Sensory Alphabet

 

 One of Nina's line collection photos (at the Aldrich)

 

Another chapter in the Creativity Sagas. Susan, Cindy (both colleagues from our nearly childhoods) and I have been working with the educators at the Aldrich Contemporary Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, giving a 3-day crash course in using the Sensory Alphabet (an equivalent of letters and numbers for everything except letters and numbers) and developing programs that help kids (and their parents) identify individually powerful and authentic creativity. This was a kind of step 2 interaction after the successful program Susan ran at the museum last summer for 5 year olds. Remember this post?

The sensory alphabet (which might sound at first blush like design terms or an art vocabulary) is line, color, shape, space, rhythm, movement, texture, light, sound. And yes, the arts (visual, performing and edges and overlaps thereof) are where this "alphabet" can be used easily with children, but the idea is broader and deeper than that. ie: Creative people in many disciplines and fields of study and invention are most likely working from their strenghts corresponding to their perceptial strengths. Show me a good mathematician,  I will probably see a person strongly interested in rhythm, space and line.

All this is the subject of our book-in-progress, but the work this week has been to help this staff apply some of the key concepts we've all been interested in to their program development. The most important and critical reason we are interested in putting this work out in new forms and with new audiences is that since our work in the '70s and 80s, the world of primary (and secondary) education has gotten smaller, tighter, less interested or responsive to individual talents and interests and more test driven than ever. The results -- here EVEN  in this quite affluent area of the U.S.: parents hungry to find programs that actually help their kids find successful and creative paths into the future, something more than just skill aquisition, something that touches and awakes a fire for learning, achieving, applying information, using deep wisdom.

Here's the an example of the COLLECTION exercise we started with. Try it! (I've got eight others, if it's of interest, email me and I will send you the complete list of 9.) 

Collecting Ideas with the Sensory Alphabet

The next 2.5 – 3 hours will take us through the Sensory Alphabet with a series of collection techniques – these are just a few of the ways the SA can be used to generate personal content  -- as well as to explore a theme, a period of art history or a work of art.

We will spend about 15 minutes with each of the 9 alphabet concepts: Line, Shape, Color, Movement, Rhythm, Space, Texture, Light, Sound. As you work with these Sensory Alphabet “screens,” you might also want to consider these “modifiers”:
Tension
Balance
Contrast
Progression
Direction
Size/Scale
Volume/Mass
Weight
Emphasis
Repetition/Diversity

General Instructions:
During the next 2.5-3 hours,  (that's for the entire 9 categories) use as  many different spaces and materials and media available as possible. If you usually sketch to collect ideas, spend at least part of each session doing something completely different: writing, moving, making sounds, taking photos, tearing paper, etc. Use both the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Work quickly without judgment. This is art-making; this is not product. This is not good or bad. This is collecting, stretching, playing, finding new and old ways to interact with the environment around you. Play as a child would play, but record as you go, finding different ways to record what you notice, engage with and find interesting.

Don’t pay attention to what anyone else is doing. You can’t be better or worse, by definition.

Pick and choose between the following assignments for each sensory alphabet element as you wish. You may do several of the assignments or  only one in the time allotted. BUT the emphasis is on fluency to some degree. It is more appropriate in these exercises to work with flow from one idea to the next, collecting as much information and as many ideas as you can during the assignments.

LINE

• Collect 15 different physical lines.
• Draw at least 20 different lines on LARGE pieces of paper.
• Walk the patterns of  at least 5 lines you see in the natural world or in art works around you.
• Write the story of a line you like.
• Pick a natural object that appeals to you and find all the lines in the object. Sketch them over and over.
• Translate some of the lines you have found into a collage using string, yarn, sticks, thread, wire or other linear materials.
• Draw lines with a variety of different media. Go for diversity in scale, speed, color, fluidity or lack of, weight, thickness, etc.
• Fill a sack with lines.
• Make contour drawings of something you see. Draw very slowly following the lines in the object without looking at the paper. Use the pen as though you were following the lines by tracing them with your finger.
• Fill different sizes of paper with as many lines as you can. Or with one very long line.
• Imagine a new written script or language and write it out.

Catch Up

Say no more. See pictures. End of year acceleration is in effect. All these are gratitudes of the past week.

Drumming at Guadalupe State Park -- Do you wonder why we love this time of year?

 

Ray was one of the other drummers by the river. 

 

A magical fiber art exhibit at the Southwest School of Art and Craft: This piece by Piper Shepard

November 15th 2007 - January 13th 2008

Over, Under, Around, and Through

Linda Hutchins (Oregon), Tracy Krumm (North Carolina) and Piper Shepard (Maryland)

A piece of art cloth, finished up during the final Independent Study afternoon lab at the Southwest School. This is a soy wax batik, that also includes some printing with a soy wax screen.

Below, Tina faces the blank page at the Art Quilt Journey workshop at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center last Friday. 

 

 

 Highway 16 between Bandera and Kerrville.  And you think Texas doesn't have fall color?

I'm sure something pithy and thoughtful will come soon to this cyberspace. But pictures seemed to say it all on a crisp day with a design table urging me on. Here's one of two small art quilt altars I completed today -- the other one is under wraps until it's owner sees it tomorrow. Then I'll post it, if she agrees. This is Christmas Virgin, 2007. 16" by 12" by 3.5". Just in time for Guadalupe's day, December 12.

 

Workshops in 2008

 

I've finalized my El Cielo schedule through August -- now all I need is to get the word out. These workshop-retreats are filling faster and faster, and that's good news for the studio and my larder, but I love doing them and hate to cancel, and hope that having the schedule published a bit earlier will let more people participate. So, all you loyal readers, help me spread the word by passing along a link to my schedule -- I'll post this all on the WORKSHOP PAGE within the next couple of days. I can accommodate out-of-town (meaning outside of San Antonio) participants on Friday nights even for the workshops that aren't two-nighters, that's one of the benefits of flying or driving in. Let me know if you have any questions, either on the comments here or in an email to susiemonday@sbcglobal.net. Here's the body copy, the borchure looks better, but I haven't had much luck attaching it here as a pdf. More learning to do!

