Acrylic and Ink on Crinkled Masa Paper |
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| Imagine With Art Newsletter |
Issue No.17
| February, 2011
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I welcome your comments!
susan@imaginewithart.com
707-824-8163
Table of Contents:
Workshops
Book Club
Art Play
Figure Drawing
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 The soul is a great lover of nature.
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Dear Friend,
This new year started off not as I expected, with a painting workshop in Palm Springs, but with taking on the identity of a mushroom and fermenting in the damp and cold of the season with a head cold that kept me down for weeks. Forced inactivity and the decomposing of my plans, expectations, etc. etc.- the kind of impact one doesn't invite into ones life but later in retrospect, seems kind of perfect. Hibernation. I kept thinking of those bears in their lairs. Why not spend the day in bed?
So no art was done for a while, but lots of dreams at night, a kind of refueling for the imagination. I listened to two of Clarissa Pinkola Estes' books on CD, The Dangerous Old Woman and Mother Night, and recognized my membership in the "sacred heart clan", as I believe you would also! More about this in the Book Club section below.
January's workshop was Painting with Inks and Gesso, which has become such a favorite for beginning and experienced painters alike. Even though I've been doing this for years I never tire of watching the way richly colored inks move across the page in unexpected ways.
The next two weekend workshops are new offerings for Imagine With Art, featuring crinkled Masa paper texture in the February one and image transfers of nature patterns in March. You can try out crinkling the Masa paper yourself in the Art Play section below!
Cheers,
Susan
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Paint Nature's Textures on Crinkled Masa Paper!
Capture the mood of the season with this surprising technique which combines eastern and western painting methods. Using watercolors and inks, we'll be painting on wet and dry crinkled Masa paper, allowing the textures of tree and leaf and ground to evolve naturally. Whether your preference is realism or abstraction you will find this technique to be magical! Applications to collage will also be explored along with a technique for mounting the paper on a sturdy support.
When: February 19, 20, 2011
Time: 10am-4:30pm both days
Cost: $170 (includes Masa paper)
Image Transfer with Nature's Patterns
Incorporate the exquisite patterns of nature in your mixed media paintings through digital image and copy transfers.
When: Saturday, March 19, 2011
Time: 10am-4:30pm
Cost: $80
Art Journaling in the Muse Groups
The above techniques and more will be explored in the upcoming Muse Groups, which are laboratories to spark creative expression and treat yourself to a regular infusion of art play in a supportive group setting.The Muse group is a laboratory to spark creative expression, an opportunity to treat yourself to a regular infusion of art play in a supportive group setting.
Tuesday Evening Muses (meets weekly) New Session!
When: March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 2011
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Cost: $180/6 sessions
Saturday Muses meets monthly on a Saturday
New 6-month Session: April 2, May 7, June 18, July 9, Aug 13, Sept. 3, 2011
Time: 10am-2:30pm
Cost: $240/6 sessions
Sunday Muses meets monthly on a Sunday
New 6-month Session: April 3, May 8, June 19, July 10, Aug 14, Sept. 4, 2011
Time: 10am-2:30pm
Cost: $240/6 sessions
Location for all the above: The Studio in the Orchard, North Sebastopol
To register for workshops contact Susan, susan@imaginewithart.com
Nature and Art: A Sacred Conversation
This will be a full day outdoors, combining time in nature with art expression. You awake before dawn and meet at the wild and magical Fairfield Osborne Preserve to share the sunrise in community circle. Stepping out alone on the land, you listen deeply to that which calls you. Later, supported by meditation, you take paper and drawing media and are guided in the creation of your own as well as shared art pieces wihich give visual expression to the stories of the day.
No experience with art or being outdoors is necessary. You will be well prepared and guided for your day on the land.
When: May 15, 2011 Sunrise to 4pm at the Preserve in Sonoma Co.
May 14, 5:30-7:30pm preparatory meeting
Cost: $160
CEU's offered for LCSW's and MFT's
Co-led with Susan Kistin, MFT of EarthWays
To register contact EarthWays, (707)823-1319 or email
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Book Club
To ignite your creative life and spark technicolor dreaming I recommend the audio book The Dangerous Old Woman by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, the author of Women Who Run With the Wolves. You will join her by the fireside as she tells stories of soul healing wisdom and poses questions like, "Did you know, you were born as the first, the last, the best, and the only one of your kind, and, that eccentricity is the first sign of giftedness?"
Your eccentricities - you know - those parts of yourself that don't seem to fit into our "overculture", the ones you try to hide when you're in a group but know in secret are the most original parts of yourself. Dr. Estes urges us to bring our one-of-a-kind legacy into this world that needs it by following the trail blazed by the Dangerous Old Woman, who nourishes, protects and guides us.
And when you've finished with The Dangerous Old Woman and long for more stories and wisdom, you can move on to her next fireside series on CD, Mother Night.
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,Art Play: Crinkle Up That Masa
Are you a wee bit tired of trying to paint all those branches and leaves, not to mention the brambles of bare winter foliage? You may enjoy playing around with an oriental paper called Masa, which is available in 21 X 31" sheets at many art supply stores. I learned to use it for landscape painting with Cheng Kee Chee and since have been playing around with it in my art journals, like the one above.
First you wet the paper on both sides and carefully crinkle it up into a ball, then spread it out on your board. You can paint with Sumi or other inks, watercolor and gouache, even fluid acrylic paint on the damp surface. The breaks in the sizing created by crinkling results in a lovely texture that mimics branches and grasses. And when the paper is dry you can paint in a bit of detail to finish up.
Of course you can either paint an expressive landscape or make colorful, textured papers for your collage. To mount the paper on a sturdier surface like 140 lb watercolor paper or illustration board just dampen the back of the paper to get it to relax and glue it down to the surface with matte medium or other collage glue, running a roller over it carefully to smooth out the wrinkles.
And if you can, join us for the February 19 and 20 workshop to learn the ins and outs of this fun paper.
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Figure Drawing
Do you enjoy figure drawing/painting a live model? And do you ever have the experience that after 2 or 3 hours of sketching you are finally warmed up and then you have to go home? Then you would love the Bay Area Models Guild's Drawing Marathons at Merritt College in Oakland, CA. The next one coming up is February 27 and I plan to be there. It's a full day of figures posing on stages around the room; nude, costumed, male, female, long and short poses, two or more of them posing together on each stage. It's a real work out for the artist, a good toning for the drawing muscles, and a great opportunity to see some exceptional artists at work in a variety of different mediums.
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Cheers,
Susan
Susan Cornelis
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