There was a little glitch with the Interweave store over the weekend and sign ups for my webinar this Thursday were not available. The good news is that it’s been fixed and the link is working. If you have some time Thursday, May 16th at 2 p.m. EST to take my online workshop/webinar on found objects, mold making and casting, I’d love to have you join me. Remember, even if you’re working and not able to join, you can still sign up and watch the webinar at your leisure. Here’s the link: http://www.interweavestore.com/on-the-hunt-for-found-objects-how-to-create-new-and-eclectic-molds
Jen and Jenn taking some pics before my filming begins.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I’m feeling much gratitude for my experiences last week. As you may know, I spent a couple of spectacular days in the Interweave/F&W studio in historic downtown Loveland, Colorado. I was there to film a dvd workshop on mold making and casting for Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine.
As if the filming wasn’t enough, I was able to do this hand-in-hand with one of my best friends, the amazing Kristen Robinson. Kristen was there to film a resin jewelry dvd for CPS magazine and is also one of their 2013 DVD Workshop artists. Being able to film a dvd and have Kristen beside me was like birthday and Christmas all rolled up together.
Our director for the shoot was the incredibly talented Jenn Mason, editor of Cloth, Paper, Scissors and a pretty kick booty mixed-media artist as well. It was really fun to get to hang out with her for a few days. She is actually a very funny person with a great sense of humor. Joking and giggling is always part of her process. I believe it’s how she manages to shake off some of the stresses of her very high-pressure job.
My favorite part of the shooting was when Kristen and I got to go into the prop department and pick items that spoke to us to create the backdrop of our sets. All of the artists were asked to bring samples of our work, but then we had an entire room of goodies to choose from to help the set look more like our home studios.
Kristen’s set is simply gorgeous! It looks just like her — cream and lace and vintage and oh so pretty! We got it set up and displayed in about 20 minutes and then she started to roll. Her entire taping, plus some extras that were added for some future promo material, ran about 3 hours.
It was my turn right after lunch. We stripped down Kristen’s set and put up mine in the same amount of time. In the prop room, I chose and old door, a vintage shoe stretcher, an old box with rusty nails poking through, a crackled white chair, burlap sacks and then pops of color with glass and ceramic items. I loved how we literally went from one visual extreme to another in less than 20 minutes.
Ready for my close up…
After some photos of the set, it was my turn to begin. I have to tell you the truth. The first 5 minutes of filming are miserable. You can’t help but be nervous and stiff and feel as though wads of cotton are in your mouth. My voice sounded tinny and my movements seemed so theatrical. However, very quickly I found myself getting into the groove. My “student” for the day was Johnny Depp on the camera monitor. The next thing I know I was simply doing what I do…talking about my love of found objects and teaching how to make molds and do castings. Knowing that everything will be edited and that everyone in the room was there to make me look as good as I possibly can helped tremendously. Now, there is nothing but excitement to see how the project all comes together.
Then Wednesday, Kristen and I had the day to ourselves to do a little shopping and then a long talk about CHA and ICE Resin business. Of course, we had to get a little antiquing in there as well. Always on the hunt for treasures to mold and cast!
The plane home was uneventful. I took Thursday off to catch up on some family things and then I spent Friday teaching locally. It’s amazing how the days just seem to fly by. I had planned to update my blog Thursday, but time just slipped on by.
I hope you enjoy the pics of the trip and filming. No worries, I will be sure to post more about what month the dvd will be released next year, etc. as I get updates. For now, I hope you, too, are feeling the gratitude for your life and all the wonderful things you experience on a daily basis.
With the move and the changes, I have a lighter schedule this year at Art Unraveled with 2 evening classes. This is the first time I’m teaching both of these workshops though, so I’m pretty jazzed.
I seem to get lot of questions from folks wondering about the publishing process. They want to know how to submit ideas, who to submit to, how to write the letter, should they send a letter or an email? Also what to say, how to get their idea to stand out from the crowd, etc. And that’s just the very beginning. I’m teaching a workshop called The Pitch, The Project, The Paycheck to teach how to approach the publishing process — mostly magazine articles — from A to Z. I’m cramming more than 20 years of working in the newspaper and magazine industry into an evening workshop. I know it’s going to be valuable for some folks who really want to get their work out into the world, but just don’t know how to begin or what the process is.
