority," whatever that means.

I was #1 on the standby list for 6:30, but #3 to get the last seat. Someone had taken my seat in the 5th row aisle. It was a scarey few minutes while the flight attendant walked the aisle searching for an empty seat. I ended up in the last row of the plane. But I was on my way home.

There's a lot more to the story, but I'm sure many people have had a lot worse happen, so that's it for now.

I've had plenty of experience with delayed flights, weather, and what-not and it has never bothered me this much. Maybe I'm becoming an old grouch.

I noticed that sweet old ladies in wheel chairs got service and were boarded first.

Hmmmm.

Anyone for Popcorn?

2009-03-26T07:45:00.002-04:00

A good day at the workshop. It's a small class, but very responsive. I visited with the chairman, Edie, and Magarita (must check on spelling) after class and through dinner--interesting conversation. Back at my room, I got ready for bed and planned to watch an art workshop DVD Edie loaned me, when the fire alarm went off. I called the desk and was told someone had burned popcorn in the microwave in the lobby. Okay, so no fire. But the alarm was literally deafening and I finally dressed and went outside (from the third floor) to wait until the fire department or someone shut off the alarm. I've been in hotels where there were false alarms before, but they were never this loud. I guess that's a good thing, if there really is a fire and I'm grateful there wasn't. But I honestly was afraid that sound could burst an ear drum. I guess I'm okay. Um, what did you just say?

Great day to start a workshop

2009-03-25T09:40:00.002-04:00

It's sunny and bright here in Florida, not humid, just right. The workshop begins a little later this morning, so I have some time to relax. My aching bones are enjoying the warm air. Last night we sat out on a restaurant patio and ate pizza with one of the workshop students, a woman from Honduras. She told me she had formed a group to work through The New Creative Artist, which she translated into Spanish to teach them how to do the exercises. They worked every week for 36 weeks, straight through the book. That blows my mind. Can't wait to get started with the class this morning.