Susie Monday leads workshops and artists’ retreats throughout the year at her studio near Pipe Creek, Texas, about an hour from downtown San Antonio. Designed to nurture the creativity of beginning artists as well as professionals, each participant comes away from a weekend with renewed energy, new  materials and techniques in surface design applicable to fiber, ceramics, jewelry, painting and mixed media work. El Cielo Studio workshops are designed with the needs of the participants in mind;  free time is scheduled throughout the weekend for reading, reflection and personal work in the studio. You are welcome to bring projects in process for Susie’s critique and for peer feedback in an environment of trust and respect. You’ll share meals, poetry and stories, mu- sic and advice for living an artist’s life. Enjoy the 25-mile vistas from the deck and strolls down the country roads. A spa and pool, and large screen media room are also available to participants. The fee for each workshop retreat is $160 for each  2-day event with $10 discount for early enrollment. Comfortable accommodations are available from $15 -  $30 a night . Some workshops offer a Friday night potluck option. Limited enrollment - 7-8 participants.

 ARTIST’S JOURNEY/ARTIST’S JOURNAL

January 11-12-13, 2008
Friday evening, Saturday & SundayThe new year is time to reflect, to reevaluate, to set new actions and new rituals into motion, to make new habits. This retreat will enrich your creative path through the year’s start, and, with some persistence, into the next. Designed for the fiber artist, book artist and anyone interested in journaling as a tool for creative growth, reflection and inspiration. Whether or not you consider yourself an “Artist,”  these projects in mixed media collage, a personal card deck, and an altered book will intrigue. On the optional Friday evening, mixed media artist Suzanne Cooke will guide us through the process of making a Coptic bound handmade paper journal, just the tool to take you through the first month of notes and sketches. This binding was invented in early Christian Egypt and its particular advantage is that the book lies flat when opened,; perfect  for writing or decorating as a journal.

THE HEART OF ART

February 9-10, 2008
Saturday & Sunday
Romance your creative self with a focus on heart energy. Try your hand at mixed-media valentines to yourself, chocolate as edible art, and heart chakra mediations and movement to inspire an art cloth scapular  as heart armor/amor.

CALLING ALL ARCHETYPES

March 7-9, 2008
Friday evening to Sunday
Explore the inner team that keeps you going, makes a difference and sometimes holds you back from your best life. Create a unique fiber art quilt altar to one of the archetypes. learning fusing techniques. Suitable for all levels, great for those  beginning an art journey. Note: Friday night is an optional evening potluck and stayover for a small additional fee of $10.

SOMETHING SPECIAL: Workshop in Tuscany

March 16-22 in Lucca, Italy.
Susie and Carol Ikard (director of the Texas Fiber Arts Museum and writer/researcher) will lead a week of fiber art and creativity in the mountains of Tuscany. Explore the colors, textures, natural history and traditions -- including a cooking class, visits to Florence and more. Email susie at susiemonday@sbcglobal.net for brochure, price and info. OR you can go directly to the registration site at  http://www.abbondanzatoscana.com  

WORDS ON THE SURFACE

May 9-11, 2008
Friday evening to Sunday
Experiment with different ways to use written language, letters and text on surface of fabric for application in  the making of art cloth, art quilts and art-to-wear. By putting your ideas and your personal vision into your work, you will deepen your own expression of your individual voice, finding words that are important to you. Using your story in a quite literal way can be part of personal expression and powerful art. This is a repeat of one of Susie’s popular workshop with some a few new exercises.

ALSO IN 2008:

WORDS FOR THE WHOLE  CLOTH

April 11-12, 2008
Friday evening  & Saturday
(no overnight stay)
Bring to the Friday evening workshop at Gemini Ink four or five photos of people, places, and experiences that are important to your life: images from childhood, a memorable vacation, vintage photos of ancestors, your quinceañera or bat mitzvah, anything that moves you. Led by Susie Monday, you’ll translate the photos into powerful moodscapes, capturing even intangibles that don’t show up in the pictures. Next morning, pack a sack lunch and join Monday at her El Cielo Studio near Bandera. There you’ll combine your photos and your writing with textile dyes, paints, photo transfers and other surface design techniques to create your own unique fiber art piece ready for hanging. Fee to Gemini Ink: $65/member; $75/non-member. NOTE: Saturday, April 12 fiber art workshop at El Cielo Studio is a separate fee payable to Susie, 10 am – 4 pm, is $70 & $15 supply kit.

SUMMER DATES:

CREATIVE JUMPSTART

June 21-22

FOOL MOON/FULL MOON

July 18-20

BURNING WOMAN WORKSHOP

August 9-10

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY ABOUT SUSIE’S CLASSES & WORKSHOPS:

“There was a good balance between thinking, processing and working ... you are good at letting people work at their own pace.”  
“Excellent accommodations; exquisite food!”
“I like the spirituality aspect--it drew the group together as a family for two days.”
“Great class, it was just what I needed right now. I have been in a creative slump, questioning what I do and how I do it. The exercises we did this weekend were freeing on the one hand, but will also help me focus.”
“Your workshops are ALWAYS money well spent.  I learned techniques I have read about but never tried ... I also now feel confident that I can make art quilts!”

Susie Monday can teach at your studio, guild or art center. Any workshop listed here can be adapted to your audience. Other topics available as well. She also accepts commissions and can plan private retreats at her studio for you and your friends. For more information, call 210.643.2128 or email susiemonday@sbcglobal.net

Letter from Tuscany

 

This art quilt is destined to hang at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center -- an example of the kind of art quilt journey that my end-of-November workshop will inspire. It was fun to take my own course today, taking memories, journal pages, the color palette of the countryside and the architecture and turning it into this piece. Making it today let me relive a day spent in and near Lucca -- Lucca has a Medieval wall that surrounds the old city. It has been preserved as a park that features a 2 mile path perfect for bikes and hikes around the circumference. We rode bikes one morning, and this old villa was one of the sights. It seemed abandoned but grand, and I can just imagine what kind of meals and parties and family dramas must have once filled those windows.

