Art4Tots Party Preparations!

This was our last Art4Tots session for awhile...what with my upcoming travels, the holidays etc., we will start up again in January. This session involved creating beautiful butterflies for Tessa's upcoming 3rd Birthday Party, with a butterfly theme.  So everyone decorated these paper butterflies with paint, markers, glue and glitter.  Tessa's mom Hulya will use them as party decorations around the room.  Happy Birthday Tessa!

Here's Ella, shaking the glitter around on her lovely orange butterfly.  Good job, Ella!

An Interview with Anne Marie Bennett, author of "Bright Side of the Road"

I have never met Anne Marie Bennett, but I feel like I know her.  She and I are both SoulCollage® Facilitators and Trainers, and use the arts for healing and self-understanding.  We will meet for the first time next weekend at the 3rd Annual SoulCollage Facilitator Conference, being held near Tubac, AZ at Pocket Sanctuary.


Anne Marie has written an honest and brave account of her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer, based on her journal entries.


I interviewed Anne Marie about her journey through breast cancer and her book, and here is what she had to say:

I found your book very moving and personal.  How were you able to write such intimate things, knowing complete strangers would read it?

Thank you, Kat!  The book was shaped directly from my actual journal entries, and at the time I was just journaling… I wasn’t thinking about strangers reading any of it.  When I actually decided a year ago to edit the first drafts of the book, and to follow through with publication, I began to be aware of the possibility of strangers reading my words, my story.  And yes, I thought twice!  But then I thought back to the most powerful teachers I’ve ever had and realized that it was always their own stories of personal experience that made a difference to me.  After that I didn’t hesitate.


What would you say helped you the most through your surgeries and treatments?

Gratitude. Noticing and concentrating on the little things that other people (my medical team as well as family and friends) did for me really kept me from focusing on my own fear and physical symptoms.  Saying little gratitude prayers at night before I went to sleep kept me connected to Spirit in a powerful yet gentle way.


As an art therapist, I am well aware of the healing power of the arts.  How were you able to continue using your creativity throughout your breast cancer journey? For instance, how did you motivate yourself to keep writing in your journal, and keep making cards?

The journaling came naturally. There was never a question of motivating myself to keep writing. That has been my steady passion and main means of self-expression since I was 12.  I’d only been creating collaged note cards for a few years when I was diagnosed, so that was a different story.  I think the thing that motivated me the most to keep making those cards was the idea that I would give them as gifts to my doctors and medical team when my treatments were over. I felt a deep need to give back during this journey, and that is what motivated me to continue making those note cards on those days when I wasn’t overwhelmed with fatigue.


You went on a retreat at Kripalu for “Women Living with Breast Cancer” and talk about the “Fear of it Coming Back.”  What are some of the ways you are able to take care of yourself when that fear rears its ugly head?

Staying present with myself is the ONLY thing that helps me take care of myself when the fear starts to roll in.  I mean, absolutely the ONLY thing.  When I am able to gently bring myself back to the here and now (and sometimes I have to do it over and over and over again in the course of an hour), the fear recedes, because my fear is all about the future, and all I have is this present moment I’m inhabiting right now.



How has your SoulCollage® practice helped with your journey?  Have you made cards specifically addressing the breast cancer?

I wish that I had known about SoulCollage® when I was going through my cancer treatments.  It would have really helped me to embrace my fears and give voice to the different parts of myself that I shut off during that time.  But we get what we need, when we need it, I guess!  After I started practicing SoulCollage® three years after my treatments ended, I made several cards about my breast cancer journey. You can see them and read what they “said” to me here: http://www.kaleidosoul.com/breastcancer.html




Anne Marie Bennett is a writer, self-taught collage artist, website goddess, cancer survivor and SoulCollage® Facilitator.  She received a BS degree in Education from Southern Connecticut State University and has taught people of all ages throughout the East Coast.  She has also worked as a bookseller, sheet presser, library assistant, computer consultant, and in theatre management. Anne Marie lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband (also a cancer survivor), two elderly cats and one very playful dog who keeps all of them young-at-heart. She is happiest when she is reading, writing, breathing salt air, dancing, and hugging her beautiful grandchildren.

For more information about Anne Marie’s book, Bright Side of the Road, please visit this page: www.annemariebennett.com 
To purchase the book, please visit this page: www.annemariebennett.com/how-to-purchase 
Bright Side of the Road is also available on Amazon.com
http://tiny.cc/lf3HF  

Mosaics 101
at 2KatStudios!

