Art Unraveled - Chris Cozen's Class

Chris Cozen is a very patient and calm instructor. She brings lots of materials for students to use and is a representative for Golden Paints so you get a wealth of good information.  We started out by spreading colors around on paper and learning a lot about the properties of the paint, color mixing and composition.  Above is the final, below is its start:

Later in the class we developed the experimental works into images and themes that were of our own particular interest. I went with the map concept. I told Chris I didn't want to do any "girly" colors and yet I have pink in my work! How did that happen? Below is start and then finish:

 

The one below was a lesson with Golden Flow acrylics - I didn't finish it but I think I can transform this into another one of my maps eventually.

 

 

(Susan speaks: I've taken the picture 3 times and uploaded it 3 different ways. Somehow it still is getting a moiré pattern on it, with or without tweaking in Picasa and/or Adobe Photoshop. It is just on a plain white canvas. Go figure.)

 

Sitting next to me in class was Marlene from Phoenix. Marlene entertains me with fascinating, hilarious catastrophe stories about her life and family and always manages to make me laugh.  She does really nice work:

 

 

Art Unraveled is held at an Embassy Suites which makes me very happy because I can get a really big breakfast and meet up with my Posse, which includes Carol (on the right) from Dripping Springs, TX, and Betsy from New Hampshire. I'd like to tell you the names of the other women in my Posse but they probably would prefer to keep their activities from their husbands/boyfriends - that's why their backs are to the camera.  Breakfast is the time when we all get a chance to visit with each other and just catch up what's happening in other classes. Where's Susan? Other than taking this picture she was probably sitting with other people and catching up on their class info. In the mornings it's like Happy Hour socializing, but with lots of coffee instead of a drink.

 

 

 

 

Art Unraveled - Jane Davies' Class

In the morning the class was Layers and Textures and I just didn't get that. Once we got home and unpacked all our stuff I realized I had enjoyed the process but really didn't have any pieces I wanted to keep as examples or reminders or even just photograph.  In the afternoon the class was Teeny Tiny Art and we made lots of little pieces that were just 4" squares.  This class I got.

I'm all the way out to Phoenix in a class and wind up meeting another person from Austin. How does that happen?  Here is Jane Cobb's work:

 

 

Maybe this is Helen's work:

 

 

I think, but am not sure, but whatever, that this is my friend Marlene's work:

I take pictures and forget Susan's advice, which is to follow the picture of the work with a picture of the person's nametag. Or, when in a museum, the picture of the signage next to the artwork. So, Marlene, Helen and Jane, if I got it wrong, sorry. I'll try better next year.

ArtUnraveled - April Bower's Class

 

I'd like to claim all of these as mine but noooo, they are all made by April Bower.  The class I took from her was "Reticulated Bi-Metal Bracelet" - the bi-metal was sterling bonded to copper or to brass so it's different on each side. The lower right bracelet in the picture above is an example of the edges folded and formed over so you see the contrast in the material.  But first we practiced on just plain copper -- shaping and forming and then applying patina.

 

Here's one of my bracelets, start to finish, marking, texturing, folding, shaping, patina:

 

 

 

 

And the final product:

 

 

Here's another bracelet I made in her class:

 

 

And finally, here's the bi-metal bracelet that I finished up the day with.  We move fast at ArtUnraveled and April makes sure we get our money's worth.  She'll be teaching at Art Retreat in the Desert next year and I might be going to that.

 

 

There will be more to come from our ArtUnraveled classes but I can't make the Blog Wrangler move any faster -- she insists she has library books to read and return and that we have 2 Netflix DVDs that have been waiting for us for nearly a month. We did watch "The Company You Keep" with Robert Redford. (Susan speaks: Time has not been kind to that man and he probably should have used more sunscreen when he was younger.) Only 3 stars for that one. Last night we watched "21 Jump Street" - silly and improbable and just easy watching - 4 stars for not being overdone with ponderous themes and special effects.

 

We don't get to our Netflix DVDs as fast as we used to because I'm hooked on too many TV shows: The Last Ship, The Strain (gross!), Major Crimes, Legends, and my favorite, The Tyrant. 



I Unravel Art

It's me, in a class taught by Jane Davies, at ArtUnraveled. We had a great time, visited with old friends, took lots of classes and got really tired of driving when we headed back to Texas.

