Coming up on the Teaching Circuit!

Program and Workshop at the New Braunfels Area Quilt Guild 
Saturday,   August 15, 2015, 12:45-4:45 pm
$35 Class Fee
iPads for Artists
An overview of how to use a tablet as an artist for design, journaling, sketching and drawing.  For more information about Susie’s workshops, visit her website:  
This follows my talk to the group, iPad Quilt Inspirations. One-time visitors and potential members are invited to attend:
"You are invited to join the NBAQG. We have 200+ members and we meet the third Saturday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the New Braunfels Presbyterian Church Activity Center, located near Landa Park, at 373 Howard St.,
New Braunfels, Texas 78130. 
 Membership dues are $35 per year. Non-members are welcome to attend once, before joining."

International Quilt Festival, George R. Brown Convention Center
October 29-November 1, 2015
I'm teaching a plethora of courses on creative process, inspiration, art business and iPad adventures at the festival. For details, [download the catalog here](http://www.quilts.com/home/shows/viewer.php?page=../../fqf15/catalogue) or check on my website here.
Lok for these course numbers for specifics:
#257, 276, 330, 560, 585, 750, 758

I'll also have two quilts in special exhibits at the festival ("agave," above, is one of them in the [Dinner @ Eight exhibit Affinity..](http://dinnerateightartists.blogspot.com/2015/06/affinity-acceptances.html) More later!

[And in November at the Southwest School of Art:](https://www.swschool.org)
**2859 | Textile Collage: Art Quilt Charrette**
Charrette, a term borrowed from the world of architecture, means a time for focused, fast idea generation and production. This weekend workshop immerses participants in Monday’s process of creating raw edge appliqué textile collages, or art quilts. This class is suited to students who are ready to move from traditional quilts to art quilts, or add fabric and stitch to their mixed media tool box. Learn how to work improvisationally with color and shape, use iron-on fusible web to design, and see in-depth demonstrations of free-motion machine stitching. 
Sat & Sun, Nov 7 & 8 | 9:30am – 4:00pm | Droste Design studio | Navarro tuition: $185 (Members: $170) 2 sessions
(Registration starts August 11)

Nature Inspired Surface Design

A great piece form one of the participants in my Nature Inspired Surface Design Workshop in Austin. HELP! Send me your name for full credit!

The Friday workshop for the Austin Fiber Arts members this last week was really fun, with lots of great processes demo'ed and done. We raced through soy wax batik, sun printing, microwave silk scarf dyeing, printmaking and more, all inspired by an hour of fluency exercises to generate lines, shapes and forms. 

Here is the supply resource list for any of you interested in trying your hand. (and of course, I love teaching this workshop, see my workshop page for details.)

Resources for Nature Inspired Surface Design

Soy wax --  and  other batik supplies, including tjantings, Dharma Trading Company

http://www.dharmatrading.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?mode=search&query_inp=1&query=soy+wax+batik&action.x=34&action.y=10

SetaColor sunprinting --

 http://www.dharmatrading.com/techniques/sun-painting-with-setacolor.html

I also get serves and other supplies from Dharma Trading or  from http://www.Thiasilks.com

Akua inks, Speedball products including brayers, baren, and inks

Info here: http://www.speedballart.com/our-products.php

Order from most art supply stores

Procion dyes from either Dharma Trading or ProChem.com

Sticky backed craft foam is available at Jo-Ann’s and similar stores, also here  

And a few more pics: (Names to come!)

For more information about the courses I teach to guilds, groups. conferences an more see this page in my website:

Teaching with Ruzuku

If you teach, and are considering teaching online -- something that I think many of us are considering as traveling to teach gets more expensive, time-consuming and difficult -- then take a look at Ruzuku.com. I've been working with the company, after first taking a trial run as a student thanks to the generosity of mixed media and drawing teacher Jane LaFazio

As you can see from my sign in page below, I also am taking advantage of the free tutorial courses that are offered on the site. In general, I've found the support of the development team to be fast, friendly and helpful. There is a 14-day free enrollment that can help you decide if you want to jump in on the site. I am not an affiliate or have any financial gain from this endorsement, it's just that I have liked working on the site so much I wanted to tell those who are trying to figure out how to teach online without having to take on the whole "back-end" of enrollment, payment, templates, etc. on your own.

While the initial sticker shock was a bit for me to wrap around, the site does give you options as you develop courses and as you increase your enrollment, so that the price ramps up as the income (in theory) does! I now have more than 40 enrollees and am on the Bootstrapped monthly plan -- probably will go for the Bootstrapper Plus annual plan soon, as that will actually save me money in the long run and allow for twice the number of participants. Since I don't include webinars yet, the more expensive option is not that attractive -- but who knows, that may be the next learning step for me!

I did discover that just jumping in worked for me. I have been fiddling around with ideas for teaching my Art on the iPad course for about a year and a half, and never got it off the ground. This time, I outlined the course, wrote two weeks of lessons and launched it, writing the weekly lessons and staying one jump ahead of my BETA test group -- a hardy and (I think) happy group that got a good discount in return for helping me fine-tune, correct, figure it out and get it going.

That tactic worked for me, I'm preparing revisions now, and I have some great testimonials from those who have taken the Beta version of Art on the iPad.

If you've got questions, leave them in the comments section or email me directly -- I'll answer as soon as I can!

Art on the iPad is Going Great!

