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Monthly Archives: August 2010

How to Clean a Toilet by Carla Sonheim

29 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 46 Comments

1. Wait until it is long overdue.

2. Tell your husband it’s his turn, and ask him to do it.

3. If said husband is out of town and says “no” from 2,000 miles away, take a deep breath and accept that you will have to do it yourself.

4. THINK about cleaning the toilet all day.

5. Complain to 15-year-old son about how poorly designed American toilets are, and how hard they are to clean.

6. Go to bed.

7. Next day, decide to clean the toilet after your coffee.

8. Decide to clean the toilet after your breakfast.

9. Decide to clean the toilet after laundry, vacuuming, and emptying the dishwasher.

10. Decide you are not going to clean the toilet right now, but just clean the bathroom mirror.

11. Clean the mirror with Windex and paper towels.

12. Go ahead and clean the sink area while at it.

13. What the heck, spray the top of the toilet with the Windex.

14. Compose blog post in your head as you start the first wipe-down.

15. Stop, and go downstairs to your computer and write blog post before you forget.

16. Feel guilty that you are writing blog post rather than finishing up the job.

17. Go back upstairs and finish the job.

18. Ajax and brush part.

19. Final touches. Chase wet dust all around the seat with your Windexed paper towel.

20. Deem it “good enough.”

Superdog! and Other Stuff

28 Saturday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

I think a Five-Bullet-Post is in order today.

  • The above drawing was started with a marker sketch of a shape found on a sidewalk somewhere. I saw something different in the shape, but my husband saw the Superdog! and told me to do that instead. I resisted somewhat (it wasn’t ME), but in the end, humored him. (Of course, all of the people who have flipped through that particular sketchbook have said it’s their favorite drawing!)
  • Last weekend I was on a Blog Radio Talk show… it was about an hour long and was a lot of fun to do! If you would like to listen, follow THIS LINK (and it should start playing automatically).
  • Silly Class Sign-Ups keep coming in… thank you to everyone that has signed up! I so loved doing the class last April, and am excited to see how this one evolves. Put your silly glasses on!!
  • Christer and Christi (my oldest son and daughter-in-law) are coming on Sunday for a few days before they head off to Germany… for a year!! Cool! But, sad! Coolsad!
  • The first workshop in my “Seattle Workshop Series” will start just two weeks from today. I have been Goodwill shopping many times the last few weeks trying to find fresh new props to draw… here’s one:

If you live nearby have been wanting to take a workshop from me, please click here for class descriptions and see if anything catches your eye… I would love to have you! There are six workshops to choose from…

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Inbox Neglect

25 Wednesday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Marker and paint on paper…

It seems I’ve been out of the studio forever, or, anyway, way too long. I’m getting impatient!

There are two weeks left of our summer (before Year 10 starts for Wes); after that I will have long, uninterrupted days at my office/studio where I can at least mix a little messy art-making up with the computer stuff!

But I’m happy to be busy. My to-do list is long. Several things get checked off daily, sometimes more. For example, today I deleted or moved almost 400 emails from my inbox while waiting in the orthodontics office (Wes got braces!). I didn’t have internet access, so things like “operator16” and “Ann Littlewort query” went on my HANDWRITTEN To-Do list. Perhaps tomorrow I will look and see what those are, though, because after three hours I came out of there cross-eyed and couldn’t “deal” with another email for the rest of the day.

YEARS of inbox neglect, people. Years.

Sunday Dinner

23 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 15 Comments

Talk Show Today!

22 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

(Sorry for the bad scan — I’m still away from my scanner!)

Hello! I’m fresh home from a vacation where I left both my computer and phone at home for a week… it was weird, good, and weird all mixed into one. (But mostly good… You should try it!)

Summer is winding down… Wes (15) starts cross-country practice tomorrow and gets braces Tuesday; Steve (my husband) left for a business trip this morning, and I am getting ready to do a Artistically Speaking C8C Talk Show at 6:30pm Eastern time today! (3:30 Seattle time.) If you’d like to listen in, here’s the link!

And here’s a little bit about the mission of the show:

Artistically Speaking/C8C Talk Show…giving voice to a new generation of creative entrepreneurs is showing artisans the way to make a living doing what they love! Hosted by Rebecca E. Parsons and Lyna Farkas, the weekly show is a blend of lively conversation, cutting edge creative ideas and encouraging support with healthy doses of inspiration. It is an opportunity to speak with and hear the creative journeys of other artists, craftsmen and creative souls who are doing what they love. Artistically Speaking/C8C Talk Show airs live on BlogTalkRadio every Sunday at 6:30 (ET) (5:30 pm Central, 4:30 pm Mountain, 3:30 pm Pacific). Archived episodes can be streamed directly from the website or downloaded free through iTunes.

Fall 2010 ONLINE CLASS – Registration Open

12 Thursday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 89 Comments

Silly 2 is now over, but the PDFs are available at my etsy shop: www.carlasonheim.etsy.com

Silly 4 starts May 4th and registration is now open! Click here for more info!

“Drawing, Collage, Color, and Silly”

Hello!