This was my first mosaic workshop in the space since adding the divider screens and hand dyed fabric panels. Judie and Jenny got right to work, creating their mosaic mirrors.  The studio  is comfortable and light, and we had room to really spread out on a Sunday!

Judie's mirror is filled with vibrant color and design.  Check out the little half pot with mirror pieces coming out of it! And the wonderful green leaf platters that were so difficult for students to smash, since they looked just fine!  (Thank you Karin and Melissa,  for giving me your "seconds"!!).  And the black grout really makes everything pop.

Jenny's mirror is more subtle but still filled with an interesting mix of color and texture.  As a quilter, she recognized the way her style went straight to creating a  quilt-like design, although the finished product is very different.  Her use of a few larger pieces makes this mirror easy on the eyes....her first choices of tesserae (pieces of tile etc) were all about the same size, and I think she made the right decision to change it up a little and add the bigger pieces.

The Emerald City

This part of the mosaic was made using smalti, a wonderful opaque glass cut into small squares.  This green smalti really shimmers in the sunlight!

Poppies

The yellow brick road meanders along through a field of poppies....heading to the Emerald City. 

The Yellow Brick Road.

This is the second of a series of three mosaic "stories" that I am working on at a beautiful garden in Lakeside; Gita Morena's "Soul Sanctuary". Gita Morena is a psychotherapist, teacher, author and spiritual guide, and is the great granddaughter of L. Frank Baum, author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", so it seemed like a natural theme for the mosaic. Here's the beginning of the yellow brick road. It leads through the red poppies and ends up at the Emerald City. It's been fun to use a variety of ceramic tile, smalti, gems, glass and mirror. My friend Virginia Sumner has been helping me with this project, and we are just starting on the third series, which has interpretations of the main characters in the story. I will post more pictures in the next installment!

Ripley.

He's an English Bull Terrier from a very good blood line, from Allegro Bull Terriers in Orange County. 12 weeks old, smart and funny, stubborn and teething. He goes to work with Bill every day, and keeps us laughing and busy every minute that he's awake. He is not a "replacement" for our beloved Tony, who we had to say goodbye to on September 3rd. He's another dog, another Bully, another member of our family. He's going to be big, and he may be show quality. He's our little buddy and even the cats are getting used to him (well, sort of)! Watch this space for more Ripley news!

ART4TOTS....
Our second session of Art4Tots was another success! This time we made paints from cold cream, cornstarch and food coloring, and I brought a batch of home made playclay. The kids enjoyed experimenting with the goopy stuff, and didn't seem at all bothered that they had nothing to take home with them except fun memories!

If you want to "try this at home"....here are a few links to great craft suppliers: here in the USA, I like Dick Blick and Michael's. In the UK, you can find great craft supplies at Baker Ross!

And please remember, use safe materials and keep an eye on your little artist!

ART4TOTS

How cute is this? The first session of our new "Art4Tots" group took place yesterday at ARTS, and we had a great time! There were 5 kids, aged between 2 and a half and 4 years old (mostly 2 and a half!), and a couple of babies, and of course the moms! The whole point of this group is to encourage and allow kids to explore art materials and have fun, without emphasizing the end result. We made paint out of shaving cream and white glue and color....painted with wooden spoons, sponges, brushes and fingers, and probably the most fun was cleaning up in the soapy water. This group will meet on Tuesday mornings starting in September, and I think it will be a great way to introduce children to messy art materials without having to worry about the mess! Contact me for more information at kat4clay@gmail.com! (In this photo...Tessa showing us that kids love art!!)

Spiral Frog...
Here's the mosaic frog I created for a couple in San Diego, for the wall of their new bathroom. It's on a piece of mesh so their tile setter can place it as he tiles the wall. A border will set it apart, then it will be grouted along with the rest of the wall. I think it will add a nice focal point for their bathroom. I'll post a photo of the finished piece soon!