When I decided to go online with my iPad workshops I had no idea what would happen -- and I am so happy to report that I think it's much better than the "in person" courses in many ways _- People can work at their own pace, jump into the lessons they are really interested in, and ask questions day or night. I love this and am having fun interacting with their work in a deeper more satisfying way than I ever can in person. I, too, have time to think!

If you're interested in the second session, starting July 14, see the website here for more information and a link to the registration page. Early Bird discount pricing until June 15. 

I'm waiting for permission to post some of the participants work (I filled the workshop with 35 women from across the U.S, and the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia, too.) Meanwhile, here are some of the examples I've posted for different lessons.

Pam Lowe's quickly self portrait, drawing with a photo.

Tiled and ready to have printed drawing of sunflowers (Susie's)

Drawing turned into a collage into a tile for printing

B;ack and white high contrast drawing from a photo of a poppy

Another self portrait from a participant.

Poetry Month: Tiptoeing Between Words and Images

Here's a list of poetry and word image apps that are just made for Poetry Month. Have some fun with your own favorite words, poems or poetry you write yourself:

Word Collage word clouds

Visual Poetry - Word Collage (iPad - $1.99)

Create concrete (or shape) poems using this collage app. 

TypeDrawing (iPad - $2.99)

Draw with text, with a variety of special effects, lots, colors and more. On the desktop website here at this link. http://www.storyabout.net/typedrawing/

POETRY From The Poetry Foundation (iPad, Android - Free)

Easy access to thousands of poem from a searchable library of poems that includes many classics. There is audio support for many selections so you can hear different poems read aloud. Search by poet, mood, or subject.

Haiku Poem (iPad, Android - Free)

Haiku poetry follows a specific pattern-- here you can identify syllables in words as you brainstorm a list to include in your own Haiku. 

WordCollage (iPad - $.99)

Turn a set of words from any site, document or blog post into a collage-like word cloud with selections for color, font, size, direction etc.

And for some inspiring words about digital poetry, see this Edutopia post by Terry Heick:

The best definition I’ve heard for poetry is that it’s “the extraordinary perception of the ordinary.” Being a kind of art, poetry shrinks away from strict definitions. The very nature of art is to challenge thinking. Trying to defining something artistic simply opens up new ground for exploration by those hoping to challenge convention.

Digital poetry is a part of that conversation.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-poetry-terry-heick

The Missing Alphabet

Got a nice email today about The Missing Alphabet, the book I coauthored that is about putting your kids on the path of creative thinking. IF you'd like to see more about the book, check out the website here.

Subject: book

Message: Hey Susie,
Just wanted to say that I recently gave your book about creative kids (what is the title- can't find it on your website..) to my niece as a present (with a burp cloth swaddled around it) for her newborn daughter. She and her husband both went gaga over the book! I finally just read cover to cover on the plane on the way there, so wanted to tell you how much I admire the thorough and inspiring job you've done with it. It looks beautiful, reads well, and the chapters are chock full of good stuff.
Congrats again!
Hugs,
Sue

THE MISSING ALPHABET

Explore the full spectrum of a child's strengths

A step-by-step parents' guide that demystifies "creativity," and helps children grow up to be 21st century thinkers

AUSTIN – In a future that will require visual literacy and innovative thinking, today's kids will be expected to think across disciplines, come up with imaginative solutions, and have the capacity to invent with many media. And in order to succeed, they'll need to have creative thinking skills. Yet, we've been trained to think that some kids are "born" creative, while others are not.

But as the noted education researchers and co-authors of The Missing Alphabet: A Parents' Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids (Greenleaf Book Group, October 23, 2012, 288 pages, $17.95) have discovered, this simply isn't true. Rather, every child is born with a rich creative capacity; parents can build on that by supplying the building blocks of the missing alphabet – also known as "Sensory Alphabet."

The Missing Alphabet is as basic as the traditional alphabet is for reading and writing, and is the foundation for understanding our sensory world: line, color, texture, sound, movement, sound, rhythm, space, light, and shape. By teaching children the symbol system first, then layering thinking skills on top of it, children gain a whole new repertoire for ways to express their ideas. 

Over the past 40 years, co-authors and researchers Susan Marcus, Susie Monday, and Cynthia Herbert, PhD. have studied how children individually learn, and also how parents and educators can help them utilize untapped reserves of their creative potential. The authors were the co-founders of Learning About Learning Educational Foundation, a future-oriented organization in San Antonio, Texas,. Responding to the needs of 21st century literacies, they have collaborated to produce "New World Kids," a popular series of after-school and summer programs for children in pre-K through second grade, now being used in school districts, museums and creative arts programs. Today, parents can have access to this approach in The Missing Alphabet, no matter where they live.

Through vivid photographs and illustration, The Missing Alphabet helps parents and educators hone in on a child's natural strengths, and develop his or her particular brand of imagination. In a digital world where information is also communicated through pictures, icons, sound and video, tomorrow's adults will need to have creative thinking skills that are broader than those centered on text and numbers – and this is the guide to do it. 

SUSAN MARCUS, SUSIE MONDAY and CYNTHIA HERBERT, PHD are the co-creators of the popular "New World Kids" program, as well as The Foundry in Austin, TX, producing programs in creative thinking for children, parents, and professional development for educators. Cynthia is a developmental psychologist, the former Director of the Texas Alliance for Education and the Arts, and a specialist in Differentiated Education. Susie is a children's museum designer, educational consultant, and an adjunct faculty member of the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio. Susan has worked as a consultant to museums and children's program designer. She is the co-author (with Herbert) of Everychild's Everyday (Doubleday), and When I Was Just Your Age (University of North Texas Press), and (with Monday) New World Kids (FoundryMedia)..