Why weren't you here?

More to come.

Birdies and Pods

This drawing was done by one of my friends here, Kate, and it is much better looking than this photo. I traded her some little ceramic birds for this drawing and I really love it.  I got the better half of the deal because she's a very talented artist.

A real pod that I'm watching so I can salvage it when it dries up:

Some more squash-type pods I'm working on:

Give-Aways

This little Sweater Child has stayed in place along our hike-and-bike trail for a long time now. I placed it at this memorial area some people set up for a cyclist who was killed.

This picture was taken in February:

This picture was taken last month:

The little Sweater Child gets moved around but still seems to stay there.  Other Sweater Children I've placed in other areas have disappeared. That's OK, it's a give-away plan, a plan that this person seems to have gotten their head into also (picture taken along a different trail):

Rain is GOOD

This is below one of the dams along the Colorado River that runs through Austin. We had some very heavy rain recently but as you can see it doesn't help very much with our long drought. But we'll take what we can get! The turtles are happy now.

People wonder what I do with my day when I'm not working with clay or at school, helping unload the kilns or in classes. I really hate to admit this but here where I live we often do jigsaw puzzles. Yes, just like really old people. Which we all are!  A few residents started doing puzzles in one of our lobby areas and Susan started going down there at night and working with them and sometimes now I join in too.  It's a visual challenge and a great way to socialize and catch up on the neighborhood gossip.

They have some rules about doing jigsaw puzzles: 

1000 pieces only --the table is too small for more than that

and 500 is too easy.

No egos. If you ask if a piece fits right and someone says NO,

get over it.

No eating or drinking at the puzzle table

(a hard-earned lesson).

If you manage to fit at least three pieces together

you can claim to be a Trained Professional.

And the rule they all enjoy:

Lots of trash-talking.

 

The lobby is on a direct access route out of the building so they see lots of people coming and going and get lots of advice and comments from everyone -- usually along the lines of "I can't believe you have been able to put that hard puzzle together!"  (Amateurs!)

 

They have posted a rule that says if you aren't there you might be talked about. I got hooked one night when I wandered down, only to find out the puzzle was (drum roll, please) ... beer bottles! Here's a picture of me with Virginia, one of my good friends and a definite Trained Puzzle Professional. And we've almost finished the puzzle.

 

 



 

Never Mind What's Inside

A while back Susan had a birthday and I wrapped up some presents for her. We aren't big on gift-giving because we know that if we really want something we just tell the other person "I'm getting that for myself." And besides, we don't need any more stuff.  Except for books, which are two of the above gifts, thank you, Amazon (even though you are making publishers mad).

So I've got these nicely wrapped gifts in some great paper we bought a roll of at a garage sale and then I didn't know how to wrap the last one which was red nylon tote bag you can fold up real small. Dumb gift but we have No Bag rule now in Austin at stores and she is always forgetting to take in her own bag. This way the tote bag will stay at the bottom of her purse and she'll always have it. That's the plan anyway.

Well, I found some burlap scraps and then tied it up with a little metal piece I had made before. What the heck - it was a last minute thing.

Being married to a person who loves art and goes to museums and makes art herself makes life much easier. She totally ignored the nicely gift-wrapped books and charged off to photograph the little tote bag wrapping and then started fiddling with the burlap.  It was sort of like when people give a toddler an expensive toy and all they want to do is play with the box it came in.

 

 

Really Fine Pods ... that aren't mine!

Way cool! These two pods, made of slip decorated porcelain, are called "Pair of Sea Urchins", by Maggie Barnes and are from the Arkansas Arts Center Collection.  They were on display at the Crystal Bridges Museum and I am in total awe of the fine detail she got on them.

Here's a close-up:

This is my feeble attempt at something I did a while back, before I saw her work. Do we need to discuss any more why she is in a museum collection and I am not? Well, not yet anyway. Hope springs eternal or something like that.

Crystal Bridges and a Lonely Pod

Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, Arkansas.

In the rain, as seen from inside the museum.

Perfect.

In April we took a road trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, just to see the Crystal Bridges Museum. We were prepared to be underwhelmed by the whole experience -- Arkansas??? Wal-Mart town??? A little museum in Arkansas???