Old Friends
Here I am with my old pal Diane, in a photo booth somewhere in Millburn, NJ. Diane and I have been friends since 2nd grade, and although she moved away before high school, and we kept in pretty good touch for awhile, but then drifted apart. Fast forward to around 1983, when Diane read an article in the newspaper in Philadelphia, about a local guy who rode a specially equipped hand-cycle that was designed by Bill Warner, my brother. Diane wrote to the paper, asking them to forward a letter to my brother, and in that letter asked him to forward a letter to me. I was living in northern England at the time, and was sooooo happy to hear from her after all those years. From that point onwards, we have spent countless hours on the phone, emails, and visits. In 1996 I moved to Wallingford, PA, and lived about a mile away from Diane and her family for many happy years. My daughter Molly and Diane's daughters have been good friends for a long time, and I'm hoping the cycle continues. And even though we now live on different coasts, our friendship thrives. Thanks, Di!

Random Photo
This photo was taken awhile ago, probably when Bill got his new Mac computer. We were playing around with the web camera, in our home office/guest bedroom. Here we are, with Tony lounging on the futon in the background. The futon is long gone, Bill has a new office chair, and the artwork on the wall has changed. But the photo is kind of cool, so I thought I'd share!

Happy Holidays! I'm really into collage these days. Here is a page of a little book I made in a class taught by Karen O'Brien recently, at the San Diego Art Department. Karen is a great teacher with a wonderful imaginative approach, and unfortunately (for us), she moved to Oregon. So, I have been working in my studio with my friend Lauren, and we are enjoying making these collages. I'll be teaching a 5-session class in these collage techniques, starting on Tuesday, February 10th. Check my website for further details, and come join the fun!

What I saw and what I painted at Ghost Ranch!

I spent an amazing week in northern New Mexico, at a workshop entitled "Plein Air Painting in the O'Keeffe Landscape", taught by Ann Painter. It was a wonderful learning experience for me, and I tried to let go of expectation regarding my work, as I am not a painter and have not had much formal training in painting techniques (read: one class in college)...so I decided to just soak in the beauty of the desert, and the support and talents of my fellow classmates, and learn from my great teacher....and I am pleased with the results! This was a small acrylic sketch which I later made into a bigger painting, of the chimney rock that was just spectacular!

I Know, It's Been Awhile....

but I've been real busy opening up a new business! Check it out:
Tecolote Guitar Works.

Bill and I now work in the same space...he's busy repairing and restoring guitars, and I have my art workshop space and art therapy office there..it's a large, open, welcoming space, and I invite you to stop by and say hi sometime!

Last weekend I led a SoulCollage workshop in Berkeley, for the Northern California Art Therapy Association (NorCATA). There were 32 participants, my largest group yet, and the cards they made were insightful, powerful, beautiful. Here's Sarah Kremer, director of Legislative Affairs for NorCATA, showing her SoulCollage card. The next picture shows another particpant searching for just the right images. And my friend Caran, ( we were friends in junior high and high school, lost touch, then found each other on Classmates.com about 5 or 6 years ago!) working on her card, sitting with her friend Scarlett. Thank you to all who attended!

Mosaics and Margaritas Party!

A different way to spend a Saturday night...

Heather, a friend and wonderful life coach, invited me
to lead a mosaics party for her and some of her friends, to celebrate
her (belated) birthday. So I drove up to the OC to share my passion for mosaics with this great group of women. Heather's mother Beverly created a cool "studio" in her dining area, and provided delicious margaritas and yummy food. The 9 participants enjoyed a Saturday night to remember. Although at first I heard a lot of "I don't know what to do" and "I'm not at all artistic", see what you think of these great mosaic mirrors! Happy Birthday Heather!






Here's Jen, holding up her finished mirror....good going!









Some mirrors in various stages of completion....










The grouting was pretty messy, and although I like to say that "your fingers are your best tools", and it's true, I think maybe I'll need to change that phrase...lots of raucous laughter when I told that to the group.




I love mosaics, I love leading workshops, and I love birthday parties....Heather's Mosaics and Margaritas night had it all! Thanks!!

ARTS Miramar Mosaic Project

All summer, every Thursday, a group of kids from the
Miramar military base came to ARTS, to create a mosaic table and benches for their community center. They started from scratch....sketching designs, breaking tiles, attaching the pieces and grouting. On August 30th, Rob Tobin, (artist in residence at ARTS) and I went up to Miramar to dedicate the project to the kids, and they were in awe of their accomplishment! Here are the kids enjoying the paparazzi...after the ceremony, which was short and sweet (it must have been 100 degrees), they enjoyed a snack of juice and cookies at their new table!

The benches spell out "Friendship"..it's a little hard to read but if you stand back far enough, you can see it pretty clearly! And the table shows several smiling kids, standing in a circle holding hands.

