QSDS was great, as usual. The class I took was Sue Benner's Driven to Abstraction. I'm awfully literal, so it was a great exercise in letting go. On Tuesday, we were to have 5 small studies completed by 11 AM. Well, at 11 I had one. Exactly one. I really struggled, but once I quit being so literal, I got them all done quickly.



Another exercise was to make a piece in an odd shape. I like it a lot, but I haven't finished it. Here 'tis.

Polka Dots

I'm supposed to be packing for QSDS, but instead I thought I'd show you what my sister, Nancy, has been up to. I have been painting fabric and generally messing around in the wet studio, so not a lot to show for myself. But not my sister! She's nothing if not productive. This is the front of an old dresser she got from a friend. It was very brown and tired looking when she got it, and she couldn't wait to sparkle it up.


Here it is with the bookshelf on top. It sits in the corner of her (blue and white) kitchen.


Here are the detail shots. First, a side view:


This is the other side.


Here it is with the bookshelf on top.

This is what the top looks like.


Now you can see why my friends all say that "Nancy" is a verb!

My only contribution was to suggest more polka dots when she said it needed something else. Polka dots: my solution to every design problem. Well, almost every design problem.

I suppose I should get moving. All my stuff is packed, I just have to get it in the car. Cathy and I are leaving this afternoon. Tomorrow we will see the Fiberart International Exhibit, and then head for Columbus.

Weekend art classes

Over the weekend, I went to the ArtExpo! event in DC. I took a class called Tantalizing Textures, in which the instructor used various mediums to make texture on a background for a collage. I learned a lot about mediums. There is one called tar paste, which holds its shape when drizzled onto a surface. It can be tinted with acrylic paint, too, which is really cool. I think it would also be good for making stamps. Abstract stamps, that is. It would be difficult to drizzle it into an image of anything. She also used molding paste and extra heavy gel mediums. They also have potential for making stamps.



The other class I took was pastel drawing. I'm really interested in pastels, so this was lots of fun. My end result is nothing to write home about (or blog about, either!) but I learned a lot. I also spent a lot.

The merchant mall was jammed with vendors selling all sorts of art supplies, at a discount, no less. I bought a few sketch books and some pencils, a starter kit of mediums from Golden and stuff like that. There were paint companies, brush and paper reps, you name it, if it had to do with painting or drawing, it was there. Nothing related to fiber, though.

During a break I went wandering around to see what other classes were doing, and happened upon a class in watercolor collage. They were painting paper with watercolors to use as elements in realistic collage. The examples were very realistic, and lovely. So today I painted paper with watercolors, just to see. Also fun. Here is a photo of a piece of paper towel I painted.


I really like the texture. Almost too cool to tear up for collage, but. . .