Here's one of the original photos; followed by a detail of the art quilt.

 

 

AND, this is the town closest to where I 'll be teaching a workshop in March. The Italian Adventure continues with the course, co-taught with writer and creativity workshop leader Carol Ikard. I am still waiting for the "official" brochure to be completed, but here's what I know so far:

 DATES: MARCH 15- 22 --- This is spring break weekend here in San Antonio, and is the weekend before Easter, so one might want to add a week on to the excursion and spend Easter in Florence or Rome.

LOCATION:  Selva, a compound of restored farmhouses and gardens near Lucca, located on a 1000-acre estate owned by a Baronessa. Working vineyards, orchards and olive groves are part of the estate, as well as the rustic mountainous area where Silva is located.

Cost, all inclusive, except for transportation to either Pisa or Florence: €2150 double occupancy

 Here's the four fiber art classes, just part of the full schedule of activities (morning writing workshops, cooking classes, field trips almost every day, activities for spouses or non-fiber friends who want to come along for all of the fun,

Monday -- Field Guide to Tuscan Color" --
Color is the one of the first design elements we associate with Tuscany - the warm rustic hues  of old walls and stacked stone, the rich botanicals and jewel tones from the grapes, flowers and foliage, the natural siena and ochres that come from the very earth. Using modern low-toxicity dyes, and some simple natural dyes (onion skins, beets and rust), participants will create organic and textural patterns on silk scarves and quarter-yard lengths of rayon, silk and cotton textiles to use in the week's subsequent sessions.

Tuesday -- "Beyond the Terrace" -- The beauty of Selva's landscape and its grasses, leaves and trees will inspire designs for printing on our fabrics.  Using the natural world as inspiration for design on fabric and paper participants will try their hands at solar printing, direct leaf printing, and develop designs for stencils and stamps.

Wednesday -- "Etruscan to Tuscan -- Historical Imagery to Inspire" -- We'll design and create printing blocks and stamps using historical imagery, photos taken on the week's field trips, images from Etruscan and Roman antiquity, as well as our own sketches and collections from the Tuscan landscape. Printing on fabric (if I can solve the technical and shipping issues)

Friday -- "Layers of Tuscany" -- Using all of the materials and tools from the art sessions, participants will layer their imagery to make one-of-a-kind art cloth, then cut, fuse and hand-stitch a small wall hanging. Simple embroidery stitches, beading embellishments and the use of fusable webbing to create original designs will be included in this final session

The schedule for participants is tentatively designed to include the following.                                                        
Sat        Arrival in afternoon; welcome with sparkling wine & refreshments; Susie & Carol introduce the program; begin limoncello making process; dinner under the pergola  
Sun    08.00    Early morning visit to the shepherdess to see the magic of pecorino cheese and ricotta.    
    09.30    Brunch   
    11.00    Creativity Expanded: unpacking creatively; feeling art and responding; thinking art   
    12.00    Walk around the property to search out natural materials for later fiber arts sessions, photography  
    13.00    Lucca Antique Market (opportunity for more materials)   
    17.00    Fiber arts workshop: Field Guide to Tuscan Colors   
    20.00    Dinner prepared by Emanuela   
Mon    08.00    Breakfast   
    09.00    Creativity Expanded: The Committee and Drawing left-handed   
    10.00    Beyond the Terrace  Fiber Arts Workshop
    13.00    Lunch at Selva and break   
    15.30    Lucca:  fabric shops, weaving museum, private collections of antique fabrics, button shop, da Vinci exhibit, etc.   
    20.00    Dinner prepared by Emanuela   
Tue    07.30    Breakfast   
    08.00    Van to Florence: museum of silks, Renaissance archive   
    13.00    Lunch in Fiesole; Etruscan museum and Roman amphitheater  
    17.00    Leave for Selva   
    20.00    Dinner at Selva prepared by Emanuela   
Wed    08.00    Breakfast   
    09.00    Creativity Expanded: seeing designs and symbols 
    10.00    Fiber Arts Workshop: Layers of Tuscany   
    13.00    Lunch at Selva and break
    15.30    Return to Lucca to explore more fabrics and shops   
    19.00    Puccini concert   
    20.30    Dinner at Puccini Restaurant at Piazza Puccini   
Thu    08.00    Breakfast   
    09.00    Creativity Expanded: Enlarging art and enjoying mistakes, writing about ideas and art  
    10.00    Etruscan to Tuscan Fiber Arts Workshop
    1.00    Lunch at Selva and break   
    3.30    Tour of baroque villa with antique fabrics and tapestries plus fantastic garden   
    5.30    Begin cooking lesson with Emanuela   
    8.00    Dinner   
Fri    08.00    Breakfast   
    09.00    Creativity Expanded: 
    10.00    Fiber Arts:  (Felt, beads, embroidery)
    1.00    Lunch at Selva and break   
    3.30    Tour of vineyard, wine and olive oil tasting   
    7.00    Pizza with Eduardo   
Sat        Departure   

 Let me know if you're interested. The trip is limited to


 

Journeys and Journeys

 

Inner or outer? This recently completed art quilt is called "Floating above It," inspired by the Talking Heads song "And She Was."  She is one of those inner voyagers that accompanies me through life, the one who wants to float away, leave it all behind and simply soar above it all.

The Kerr Arts and Cultural Center is sponsoring my Art Quilt Journey on November 30 -December 1, 9;30 to 4:00 each day. This is a fast and furious workshop that takes participants from a personal collection of postcards, journal entries, photographs and other memorabilia through creation of a small art quilt inspired by the collection -- you got it all: design, technique for a fused art quilt, production. The techniques are fast and easy to accomplish, the design and thought-process is really the meat of this workshop. I've taught it several times and the outcomes are always exciting and different. Sometimes people come with inner journeys in mind, sometimes it's a chance to turn that vacation of a lifetime into a unique and beautiful wall piece. We've made journal quilts and Christmas gifts, wonderful nostalgic works and pieces that sing a song completely new.