Ashes to Ashes Urn Workshop Part 2

Can you believe how beautiful these urns look? We painted them with acrylic paints and embellished them with charms, milagros, treasures and more. Our group worked all afternoon Sunday to finish their pieces, and everyone seemed pleased with the results. Once the painting process was complete, we talked about what we created and how we felt about it. The sense of sharing something sacred and of achieving a special bond with the members of the group was awesome. Thank you Pamela, Jane, Don, Nancy, Andy, and Helen, for making this one of the most moving and emotionally satisfying workshops I've ever been involved with. I hope you don't need your urns for many many years!

"Ashes to Ashes Urn Workshop", Sunday July 8th. Seven brave people joined me in this unusual and moving session, creating urns out of clay. Some made cylinders, some made houses, everyone gave so much thought and care in building their creations. Not an easy topic. This workshop gave people an opportunity to create a beautiful urn for their ashes, or for a loved one, human or 4-legged, and to include directives, so that their last wishes would be clear and available to their family or friends. The urns will be fired once, then painted and embellished in the second session.
















Jane LaFazio, working on her house-shaped piece, complete with stamped words and images. She was instrumental in encouraging me to offer this workshop!




















Pamela Underwood's creation seems to be a living, breathing gingerbread cottage filled with words which describe her many roles in life, as well as a beautiful message inside.

The wishing well for peace is nearly finished....the peace sign is covered in a mosaic of mirror pieces and needs grouting, but it's pretty much done, and kids are writing their wishes on pieces of paper and tossing them in. It's a great sight to see....come to ARTS and have a look, maybe make a wish! (http://www.artsurvive.org).

My Star Award! ARTS (A Reason to Survive) nominated me as their volunteer of the year, which was such an honor and a thrill. We joined 800 folks in a wonderful ceremony at the Marriott downtown, where the awards were given to 70 volunteers from organizations involved in the performing and cultural arts. Here I am holding my beautiful award, surrounded by my ARTS colleagues and friends : Brad, Lisa, Patty, Matt (ARTS founder), me, Judy, Jenna.

A Wishing Well for Peace~!

Today was the first day of my association with Kids for Peace, an amazing group of children working together to create a culture of peace locally and globally. (http://www.kidsforpeaceUSA.org) A while ago, one of the groups' founders and directors, Jill McManigal, asked me if I would help create a mosaic wishing well with her group, and today was the day. I thought it would be a great partnership project for ARTS, where I volunteer and teach, (http://www.artsurvive.org) and so Rob Tobin, ARTS' artist in residence, created the wooden structure from a kit, (although he made the peace sign where a bucket would usually be)....and he and I worked with the kids and teens and adults, translating the kids' drawings into mosaic masterpieces on the well. We worked in the back yard of a very cool shop in Leucadia, "It's a Luv Thing"...check it out at http://www.itsaluvthing.com.


Here is a picture of the process of creating a mosaic....the kids took turns smashing perfectly nice bathroom tiles, by putting the tiles inside a paper bag, and hammering them until they became a bunch of smaller, workable pieces. The we made several piles of the pieces, divided by colors. Rob had drawn the kids' designs onto the well, and once we mixed up the mastic, we were in business! Danielle Gram, an amazing teen and co-director of Kids for Peace, helped in so many ways, with her patience and perseverance. Everyone who participated seemed to enjoy the fun of piecing it all together, and it was great to see everyone working side by side.





Several hours later, here's our wishing well....we accomplished a lot today, and have a couple more dates
planned for putting tiles on the roof, half marbles on the peace sign, and painting the upright posts.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and what better way than to spend it putting energy into art for peace~

Sanibel. Florida. Wonderful. Bill and I had a great time, just relaxing and exploring the area by bicycle and pontoon boat. Sanibel is one of my favorite places in the USA, in that it reminds me of the Caribbean but you don't need a passport, don't need to change money, and we never even saw a Starbucks! Here's one of the beaches we went to by boat. As you can see, it wasn't crowded!

Mosaic Guitars...

My first mosaic guitar was the one that my daughter Molly brought to me, saying it was cracked and asking if it could be fixed. I asked a couple of repair people about it, and they said it really wasn't worth fixing it, based on the value of the guitar (how sad)...so I covered it in little ceramic mosaic tiles that I stamped and glazed, along with some pieces of mirror. It does actually still play, although it's still out of tune and very heavy...leading people to say witty things like "not heavy metal" or "heavy acoustic"....hahahaha.










