Pear Tree Studio

Friday, October 9, 2009

Class at Naperville Art League

Click to play this Smilebox photobook: Naperville Class

Make a Smilebox photobook

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Creative Spirits Retreat September 2009

I was finally able to download photos from my camera! Here is Sandy's gorgeous creation from our awesome retreat day.

And here is Gai's "sideways" book, rich with color and texture.

Here is part of April's book and canvas. This is her granddaughter's portrait of her grandmother. I think it fits her perfectly! The colors are so autumn-like.

LOVE those BLUES!! Could this one be MaryAnn's?

Gai, working diligently on her masterpiece.

Here's Nancy working on her Altered Board Book on Canvas. We all followed directions of Shona Cole, who had this project in a Somerset Studio Workshop that we received from Nadine.

MaryAnn, painting her board book. Everyone's project turned out beautiful and oh so unique.

Sandy and Harriet, scheming together. The project called for LOTS of gesso.

Carolyn and April seem to be enjoying themselves. It was a gorgeous day, and we even were fortunate to see a couple of weddings at the nearby chapel.

Mary is quite focused. Loved her blue paint there. Thanks for letting me borrow it Mary!

Most were able to finish or nearly finish their projects, which was a big relief to me! I realized after I made the sample, that it was a little more involved than the directions might lead you to believe. But, we all took our own artistic license, and they all turned out great.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

art from my current class

Here are 5 of my 6 collages that I completed today. I've been taking a class from Laura Lein Svencner. She uses the Jonathon Talbot method of collaging, which I had been introduced to before, but had not used since. I don't think I was really ready for it before, artistically. This one went together rather easily.

This is the first one I started in class yesterday. The focal point are tree roots, from a photo I took years ago while boating on the Illinois River. It's ok, but my word (these) didn't come out as well as I had hoped, even with darkening it after the transfer.

This one is my favorite. I did it totally differently from the rest. I used the text as the basic background, then layered tissue papers on top, so you can still see some of the text. After transferring the bird, I went back in with yellow acrylic and filled in the white areas. Simple, yet effective. I like the tissue papers for their transparency. I already had a stash of stained tissue papers that I did after viewing Carrie Ann Brown's video, so I got those out and coated some of them with polymer to have more tissue paper that I can use with this method.

This one is a bit whimsical. I didn't even realize it until after I scanned these that the candles appear to be coming out of his head! Just part of his imagination, I guess. By now, you can tell which papers are my favorites, cuz I've used them over and over.

And this one has no border; Laura calls it organic. Again, the word is a bit hidden, but once you discover it, it's interesting.

Once you get going with this method, it's hard to stop! But it's a beautiful sunny day, and I am going to take Shasta for a walk and then try to stay away from the papers and the tack iron!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Claybord Art Pieces

Here are my smaller claybord pieces from my workshop at Valley Ridge. Just finished with the 3rd coat of glossy varnish on them. I think they have a feel of "outer space" to them. The workshop was certainly out of this world!

It's difficult to tell from these photos, but each board was carved into, texturized, and sanded before receiving generous amounts of color: pastels, acrylics, & inks.

The squiggly lines have no message; they are simply pseudo-writing. Love that effect.

These first four were done together, which is why they are similar. They are all small; 5 X 7.

This last one stands by itself. It was an experiment late Saturday night, just playing around. I really had fun with all the techniques we used and do plan on doing more of these. I also have a pair of larger ones, which are an abstract landscape. I need to do some more work on them before they are finished.