Alley Art Studio – Page 19

The Mixed Media Artist: The Book

About a year ago, I was on a big trip out of the country when I received an e-mail form Seth inviting me to be a Spotlight Artist in his new book that was in the works (check out his first book, The Pulse of Mixed Media). It didn’t take me long to say “yes.” The yes involved answering a series of art-related questions and creating two new pieces of art using specific prompts as my inspiration and direction. I was sworn to secrecy about the art and the questions. Until now.

"What Came Before" in response to the prompt "Below the Surface" — “What Came Before” in response to the prompt “Below the Surface”

Seth is featuring all of the Spotlight Artists on his blog during the month of October, calling it 30 Artists/30 Days. Visit Seth’s blog at The Altered Page and go to his October 6th post to read what Seth wrote about me. Check in every day this month and you’ll get to meet 30 great artists. And the best part is that if you leave a comment on Seth’s blog, you have the opportunity to win a copy of Seth’s new book (three chances!).

But let me back up. I don’t even remember when I first became aware of Seth. I began reading his blog and leaving comments several years ago. I remember being impressed because Seth would often write back with a personal thank you for the comment I left. Then I entered a drawing for a copy of one of his early publications, The Pulse, and won! We became acquainted with this online give and go and I was always struck by how personable Seth was, not to mention I was attracted to his art because he incorporated lots of texture, layers, and rusty bits. All of which are my favorite things.

Then came the invitation to be part of his second book, The Mixed Media Artist. I answered the series of questions (there were a LOT), which was fun. Here’s one example.

Name four things on your studio table:

1) My well-loved, paint spattered wooden handled awl; it is coveted by my art friends.

2) A soy latte.

3) Palette knife.

4) Black beautician’s gloves to protect my hands.

When I was working on the art for Seth’s book, I was in this studio, a separate little house I had turned into my studio:

Me at Alley Art Studio before I moved my studio home. I'm working on my piece for Seth's book. — Me at Alley Art Studio before I moved my studio home. I’m working on my piece for Seth’s book.

And then we moved and I moved my studio home to this new space:

My clean and tidy (and very lonely) new studio

Last December, around the time that everything for the book was becoming due, I went to New York for a week and made arrangements to meet up with Seth. It was such a thrill to finally meet my friend in person after so much online communication. We met up at a coffee shop and had fun chatting (and Seth shared a bit about the progress on the book). I took Seth an 8×8 piece of art as a little gift.

Then in May of this year, Seth was on a whirlwind teaching trip in the northwest and landed in Portland. We made arrangements to get together again for a meal, but also for some junking and antiquing at some of my favorite places in Portland. My husband joined us for the afternoon, and Howard commented several times what a wonderful guy Seth is – so personable, so warm, such a great conversationalist (and he likes baseball).

Seth and Dayna at The Rebuilding Center in Portland

Seth at Paxton Gate on N. MIssissippi in Portland

Seth and Howard outside Portland Hardware.

If you’ve read this far, I’d like to share some photos of recent pieces of art I have created. All of these are 8×8, plaster, oil and cold wax on a cradled wood substrate.

"You Wander Far and Return" — “You Wander Far and Return”

"A More Powerful Language" — “A More Powerful Language”

"The Silence of the Morning" — “The Silence of the Morning”

"In the Open Field" — “In the Open Field”

Finally, I’ll share my self-portrait. This was created for Seth’s book when we were asked to create a twist on a self-portrait; I chose the prompt: My Shadow Side.

Thanks, Seth, for being so generous, honest, creative, inspiring, and for bringing like-minded artists together. I am honored to be a member of your tribe.

PS: The Mix Media Artist comes out this month! You can have a peek inside and pre-order by going to Amazon.

Slightly Off Kilter: The Opening

My new show, Slightly Off Kilter, opened Friday night at Lunaria Gallery. I’m sharing the gallery show with Deborah Unger, who has carved figurative wood sculptures using paint and cloth to create quiet scenes, often with an underlying sense of unease. My portion of the show includes vibrant, textural paintings using oil and cold wax to create layers of luminosity and interesting intersections of lines. (I also have a few new Funky Junkyard Birds for sale and the SOK Blocks I wrote about a couple weeks ago.)

Onward with the opening . . . .

The opening on Friday night was part of Silverton’s regular First Friday event and the gallery was filled with a steady stream of friends and art lovers.

And from the street as the gallery was closing for the night.

To Teach Or Not To Teach

I love to teach. I love to make art. Sometimes I can’t seem to make the two jive. If I’m teaching, it seems to gobble up so much of my available art time: devising classes, making samples, then proposing them; making lists of supplies for students to purchase, making lists of what I’ll provide and need to bring. Then there is the endless and constant promoting. I love providing a class packet with handouts, again time-consuming to create and assemble. When class time arrives, there are boxes of supplies to pack up and schlep to the site of the class, the reverse when the class is over, pack everything up, take it back to the studio and put it all away. Time. Such a valuable commodity.

I took off all of 2012 from teaching. I didn’t teach a single class and I didn’t offer any sessions of The Artist’s Way. Instead, I focused on creating art. It paid off. I had a solo show in Silverton at Lunaria Gallery in August of last year, and as a result, was invited to join the gallery as a member. I also had a solo show at Portland’s Guardino Gallery in March of this year, a dream come true.

As 2013 approached, I started thinking about teaching again. I decided to offer a 12-session of The Artist’s Way and it filled immediately. I was approached by The Art Department in downtown Salem about teaching a couple of classes and I came up with two: Layers of Memory (a plaster and painting class) and Oil and Cold Wax: Abstracted Play. The plaster class sold out immediately with a waiting list; I offered it again a couple of months later and again it sold out (with another waiting list). The oil and cold wax didn’t sell out, but since teaching it, I received many e-mails from people asking me when I would be teaching it again. I was contacted by The Art Department about teaching classes again over the next couple of semesters. I paused. I needed to decide if teaching was where I wanted to put my focus. I always come away from my classes energized and full of satisfaction. It is gratifying to share techniques and nurture others on their creative journey. But something was causing me to hesitate.

I chatted with my husband, a huge supporter of my art, whether teaching or creating. His preference has always been for me to concentrate on making art, not teaching it, but if I chose to teach, he’d be right there schlepping boxes for me. His advice was to back away from teaching and focus on making art.

I made the decision not to teach any more classes this year. I’ll most likely offer a 12-week session of The Artist’s Way again at the beginning of 2014 as that is a different type of offering, less about teaching and more guiding, facilitating, and nurturing.

I sometimes have pangs of regret about my decision. When I see someone else teaching what I had proposed or what I have been teaching, it causes me to second guess my decision. That’s why I’m writing this blog post. I thought if I revisited my decision, then shared it publicly, it would remind me why I made the decision I did. Right now, I’m focusing on a show I have in August at Lunaria. I’ve made a proposal to a favorite venue in Portland about a possible show in the future. And I would love to have another show at Guardino sometime in the future. I’m always looking for new opportunities to share my work. But to create a body of work, to explore and grow and express myself through my art, it means devoting lots of time in the studio.

Studio Vignettes

I’m working on a new series of paintings for an August show. which I’ll be sharing more about later. I’m also working on a large batch of new Funky Junkyard Birds, but they aren’t ready to make their appearance quite yet. So, in lieu of art I thought I would share some vignettes from my painting studio. I don’t want to share a grand view of my studio because that would give away too many peeks at my new art, but I can share some of my fun little collections.