If you or any of your friends live in the Kerrville area -- or you'd like a weekend outing to this beautiful part of the world, contact the center for registration.

Archetypes in Arizona

 

This is a drawing of my Teacher/Guide archetype -- heading off with mouth aflapping, riding down the path on a strange magical beast, covered with tattoos of vines, hoping to bear fruit. It was one of the workshop exercises -- the challenge of using an unfamiliar media or one that isn't in one's comfort zone. I had a great time just using black ink and wash, and think I should do more of this! Wonder how it would look printed on fabric?

Monday I facilitated a workshop (the first of two days) -- Calling all Archetypes -- in Green Valley, Arizona. Organized by my friend and sister ACN artist Susan Ettl, six of us took a path guided by exercises adapted from Julia Cameron, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Caroline Myss. Taking their written and meditative processes into visual form -- collage, drawings, cutout and art quilts, we explored the inner facets that drive our doing, organize our days, stop us in our tracks -- and with luck, keep us on our paths. Coincidentally, the goddess figures on Chris' table were by Austin artist Sharon Smith.

 

This is an on-the-road adaptation of the workshop I've hosted at El Cielo a couple of times -- and made me realize how much I depend on the safety of my own studio space for work such as this. Yes, it's going well. Thanks to the generous spirits and open heartedness of the five women who are on the journey. But my inner critic was pretty loud and demanding, judging and whining about what I'd forgotten, what was clunky, what went too slow, too fast, tootoo,

Color on the Table

 

The pictures speak for themselves. A fine time was had by all; everyone (including me) took away a better understanding of color and how to make it work. Can you figure out the exercises that guided the creation of these artist's postcards? (These are Val Grebe's, and the clearest of my bad photos from the end of the day! Diane Sandlin's are at the top of the blog post.Trust me , the colors were really better!)

 

 

 

Color Ways

 

Raspberry, lime, eggplant, lemongrass -- notice how many foods give us color names -- so what would be something fun to do with that?

Friday night my new El Cielo "Field Guide to Color" workshop debuts, the first that has included a Friday night get-together pot luck. In researching exercises and approaches I found virtual rainbows of color theory, color quizes, color lore. Just a few sites I stumbled across:

www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Color/ColorTheory/
This site has lots of good information, including a 16-part series of lessons on color, most applicable to painters but with some nuggets for fiber artists.

http://www.livelygrey.com/
Very cool color blog with interactive games and other very interesting posts. Check out Igel Asselborg’s posts on saturation, hue and brightness.

http://www.rit.edu/~rkelly/html/04_cou/cou_col2.html
Artist and teacher Rob Roy Kelly  teaches a mini course on color. Good exercises from someone who studied with Albers.

http://www.sensationalcolor.com
Professional color consultant’s site with lots on verbal color lore.

http://www.sherwin-williams.com
Color Visualizer tool can be helpful way to find coordinating colors for a project, even if its not a room.

http://www.colour-experience.org/
Virtual color museum with broad scope of information

http://www.colorcube.com/play/play.htm
more cool interactive color games, there are some really challenging ones dealing with saturation and value.

 

What a timely investigation it's turned out to be -- I have been designing a large art quilt to send off to the FASA juroring and managed to pick myself a quite challenging color palette -- one that is using cool colors to approach and warm colors to recede -- though the green/yellows are on the cool end of the cone for that hue. Anyhow, I love the composition, but I am not sure the color values work as well as I would have liked. Doing the reading on these sites, reminded me: IT'S THE CONTRAST NOT THE COLOR. If you don't have the bones down in your compostion using value, then, making the color work is always more difficult. This piece has a ground and figure, that while they are different in hue, are very close in value, so now I wonder if it holds together. Here's a couple of details in progress only, in case I  decide to hold this one as one of those " it can't ever have been published or shown before you enter it" pieces. (How does one decide?)

 

And, speaking of workshops, for those of you even thinking about attending my next El Cielo workshop November 4-5 -- "Text on the Surface."  -- this weekend's event is the second one to completely fill and have a waiting list. So if you are interested,  check the description on the link and email or call. If you don't have my contact information, leave a comment and I will forward the complete brochure. We are having a fabulous time out here in the country. (And, yes, I know it is THE Quilt Festival weekend -- so come to Texas, go during the week, and let the crowds have the show on Saturday and Sunday, come to the Hill Country for the weekend -- that's what I'm going to do.)

Clean Slate.Clean Space

 

I needed to clean the studio and set it up for the next Burning Woman workshop -- this weekend -- and since I have a record 9 participants this time I wanted to maximize the visual and actual space. How restful it is to take away a few layers of clutter, archeology in reverse, with the sediments gradually becoming more sparse, more bony, more available.

 Did the same in the living room. Although we are committed to keeping some degree of simplicity in our living spaces -- after a former life in what often seemed like a 35-year collection of all-too-precious clutter, we moved here, a bigger house after all, with less to fill it. But it is amazing to see what sneaks in: little glass turtles, an embroidered hankie too pretty to put away We imbue all kinds of meaning to objects; there's bound to be ancient history to this. Surely some prehistoric cave woman looked at the corner and said, " I think I need a few more old bones over there. Just in case. After all, if we get hungry, even a bone will look pretty damn good."

I am the kind of person who needs constant checks on my compulsive desire to keep stuff. After all every old dress could be part of a quilt; every piece of junk mail might be the right piece for a collage; every strange box could be just what the next workshop calls for. What helps? Coming to terms with a belief in abundance. That  is: what is needed will turn up when it's needed. That space for what's needed is the space that there is. That there might never be a big enough set of shelves, bin of drawers, stack of boxes, so I better make peace with the ones I have. Am I perfect at this attitude? No way. But I have found that these nearly-every-month events keep me on the straight and narrow.

If I want to make a living doing what I love, I gotta have room to fit the people into the space as well. So what I do is keep the flow going. I try to furnish as many materials as I can for the workshops I teach, believing this keeps me in the exchange of energy. When I let stuff go, I tend to find that when it's time, the stuff appears -- someone has a fire sale of dye or paint (as happened this week -- I bought at least $500 of materials for less than half that, enough for all my dye needs for ages); someone gives me something -- like the Bernina that Donna essentially gifted me for the cost of its recent tune-up; like the wood scraps my neighbor has waiting.