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Missing-Alphabet-Developing-Creative/dp/1608323781

100 objects

I've just come across a BBC radio series that is truly intriguing and inspiring.  And no time for big descriptions tonight, just go discover on your own!

The Huipil, Reimagined

I'm offering two El Cielo Workshops this spring where we'll make our own versions of the traditional indigenous garment know as the huipil (pronounced, more or less, "hwee -pill"), plural, huipiles.  I've been collecting (an making my own strange versions) of this indigenous garment since the 1960s when I first traveled to Oaxaca. You may have even seen me wearing one of  my collection at a Quilt Festival or teaching event, as they have become a bit of a signature!

The Huipil Reimagined 

Feb. 27-March 1
El Cielo Studio, Pipe Creek
Weekend retreat with optional Friday night potluck. 

Participants will design and print fabrics and other textiles, construct a simple garment based on the traditional huipil of Mayan and other indigenous women of Latin America, reinterpreting the story telling and cultural identity of the garment as a personal work of art. We’ll be doing a variety of surface design techniques, stitching, fabric collage, photo transfers and more. $200 includes most supplies. Accommodations on site. REPEATS May 1 - 3. 

An example of one of my contemporary reimagined huipiles.

Embroidery on a huipil from Guatemala.

After some history, examples and shared research (including the work of comtemporary artist Lena ), e will start with designing personal symbols, color ways and icons that we want to incorporate into our reimagined huipiles. 

Using a variety of surface design techniques, including photo transfer, ink jet prints, sun prints (weather permitting), stamps and stencils, we will create the fabrics that we want to use for the garments. I have a large collection of huipil and other ethnic textile scraps, as well as vintage lace and embroidery, that we will use also, as desired. 

Sunday will be devoted to construction and embroidery. Some participants may want to complete their garments at home, but we'll all have a good start!

If you are interested, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you with details!

More About Balance -- what I'm trying to do

Diane Ackerman, in her latest thought provoking book, The Human Age, writes, quoting Amber Case, a cyborg anthropologist,

"'So, for instance,''Case explains,'we have these things in our pockets that cry, and we have to pick them up and soothe them back to sleep, and then we have to feed them every night by plugging them into the wall, right? And at no other time in history have we had these really strange nonhuman devices that we take care of as if they are real.'"

So balance away we do, between "real" and virtual, analog and digital, action and meditation. I think that as artists the challenge is multiplied by our relationship to making (and, for some of us, selling and/or teaching as the business side of art). I have to make real appointments with myself to get the art done, which is the reason I am doing all the other things I do. Sometimes the cart does pull the horse!

I have found a few things that help me keep balance and clarity: 
1. Put the calendar on the wall with all the big events and dates for the year. Keep details on the computer calendar (one single one.) 
2. Weekly, schedule studio and art biz time (I'm trying to chunk in 2 hour blocks since that seems to be the time limit any creative or mundane task can be seen to with attention.) 
3. Meditate every morning: 15-20 minutes of "nothing" helps me focus the rest of the time. 
4. Be as fearless as possible. Eat the big frog first. 
5. Hire a coach. Be accountable. 
6. Find community -- we artists work and create in solitude. Living in the country, I have to remember to see friends, talk to other artists, and connect -- yes, even on Facebook. 
7. Keep learning myself. Online courses and indepth workshops make that easier than ever (even if it adds to the technology balancing act). Build your skills (i.e. watercolor!) 
8. Turn everything electronic off for at least one hour per day. Everything. (This is really hard for me...) Draw or walk or read a real book or talk to someone without distractions. 
9. Be impeccable with your word. If you know you really have to carry through with the promises you make, you will be more likely to make those promises and commitments more carefully and thoughtfully.

I am not perfect with all of these, Some of them I am not even imperfect with. They are my intentions. How about you?

Fair Use for Artists

From a new document and policy piece from the College Art Association. Here is the excerpt of the portion particularly relating to artists. (Other sections give guidelines for editors, analytic writing (reviews), museums, teachers. This excerpt is from the document Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, and is excerpted here as a teaching tool and within the guidelines of fair use! NOW let's debate what this means for textile artists and mixed media and collage artists! 

(Note: graphics are also from the College Art Association site, and are screenshots that I made of the original materials.)

"FOR ARTISTS

"DESCRIPTION For centuries, artists have incorporated the work of others as part of their creative practice. Today, many artists occasionally or routinely reference and incorporate artworks and other cultural productions in their own creations. Such quotation is part of the construction of new culture, which necessarily builds on existing culture. It often provides a new interpretation of existing works, and may (or may not) be deliberately confrontational. Increasingly, artists employ digital tools to incorporate existing (including digital) works into their own, making uses that range from pastiche and collage (remix), to the creation of new soundscapes and lightscapes. Sometimes this copying is of a kind that might infringe copyright, and sometimes not. But whatever the technique, and whatever may be used (from motifs or themes to specific images, text, or sounds), new art can be generated. 

"PRINCIPLE Artists may invoke fair use to incorporate copyrighted material into new artworks in any medium, subject to certain limitations:

"Limitations

• Artists should avoid uses of existing copyrighted material that do not generate new artistic meaning, being aware that a change of medium, without more, may not meet this standard.

