Valentine's Day Card Workshop at The Dancing Cat

February 14, 2017 in Events

Last Saturday I taught a Valentine's Day card making workshop to a full house at The Dancing Cat, the cat adoption space I have been working with for the last six months. It is so much fun teaching here. Everyone is in such a good mood because there are cats everywhere. The lighting is also spectacular (north facing - ideal painting light!) and it is so clean and cute in there.

The Valentine's Day card class was great because we didn't stick to just one painting and they had the opportunity to make three cards. I brought a box of donuts from Rollo's, our neighborhood spot, because I thought we had to have sweets for this event. You can see my examples above. The participants got super creative and it was really exciting to see what they did.

Here I am demonstrating watercolor techniques.

Photographer Rachel Corrales captured really great shots of the event. And yes, it always looks this good at The Dancing Cat.

I love the range of people that The Dancing Cat workshops attract: male, female, all ages. I love how it attracts couples, mothers and their daughters, friends and solo guests. They all have a blast working and checking out each other's work.

The man above had not used watercolor paint before. He did great with blending and brush control.

His cards turned out great!

Sometimes the cats 'help.'

I like to go around with paper and pencil to help the artists with any drawing questions they might have. Giving one on one attention after the initial overview is one of my favorite parts of teaching.

Everyone had their cards standing up and they looked so great together.

Isn't this one adorable? The artist had not used watercolor since she was a kid and at first was frustrated with this card. I encouraged her to keep pushing through, that we each have our own style. I also have a black cat, so I know what stands out most is their eyes, so we talked about that as well. I think she absolutely nailed it!

I love seeing how the participants run with the ideas. This artist chose to make two similar to my examples, yet she added her own twist. I also love the composition of the one on top with the askew heart.

This artist did such a great job on the eyes.

One of the participants made these gorgeous cards. She normally uses oil and acrylic, saying she gets frustrated with watercolor. I think she's pretty brilliant with it!

HUGE thanks to Rachel Corrales Photography for taking such great shots of the event! Check out the link to her site. Her work is stunning and I was so happy to have her there to document the event...and talk cats and dogs.

Art Studio Move

February 14, 2015 in Home Art Studio Project

It was a tough decision to make, but I decided to move out of my art studio space and make a new one at home. One of the biggest reasons is the studio has been taken over by more musicians than visual artists lately and I if you are going to have an art studio, you may as well have other visual artists around, right? It's always great to bounce ideas off each other and just have that camaraderie. At the current studio, I formerly had access to the alleyway to shoot photos or let projects dry and now it's a driveway. The bathroom is a lot cleaner at my house. I have also found myself working at home more frequently than at the studio. I have a fridge full of good, fresh food here and space to be outdoors. The weather in California is nice enough to work outside so I often set up on the covered patio in the backyard. The power tools are here, cats are here, it's easier to care for the garden and who really wants to leave their house anyway?!

Of course I have to justify it because the studio has been my favorite spot for 4 years. It has an awesome brick wall and a huge storefront window. It was home for the last four years, but I think it's time to move on.

I have been dreaming of using this space as a studio workshop. It has a bench and storage, opaque corrugated roof that lets in lots of light and at 16' x 7'9", it beats my 10x9 size studio any day. It also has electricity. This is my new pet project.

As you can see, there is a lot of work to do. Old, rotten pieces of wood, home maintenance materials and just filth. This space is behind the cottage in the back (where we have a tenant).

There's a lot of random stuff back here: a bike, a scooter, plant cemetery, dried cans of paint, a door, etc. You may not be able to tell here, but the foundation is uneven as well. That's something I can deal with and worry about later. It will be a big undertaking, but I think totally worth it. If we can make it waterproof, give it some decent walls, it would make a great space for woodworking and bigger projects.

Do you see those shadows on the roof? I need to get up on the roof of the building and sweep the leaves off to let in more light. The above roof will be temporary since we need a new fence and the roof will need to be replaced when the fence does.

See this wood? I already cleared it out!

Lots of wood that has been getting wet for a few years. I moved all of this to the front part of the yard to an area piled with stuff ready for the dump. You can see the sad state of the fence here.

The new studio view. My current studio looks out on cars on a busy street, a big van and trailer that always blocks my view, plus has an ugly industrial fence in front of the window. I think I like this view a lot better. Isn't that wall amazing? I love that peeled paint and boarded up window.

I can hang out with this guy and my other cat more often.

In moving my art studio home, I know I will be working in different places. The printing/shipping area will be in the office inside and I will likely spend a lot of time painting on the table below since it is more out in the open.

Recently, I had a couple of friends over to paint together. The backyard made a really nice setting and it got me thinking I can not only have artists over to make stuff, but run workshops back here. I am really excited for this change. You can see some of my big ideas on this Dream Home Art Studio Pinterest Board and be sure to check back on the Home Art Studio Project blog category frequently.

The short list:

Sweep rooftop DONE!
Waterproof rooftop
Remove all old tools (rusted), old paint and random things that don't belong
Install pegboard on the wall (maybe - I have a love/hate relationship with pegboard)
Fix or sell the bike
Fix the scooter
Build a wall and new fence
Replace or level the concrete (there's a big old root that's pushing it up)
Get a flat file for the office space inside (have my friend weld a frame for it to sit on)

The rest of the yard

Repaint the metal frame of the table and chairs on the patio
Buy new cushions for the seats
Put better lighting in on the covered patio
Build a fire pit with seating
Buy more California native or drought-hardy plants
Especially large plants that will provide privacy
Get the spring food garden going

Yelp Elite Holiday Party

December 13, 2013 in Events, Teaching & Workshops, DIY

Last night, I taught a marbled paper gift tag workshop for the Yelp Elite holiday party at the Zero 1 Garage. I had never lead an activity or workshop for this many people before and luckily I came prepared because it was a huge success! The crowd was really enthusiastic and loved watching the process. To be honest with you, I didn't think so many people dressed so nicely would want to get so messy, but they did. Everyone was so thankful for learning this process and even those that said they weren't creative felt like artists for the night. My table was very crowded so I didn't get all the pictures I wanted, but I'll also post a link from Yelp when their post about it is up. Note that the lighting in these photos is a bit moody since it was a party. Here's a look at the night.

As I worked with the Community Manager from Yelp to prepare, we talked about how maybe 50-75 guests would be interested in the activity, but I believe it was way more than that. I pre-cut round and scalloped gift tags, made the floating carrageenan liquid in advance, watered down the acrylic paint, brought already finished tags for those that didn't want to get messy and provided a variety of sparkly string to attach.

Marbling is a technique that can be applied to paper, fabric or clay. It is the result of paint being suspended on a liquid surface. You can swirl the paint with sticks, combs, or just about anything with a point. The paper was prepared with alum to help the paint stick. When you set the paper on the liquid surface, it picks up the paint exactly as it was. You rinse off the carrageenan, allow the paper to dry and you're done!

The table is all setup for the gift tag workshop.

Another view of my table prior to the guest's arrival.

Some party goers starting to create designs with the paint.

Here, you can see the paint floating on the surface, ready for paper to absorb it.

The tag has been placed facedown to receive the patterned paint.

The final result! These lovely and unique tags are sure to dress up your holiday packaging.

Although it is much easier to print a whole sheet at once, I cut down the tags ahead of time so it would be easier for guests. I even brought a letter stamp kit so some participants wrote words like "merry" over the marbled paint. The night went smoothly, thank to a lot of preparation and the surprise appearance of my friend Vickie who helped out. Please be sure to check out her jewelry here.