Artistic Inspiration Then and Now

Today is my day for the Virtual Gallery Walk, a wonderful idea conceived by my friend Liz Hicks. Liz gathered together 10 artists to create an event where we share something that inspires us and how we used that inspiration to make an original piece of art. The inspiration could come from a song, a color, architecture, another artist, etc. because, really, creative expression is all around us in our daily lives.

Since I’m right now spending the day in Paris for a workshop called Ruins, Relics and Resin, I wanted my inspiration for the online gallery walk to be based on one of my favorite French artists Henri Matisse. There are numerous things I adore about Matisse’s work – his mastery of line, color, form, composition, perspective and motion. However, the thing I love the most about his work is that it makes me feel something every time I see one of his drawings or painting or late-in-life paper sculptures. Great art, to me means, that it’s not just pretty. It’s great art because it elicits emotion where I continue to see and be haunted by the imagery long after I’ve looked away from the piece.

I wanted to reinterpret a Matisse drawing in an ICE Resin necklace and a striking piece of black-and-white jewelry. The painting in the focal is my representation of his famous drawing, as shown above. Mine is a little more full figured on purpose (wink). I used his line drawing of a female figure and freeform painted it on to cured resin that I had poured as a black background layer and let dry.

Once the bezel cured in about six hours in my studio, I finished off the piece with black rosary chain and also pearl rosary chain, some vintage seam binding and a heart dangle. The heart dangle was made by drawing a bead on 18-gauge sterling wire to create a headpin and then wirewrapping a crystal bead, crystal rondelle and large crystal heart to the bottom loop of the hobnail shadow box Art Mechanique bezel.

I like the simplicity of the necklace, which I think would be a great piece to wear to a real life gallery walk with a simple black skirt and white blouse. I packed the necklace for my journey and plan to wear it today as my way of staying connected to all of you who are enjoying Liz’s exciting tour d’art.

There is so much more inspiration to come. Be sure to check out these wonderful artists’ blogs, today: Liz Hicks http://www.blogerisms.blogspot.com/, and this coming week:

Oct. 2: Kathy Cano-Murillo: http://www.craftychica.com/ and Tracy Weinzapfel http://www.tracywburgos.typepad.com/

Oct. 3: Catherine Matthews-Scanlon: http://cmscanlon.blogspot.com/ and Martha Richardson http://themermaidscloset.blogspot.com/

Oct. 4: Camille McClelland: http://shesonehotmama.blogspot.com/ and Jamie Dougherty http://www.jaylynnscraps.com/

Oct. 5: Lorraine Bell: http://actsofrandomkindness365.blogspot.com/ and Cheryl Waters- http://www.artsyfindings.com/

Bon Voyage…

The time has finally come for me to get on an airplane early tomorrow morning for our workshop in France. It is going to be soooo amazing. Not much time to write, as I have to finish packing and a zillion other little details, but I thought I would share the promo video I made last year when we had only 2 spots left in our workshop. We filled those fast and had a wait list as well. We’ll be booking for next year, so take a peek and let me know if you want to join us next Fall. For now though, Au revoir mes amies!

SLK France Workshop

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An incredibly great time CREATE-ing

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.

There’s still time to join me to CREATE

My classes are kitted up, my bags are packed and I spent some time making new ICE Resin jewelry to sell at the Artist’s Faire night next Friday at the CREATE mixed-media art retreat in Irvine, California. There are still spots open for some amazing classes. Check out the roster of instructors if you have a minute and then figure out how to join me next week.

My dear friend Carol La Valley helped me make some fun Mixed-Media Mad Bags for the faire. I took a lot of my paper and bits an bobs of things I have left over from my classes and projects that are taking up too much space in my studio and we made some fun creativity bags. There is some resin paper in there, some French paper, metal charms and trinkets, grungeboard and chipboard shapes, and a funny soft plastic baby party favor with movable hands.

Punching some French paper for my mixed-media mad bags

If you are around Wednesday and Thursday, I still have some spots left in my classes. Mermaid Dreams necklace, which is all about mold making, resin clay and making your own beads is all day Wednesday. Wednesday evening is Whimsical Rings, where you will learn how to make an adjustable ring shank from copper or nickel, how to use a circle punch and dap and dome metal and then proper cold-join attachment for colorful lampwork beads. My ICE Resin class Thursday is almost sold out. Only a spot or two left. But students will collage 3 mixed-metal bezels and learn how to work with a jeweler’s grade resin.

Some of the goodies on my table that we put into the mixed-media mad bags

As always, I’ll do my best to blog from the road and update with some fun pics. That being said, I always have the best intentions of this but then get to the retreats with all my friends and such creative students and I just tend to soak up all the great energy and get lost in the camaraderie of creativity.

Finished bags. I think we made 17 or 18 of them.