Animal Book Demo + Thank You

I just got back last night from a 4-night trip to Southern California.

This was the demo artist book I worked on during a workshop I taught at Jenny Doh’s Crescendoh Studio. Thank you to the 13 wonderful women who attended, to Jenny who hosted me, and to all of you for the fun time!

I was also able to have a fun dinner with Jenny and Pam Garrison, a downright wonderful person and artist. We laughed continuously throughout our very long dinner….

And I spent an extra day visiting my step-mom, Laura, who lives in my hometown of Riverside, CA…. We also laughed a lot. 😉

I’m happy to be home and hope you are having a wonderful day, too!

 

 

 

Today is My Birthday

Today is my birthday… 56!

56.

56!!

This is a little ATC that turned out as kind of a self portrait with my first cat, Snowball.

(This blog is technically called “Snowball Journals” as Snowball was a main character in my first remembered dream, and my blog all these years [quite a lot now, ahem] has in some way functioned as the “working out” of that dream.)

I know I look sad but I’m really not!

A little tired, maybe….

But a “good” tired. I am blessed.

 

The Painting Techniques of Anne Marie Grgich – Registration Now Open!

The Painting Techniques of Anne Marie Grgich
6 Lessons • 2 Weeks • $85

Class Dates: May 28 – June 6, 2019

Work on six paintings in a fun frenzy using all manner of mixed media with internationally recognized Outsider Artist Anne Marie Grgich as she shares her approach to mixed-media painting. Anne demonstrates that creating expressive portraits is accessible to anyone.

We all have an inner magical child. Letting our intuition guide our shapes and forms is a process that is fun, freeing and creates authentic results. We will do this by working on multiple paintings at one time, using any and all media at hand, as Anne demonstrates her beautiful way of working that is at once both intense and wonderfully casual.

Build, with paint and pens, faces that tell a story, speechless yet full of human emotion.

 

About Anne

Born in Portland, Oregon in 1961, Anne Marie Grgich began making spontaneous art at the age of 15, mostly junk constructions and clandestine paintings in her family’s books. She first introduced collage into her work around 1988, but took it to a higher level in 1997 during a period of illness. After her recovery she began to produce collage paintings – images of people encountered over time in the street and in mind journeys that manifest themselves and recombine, according to her mood, in the process of creation. Over the past 30 years, Anne has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions, and her books and paintings are in public and private collections worldwide.

Join us for this unique opportunity to learn from Anne online!

Sidewalk Crack Art

Animals made from prints of sidewalk cracks. Colored pencil.

 

 

 

Gelli® Plate Textures + Giveaway

Hi everyone, I hope you are well today!

Above are some textured papers made this morning with the Gelli® Plate, and that reminded me that I have some stuff to give away!

Gelli® Arts has donated an 8″x10″ Gel Printing Plate and a 6 piece set of their “Premium Acrylic Paint (Classics, 2 fl oz. each). This is a $42.98 value. 😀

Please comment with your favorite Gelli® Plate trick for a chance to win! (I’m really looking forward to learning from all of you.) And if you don’t have a Gelli® Plate yet, tell us what you would like to make with yours if you win!

Thanks so much to Gelli® Arts for this donation.

A winner will be picked randomly this Friday, May 3, 2019! International entries welcome. The winner is becky pb! Thank you to everyone who commented!

Pretty Quiet!

Collage by Lynn Whipple

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Hi!

Two weeks ago I made a quick trip to Colorado for my mom’s 82nd birthday, and it always feels that the time before and after these short trips gets lost somehow!

Three things:

1. Melinda Tidwell’s NEW, wonderful class started today and it’s not too late to join! In Fine Art Collage with Melinda Tidwell you will use old and discarded books to make beautiful abstract works. Melinda really loves composition and design, and it was a pleasure when we filmed this class watching her work. Details HERE, join anytime!

2. Sketchbook Revival is a free online event hosted by illustrator Karen Abend and it is happening right now! My short interview/sidewalk crack session went live yesterday… find it HERE, and click HERE to sign up to receive the emails the next two weeks!