• The use of a preexisting work, whether in part or in whole, should be justified by the artistic objective, and artists who deliberately repurpose copyrighted works should be prepared to explain their rationales both for doing so and for the extent of their uses.

• Artists should avoid suggesting that incorporated elements are original to them, unless that suggestion is integral to the meaning of the new work.

•When copying another’s work, an artist should cite the source, whether in the new work or elsewhere (by means such as labeling or embedding), unless there is an articulable aesthetic basis for not doing so. "

To see the entire document visit this site.

For analysis and some interesting data on effects of copyright rules on artists and others, see this post on HYPERALLERGIC, a great NYC based newsblog about all things art.

Balancing Act(or)

Aren't we all? Women, men, even kids these days seems to be always walking the tightrope between this and that, dreams and duties, have-tos and want-its, creating and consuming. The pressures are pretty much unprecedented. Even though my mother had a busy life, filled with multiple pushes and pulls, she didn't have quite the pressure of consumer goods, high tech, always on, ever-needy technology. But here we are!

I've been wrestling with an online course version of my iPad in person workshops. Issues arise: Which platform will serve me and those taking the course best? Should I just go with Facebook as many seem to be doing? But for an iPad workshop I need a sturdy way to capture what it is those apps do and don't do. So maybe something like Zoom (a teleconferencing site that will allow live and recorded iPad screen capture) or Ruzuku, a really user friendly, put-all-the-lessons-and-resources-on-one-page service that Jane LaFazio,  that wonder woman of content delivery, uses for her online teaching. Or a combination of one or more (won't that be confusing1) The last time I taught online on my own site (I did a free beta version of a text on textiles workshop)  it was just clunky and not very satisfactory, but I didn't use video then, or much process info -- It was mostly a static PDF with a possibility for participants to post their work and comment, and not many did! I could develop or hire someone to make me an online course Wordpress blog --that seems to be another popular option (I think that's what Jane Dunnewold is using for her online community, but she has Zenna!).

I'd love feedback, especially if you have taken art workshops online and have a strong opinion about what works and what doesn't. So leave comments, please! IF you do leave a comment (and sign up for my newsletter) I'll send you a link to download my "100 Ways to Make a Mark on Fabric," a short fun list that will inspire your next textile experiment! 

And if you want to stay in touch with the launch of whatever it is I do, please sign up for my newsletter here OR just check in at this blog and the website workshop page.

Ordinary Time and Lent: Paraments for University Presbyterian Church, San Antonio

The Worship and Arts Committee for University Presbyterian, in San Antonio, expressed interest in having new paraments that were contemporary works of art, and that would be used during Ordinary Time, I was delighted to be asked to work on design submissions and, then, upon the commission for the new work. As Presbyterian born and the daughter of a Deacon and Elder, I have deep connections to and respect for the Presbyterian Church, and the open-hearted, welcoming stance of UPC is admirable -- the congregation is diverse (same-sex couples, too) and the church is part of an active ministry to the Central American refugees in the San Antonio area detention camps, among other ministries. The SoL Center at the church, where I have had an exhibit hanging (thought February 27) hosts a variety of educational ecumenical meetings, lectures and actions.

These new paraments for the University Presbyterian Church sanctuary came out of the same “road” series that includes many of the pieces in my exhibit that I have had up in the SoL Center this past month— work inspired by walking sacred and ancient pilgrimage paths in Spain and Italy during a couple of recent summer travels. 

 Since UPC has a message of welcome that refers to a welcome to all no matter where you are on your spiritual path, the road imagery seemed appropriate. Both the lectern piece and the large communion table piece show roads that wind through and around trees, toward a horizon with a sun rise. The larger piece includes a stream with a fish. Both have pomegranates and fields of grain — all of these part of the Christian iconography: “I am the Way, says Jesus. The fish of the early Christians and the pomegranate, a symbol of fertility, abundance and grace; the greens and growing vines that symbolize traditionally the growth and health of the Church. Included in the pieces are textiles from Africa, Mexico, Guatemala and antique brocade from France. I hope that these paraments and their design serve as visual prayers for the community of worshipers. 

As we worked together on designs, we realized that with UPC’s theme of nature for this Lenten season, that the paraments would also be appropriate this year for that church season. I incorporated a bit more purple in the designs and added purple wall banners to this end, along with another custom printed fabric of leaves and purple blossoms and grapes. 

Technically, these are fused, raw edge appliqué textile art (known by some as art quilts because of their structure of three (plus)  stitched layers. I call my art textile collages, since the process is much like making a paper collage: cutting shapes, “glueing” them down (in my case, with an iron-on fusible web) and stitching by hand and machine to add detail and durability. I use a combination of recycled commercial fabrics and ethnic fabrics, as well as fabric that I designed on my iPad and had printed commercially through a print-on-demand online service. Truly, these are a meeting of high touch and high tech!

Why I DO like Apple products

 Well, because I own a lot of them and started out with them and though I had to use a PC type computer finally when I wrote for a newspaper, I never loved it. I know Apple takes a lot of flack, but when things like this link appear in my inBox, I forgive them much...

http://www.apple.com/start-something-new/?cid=CDM-US-DM-P0016352-334389&cp=em-P0016352-334389&sr=em

Artwork by Nomoco with iPad Air 2 and Brushes Redux

Codex is a rich resource of images...

