Today is a new day.

It's a warm day and I am thankful.  I know winter is coming but it requires mental preparation and I'm just not there yet.  I have been working in the studio, sometimes cleaning and organizing and sometimes creating something new or revisiting something old.  Since it's been so long since my last post, I thought this one could be a reintroduction to the Studio, along with a reminder of what's to come.

Pin weaving in the Studio
 

Pin weaving was one of my favourite classes.  Students created beautiful pieces using a variety of fabrics and then created clay beads to embellish their pieces.



Chickpea Paste resist

 

This next class was born of necessity.  I had promised that we would do a flour paste resist but as I worked out the details I realized that the mess created by a traditional approach would not work, so I began to experiment with other options.  The resulting Chickpea Paste Resist class was a great success and in 2014, Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine published an article I had written on the technique.  You can find it here.

Creative space of guest artist Sharon Chalmers

 Often the Studio would feature guest artists like the lovely Sharon Chalmers (just imagine her, there, in that chair). Having her in the Studio was always a treat!  We were also visited by Donna Funnell and Patricia Beader.

 

Sonja's sweet piece

 

Some days we created pieces in the style of other artists.  Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson inspired the piece above.  These sessions were always a great opportunity to learn more about a number of talented and artistic women.


The Studio is still being worked on, but I do have classes coming up.  I am still teaching for the Milton Centre for the Arts, and the Art Mixer, a weekly art session that can be purchased one week at a time, starts on October 16, 2014.  This fun adult class includes all materials and is perfect for all skill levels.  It runs from 7-9:30 pm on Thursday nights.  For more information on this class or any of my offerings for children, check out the MCA website here.

I have also just started teaching a few classes for Idea Exchange, Cambridge Libraries and Galleries.  I will be teaching a Wednesday evening adult class starting October 1, 2014.  This fun six week session is a non-traditional approach to fibre and printmaking.  Classes run from 7-9:30 pm and you can find out more about them here in the fall/winter brochure.

That's all for the moment.  I hope you are all creating art and enjoying the last bits of summer and the first scents of fall.

Art and Emotion

I wanted to contribute a little on the thought process behind my work - both conscious and unconscious. When I am creating pieces for a series like the one to the right (Word Birds), I am consciously choosing messages and images that are uplifting, inspiring and generally positive. I avoid including any message that might be perceived in a negative way. While this is a conscious choice, something quite different happens when I create a piece of art freely, allowing it to come from a place I cannot even name.

Recently, viewing the work of an artist I consider to be quite talented, I found myself both drawn to her work and bothered by it. As I gathered together the colourful components of my own creations the next day, it hit me - as beautiful as the pieces were, the emotion I was experiencing as I looked at them, was sadness. Now I cannot say whether the artist created them with that emotion at heart, and truthfully we draw from our own experiences even when looking at the creations of someone else. What I can say, is that this has brought to light something I already knew - that as much as I am a dreamer, and perhaps what some might call an optimist, like everyone, my life and my experiences contain the full range of emotions.

This brings me to the art I create in those moments when I allow those emotions to come to the surface. It doesn't happen very often. I guard the deepest parts of myself with care and yet, I believe that realizing a fear means needing to face it also. And so, in this very significant of months, representing my deepest loss, I will allow my truest emotions out onto the canvas. Whatever the outcome, I will share it here, in the hopes of understanding myself better.

My Determination to Succeed

I would hate to think that 2 entries was all I had to offer this blogging experience and so here I am again. With less than two months to my fortieth birthday, I feel compelled to realign my actions with the life I have envisioned and that means I must write.

In speaking to a friend last week, we decided that since she was feeling unfocused and I was determined to treat my fortieth year as a catalyst for change, we should meet on a regular basis and encourage each other. She suggested we gather together the details of our critical plan and discuss them over coffee. Next Thursday is our first meeting.

Any motivational speaker will tell you that you should "start with the end in mind". Not an easy task, it means knowing where you are going and taking definite steps to get there. I imagine I am not alone when I say that I am not exactly sure where I want to end up in a year or five years. I have ideas and dreams and a little voice that talks me out of committing to any particular direction for any period of time. But in a few short months I will be turning 40 and much like the resolutions we make on January 1 and books and clothes purchased at the start of a school year, this feels like a time for new beginnings. Knowing that most new year resolutions are doomed to failure, I have tried to create an atmosphere of potential success by giving myself the entire 40th year to create lasting change.

This morning I jotted down the beginnings of a plan. My husband and I have been seriously discussing a year of travel starting in January of 2011. My plan for 2010 must take our 2011 lifestyle into consideration. How will I create an income, doing what I love (art), while on the road. My normal plan of action would be to move along at an alarming pace, wondering where the days have gone, lamenting the passage of time and my lack of control. Not this time. As challenging as it may be, I am going to trust that I really can decide where I am going and how I will get there. So, for now, I am going to head downstairs and pour a cup of tea in preparation for my 10 am Breakfast with Bob. My intention is to write again tomorrow...I guess this will be a measure of my determination to succeed.