This second mosaic guitar is a tiny one, and I used little mosaic glass pieces and tiny millefiore dots to cover the front of it. I strung it up with copper wire for a different sort of look. It hangs on the wall and is quite the art piece. Now I'm working on a few more mosaic guitars, some of which will grace the walls of the music studio at the new ARTS building in Liberty Station (www.artsurvive.org)

Alex. Sink. Why do cats love to curl up in the sink? My friend Jane recently sent me a link to a Flikr group called "Cats in Sinks" which I had to join, and added this photo of my cat chilling out in the sink. Alex recently had to have surgery, to remove bladder stones, which were causing him to pee on the carpet and other places besides the litter box...I thought it was my older kitty, Pumpkin, who is Sweet 16...but it was Alex. So he is recovering from surgery, seems to be pretty much back in action, and I'm sure will be visiting his favorite sink very soon!

This is my SoulCollage card representing the First Chakra, or Root Chakra. In the SoulCollage process, we use a guided meditation to call forth an animal spirit for each of the seven Chakras....and often, an animal appears that we may or may not expect! The elephant showed up and seemed perfect for the Root Chakra, which is related to survival, security and basic human potentiality. And isn't there a saying, that an elephant never forgets? Watch this space for more SoulCollage cards...and consider joining my next "Introduction to SoulCollage" workshop on Sunday, January 28th. Contact me for details...kat4clay@gmail.com!

My Serene Self - this SoulCollage card represents the part of me that feels calm and at peace, and takes things at a slower pace. It is a challenge for me sometimes, so by making this card, I feel I have created more opportunity to relax, slow down, and enjoy the journey!

Mosaic Project!
This beautiful wedding platter was given as a gift to a friend of a friend of mine. Karen brought me the original platter which had broken pretty badly on one edge, and she wanted to see if there was a way to "fix" it. Well, I have a great desire to make mosaics out of and onto almost anything, so this was a great challenge for me. I decided to carefully cut the rest of the edge of the plate, try to save the middle, and mosaic it! Once the pieces were in place, I grouted it with regular sanded grout and seed beads and crystal gems. The finished product looks very cool, and Karen was happy with it, proclaiming it even better than the original! I love it when things work out like this....

This beautiful mandala was created by one of our "R & Art" participants, after her relaxing massage. Josie used Shiva Oil Sticks, along with her creative mind and fearless approach to blending colors, to make this 18" mandala. Josie is a great artist, who not only paints and enjoys working with encaustic, but writes books and offers art retreats at her home studio. Check out her website: http://yagottahaveart.com/. Thank you to all the cool folks who joined Betsy and me for our second "R & Art" event yesterday! We'll be offering it again in the New Year....Happy Holidays!

My first SoulCollage Workshop went really well! Here is a picture of some of the women looking through images they chose (or that "chose them") for their first SoulCollage card! We had a wonderful group of 9 women who spent their Saturday morning learning about the process of SoulCollage, and making their first card. One participant came all the way from New Hampshire (she is a friend of my very good friend Linda, in Maine.....they paint together every week....and she was in town not for the workshop, but to help her son who had broken his foot...Linda told her about the workshop and the rest is history!) I will now be forming an ongoing SoulCollage group, that will meet once a month to create cards and do readings. My wish has come true!

Upcoming workshop alert! Discover the joys and magic of SoulCollage with a group of like minded folks, Saturday November 4th on the USD campus. Choose either a morning or afternoon session, and enjoy the process of creating your own deck of collaged cards. Learn about the 4 suits, and how to do readings once your cards are created. It's an ongoing process, developed by Seena Frost...check out the website at www.soulcollage.com to learn more about it...then contact me at kat4clay@gmail.com to sign up and get started!

Ahhhhh!

I am really looking forward to our "R and Art" event this Friday, the 13th. My massage therapist friend and office mate Betsy and I are working together...so folks will come in and enjoy a one hour massage followed by an hour of therapeutic art making...and when they are finished, they will be relaxed and in touch with their creative side....plus they receive a special goodie bag! We hope to be offering this once a month.....
Here's a picture of Tony, Bill's English Bull Terrier, demonstrating the art of relaxation!

This is my first posting, which I hope will show up....here's my first SoulCollage card posting!