The Codex Mendoza is a wonderful online resource for those interested in early Mexican and indigenous Mexican imagery for inspiration and investigation. Rich, rich, rich! So happy to have found this today. A great reminder of just what the internet can do.

From the introduction.

Retreat into Advancing

The Artist Journey/Artist Journal workshop this past weekend was extraordinary. I can even say that without feeling toady or too very blustery, because the proof was in the participation. I loved the structure, but if it hadn't been for the participants' generosity, openness, vulnerability and willingness to listen, share and step outside of their comfort zones, the whole affair would have fallen flat. We meditated, we played, we soulfully shared, we made art tools and mantras to get us into the studio and out of our critic zone. This was about seeing the year ahead with out scary deadlines, with lovely life lines and paths forward. And, of course we ate both well and with wicked treats reserved for such events. (Linda always reminds me that the Catholic Church learned long ago that if you are going to put people on a spiritual retreat, you'd better advance the feasting to make it all even out.)

Here is what one participant wrote to a friend afterwards. She copied me (and also gave me permission to share what she wrote):

It was Extraordinary!  Big food for the soul.  Lots of exciting art making.  This one was about thinking through in summary  ... Where are you in your life and in your art ?   .....  What calls you now? ....  What do you have to do to to answer that call?  .... and last laying out a specific action that you will do right away, as a result of your work in this workshop, toward that goal.      We voiced it and made it into art, more than writing it in a journal.   Susie asked us questions that gave us a path to our answers. Almost everyone was pulled or pushed by some very strong need or desire to move forward in some specific part of our lives, to make a change, to heal something or  work through something .... to grow.  

And then she gave us projects to make art.....  and more projects to make art...  and as we just kept making art.....you could see what was pushing, pulling, or calling to us, because it just showed up. And it kept showing up.  Then at the end, after we had already put the big questions in our lives out there, both in our words and in our work,  she transitioned us to another place ..... with playful abstract work.

I truly don't know how she got that much out of us in such short time, that much quantity and depth, because it always felt easy and relaxed.  She even prioritized time 1st thing in the morning in the studio for us to meditate, with a guided meditation before we began the artistic journey and work. She is a  powerful teacher.... I think maybe she has magic.

And if all that is not enough.... She brought in another fun artist - teacher from Ft. Worth who joined us for the whole workshop and then taught us to make great prints with two different methods...wood block and beautiful colors of hot wax (encaustic).  Collaboratively we designed and carved a big wood block, and then each made a print from it for ourselves. Individually we made beautiful colorful prints that were always a surprise as they had their way with the melting wax that we laid out as a design.      

 It was Big, deep and wide and great.

Now that made me dance, inside and out! I think she said better than I've ever said what it is I hope a workshop here at El Cielo is like. The time is precious and renewing for us all, teacher most definitely first on the list. 

We walked into unknown territory and also stalked along making the path ahead clearer and more comfortable, with meditations on what holds us back, what feeds us best and who we need to take along on the journey.

I don't do these workshops alone, in more than one sense of the word. I really call upon the things I have found meaningful, and especially, what turns up when I pay attention around the first of the year to start planning this annual even. MINDFULNESS kept turning up -- and so, that is both my word for the year, and became the keynote strand for the workshop.

Here are some of the resources, the mentors, the writers and wise ones whom we called upon this year:

Brene Brown's work on vulnerability and shame

Eric Maisel's planning process and keys to understanding the dimensions of an artist life, from his book 

Making Your Creative Mark

Frederick Franck's "The Zen of Seeing"

Martha Beck's How to Set Powerful Goals

"Breathing Room," an  article by Marilyn Paul (as recommended by Alyson Stanfield)

Meditation site and apps by Headspace

Junanne Peck brought in wood carving tools, and an encaustic hot plate for more fun!

And, thanks to Pat Schulz, we have the moon overhead! to remember too. 

Junanne Peck, a wonderful Ft. Worth printmaker who is co-teaching summer art camp with me again, is sending more pictures and I'll post some more later. I always seem to forget to shoot images when I am deep into the flow of these events. She brought wood to carve, encaustic hot plate and more -- plus her own ideas and participatory genius. Junanne is an AKUA inks demo artist.

If you want to be part of the next El Cielo experience, here's the schedule as it stands now:

The Huipil Reimagined 

Feb. 27-March 1 and repeating May 1-3

El Cielo Studio, Pipe Creek

Weekend retreat with optional Friday night potluck. 

Participants will design and print fabrics and other textiles, construct a simple garment based on the traditional huipil of Mayan and other indigenous women of Latin America, reinterpreting the story telling and cultural identity of the garment as a personal work of art. We’ll be doing a variety of surface design techniques, stitching, fabric collage, photo transfers and more. $200 includes most supplies. Accommodations on site. REPEATS May 1 - 3. 

