Thursday, April 25, 2013

Kurt Schwitters

Actually his entire name is: Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (1887-1948).

Some of his collages are on display at the Tate Britain until May12, but in case you can't get there look online for some examples of his work. Of course collage was a "new" art form when Kurt and Picasso and others were discovering it, but now it is well accepted and actually there has been a recent surge in the popularity of "mixed media" work. Cut and paste; we learned to do it in kindergarten; who knew it would be popular.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Cubism


Cubism, which you can learn all about on Wikipedia or you can settle for the condensed version here.
Cubism is an early 20th century art movement. Where did all art movements start before Americans got into the thick of things? Why France, of course. And artists : George Braque & Pablo Picasso led the way.
In Cubism the visual presentation of space, volume & mass were achieved by using geometric forms. Above you can spot a good assortment of cylinders, rectangles, triangles, circles, etc.
To me cubism looks like art school assignments. But then these artists were conducting their own personal art school.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Spring Show


The Big show of the BART season..
I delivered my work on Saturday afternoon and there were already 70 pieces checked in. And lots of variety. Something to suit everyone's taste. I'm looking forward to visiting with artists at the reception.
Opening Reception & Awards
April 12, 2013 6-8pm

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Clayprinting


Welcome to my open studio.


The printing process.


Checking the print for a reverse image.


The finished print.


A close inspection.
What a fun day for me. To get such a great response to my open studio was encouraging.
How many came? 29 
Who came? Neighbors, art friends (new & old) and friends that were just interested enough to check it out.
Demos: I had two; one at 2pm & one at 4pm, and I had a crowd for each. Of course the demos were fun for me because I get to play with color and clay. And the purpose was to show the basic procedure of how to get a print. You can see some prints hanging on the wall in the first pic.
I loved seeing old friends and meeting new and sharing this exciting technique.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Before & After


Here is the room the first time I saw it. Faded blue walls & a taupe cabinet.


And here is the after. White walls and white cabinet.
This room only had one small window; it was in the outside door. It need as much light as possible, and natural light is always the best for art. I used as much white in the room as I possibly could, and then had the solar tubes installed over my work table.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Welcome to my studio

My work table


A corner for supplies & interesting things that make me happy.

It took me awhile to actually stand back and bask in the reality of my finished studio. I had to remind myself that it had drab blue walls when I first saw it, and remind myself that the color was actually paint over wallpaper. How many hours did it take me to scrap that paper off the wall inch by inch? Too many to count.
But now it's time to enjoy & share with others.

The first person arrived at 1:30 pm and I had a few minutes to talk before the rest of the first wave of the crowd arrived. They came in groups; friends bringing friends. By 2 pm most of the 18 chairs were full, and I was ready to start my clayprinting demo.