Although the opening night has come and gone, if anyone is in the Midwest / Columbus, OH area – two of my pieces (shown below) will be hanging at the Red Brick Gallery (7 N High St, Canal Winchester, Ohio) until the end of August.  You will also find works from some of my stellar artist friends Aaron Leu, Kathryn Dart, Bruce Campbell and others, so check them out if you’re in the area!

And CIVA’s show Curse or Calling which features one of my pieces (shown below) and the works of artists whose work I really admire like Sandra Bowden, Guy Chase and Bruce Herman will be having its first opening on August 27, 6:30-8:30 pm at Evangel University, 1111 North Glenstone Ave, Springfield, MO 65802.  The show will travel for about 3 years to various venues across the US.   Again, if you’re in the Midwest and have a chance to check it out, I’d highly recommend it!  (Or if you’re a venue interested in booking it, you can find out more on CIVA’s website or by contacting me.)

how to use a mortar and pestle to grind pigments (if they need to be finer)

and we then got to make our own batch of ochre.

After Mako talked about the need for wonderment and play in the art-making process this morning, I decided to put up a little visual reminder next to my space.  We all need reminding sometimes that we are *supposed* to play and have a child-like wonder at the beautiful world around us.

Then I did just that: I found some berries outside and crushed them up to try to use them as pigment.  (Who knows if it’ll be color-fast or durable, but I think I’ll keep experimenting with more kinds of natural dye and pigment!)

After my brushes had been thoroughly soaked, I also played a bit with the ochre and berry pigments.

Then most of my afternoon was spent falling in love with dipped book pages all over again!  I took apart a book, then began the process of dipping, fusing and cooling the wax.

The result so far is quite nice (in my opinion).  A delicate flower-like bloom coming out of the book, as if the book itself has been turned inside out.

It still needs some work, but it was fun to spend the afternoon getting back into encaustic and sculpture.  (we don’t know enough yet of the Nihonga techniques to do much with it – so it will be interesting to try some of the encaustic + new materials together after I’ve gotten a bit further in the course)

Laura spent the afternoon setting up her space and working on some new oil paintings.

Laura’s brushes.  (don’t you just love seeing other people’s materials and brushes??)

Jess also got set up today too and began working on some drawings.

…there will be more progress tomorrow!

Amnesty International from Digital District™ VFX Post-Pro on Vimeo.

went for a walk,

and tried to soak up the last few minutes we had with each other in such a beautiful place.

and one of my personal favorite photos of the weekend.  (I have no idea how both of us got these postures now forever frozen in this photograph):

It was such a wonderful experience over all (which hopefully comes through in all the pictures).  Believe it or not, there are more pictures here.  :)  Thanks Grunewald Guild for such an unbelievably refreshing experience!

]]> http://www.newbyart.com/blog/2010/05/residency-day-6/feed/ 0 http://www.newbyart.com/blog/2010/04/residency-day-2/ http://www.newbyart.com/blog/2010/04/residency-day-2/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:50:59 +0000 shans http://www.newbyart.com/blog/?p=1732 Today was a productive day!  But before I show you my artwork, I thought I’d show you a few pictures I took today from around the Guild.

(You can get the full tour by seeing my pictures here)

And here’s what I worked on all day today: more seed pod-like shapes.  The first one I did was small and I found tree roots to hang out of it. I really liked how this one turned out, but odds are I won’t be able to transport the roots back with me (just too awkward for a train and bus ride!).

And I just started working on another piece (which I’ll continue working on tomorrow).  It’s slightly larger.  Here’s a sneak peek!

Already, I have seen plenty of augenschmaus around here to keep my mind and eyes inspired!

Day 1 consisted of sleeping in, drinking lots (and lots) of tea,

melting about 40 lbs of beeswax (to make 1 lb. bars of encaustic medium),

getting the studio ready for students,

and reading in my cottage while listening to the rain.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to have time + space to get away and be rejuvenated!  Have I mentioned that every artist needs to do a residency?  ;)

While I’m content with this piece for now, I hope to push this concept further in future pieces.  For now, though – here’s “By It’s Cover” Number 3.

]]> http://www.newbyart.com/blog/2010/02/in-the-studio-today-2/feed/ 2