I’m also teaching 1 Mold 3 Mediums is an introduction to mold making. I developed this class because I have so many unique found object treasures in my studio that are hard to part with. When I learned how to make molds and recreate these objects in various mediums, I became a much happier artist. Over the years, I’ve made texture molds and molds using just interesting parts of my found objects, etc. In addition to learning to make the mold, how to get a good impression and undercuts and other tips, we’ll also be doing all kinds of lovely surface treatments to our cast pieces. The addition of color and carving, mark making and other embellishing is what helps these casts to come alive!
So if you happen to be in Phoenix on Wednesday, August 1 from 6-9 p.m. and want to learn about mold making and casting with resin, resin clay and paper clay, come on down. There are spots available.
I’m also going to be having a table at the Saturday Artist’s Fair with my art work. I have a lot of really great earrings for sale right now, along with necklaces and other pieces. I’m planning to work on a few more house encaustics to sell, but we’ll see how quickly I can get my new studio up and running.
I always adore Art Unraveled every year. I plan to pop in at least every day to see my friends and breathe all that creative air that comes from such a happy community. If you happen to read my blog and see me there, please be sure to grab me and say hi. I’d love to hear from you.
I know an instructor is not supposed to ever have favorite students, but I can’t help it when it comes to Jessica. She is just such a wonderful, sweet soul. She and her mother took my class last year and came back again this CREATE for my Mermaid Dreams class. I just adore her!
I honestly had the most amazing time at the CREATE retreat put on by Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine in Orange County this past week. My classes were big time fun, my students were incredibly creative women and I sold lots and lot of earrings and books and mixed-media goodie grab bags at the Artist Faire Friday night. I also got to room with one of my bff’s, the talented Kristen Robinson. It was like having a slumber party, and we didn’t get to sleep before 1:30 a.m. any night of the week. Then up at 6 a.m. Whew! Haven’t done much of that since collage and I can tell you I feel like I’m getting old when I work on 4.5 hours of sleep for nights on end.
Mermaid Dreams was all about making your own molds from found objects and then casting them in resin clay. One of the students took this concept and ran with it. She even brought some taxidermy eyes to add to her cast focal beads. Love the little mold of the skeleton key for a mustache!
I also took two classes, which was just heavenly for me. I took Jenn Mason’s Dirty Little Secrets Gelli Printing class as well as Alisa Burke’s Larger Than Life Canvas class. Since both of these were printmaking/painting classes playing with all kinds of surface treatments I was just in Heaven to be playing with my paints again with mixed-media. I also got to spend some time with my sweet friends Pam Carriker and Kari McKnight Holbrook. It was wonderful to see them and chat.
Tami and Elena are both local so they whisked me away from the hotel to get some fresh sunshine. We went to Fullerton to the amazing shop Gilding the Lily and then ate a yummy vegan lunch next door.
Another awesome part was having Friday day off of work, so I got to hang out with my girlfriends Elena Lai Etcheverry from Charity Wings and Tami Bayer, one of the lead Fiskateers. Tami was there giving away Fiskars tooks and spreading the orange scissor love to the students and teachers and Elena was raising money for Soldiers’ Angels. We went to this incredible vintage goodies shop and ate a healthy vegan lunch. We also watched a commercial being filmed on the street right in front of the shop. It just wouldn’t be Southern California without some celebrity or photo shoot or filming going on.
On the quick plane ride home I just kept thinking of the line It’s a Wonderful Life. It is indeed!
My table for the Artist’s Faire. Don’t you love the vintage dress form? I wish I could say she is mine, but she belong to my sweet friend Ruth Rae who let us borrow some of her beautiful props for the faire.
Yesterday, I pulled my dirty clothes from my suitcase and put them in the washer and dryer. I took them out and repacked them for tomorrow’s trip to the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee. Back to back trips can be tiring, but I always look forward to the incredible shopping at the Bead and Button Show because it’s where I get a lot of my supplies for my classes. That and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. I also get to meet up with Susan. I haven’t seen her in person since CHA and 6 months is a long time. While we talk all the time for our business, it’s just not the same as getting to see each other and work in person.
A little video I did about my classes next month at the CREATE mixed-media art retreat in Irvine, California. Yep, these woods are the view from my back deck. Pretty huh?
Visit their website to find out more about the event and all the fabulous instructors.