IPad Art Studio

Monthly

Each month I'll be hosting a guided iPad tablet creativity studio session at the Cabin in San Antonio, 539 Senisa, near Woodlawn Lake. These sessions, limited to 7 participants each session, will allow for individual consultation, critique, technical problem solving, app recommendations and more as you work on your own iPad, digital and print projects, including eBooks, collage work, Spoonflower digital print designs, photo editing, photo books, etc. When you sign up, send me an email with what you hope to accomplish so I can prepare a bit! Or just call at the last minute and see if there is space available.  Each 4 hour block of time (you can stay as long or short a time as you wish) runs from 12 noon to 4 pm on the third Monday of each month. The cost for this guide-on-the-side and personal coaching is just $40 per session. February 16, March 16, and April 20. No reservation fee, but do send an email if you can!

iPad Art Basics

Friday, January 30

The best art, editing and organization apps to start with -- and a world of tips and tricks that will take you from FB or reading on the tablet to a whole lot more -- digital printing, improving photos, making simple (and complex) photo collages and start-up sketching tools. This is a simplified version of the iPad Art Adventure that I have been teaching (by request from folks who thought that one would be too advanced!) This 6 hour workshop includes several chapters of my soon-to-be-published eBook on the subject to take home for further study..  9:30 am to 2:30 pm with a lunch break (bring your own or walk down the block for soup or tacos). 539 Senisa near Woodlawn Lake. Fee, including supplies other than app purchases:  $80

iPad Painting and Drawing

Friday, March 27

The best apps for sketchbooks, travel journals, drawing and “painting” explored in depth with both demo and projects to work on during the workshop (including art prints using an inkjet printer). Bring an assortment of photos that you like, and take still life shots at the workshop then transform them with a variety of apps in a personalized workflow. This 6 hour workshop includes more chapters from my soon-to-be-published eBook to take home for further study. 9:30 am to 2:30 pm with a lunch break (bring your own or walk down the block for soup or tacos). 539 Senisa near Woodlawn Lake. Fee, including supplies other than app purchases:  $80

Shape to Symbol to Stamp to Scarves

Saturday, March 28

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Invent a personal logo or symbol after playing around with shape designs and experiments. Move from there to carving, cutting and stenciling on silk with fabric friendly inks and paints to make a personal statement in your attire this summer. You’ll explore creative combination, personal imagery and composition — and even a bit of up-to-date woodcarving and AKUA soy-based printing inks. Fee, including most supplies: $80

iPad Collage and Digital Design for Fabric Online Printing

Thursday, April 30, 9:30-3:30

San Antonio

Experiment with some of the wonderful collage apps on the iPad — cut and paste (virtually), as well as layering, grid designs and free form combining of art images, preexisting and new shape collections, famous art image vocabularies, and more. We’ll also do a walk-through on how to take an idea from iPad to Spoonflower, on the iPad and/or your laptop. $80 fee. App list sent ahead of time.

This Pomegranate Joins 100 Quilts to Fight Cancer

This 12" by 18" art quilt, stretched on a wooden frame, is my donation to Virginia Speigel's 100 Fundraiser  to Fight Cancer.  One hundred donated quilts will be given to the first 100 patrons to pledge $100 on February 4, starting at 10 a.m.

The piece was designed on the iPad with a number of apps coming into play: Line Brush for the original drawing, Pic Collage to place the image on a background of other images, and then altered with a paint program called Brushstroke. It's an app with a particularly nice painterly filter that can be customized and adjusted with a full set of variables, such as vibrancy, explore, saturation and contrast, as well as brush stroke. I've enjoyed using it to transform images that have the crisp edges of collage and fabric work into more painterly images.

Here are the details about the fundraiser: copied from Virginia's post

1. On February 4, the first 100 people to contact me (Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com) beginning at 10 a.m. Central will be given a link to donate $100 by credit card directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. Please note your donation to the ACS will be credited through the Forest Lake Area Relay For Life.  Why? I am not responsible for the vagaries of the e-mail system.

2. Each donor will receive an artwork from one of the 100 generous and talented artists listed below. Assignments of artwork will be made using a random number generator by someone other than me. Artwork will not be shared here in advance, but may appear on artists' websites or other social media before the event. See our Pinterest board for previews of many artworks. Thanks to Deborah Boschert for maintaining the board.

3. The artwork may be any size as long as the minimum retail value is $100. Artwork smaller than 8x10" will be mounted to 8x10" or 9x9." The artwork will contain fiber and may or may not be stitched. The artwork may or may not be made specifically for this event.

3. Each artist will receive her/his patron's e-mail address to arrange shipping. Artwork will be shipped directly from the artist. Please note this is an international roster of artists. Please thank the artist for not only donating the artwork, but also shipping it to you.

4. Each artist would love to receive a low res photo of the artwork in situ from the new owner. This is not required, but the best photos may be shared here after the event.

Questions? Contact me at Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com
If you would like to be sure your Request to Donate does not go in my spam folder on February 4, send a trial message today.

Special Note: Our goal of $10,000 will make Fiberart For A Cause's donations to the American Cancer Society a nice even one-quarter of a million dollars and FFAC will be happily retired.

Thank you in advance for your support!
Spread the word about "The 100"

Look at the Arts Participation....

This just arrived in my mailbox:

This infographic from the National Endowmant for the Arts, was by way of my newest morning reading on  the arts blog Hyperallergic:

In other news, I've been finding many of the recent studies about the arts landscape in the United States very interesting. A number of reports by the National Endowment for the Arts suggest that arts attendance has been on a slow downward slide since the 1990s, while the US Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the culture industry is richer than ever — it made up 3.8% of the US national GDP — but strangely had fewer jobs. What does this mean for the arts industry? My sense is that it unfortunately reflects the growing income inequality that continues to impact this country. 

Some of that chart looks like very good news - more kids in art classes, more minorities participating in art -- and the grand 13% showing for fiber art participation.... Perhaps museums and galleries will pay attention to this potential audience a bit more.