Instead, we were totally impressed. We drove the first day to Tulsa where we found out that their rush hour traffic lasts for about 25 minutes, as opposed to Austin's rush hour traffic that lasts for about 3 hours. Seth, the friendly clerk at the hotel checking us in, asked where we were from and when we said Austin he said "Why would anyone want to leave Austin?" Sure enough, Seth is an aspiring musician. We warned him Austin is expensive but he's young so he'll probably come here anyway. If you are Country-Western you go to Nashville, everyone else aims for Austin.

The next morning we headed for Bentonville with a stop on the way to apply for the TSA pre-check program. We were lucky enough to be randomly selected for this the last time we flew and it was great - shoes on, no baggage checking. Probably now that we have it ($85 for 3 years), we'll get unlucky and be randomly selected to go through the regular lines! It involved documents providing who we were, citizenship, residence, etc., answering questions (not many) and photo and fingerprinting. Everything went smoothly except for the fact that fingerprinting Susan was not an easy task - the grooves on her fingers have worn down! She surmises that it is from years of quilting and handling fabrics and years of messing with paints and repeatedly scrubbing at her hands with rough sponges. That, and the fact that she really wants to be in the Witness Protection Program so Time-Warner will quit calling her and asking her to upgrade her TV connection.

We were skirting bad weather the whole trip and it finally caught up with us as we got into Bentonville. Regardless, the town is lovely -- really neat and clean. We almost felt like we were in the movie Truman. Everyone is pleasant and friendly, and did I tell you everything is clean? I guess when you are the Wal-Mart headquarters you want to look good and you support the town with your tax base and there was NO trash anywhere at the public park we went to.  Added feature? That area of Arkansas is really pretty.

Yes, there was a lot of rain once we got into the muesum. This is a shot looking at the section of the museum that has the restaurant where I stuffed myself on Chicken and Waffles. It spans over the river which was very full due to the thunderstorm that came through while we were in there.

Maybe it's not a river but a creek? Whatever, this is looking downstream at some of the outdoor sculptures. Because of the rain we didn't do the hiking paths around it, we'll do that next time.

The galleries are spacious with benches in each area so you can sit and look at the art or just rest your feet. Why do so few museums have places where you can sit? Is it like having a noisy restaurant - they think you'll find it uncomfortable and hurry out so they can bring more people in?

One of Susan's favorites - Giocometti's Annette.

And of course I have to admire Odalisque by Matisse.

One lonely pod.

And Pods Again

Not sure how I'm going to glaze these.  Susan is beginning to mutter stuff about leaving them unglazed.

No, this isn't a pod. This is the lunch I ate at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was the first time I ever had Fried Chicken and Waffles and you could walk on me with high-heel shoes and I'd still keep right on eating it. Wow! How did I ever miss this treat?  Arteries, prepare to abandon ship, cholesterol, just surrender now.  Here I come!

More on Crystal Bridges later. We were prepared to be disappointed but instead were surprised and absolutely delighted with the city. the state, and the museum.

Pods Again

These are similar to others I've done but this time I'll try to get the glazing right so we don't have to touch it up with acrylic paint. Although I do like the effect the gold paint can provide.

Latest Netflix: The Artist gets 5 stars. We put off watching it because, honestly, who wants to watch a silent movie? It turned out to be a great movie with a clever twist and thoroughly held our attention. Before that one we watched Paul - a totally stupid, cute, funny movie (4 stars) that made us laugh out loud at the scene of an alien mooning people. We ran that back 3 times and laughed every time.  Loved the references to old alien movies, which I'm sure anyone under 40 would not get unless they watched oldies.

Latest book finished: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It won a Pulitzer prize and definitely deserved it.  I'm dyslexic so I listen to books on Audible.com and wasn't sure about this one because it seemed so long (over 33 hours) and I only listen an hour or two at night.  It was so good that after finishing listening to it I took Susan's hardback copy (she hasn't read it yet) and carefully read the last chapter just to savor it all over again. 

Trivia: We were lucky enough to see the goldfinch painting by Fabritius at the Frick when we were in New York City.  Let me rephrase that: Susan remembers seeing it and pointing it out to me. I don't remember it.  OK, OK, there were a lot of paintings in that place!