This sense of abundance has been nurtured by a wonderful book The Soul of Money, by philanthropist Lynn Twist. Here's her website and some info from her letter on the site's intro page:

In a world where huge proportions of financial resources are moving toward consumption, destruction, depletion, and violence, the Soul of Money Institute's mission is to inspire, educate and empower people to realign the acquisition and allocation of their financial resources with their most deeply held values -- to move from an economy based on fear, consumption, and scarcity, to an economy of love, sustainability, and generosity.

As the national debt of the United States grows and citizens experience greater financial challenges, there is a clear need for more and more people to invest in socially responsible businesses and critical social issues, and to find ways of using money in service of their highest commitments and the common good.

We invite you to be one of these people. We encourage you to take a deep look at how money influences your life, and to shift your use of money away from fear and greed to begin using it as a conduit for commitment, heart, and the affirmation of life. Through reallocating the use of your financial resources, you can connect with the taproot of your own prosperity.

The Soul of Money is a wise and inspiring exploration of the connection between money and leading a fulfilling life.

"This compelling and fundamentally liberating book shows us that examining our attitudes toward money-- how we earn it, spend it, invest it, and give it away--can offer surprising insight into our lives, our values and the essence of prosperity. Through moving stories and practical principles, Lynne demonstrates how we can replace feelings of scarcity and guilt with experiences of sufficiency and freedom. Lynne shares from her own life and work, a journey illuminated by remarkable encounters with the richest and poorest people on earth, from the famous (Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama) to the anonymous but unforgettable heroes of everyday life." (from the website -- and I agree!)

 

Burning in the Deluge

One of Adrian Highsmith's microwave-assisted dyed silks 

 

The rain was at least intermittent, with steady downpour much of Saturday, but we Burning Women persisted amid self-generated heat, art-induced passionate discussion, and even a bonfire, sending into smoke those things that stand between us and our creative dreams.

Since I am at least three-blogs-in-my-mind late with this post, I'll simply document the event with a few pictures. Among the activities: rusting (slow burn), microwave-assisted dyeing, encaustic on canvas panels, a feeble attempt at sunprinting using textile paints, designs inspired by hot topics and themes, and, of course, a good deal of devilish food, soaking in the hot tub and even a bit of sunset-tinted sky.

This workshop repeats at the end of July, and I am looking forward to tweaking some of the schedule, improving my supply selections, and hopefully even having sun available for a few more ideas.

 

Diane Sandlin and Donna LoMonaco work on encaustic panels. 

 

 

Another of Adrian's -- can you believe this is Havana Brown?

 

 

 Fabric in process by Suzanne Cooke- rusted and printed

 

 

Creating in Connecticut

 

Since Wednesday, I've been adventuring in the Northeast. My longtime colleague Susan has been directing a kid's program at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, near her home up here in the land of tall trees. She flew me up to help wrap up the second of two weeks, and to help shape the final "show and tell" for parents, and add a bit of help for a teacher's presentation next week. (I've got a hitch in the downloading photo process -- forgot the cable AND the cardreader, so more art later).

This program, NEW WORLD KIDS,  has been a pilot/continuation/experiment taking work we did years ago with Learning About Learning Educational Foundation and updating it for today's parents, and, in this case, a primary audience of 5-to-6 year olds. Throughout the week they've  been working with Susan, the museum's education staff, and a slew of tecnical supporters-- one aim has been to get pictures and good video for taking the program to the next stage, bigger and broader, we both hope (stay tuned for more). Exploring what we call "the Sensory Alphabet, " (formerly "the elements of form" for any of you in the audience who may be Paul Baker theater people), these little kids have been building fluency, learning about their inherent  preferences and working through the open-ended creative process of taking ideas into form.

Here's more from Susan's essay describing the program and process:

"The Sensory Alphabet is what we call the building blocks of creative literacy. Just as basic as the traditional alphabet used to teach the literacies of reading and writing, it is the basis of our sensory connection to the world around us – line, color, texture, movement, sound, rhythm, space, light, and shape. (It is tempting, first off, to think of it as an arts or design vocabulary...but it is more than this...it is just as fundamental to an ability to “read” physics, basketball or DNA.)
This elemental vocabulary is the pattern language of everything that is “out there.” Because it describes, but doesn’t define, it enlarges the capacity for seeing patterns. It lets us see both lemons and windows as shapes...both ballet and algebra as lines. It also enlarges our capacity for perceiving patterns between disparate objects, fields and cultures...and this ability is one of the hallmarks of creative, innovative thinking.

"Consider The Sensory Alphabet as another very basic symbol system we want our children to acquire, just as basic as the traditional alphabet and numbers parents and teachers have long taught their children. The Sensory Alphabet multiplies children’s early repertoire of ways to symbolize, understand and communicate their ideas. Equally as importantly, it builds the foundation for a more informed interaction with the digital media that demands fluency in this symbol system, conveying ideas through images, videos, icons and sounds. As is obvious, these new media have largely abandoned written language ––and even the spoken word -- as the means of communicating meaning, information and story.

"Practicing Creativity

Along the way we consciously engage the creative process in small and large ways. Each interactive (or open-ended) activity includes:

1. looking/ gathering /collecting ideas
2. playing/experimenting with various media
3. selecting/editing/creating
4. reflecting on the work. "

                                                                       Susan Marcus,     
                                                                       educator and consultant

 

This pretty much describes my approach to both teaching and making art -- filling up, playing around, selecting and shaping, and reflecting on the process. Using a basic set of ways to think about and investigate ideas non-verbally. The reflection part of the process is often what this blog helps me with. By trying to succinctly explain, capture and summarize either product or process, I seem to find ways to make it clearer for myself, to see my stengths, to take the next bold step.  