Crossing the Threshold

Perhaps a better way to look at the new year is not as a big bugaboo of resolutions, but simply a stepping over a threshold where there is opportunity to sit in a new chair, to look out a different window, to climb up the stepladder and choose a book you've been wanting to read, and maybe wander into a room that you've closed off for too long.

Think of this year as a new home. You can paint the walls whatever color you want or leave them showing layers and peeling edges from long-ago paint jobs. You can clean house. That's what we did this morning and yesterday morning, tackling one room today and one yesterday, and with just a little effort found the new order, the cleared out drawers, the scoured doorknobs and newly hung  photos and art -- like sluffing off old skin and coming up newborn, with shining scales, iridescent in the sun.

I'll be facilitating an artist journey/artist journal workshop on the weekend of January 23. 

This annual event has a history of setting the doorway and the threshold into good order. This session I'm planning to do less with calendars and more with process, less with destination and more adventuring through a mixed media exploration that sets the steps in motion, one after another. It's a rich process that puts the past year into perspective, allows for some healthy self-assessment (no beating up, no gnashing of teeth), and, with the quiet and boisterous sharing, gives us all time to share, envision, cut-and paste our way into the new house that is 2015.

We look with uncertainty

by Anne Hillman

We look with uncertainty
beyond the old choices for
clear-cut answers
to a softer, more permeable aliveness
which is every moment
at the brink of death;
for something new is being born in us
if we but let it.
We stand at a new doorway,
awaiting that which comes…
daring to be human creatures,
vulnerable to the beauty of existence.
Learning to love.

Hope to see you at one or more of these inspiring workshops:

Artists' Journey/Artists' Journal

Start out your sketchbook and your creative journey of 2015 with reflections on your work and creative process this past year, with new vision ideas for the coming year, and a creativity jump start to get your ideas in motion. We'll spend a Friday night (optional) with personal and peer critique on one or more pieces of completed or in-process work or series. Then Saturday and Sunday, dive into the new year with planning, calendar ideas, studio rituals, collage and the creation of a New Year's poster and/or artist's altar to take your studio or work space. This long-running workshop changes each year, but always contains elements that put us all on the creative path of artful reflection, journaling, collage and more. 

January 23-24-25. 

Supplies included other than sketchbook, favorite mark making tools and a glue stick.

Fee: $200, with all meals (except Friday Potluck) included.

Accommodations from free to $30 (private room and bath)

Email me for details and to reserve your space. Limited enrollment.

IPad Art Studio

Monthly

Each month I'll be hosting a guided iPad tablet creativity studio session at the Cabin in San Antonio, 539 Senisa, near Woodlawn Lake. These sessions, limited to 7 participants each session, will allow for individual consultation, critique, technical problem solving, app recommendations and more as you work on your own iPad, digital and print projects, including eBooks, collage work, Spoonflower digital print designs, photo editing, photo books, etc. When you sign up, send me an email with what you hope to accomplish so I can prepare a bit! Or just call at the last minute and see if there is space available. Each 4 hour block of time (you can stay as long or short a time as you wish) runs from 12 noon to 4 pm on the third Monday of each month. The cost for this guide-on-the-side and personal coaching is just $40 per session. January 19, February 16, March 16, and April 20. No reservation fee, but do send an email if you can! 

iPad Art Basics

Friday, January 30

The best art, editing and organization apps to start with -- and a world of tips and tricks that will take you from FB or reading on the tablet to a whole lot more -- digital printing, improving photos, making simple (and complex) photo collages and start-up sketching tools. This is a simplified version of the iPad Art Adventure that I have been teaching (by request from folks who thought that one would be too advanced!) This 6 hour workshop includes several chapters of my soon-to-be-published eBook on the subject to take home for further study.. 9:30 am to 2:30 pm with a lunch break (bring your own or walk down the block for soup or tacos). 539 Senisa near Woodlawn Lake. Fee, including supplies other than app purchases: $80.

Happy New Year!

Just some images of recent iPad design doodling! To get your creative juices flowing...

Pomegranates, peaches and a world of adventure to us all in 2015!

Summer Camp is Filling Fast

This will be year two for Summer Art Camp at The Camp at Capilla Peak, near Mountainair, New Mexico. Last year, we had a blast (and Linda and I were wed, that was a once-in-a-lifetime 21-year courtship event!), but this summer promises just as  much fun.

Two sessions are scheduled (the second depending on the first one filling -- which is just about the case as of this week) with the workshops repeating from Junanne Peck of Ft. Worth and me, Susie Monday, of Pipe Creek. Yes, Texans hoping to escape the heat! The Camp at Capilla Peak is intentionally a kind of summer kids camp for grownups. The accommodations are simple, the food is great (and we do serve wine and beer if you so indulge) Most of the supplies and amenities are furnished and we are a short 90 minute drive from the Albuquerque SunPort.

Send me an email through the contact page of this website (or my susie monday at that g mail address) and I'll tell you what accommodations are still open, and how to register. 

Summer Camp in New Mexico

It’s on! The dates for the second (and third) Summer Art Camp at Capilla Peak will be June 25 through June 30 (four full days of workshops) and a second session, July 5 through July 10. 

The heart of the experience is full four days of creativity with new techniques in surface design and mixed media, iPad art, encaustic and printmaking, as well as all the fun of summer camp with s’mores around the camp fire, walks in the pines, a hayride on Capilla Mountain, and area field trips. My classes will concentrate on collage, both virtual and tactile-- bring a laptop or tablet to match touch with tech, if you wish. Guest artist Junanne Peck returns to lead encaustic and printmaking sessions.