In April I hosted my first online workshop,

The Art of Silliness
30 Worksheets/30 Days/25 Bucks

It was SO FUN that I’m doing it again. But different!

Here’s the scoop:

• Each day I will create an Activity Sheet just for you. Worksheets may include one (or more) of the following: drawing exercises (can’t draw? YES YOU CAN!), journaling prompts, a poem to illustrate, writing exercises, spelling words, drawing games, collage prompts, puzzles… (just to name a few). FUN!

Here is a SAMPLE of the first worksheet from “The Art of Silliness”:

(Non-threatening and easy!)

• The worksheets will be created as the month goes on… in other words, this course is not preplanned down to the finest detail. (We are spontaneous over here at Silly Headquarters, Inc. Company)

• Each day you will receive an email from me with a url link to the new pdf handout, which you can download, print, and complete!

* The daily email might also include quotes, stories, and riddles. (HA!)

• 30 days, 30 handouts. At the end of the class you can bind them all together for your very own Silliness “2” Workbook!

• Our goal: to get you to just PLAY, just 10 minutes a day, with pen and paper, thoughts and images. (You will be surprised how a shot of silliness like this will positively inform the other goings-on in your day, including your regular artwork.)

• Every handout will have an “Extra Credit” section, in case you want to spend MORE than 10 minutes that day creating like a kid.

• Speaking of kids… this is a perfect class to do together with your children!! Each household can download as many sheets as they like.

• TEACHERS!!!! If you do this online class, you are welcome to photocopy the worksheets for use in your classrooms.

• A blog dedicated to the class will be created and administered throughout the month and will be the place for you to post comments, questions, and/or links to your finished Activity Pages.

• A “Silliness 2” flickr site will be created so you can (optionally) share your worksheets, drawings, artwork, and enjoy and learn from the artwork of others.  (However, if you are shy about posting your art, I will be available to you the entire month to look at your work via email.)

• Prizes? Of course!!

• The 30 handouts will be up and available for download until December 15th,, if for some reason you need to miss a day (or a couple of weeks).

• I promise to make it fun. (Do you want to join me?)

Newcomers:
This class is open to ANYONE, whether or not they took the first class (Because “silly” has no prerequisite). To see what others said about the first class, go here!

Old-Timers:
Why take it again? Three reasons:

  1. Because the material will be new and different. While drawing will continue to be the main focus, I plan to also introduce more color and collage activities.
  2. Because the material will be the same. Yes, there will be familiar exercises (such as blind contours… but of WHAT?!? THAT is the question!!)
  3. And, most exciting of all, the ants will be back!

Cost: $25

September 15 – October 15, 2010
(though you will be able to access the pdfs until December 15th)

You can sign up now using the link above, or email me to make other payment arrangements (carla@carlasonheim.com).

THANK YOU!

PS… you can sign up any time through October 15th, and can download and catch up at your own pace.

Artfest 2011

08 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

I’m teaching two classes at Artfest next year (April 6-10, 2011). They are…

FRIDAY: Non-Traditional Egg Tempera

Description:

Egg tempera was the primary method of painting until around 1500, when oil paints were invented. Long lasting and permanent, it was traditionally applied in numerous thin, transparent layers, using a small brush and a painstaking cross-hatching technique…

But not today!

Today you will use a paintbrush here and there, but most of the application will be with nontraditional items such as spatulas, rags, and palette knives. You will build up and pull back the pigment, building up texture and ending up with soft, velvety paintings that are reminiscent of monotype prints. Swirly and lovely!

As your facilitator I will spend a lot of time working the room, helping you make decisions to create the best paintings possible. Each of you should be able to complete 3-5 paintings.

We always end the day with a show-and-tell, your chance to learn from each other and delight in the days creations.

Interested? More details here.

+ + + + + + + + + + +

Saturday: The Art of Silliness

Description

Here are the Top Five Reasons to take a Silly workshop:

5. You get to complete activity worksheets, third-grade style.

4. The drawings you create are meant to be silly, i.e. not perfect, i.e. not stressful, i.e. FUN!

3. You can mix metaphors all you want and pretend you did it on purpose.

2. You want to lighten up, in your artwork and your life.

1. The supply list is not a list.

* * *

As a workshop teacher, I try to help adult students recover a more child-like approach to drawing and art-making. To loosen up… shed those fears, and just let the joy of creating be the primary focus: That’s what this workshop will be about.

It will be structured thusly:

The class will be divided into four sessions, two in the morning, two in the afternoon. Each session will begin with a worksheet with writing and drawing exercises similar to the ones shown here. (Can’t draw? Yes you can!!)

You might do one-liners, scribbly drawings, blind drawings, doodling, up-side down drawings and drawings with your left foot. You will write a haiku. Toilet paper will be involved.

After each short exercise, you will be given instructions on how to “take it further” in your journals or on paper I provide. Four worksheets, four drawing/mixed media projects – all designed to be silly and serious, both.

All supplies will be provided; just bring yourself, your Sharpie, and your williness to unleash your Inner Silly… Come and play with the Silly Queen!

Still not sure? Here’s a Limerick for U:

It’s okay to want to be silly,
When day-to-day life can be pilly,
It just takes a word
Or a drawing absurd
To lighten your day willy-nilly!