3. Finally, the second session of 2019: Year of the Collage begins in two weeks! In this session Lynn Whipple leads us through numerous fun collage projects and exercises. If you already signed up, look for your welcome email soon! And if not, it’s not too  late to join! Here is a quick video from Lynn and some artwork from her lessons.

Collages by Lynn Whipple:

Make It Move – Class Animation Reel

Hi everyone!

In January/February we ran a class by Kara Kramer, “Make It Move: A Low-Tech Intro Into Animation.” Here is a selection of some of the animations made in the class!

I hope you enjoy it… and thank you to everyone who submitted! (And to everyone else in the class, too!)

Registration Now OPEN for a New Class with Collage Artist Melinda Tidwell!

Hi everyone! It’s an embarrassment of riches over here at CSP this Spring. We’re really honored to bring to you a new instructor, Melinda Tidwell. We love her work so much, and this class is wonderful. — Carla & Steve

Fine Art Collage with Melinda Tidwell
6 Lessons – 3 Weeks – $85
April 23 – May 9, 2019

Book Collage is part treasure hunt, part deconstruction and discovery, and part reconstruction and art-making. Your journey begins at the thrift store and ends with surprisingly cool framed pieces of art on your wall. Every part of this journey is interesting and fun.

We will be deconstructing both hardback and paperback old books to mine them for materials for collage. We look at design principles for abstract composition, a bit of technique for gluing, and then a myriad of ways to alter book materials including: cutting, tearing, sanding, holepunching, sewing, drawing, punctures, etc.

In this three-week, six-lesson class we will work on up to ten small collages. I hope you’ll join me.

Melinda

Meet Melinda here:

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Some of Melinda’s collage work:

 

 

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For details about the class and to sign up, go HERE!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

 

New Class! The Beauty of Composition with Anita Lehmann

A Note from Carla:
I learned so much when we filmed Anita teach this class! Anita has a unique way of making composition really fun, like a puzzle. I hope you can join in! 

The Beauty of Composition
Instructor: Anita Lehmann
Class Dates: March 26 – April 11, 2019
6 Lessons over 3 Weeks • $85

Class Description

Plato wrote, “It is beauty I seek, not beautiful things,” and a strong composition is the underlying beauty of every successful drawing or painting!

Composition is not a set of rules we must follow, but an elegant “language” in which to communicate. Anita calls composition her “best friend” that sits beside her through all her work. Rather than restrict freedom, compositional elements and principles can give you more confidence, making for freer, stronger work.

In this class Anita gives us a bunch of great exercises to introduce and/or reinforce the concepts of balance, rhythm, emphasis, repetition, positive/negative space, quiet corners, foundational grids, and more. You will work in a variety of drawing and painting media including ink, charcoal, pencil, watercolor and pastel.

Composition is a beautiful thing in and of itself. In this class Anita presents the concepts of design in a fresh and exciting way, not as a set of rules but as an elegant language.

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Some samples of artwork Anita produced for this class:

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

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Class Itinerary

Lesson 1 – Musical Response and the Four Felt Forces
We’ll start with a mark-making response to music as a warm up, then create several studies each of the following “felt” compositional forces: Repetition, Rhythm, Emphasis, and Balance.

Lesson 2 – Foundational Grids
In this Lesson we will introduce foundational grids Intervals and the Rule of Thirds and complete two exercises: one in collage and one in ink.

Lesson 3 – Torn Paper Compositions
Sometimes collage is the fastest way to understand compositional concepts; we’ll work quickly to create numerous temporary compositions, adding the 80/20 “rule” to the mix.

Lesson 4 – Cropping
In this lesson we will take a simple subject — a chicken — and compose her in various formats, keeping in mind beautiful Positive/Negative Shapes and a Quiet Corner.

Lesson 5 – Interior Still Life Space
Today we’ll take a more complicated subject — a room interior — and break the shapes down into Foreground, Middle Ground, Background Shapes. Then we’ll do a charcoal rendering, adding the Editing component to the process.

Lesson 6 – Final Still Life
We’ll start with a quick analysis of a master painting by Winslow Homer, then do the same process with our own composed still life. Our final assignment is to complete detailed working drawing and then finish with a final drawing, painting or collage of your still life.

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Click HERE for more information and to sign up for The Beauty of Composition!