Owl parade continues

Here is another addition to the owl collection from this school year.

This example comes from my Craft/Print lab class; the assignment was to use your name as book content and create your own lettering and theme. Students then used an accordion structure and paste paper element to create a complete work. This is the example that I finished as a part of doing daily demonstrations to instruct the students and as always to create a high quality example to motivate the group.

Visual Journaling Sketch-Out

Today I went to the Washington County Fairgrounds for the Harvest Shepherd's Festival. I went as a part of the visual journal group I have been going to with Roz Stendahl. Only two other members were there as far as I know, but I had a good time anyway and am glad I went.

It was a cold, semi-rainy day, so not ideal weather for sketching at an outdoor event.

The barns were not so bad though, and I got a few sketches of goats, sheep, and llamas today. I do not usually draw animals from life, they tend to move too much and it becomes challenging, so today was an experience. I learned out about waiting for an animal to turn back around and about doing quick gesture drawings to capture the idea rather than all the details. I also do not usually draw in public so it was distracting at first to get in the groove an ignore the milling people.

That being said I think I did ok and I am excited to go out and sketch again. I also got a couple of photos and I am hoping to do a small painting or more complete drawing from them in the future.

Owl on parade

Cleaning photos off my camera and editing photos for self portraits in my drawing I class tomorrow, I found this tile I had made earlier this winter. It is stoneware with glass and glaze. It is one of three clay owls I made this year.

MCBA Visual Journal Collective.

Last monday night I went down to the Minnesota Center of Book Arts (MCBA) to meet with the Visual Journal collective for their monthly meeting (link will take you to Roz Stendahl's blog about the meeting; she is the group's leader). I have been going to meetings since the beginning of the year and I throughly enjoy the group and the chance it gives me to draw something new once a month - oh - and the kick in the pants it gives me to draw as much as possible during any regular week.

Last week we had a special speaker, Karen Engelbretson, who is a local graphic designer and botanical artist. She talked to us about drawing botanicals as well as using our art on stuff, rather than just having it sit in journals or sketchbooks.

As always it was a good time. These pears were each done during a five minute sketch that night using a sharpie pen.

The first in a line of owls.

This year in my classes as I have been doing demonstrations and examples, I have been repetitively using an owl as my subject matter whenever possible. This started by accident and since noticing my tendency towards owls, I have just embraced it and have been very intentional about my choice to use an owl.

This has created a body of owl work through the school year. I think the most interesting part has been using an owl as a subject or theme across a wide variety of mediums.

In a simple effort to try and post more, here is the newest in an upcoming parade of owls as I bring home my examples and projects to pack up for the summer.

This owl was created this week as I began a unit on block printing with an introductory project. The print block is small, 2 x 3 inches, and carved out of and easy cut rubber sort of product. So it is more of a stamp, but it is printed with water-based speedball ink on regular white paper.

Virtual Paintout - Canary Islands

I have finally finished another Virtual Paintout image after only beginning images the last two months. This month's location is the Canary Islands. I have picked out several more map views and hope to do another later this week.

Art and teaching art, a pleasing cycle.

Sometimes it amazes me how I can have a topic or idea that I have wanted to try or have been meaning to try, and how I often do not experiment myself until I am talking to a student about how it could be useful for them to try something new. After that discussion I inevitably try the new thing myself to work out the kinks, so they can have a successful experience and through this process I try something new.

Today, I had a student ask me how she could put song lyrics into a painting without collage or handwriting. I recommended image transfer, something I have been meaning to try but just haven't. Needless to say, I spent a good part of my afternoon and now a bit longer, working out how she can transfer lyrics using an acrylic gel transfer process that is quite simple. The bonus is I do not have to go in search of supplies other than what I already have in my classroom. Which means she can try it herself tomorrow, and I tried it today, liked it, and will do it again in my own work. Wow, I love my job.

Here is the trial image. It is a photocopy of a watercolor painting that I then drew on in ink, to show a different student how he might try something new . . . which I transfered onto a sheet of watercolor batik paper from something I showed another student. . .

Did I mention how great my job is?