Collage Gone Wild!

A fun workshop in which we layered gesso, paints, papers, stamps, tissue, more stamps, more paint, and created these cool folded books!

Thanks to those of you who joined me at 2KatStudios and jumped right in!

Check my website for other creative workshops!

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!

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

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!

Yellow Brick Road and Poppies

Poppies

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

The Yellow Brick Road

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!

Art4Tots #2

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!

Frog Mosaic

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!

Ghost Ranch Painting Workshop

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!

Mosaics and Margaritas

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!!