Burning Woman Workshop

 

The summer at El Cielo has been unusually wet and cool for Texas, but, we're getting steamy and I suspect that drier weather is upon the proverbial doorstep. Last year I launched the first Burning Woman workshop, with a slight nod to the Burning Man event of the Southwestern desert, and a more-than-slight wink at the ever threatening menopausal wave that haunts many of us women of a certain age. This year, I've got two Burning Women workshops scheduled -- the August event is completely booked, and I hope to find a few more adventurous souls for the July 28-29 event.

Like last year, we'll be exploring the role of passion, heat and inner fire in our work, whether its in fiber or another media, though the techniques will focus on fiber/ mixed media tools and materials, the heart work comes from whatever lights your switch. Each event is a little different, since to keep these home studio workshops fresh for myself -- and since each one is limited to 6 to 8 participants, an intimate number -- it seems right to make each one as special and unique as possible.

 

This one comes at a good time for me, because I'm finding it difficult to get the heat off of my skin and into my work right now. Perhaps the fires are a bit banked after the long absence from the studio, or maybe its just part of the natural ebb and flow that comes with creative work, but I am ready to feel a little more passionate about what I put my hands to. Though I put these workshop events together for others, and certainly feel I have some experience to bring to the participants, the chosen topic often seems to turn up just what I need at a certain time -- even though the calendar was planned months ago. As I research, design and try out the processes and techniques, the writing exercises, the stillness and the action that feed each other, I usually get my next right action. I think it has something to do with focus and motion, pulling the bowstring and putting my eye against the arrow shaft.

So, here's a little more about the workshop. If you are interested in attending, leave a comment or email me directly.  If you come back later, the brochure should be posted on the workshop link on the righthand sidebar.

 

Burning Woman Workshop
July 28-29, 2007
Saturday , 10:00 am through Sunday, 3:30 p
For women artists only.

Are you burning with a desire to make art, only to find it smothered or smoldering? Or are you finding burn-out to be a challenge in your life at work or at home? Do you even know your is your heart's most passionate creative desire? Can you remember when you last let art-making take charge of your time and energy? Maybe you just need to fan the flame a little?

 

Where ever you find yourself on the farenheit scale of creativity, take the time at this retreat to channel that inner fire into creative expression and explore the relationship of passion, energy and desire to art and art-making. Participants will be engaged in a life-affirming series of exercises, meditations, rituals and art-making in a variety of simple media, including fiber, paper, paint and dye.

We will practice sun-printing, burning and rusting on fabric and other surfaces; explore microwave dyeing and sun-batched color on cloth. But even if your discipline is other than textiles, you will find renewed energy from this focus on creative passion as we create rituals and light bonfires to keep our inner vision burning bright.

 

Participants will also enjoy the pool. hot tub, walks along Hill Country roads and trails in the area surrounding El Cielo Studios. The airconditioned studio, located next to Susie's home, offers 1200 square feet of work space, as well as room to spread out under the oaks and on the deck overlooking a 20-mile view into the Texas Hill Country. come dressed for the weather, for swimming, for outdoor explorations. Accommodations are available in the house and studio for a modest fee, and all meals except for your Saturday sack lunch are included. Most supplies are included in the tuition, as well.

Fee: $150, accommodations $15-$30, depending on room. El Cielo Studio is located about 1 hour north of downtown San Antonio. For artists coming from afar, rooms are available before and after the workshop on premises or  I can make arrangements for you at a downtown or near-airport motel or hotel. Or book a stay into one of nearby Bandera's dude ranches for a true Texas getaway! Email me directly at susie monday @ sbcglobal .net. (Remove spaces to send email.)

Sweating out the Brochure

Click on this thumbnail for pg 1 

pg  2ONE POINT FIVE days, about 8 hours longer than I expected, and my new workshop brochure is ready for a final edit (and reader feedback). Funny how those spelling mishaps and grammatical wierdnesses sneak in after hours and hours of careful plucking away. If you have suggestions that would make this a better document, let me know, too. Part and parcel of the time it took to do this was getting my feet wet in Pages, part of iLife -- a publishing program that I am sure will be easier to use than my old Pagemaker software, no longer updateable or workable with OSX. Keeping up with technology seems to be a neverending task, and one I actually enjoy. But, the learning curse (better than curve, right?) is still steep and fraught with bad language.

I am also testing some new link technology stuff that allows public access to certain pages of my Backpack. So, if you would like to try this out with me, click on this link and see if it happens for you. You may need to register a free account, but I promise they promise me not to spam you. If it opens, then click on the thumbnails of the borchure images. Can you read the text? I will probably just produce a web-based version of this or see if it publishes into something html friendly.

By the way, Backpack is a handy web-based storage/organizational/sharing site that I use to store information and keep records on a remote server, so that if I ever lose my harddrive and backup (AGAIN, AT THE SAME TIME) at least I will have the important at-the-moment project information somewhere accessible.

Of course, I will also put the final version, once comments and corrections are made, on my sidebar on this site, where you can find it anytime! 

Rebirth and Renewal

     

Before and After.

Easter weekend at El Ceilo came with a layer of ice -- sleet piled up on all the new spring growth, swirled around the deck, turned the cedars once more into a sparkling magical forest. Since our last freeze date around here is supposed to be March 15 or so, it was a big shock to the system. But, now that the weather has gentled again, it appears that only the basil may have suffered freeze damage. The ground must have been warm enough to protect most everything else.

This kind of ground-up protection seems to operate at a soul level, too. Some of my protective, powerful inner archetypes -- even rather bratty ones like Miss Priss, or the rather terrifying Dragon Lady Crone -- provide that kind of earth-tied protection when the icy winds blow and unexpected sleet pours onto tender growth.

      

Bobbe Nolan ironing, Donna LaMonico in process, Cher Solis and Mary Ellen Hardy finding fabrics. 

