Village Gallery Art Challenge Finished Canvases

Nature inspires my artwork and for this challenge I thought of the changing seasons in my garden.  Winter reminds me of hibernation, turning inward.

Spring welcomes a feeling of rebirth and renewal.

Summer flourishes with blossoms and growth under the sun.

Autumn brings in the harvest and a time to let go.

Come see the exhibit May 7 to May 31.  For more information, check The Village Gallery of Art website.

Village Gallery Art Challenge Process

Nature inspires my artwork.  For the art challenge at The Village Gallery of Art, I thought of my garden with each changing season.  I like to create by adding layers of collage papers, ink,  line and paint.  The layers add mystery and texture to each piece.  I thought you'd like to see the layers one step at a time. The first layer is collaged paper-

The second layer is a painted wash.  Then, I added a stenciled floral design and a dark strip to tie the four pieces together-

Another painted white wash-

A free form splash of acrylic ink-

My favorite part of creating is seeing how each layer adds to the piece. The next post will show the last layer of collage, line and paint- the finished product.  Yesterday, I took my canvases to the gallery.  Next Sunday, all the artists' work will be hung and the show opens May 7th.  One-hundred artists participated in the challenge this year.

Janet Takahashi's Artful Sketchbook Journaling Workshop

Last weekend, I took a "Artful Sketchbook Journaling' workshop from Janet Takahashi  sponsored by the Portland Society for Calligraphy.  I felt like I needed a refresher course to learn some new techniques and ways to incorporate text along side my sketches.

One exercise that helped me to revisit my tools to see which are water soluble or not.  It made me want to use different pens and pencils more and not rely on the same tools all the time- to give my sketches more variety in line, texture and value.

Here's her ideas for adding texture and gradation of values to add interest to drawings.

 Another tip I'll use is to lay down paint (yellow, blue and red) first leaving white ares and sketch on top.

Using this same technique, I painted the apple and lemon first, sketched on top the the lemon with waterproof pen and used a Stabilo water soluble red pencil to add texture to the apple.

Now, I have a new perspective with some different tools and ideas.  With the warmer weather, I'll be outside sketching and enjoying the sunshine.

Check out Portland Society for Calligraphy New Website

The Portland Society for Calligraphy  updated their website.  It includes upcoming workshops and a gallery of member calligraphic artwork.  Fellow Portland Art Collective and PSC member, Suzie Wolfer, created this piece-

Spring Weather Grams

After three months hanging in the tree outside my studio, five weather grams survived the Winter weather.  The others flew away or were used by squirrels or birds.  It's amazing how they do survive all of the elements of rain and wind. 

We gathered last week to exchange our Spring weather grams.  After one week, half are already gone.
Where they went, I don't know.  I scoured the yard to find them but didn't find one.

I'm glad that I took photos of them before hanging them in the tree branches.

One thing that I enjoy about this exchange is reading each person's poem.

Mine is the one on the left.  I decided to machine stitch the two layers of paper bag together so that they wouldn't come apart.  This is such a fun way to honor the change of each season that I plan to continue hanging them at each solstice and equinox.

Italic Handwriting Calligraphy Class Journals and Workbooks

Yesterday, we had our last italic handwriting class for this term and shared our journals and workbooks on creativity.

Debra used her watercolor paintings for her cover..

and inside with one of her favorite Mary Oliver quotes.

Ryan created this ABC cover.  She used the white counter in the letter A to embellish  the page in different colors

Her workbook pages included both italic handwriting and other decorative lettering.

Eddy entitled her workbook "creativity".

Here's an example of her fine italic handwriting.  She experimented with different fountain pens in search for the best fine nib to write her quotes.

Marianne wrote a favorite quote about the creative process on her journal cover.

She used different decorative papers as backgrounds for her quotes inside her journal.

A musician, Roberta's journal included several of her favorite writings and poems about faith and music.

Alysa used a card from a friend in New Zealand for her journal cover.

Pat found this print from the Book of Kells at a thrift shop and turned into her workbook cover.

I took my portfolio that I made at the beginning of our class and used it as the cover to bind my workbook adding a button and bead clasp.

It's amazing how each person in the class created her own workbook or journal and personalized it with her interests and visions.  Thank you, Christine Colasurdo, for a great class. 

Sketching Vignettes Welcome Spring

Yesterday with a cup of tea at hand, we sketched early Spring flowers. Here in temperate Western Oregon, hellebore and daphne bloom.  The bird reminds me of the morning birdsong that greets each day.  I haven't sketched much lately and it feels good to get back into the habit.

These sketches I did last month to warm up and experiment with different styles.

What's in your sketchbook?