More details here!

Stranded! Hour-by-Hour

08 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 13 Comments

Sunday
9:00am – Arrive at airport, find out that my husband (bless his heart) booked my flight for MONDAY. Panic. Two agents. Finally decide to fly out at 5:55pm instead. Very expensive mistake.

9:50am – Decide to make the best of it. Will report hourly. Stay tuned.

10:00 – 10:50am – I don’t know what to do with myself for 9 hours at the airport. Notice floor. Draw some creatures.

Lots of crouching down to the floor so I can see. I catch the security guard eyeing me. Fine.

A few minutes later, I lose my balance and fall backwards on my butt, knocking over my suitcase. Fine.

Talk to Steve. Hmmm.

Spend enormous amount of time on the water for the croc drawing, below. (It may not look like water, but it is).

Get bored with creatures. Do some gesture drawings of a little girl running around in circles.

What an unbelievably impossible thing to try to do.

11:00 – 11:50am – Sick of drawing already. Decide to clean my desktop and do computery stuff. Sit myself down at a restaurant for breakfast, even though I just ate, I’m not hungry. But there’s power. So.

It occurs to me that I should write a “real” post during this time.

Okay, I’ve been meaning to let you all know that I will be teaching in Italy the first week in June 2011! We’re still working on the details, but the tentative title is “Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists.” (Hey, the title of my book!) Anyway, I’m collaborating with a long-time friend, Wendy Murray, who is an author and runs The Assissi Workshops. We promise to make it fun. Details forthcoming!

Finally, here are some pictures I found during the desktop clean-up portion of this hour:

Wes turned 15 July 2nd. He was in Colorado, I was in Washington. (Sad face here, happy face there!)

Another face from that series from about a week ago.

Half watercolor transfer (face), half regular drawing (body).

Artfest lions. These three lions were created in my Drawing + Collage class at Artfest in March… they were left at the show and tell… I’m so embarrassed not to have posted these earlier… but if you are the artist of one of these beautiful lions, please email me and I will send it to you!

Next update: 12:50PM (whoa, I made it to the PMs)

12:00 – 12:50pm – I finished writing another “real” post. See it here. Decide I’m hungry after all. Order “nachos.” Update my blog sidebar while waiting for food. (Am I boring you? I’m boring myself!) Well, that took about 2 seconds. Decide to pull out Sharpie and do some blind drawings of the people around me. Can’t find pen.

Open suitcase, find pen, draw:

Lunch comes. (The nachos might have been a mistake, but I ate them anyway.)

Added pencil to above drawing:

Next adventure: bathroom!

1:00pm – 1:50pm – Pit stop, checked in, security. After that, I’m beat, and decide to close my eyes for the rest of the hour. Not entirely successful.

2:00pm – 2:50pm – Boredboredboredboredbored. Notice airplane designs in the carpet:

I hadn’t noticed that before!

Then spent too much time on this drawing (which was more successful earlier in its life):

I had fun photographing it in skewed directions, though!

Next up: the 3 o’clock hour!

3:00pm – 3:50pm – I spent the first part of the hour reading some blogs. I think you should read this one by my friend Wendy (see above), and this one by Arlene. This one by Angela is also good.

I took the theme of the three blog posts above to heart and decided to “get off my arse” and get some work done. I did.

4:00pm – 4:50pm – More work. Writing. Hard.

An airport haiku:

Giggling behind me,
“How was the drive in general?”
Cell phones have changed things.

5:00pm – 5:20pm – I had some fruit and a muffin for dinner and it was $10!! My gosh.

Eavesdropped on some conversations (always fun). Snippets from hours 1 and 2:

“It was a combination of diaper rash and … (inaudible).”

“How far are you from southern California? An hour?”

My seat row has been called and it’s time to go! The day went pretty fast, actually. Thanks for coming along!!!

Phoenix

06 Friday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Hello, and I hope you’re having a nice week!

I’m in Phoenix teaching at ArtUnraveled… two classes down, one to go (“Drawing Lab,” tonight). The above was a demo piece from the Watercolor Transfer Painting class yesterday…

The details for the Fall ONLINE CLASS will be up next week… Stay tuned!

Oh! CRESCENDOh.com!

03 Tuesday Aug 2010

Posted by carlasonheim in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

This week I am a Guest Curator at CRESCENDOh.com, Jenny Doh’s wonderful website dedicated to “Creative Passion, Authentic Community, and Focused Compassion.”

There are four Guest Curators each week, and each of us highlight two links per day of sites/blogs/images that we love… to see today’s, go here!

We were also to write a short essay with the theme ART SAVES (you can find mine here).

Finally, Jenny wrote a nice review about my book. (Thanks, Jenny!)

If you haven’t checked out CRESCENDOh.com yet, you’re in for a treat. Grab some tea or coffee and a notebook, set aside some time, and prepare to be inspired!!

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Hello! I A Seattle-based artist who works with drawing, watercolor, and mixed-media. Hosts online art classes with 15 talented teachers through Carla Sonheim Presents: carlasonheim.com. Author of three instructional art books. Grateful grandma. Read more here.

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