 

During the weekend's Calling All Archetypes workshop/retreat, we pondered, shared, and meditated, took work into new directions, made rebirth a theme and recovery the starting place for art quilts. Some of the archetypes who appeared were rather frightening, others made welcome appearances from earlier lives. Working from resources and exercises from Women Who Run with The Wolves, The Vein of Gold, and Sacred Contracts, each of the participants left with a project in tow -- and material for more. Although the weather was hardly the springtime exuberance that I had anticipated (no walks, no outdoor picnics), the fireplace was cosy and a couple of us even made it out to the hottub, until the sleet started raining down on our heads. The trip into Bandera for the Courthouse lawn Sunrise Service was canceled but I think we all had a sense of spirit, of celebration of Christ's rebirth, as we allowed ourselves time to reflect on our own journeys as women and artists.

Technically speaking, I showed newcomers to printing how to make a thermofax, and also demonstrated printing with water soluble crayons using gel medium, a technique that allows for wonderful spontaneity of drawing, and adds its own interesting twist as the colors dissolve and blend as one prints repeats. This little Easter image shows how the colors morph and blend, with each print changing as you work your way across the fabric.

        

Words on the Surface, Redux

 

Putting text to the test, we creative women printed, dyed, batiked, stamped and calligraphed through the weekend. Candid comments took my planning to the next step, toward turning this workshop into a proposal for on-the-road teaching. The upside: it seems to be an intriguing topic, one that can take participants in many directions. It works for both advanced professionals and for beginning students (with a bit of tweaking and not too many in a class). The techniques taught can be applied to work of different scale and different formats. Downside: it takes a lot of supplies.

Here are some of the samples I made, and some of the results from participants, as well as a few candid shots of the artists (Mary Ann Johnson, Elizabeth Romanella, Caryl Gaubatz, l to r). The samples are some of Kathy Hayson's pieces. We used soy batik, thermofax printing with shaving foam, sun printing, original stamps and other techniques -- and combined and layered them to create Complex Cloth.

Our intent in these samples shown was to embed the text messages into the surface of the cloth, with the form holding as much importance (and as much of the "message" as any literary element.  That could mean really making it disappear or become a surface texture, or, if we wanted the words to still be legible, finding ways to integrate surface color and texture.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions, and would love to collect jpg examples of other artist's works to include in a slide show for future events -- with due credit of course. If you are interested in being part of this teaching aid, please contact me though the comments section. 

 

 

 

 

 

Archetypes

Last weekend's El Cielo workshop (Full Moon/Fool Moon) was a lunar event extraordinary. Because I had read the lunar calendar wrong, it was actually a dark/new moon event, but turned out to be the Lunar New Year, the most revered Asian holiday of the year.  We combined our own investigations of spontaneity and accident in dyeing and painting, rusting and painting with a red-decked rituals for this celestial new year. So, here's your next opportunity to join this adventure:

Calling All Archetypes

At El Cielo Studio, Pipe Creek, Texas

With fiber artist Susie Monday 

April 7-8, 2007

 

Each of us depends on a cast of inner characters to get our work done: the organizer, the dreamer, the judge, the caretaker, the scout, the wild woman, the fool, and the wise one. (I'm sure you can think of others!). Whether we call these inner guides, inner selves or archetypes, their multiple voices help, hinder and guide our creative work.

During this renewing Art Journaling and Art Quilt workshop, participants will explore these inner aspects as characters, as well as their relationship to the archetypes of legend and myth. With personal imagery developed through journaling, each person will transform his or her insights into a small art quilt. Participants will explore their inner teams with a series of interesting and revealing art journal exercises adapted from diverse readings including Caroline Myss’s Sacred Contracts, Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run With the Wolves, as well as other writers. Then, using the information and images that were developed in the journaling exercises, each person will design and create a journal quilt or artist’s altar art quilt honoring one of their inner archetypes, angels or voices. Quilt design techniques include working with fusible webbing, machine and hand quilting and embellishment with printing and stitching.

Those present will share meals (bring a sack lunch for Saturday, Saturday supper and Sunday brunch are included in the fee), vistas from the deck and hikes or bike rides down the country roads or into the cedar as the weather permits, as well as participate in a variety of fun and meaningful exercises using simple materials. Accommodations are available at my home and studio for a modest fee ($15 to $30 depending on the room). For the commute, count on an hour drive from midtown, or 30 minutes (16 miles to Timbercreek turnoff) from the intersection of Hwy. 16 (Bandera Rd.) and Loop 1604. Then 3.5 miles on the paved road to the studio.

Supply List: A shoebox full of fabrics of your choice, scissors, embroidery threads and beads, journal and favorite writing materials, a poem that speaks to your inner self (selves). Any snacks, toys or treasures you wish to share. You are welcome to bring a portable sewing machine, but you can also share the studio resources.

TO REGISTER: Send me an email at susiemonday@sbcglobal.net 

 

FEE, including supper and a simple brunch: $150 per person. Limited enrollment, 10% discount for registration before 3/21/06 ($135).

Words on the Surface

Words -- text --   it's tricky in art. We literary types love it, but when it's part of our work, it can be misread, turn into preaching, take shape in a form that overpowers the image, and often adds little to the real language of visual art.

 

This workshop "Words on the Surface,"  was tried-out within a small setting  and 4 artists at the home of friend and colleague (and hostess impeccable) Liz Napier, and it proved a test of some new theories I'm working around. The full-blown weekend version will be March 10-11 at the Southwest School of Art and Craft (I'm sure there are openings still.)

 

First we used text (See Liz' study on left) in its most deconstructed manner, taking collages and reworking, cutting, tearing, deconstructing and reconstructing meaninful words and phases cut and torn from magazines. The results, if I do say so, were strongly graphic, dancing their context and content in ways that begged to be read in a new way. There is a kind of energy in text used this way, and it reminds me of work from Sister Corita (Corita Kent) and her students in the early 1970s.

Then letters themselves took centerstage in sunprints -- the colors are kind of ugly -- but the potential is there. You recognize the ubiquitous refrigerator magnet used as a "resist"? Again, layering the sunprints gave a depth and interest that could be used in more literary fashion than we did with these technical trials.

 

Another idea was to use words layered photographically, directly on fabric through the printer or copy machine. And we also made stamps using the fun foam letters sold in the crafts aisles for summer camp projects. Stacked and glued, these simple letters could be arranged to spell words, or deconstructed into pure shape and form.

