Migration and Renewal

I have had a bit of a blogging break (you may have noticed).  It has been mainly due to complicating life factors and letting myself get into my own head more than necessary.  Before life got complex, I had decided that I had outgrown Blogger as a platform and moved my URL and unofficially my blog over to WordPress.  I hated WordPress mostly because I was comfy with Blogger and because life was coming unhinged and I used it as an excuse to stop.  I stopped many things. 
I am beginning again now and I am going to give it a go over at WordPress because I am hopeful that the reasons for moving are still there and that starting again will be easier on the new platform (we will see).
I hope you will follow me to my new spot:
www.suzanneiam.com
Thanks for reading my rantings, hopefully you continue.

November Meeting of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective

November Swap Meet at the MCBA Visual Journal Collective, November 17, 2014

The Art Supply Swap Meet for the MCBA Visual Journal Collective is this month's meeting. Join us on November 17, 2014 from 7 to 9 p.m. to swap and silently auction all manner of art materials and art related items.

It’s time to clean your studio, craft cupboard, or art journal bin to hunt down the items you no longer use, hate now that you own, or just don’t want the mental pressure of having sit around and not being used any more so they can be swapped out for an fresh new item that is exciting and fresh.

Plan to arrive a little before 7 p.m. if you have stuff you want to swap or auction. Member Jean Shannon will run the meeting. She will explain the procedure to everyone when the meeting gets under way at 7, but basically there will be tables for you to put your "free" stuff (things you want people to take off your hands) and tables for you to set up stuff you want to silent auction. (There will be sign up bidding sheets for the latter.)

What to Bring:

Art supplies and tools you no longer use but which may still be useful to someone else—so partially full paint tubes and jars of medium, lightly used brushes, pencils sets you've outgrown, partially used rolls of unprimed (or primed) canvas…

Art magazines and books that you want to swap or auction.

Paper scraps, partially used paper pads that you know don't suit your working method but might be fine for someone else…

Photos and dimensions (height, width, depth, and weight) of larger items like easels, desks, light boxes, lamps, etc. that you might want to auction, but don't want to haul in and home again case someone doesn't bid on them (owners will arrange delivery/pick up with the winning bidder).  If you do have larger items and want to generate “buzz” feel free to post a picture to Facebook with a description.

Cash or checks so that you can bid on items—the shop will not be open so all transactions (and change) will have to be made between participants. (I suppose if you have one of those "squares" for your smart phone you could bring that, but you get the idea.)

What Not to Bring:

Actual junk that is not art or journal related. Artworks and crafts that you have made and want to sell or auction—this isn't a sale of your artwork, this isn't what we'll be doing at this meeting.

About the Collective:

The MCBA Visual Journal Collective is an adult visual journaling group (we also have some members who are writers or just journal curious) that meets on the third Monday of each month. The meetings are usually free (sometimes there is a small materials fee if we are making something); they are open to adult journal keepers of all skill levels. Please come and share your ideas and journals with us.

Depending on the amount of stuff brought to the swap and the time it takes to redistribute it we'll have some journal sharing at the end of the meeting so be sure to bring your current journal to show us what you've been working on. We hope to see you on November 17.

MCBA Visual Journal Collective March Meeting

Join us at MCBA, MARCH 17, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 

For Journal as Escape ~ Let's Draw Some Green

This winter has been long and intense even by normal Minnesota standards.  We have had far too much of this . . .

And it's time for some spring!

As a collective we will discuss use of journaling and art as a means of mental escape, exploring some online options and art activities designed as get aways or are merely mental flights of fancy on paper. 

We will also have on hand a wide selection of living green and colorful plant materials that we will sketch and paint together.  We may not have them outside yet, but drawing them inside will be tons of fun I promise. It will be an evening of sharing ideas and art making.

Bring your favorite color producing art materials and a journal to work in and share!

Sketching Quick and Small

I often do not have time to sketch while I am at work, so I have started carrying a zip top baggie of sketch supplies and small squares of Fabriano paper in my bag rather than my regular book.  It cuts down on weight and it limits the space I have to sketch on which in turn limits the time factor involved.

These little papers have ben particularly fun to sketch on when I first arrive at work, sketching for only about ten minutes whatever I see out my front windshield.

My car kit - 4.5 inch squares of Fabriano paper, niji brush,
Daniel Smith watercolors, Faber-Castell pens brush and calligraphy

MCBA Visual Journal Collective - Sixth Annual Portrait Party Reminder

PITT pen size S, Strathmore Mixed Media Sketchbook

Don't forget that Monday, January 20, 2013 is the Sixth Annual Portrait Party of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective. We'll meet at MCBA from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

We'll sketch a partner, and print an editioned photocopier book of all the portraits—and bind the books.  All that fun in 2.5 hours. We've done it before, five times, and we'll do it again, January 20, 2013. It's great fun and I encourage everyone to come out and draw us
with us.

All adult sketchers of any skill level are welcome. Normally our meetings are free, but for this meeting we have a $5.00 fee (exact cash or check; we don't have a way to make change or run VISAs because the shop is closed during our meeting) to offset copying and supplies.

We need to start right on time at 7 p.m. to be sure we have enough time to fit it all in, so be sure to come early as parking can be a problem.

Bring your favorite black ink pen as pencils never copy that well. See you there.

MCBA Visual Journal Collective December Meeting

Join us at MCBA, DECEMBER 16, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 

To view the completed Not-So-Blank Page Group Project

Whether or not you participated (and whether or not you are done) in the nine-month long collaborative project to fill our custom Smash journals "The Not-So-Blank-Page-Project"— you are cordially invited to meet with us tonight for a fun simultaneous viewing party of all the pages. 

We'll see what a page was like originally (my background empty below on the left) and then we'll see what each member of the project did to that page (my completed journal page below on the right). 

It will be a fun evening filled with journaling surprises! 

End the year by being inspired by creative responses to the not so blank page. You'll be all set to jump into your 2014 journal and maybe just a little relieved that this journal is complete.

Accordion Sketchbook Class at MCBA

Accordion-Bound Sketchbook
with Suzanne Hughes
Wednesday, December 11; 6-9pm
Great for beginners
Create an accordion structure from a single piece of high quality art paper (Rives BFK), perfect for sketching, for journaling, or for a photo album. Learn to fold and tab paper sections together to create a long accordion. Wrap boards with decorative paper all created and supplied by the instructor (an assortment of marbled, painted, and paste papers). Use the covered boards to construct a hard cover to house the accordion pages. Then finish off your book assembly with a handy elastic closure.


We will bind this book from prepped materials but the class will include a discussion on other suitable papers for this structure and identifying them, breaking down paper for future books made outside of class, and creating your own decorative papers.
You will leave class with a finished book and the knowledge needed to create more.

Register BY PHONE: 612-215-2520
Register IN PERSON: visit The Shop at MCBA
Register ONLINE:  at MCBA's website