After our first successful and sold-out camp last summer, we know the space and the situation. We’ll be adding a catered meal and a dinner out in Mountainair , the nearby mountain village, plus allow a bit more free time for participants. (And, we have a better handle on the cost of doing this right!) We appreciate the generosity of my cousins Erik and Judyth Rigler in providing the camp venue, as well as a lot of the extras — and that makes this one of the most affordable multi-day summer art camps being offered. 

Art Camp Workshops

Collage Studios with Susie Monday

Each workshop day, Susie will teach one paper/fabric/mixed media collage technique, using small canvases as the support, and one session using the iPad or other tablet to create collage designs that can be printed on fabric or on quality paper. 

From iPad to Art If you’ve ever wanted to design fabric, wallpaper or small art quilts with your iPad, the hi-tech sessions will take you from start to finish using a variety of collage and photo filter apps, and the camp fee includes a copy of Susie’s soon-to-be-published iPad for Artists ebook. 

Inner Nature/Outer Nature The mixed media sessions will include using paper and fabric with fusible webbing and polymer medium to design small paper/cloth art work inspired by the natural setting of the camp and its environs and your musings, creative insights and interests. Techniques will include using glazing paints, textured paints, image transfers and polymer medium collage. 

Printmaking and Encaustic Studios with Junanne Peck

Akua demonstration artist Junanne Peck, from Ft. Worth, will be running two workshops as well: “Monotype and the Spontaneous Mark” and “Hot Wax Cool Art.” (You can see how these will fit with Susie’s workshops; you’ll end up with really neat projects, as well as new skills!)

Hot Wax, Cool Art   This introductory workshop in encaustic painting will teach participants to paint in the ancient, non-toxic medium of beeswax-based paint. Each workshop features basic core information, including the history of encaustic, health and safety, and the fundamentals techniques of painting and fusing. The workshop will cover the following painting techniques: how to create depth and transparency, texture or ultra-smooth surfaces, transfer of drawings, stencils, and collage. (Complete details to come with registration).

Monotype and the Spontaneous Mark Monotypes are one-of-a-kind prints using simple techniques. The classes will provide a basic introduction to the use of the etching press with the introduction of the pin press in creating multi-layered monotypes. Artists will produce a printing plate from an original drawing or design and will become familiar with printmaking processes, tools, and techniques using non-toxic waterbased Akua inks. Drypoint and stencils will be explored. Emphasis will be on color, visual texture, line and composition.

Mark making is a term used to describe the different lines, patterns, and textures we create in an artwork. We will work with encaustics and printmaking and often in combination.

SUPPLIES and CREATURE COMFORTS

Most art supplies are provided, as well as towels, pillows and sheets. We have some blankets, but if your luggage permits, bring a blanket or sleeping bag. 

Art Supplies: Sketchbook and favorite pens, pencils, markers and watercolors (if you have them); digital camera, iPad or other tablet if you wish to use it,. For fun: games, examples of your artwork (photos are fine), snacks to share if you wish, sweater or sweatshirt for cool evenings, musical instruments, bikes, yoga mat, etc.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Hayride to New Canyon Campground, Art Session on the Mountain, and Tailgate Barbecue Supper

Nightly campfires with S’Mores, as weather permits

Field trip to Quarai, Colonial-era mission ruins, for sketching and photography

Nature walks with local expert

Bikes for on-site and nearby excursions (bring your own if you are driving to camp). Please bring your own helmet.

Evening talks, demos and other activities

Morning yoga and/or guided meditation

CAMP FEE

We are limited to 11 to 18 participants per session, so the experience is personalized, communal and participatory. Camp fee for 4 full days of art classes and studio work sessions (as well as nature walks, bike rides, hayride and all the camp extras) is $250 per person, plus art supply fee of $20. If a non-artist spouse or friend wants to attend and share your cabin or room, discount their fee by $25.00. All activities are optional, of course!

ACCOMMODATIONS
Accommodations, including most meals (one lunch and one supper will be off site and not included in the fee) start at $250 per person, with supplements for solo cabins, or barn accommodations near the bathrooms.  Meals, including vegetarian and gluten free options are simple but delicious. Our camp hosts sponsor nightly S’Mores, weather permitting. Wine, beer and non alcoholic beverages are included, but if you are fussy about vintage or brand, or like something harder, bring your own. Wifi is available at the Main Cabin, and cell phone reception is good on the property. (let me know you are interested and I'll send you the accommodation list and registration form).

If you would like more privacy, the Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair is about 15-20 minutes from the camp. They have shared bath “Cowboy Rooms” and rooms with private bathrooms. Call 505-847-2888 for current prices and reservations. The hotel website is http://www.shafferhotel.com. If you do stay at the hotel, meals provided at the camp will be available for $200 per person.

TRANSPORTATION

We will organize carpools for those flying into Albuquerque Sunport on the opening and closing dates, or you can rent a car and have more flexibility with your schedule. You are welcome to drive to The Camp, located about 90 minutes south of Albuquerque. Driving directions will be provided upon registration. Transportation fee: $20 round trip.

REGISTRATION

Email me for a registration and fee sheet, and choose your accommodations. Send with a $50 non-refundable deposit. The rest of the fee will be due on May 15, 2015. If we do not fill the session you request, we will return your deposit in full.