 

Researching ideas for this workshop, I also came across some fun resources on the www. See what you think of these:

Letters, An art project by Asia Wong

An extreme example!

Computer “Raining Letters”

This one is fabulous

Online magnetic poetry sites

Anagram maker

PS-- There is room for one more at the Full Moon/Fool Moon workshop retreat at El Cielo this weekend -- studio bed only. This is one of a series of events at my home/teaching studio in the Texas Hill Country. For more information, check the link on the right side -- coming up workshops. More fool me, its not the full moon, but Sunday is the lunar new year and holds the auspicious launching of the Year of the Pig (or Boar, you choose).


 

Journaling

At this weekends "Artist Journey/Artists Journal" the weather outside was chilly, but the energy inside kept us warm. Taking a page from the January calendar, we worked our way around altered books, journal quilts and a several approaches to writing and sketching our way through the new year. I learned as much as I taught (thanks, Sue for the runthrough on how to make a hidden pocket in an altered book, and Kay for bringing The Secret), we ate well, slept well and talked about everything under the winter sun.

I plan to post pictures of the projects begun during the retreat, as they are documented and sent back to me -- but here are a few of the people pics. What can I say: I am living my dream and it's just getting bigger.

Full (not) Moon/Fool Moon

Here are the details about my next workshop. You can find the complete brochure on the righthand sidebar link to  "Coming Up:Workshops"

Artists’ Retreat and Workshop, February 17-18, Saturday and Sunday

 

The moon has long been seen as a symbol of the unconscious, and a sacred goddess of feminine instinct. How does the unconscious, the instinctual, even lunacy, influence your art work?  Do you make room for accidents, for the spontaneous and unplanned. This El Cielo Studio workshop will take advantage of the February Full Moon dark of the moon (Don't ask me what moon calendar I was looking at when this went on the calenday!) to inspire a weekend of intentional accidents (or accidental accidents, as the case may be), spontaneous expression, and improvisational techniques for fiber and mixed media art, as we open our hearts and eyes to the power of the uncontrolled. Among the activities: guided meditation and journaling, moonlight storytelling around a bonfire and moonlight hike (weather permitting), time in the hot tub, and making an artist altar that explores your understanding of the divine feminine. Fabric art techniques covered include silk painting effects with salt and other additives; faux shibori and low-water dye techniques using the microwave; shaving foam dyeing and other improvisational dye and paint play.

El Cielo workshop/retreats are designed to meet the needs of the participants, so there is free time scheduled throughout the weekend for reading, reflection and personal work in the studio. You are welcome to bring projects in process for Susie’s critique and for peer feedback in an environment of trust and respect. We’ll share meals (bring a sack lunch for Saturday, Saturday supper and Sunday brunch are included in the fee), 25-mile horizon vistas from the deck and strolls down the country roads, as time permits.

FEE, including meals: $145 per person. 10% discount for registration before 2/5/07 ($131.50). Limited enrollment. Overnight accommodations are available for a modest fee ($15-$30). Supply List: your favorite kind of journal or notebook, a box with lid (any size and material) for your altar, warm clothes and walking shoes.

Susie Monday has taught adults and children for more than 30 years. Her art cloth and quilts have been included in international exhibits and private collections. Recent teaching credits include Gemini Ink, Southwest School of Art and Craft, University of the Incarnate Word, King Ranch, and McNay Art Museum. See her work on-line at http://monday.myexpose.com and  read her blog at http://elcielostudio.squarespace.com

Desperate. To-Do List

Hmm, you say. (In a rather ego-driven part of my brain that supposes you've noticed at all) she certainly hasn't posted much lately. And thus one of the truisms of blogging. Insidious doubts arise upon not turning up at the page (electronnic or otherwise). The holidays were one good excuse after another. Continuing computer gliches and slow as molasses satellite connection speeds another. But mainly its a matter of momemtum. AND that, my friends, applies to more in life than blogging.

 

  

 

Despite my on-line absence, a few notable accomplishments in the studio this month: Rearranging the studio (see photos before and after), playtime with my sister and cousin making stuff, embellished jean jackets (expect to see them entered into the FASA Runway Show) a lot of thrift store fabric and table linens purchased and ready to use, a good cleaning and mopping, and planning for the next series of El Cielo Studio Workshops:

First -- Artist Journal/Artist Journey, an art journaling retreat that kicks off the studio season next weekend (only one place left if you are interested), then

FEB. 17-18 Fool Moon/Full Moon -- Using lunar energy, lunacy and the power of the feminine to inspire work. Taking chances and stepping into the unknown. Textile techniques will include shaving foam dyeing, "automatic" dyeing, and other improvisational techniques.

MARCH 24-25 Field Guide to Color -- Color theory made fun, with hands-on application of the "rules," and when and how to break them. Using a variety of source material, exercises and media, including dye, watercolor. collage and egg tempera.

APRIL 13-14 Calling All Archetypes -- using your inner crew for work and support. Exploring archetypes,inner voices and their influence. Make an artist's altar  -- fabric and mixed media -- to remind you of a most sacred part of your life.

JUNE -- TBA dates for a 5 day retreat 

JULY 28-29  Burning Woman Workshop -- Using heat, passion and even hot flashes to fuel our work. Sun printing, burning and rusting; rituals and bonfires to keep our inner creativity burning bright. (Probably repeating in August).

Watch the link on the right sidebar  (WORKSHOPS) for details or email me for details or to reserve a space. All of them (except june's) start on Saturday  morning and conclude early afternoon Sunday. Private bedrooms with baths are available on a first-come basis ($15 to $30 per night, with arrival Friday night optional).

And, so I am back in the studio, a no-car day at last, facing the mother of all to-do lists. To keep myself on track, I pledge an entry a day, at least, action that will help my momentum, and give me a little reward in terms of design and writing time as I slog through end-of-year finances (after some glitch in my Quicken files between backups and losing my hard drive seems to have lost ALL of last years entries). Also on the table: preparations for next weeks exhibit at the state capitol building, a benefit of being selected one of the state's "Texas Originals."