Upcoming Class: Intro to Paste Paper

Next Wednesday, I will be teaching my first fall class at the Makery. I wanted to start with a paper technique that students could use for future bookmaking classes, which I will be teaching later on this season. Paste paper was an obvious choice because it is fun, easy, and we can make it in big sheets to be cut down and used for a variety of projects! This class will be fun and informative if taken on it's own, but can be a building block for those looking to grow as paper crafters and bookmakers. 

What is paste paper exactly? Paste Paper making is kind of like finger painting for grown ups- what's not to love about that?! This decorative technique transforms plain paper into beautifully colored and patterned paper using colored wheat paste or wallpaper past and tools to create patterns using a subtractive method.

Wait, what? Yes, it's as simple as it sounds. You spread colored paste on paper, and make marks in it with tools before it dries. There are ways to add layers of complexity and push it even further, so the technique is good from beginning-advanced students of all ages. In my class, I will be demonstrating a variety of mark making options to create repeating patterns from the understated and elegant to the wild and extravagant! We will also talk about creating a paste paper toolkit out of different traditional household items, as well as traditional painting tools.

I'm very much looking forward to teaching this technique; it is a fun, messy craft and the product of our efforts is high reward for any skill level! If you live in the Orange county or Los Angeles area, I hope you can make it next Wednesday, Oct 24th. The class will be from 7pm-9pm, and we will have a fabulous time!

To sign up for my class, please visit http://themakery.squarespace.com/classes/#ecwid:category=2620507&mode=product&product=15948383

P.S.- Definitely bring your aprons!

Shifting Gears

So I've decided to shift gears on this much neglected blog of mine. It was my catch all personal/creative/art blog for a while, before I abandoned it to join Tumblr.

As I've just graduated with my BFA in Art (crafts emphasis), and I am beginning a few creative endeavors while looking for stable work and musing about grad schools... I am trying to be more conscious of my "brand" as an artist and crafter, and try to create a stronger distinction between my concept-driven art and my craft business.

Elephant Dust has been my Etsy name for a while, but I have only just created product and launched it: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElephantDustHandmade
There are a few things up, and plenty more to come!

Long story short, this blog is to become the official blog of "Elephant Dust Handmade," my line of handmade books and accessories. Thanks for visiting! Cheers! 

Procrastination and Shimmer Paint

I always seem to feel the most creative when I'm in school. And the majority of my creative ideas are geared towards avoidance of my actual art assignments. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to imbue my own secret meanings into whatever still life/landscape/ misc. subject matter I am required to paint, and in so doing, fool myself into believing I am creating the art simply because I want to.

This semester, it's been a struggle to do so. Partially, I think I really psyched myself out with the grand ideas for 2010 and wore myself out with excitement by January 2nd. And 2009 was amazing, but exhausting. I feel like the majority of my lifetime unfolded in 2009. But I digress...

Despite my mental exhaustion, I'll try to follow the rules at school, and in other areas of responsibility. But I've  been trying to take a little time to make these quick little paintings just for me. Mostly little busts and profiles, like miniature paintings or cameos. It's keeping me sane, for the most part. And I find it soothing to make little works that I can fuck up without having a mini panic attack.

This one's made with a cheap-o prange set, a cool metallic set from Art Supply Warehouse and a small travel brush (it's got water already inside of it!) Her face isn't finished yet, but I'm pretty delighted so far.

Watercolor Rorschach Tests

My earliest memory of watercolors was in a summer art program at age 5 or 6. The teacher was trying to teach us color mixing to create the brown of a tree trunk. My efforts resulted a puddly, rainbow-colored tree trunk. When my mom came to pick me up, the teacher showed her my sloppy, soggy rainbow tree and told my mom I had quite the imagination. It was the first time I heard the term "Creative license" used. I was devasted. I hadn't meant to take "creative license," I was attempting to be representational, dammit! It may have been that moment that watercolors became my artistic arch nemesis. And also my favorite media to observe in galleries and watch other artists excel at, with undying admiration!

Determined to conquer my fear of the medium, and even learn to love it for myself, I enlisted in a class as my art elective. And gasp, needless to say, I am in love. I think there must be some fear involved in falling in love, or it doesn't seem real. Just to see those translucent colors mixing and separating on the palette, or a well-made mistake on the paper... a drip, a splash, blooming, spreading, bleeding, salted, splattered. a beautiful mess.

All that Remains of Fall

A Portrait of Mortimer 12/09

created for my musical muse, Josh.

(become friends with Mort the skull on facebook!)

Untitled Still Life 11/09

my final in class assignment in Painting class last Fall.

I think once it is framed, it will claim a home in the hall at the top of the staircase in my mom's house. My sister likes it because it has an almost steampunk quality to it.

Grant us the Serenity...

  

secular test-tube mezuzah

The tube is embellished with each of the five elements and symbols of seasons. It contains a paper scroll tightly wrapped around a head of wheat,  and bound with red thread. 

In black ink, the inside reads:

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

And on the outside of the scroll, scrawled faintly in ephemeral pencil marks, a warning:
“If you don't create change, change will create you”

The test tube text marks my door, just as change marks my life, and the passage of years will begin to mark my face and body.
It reminds me daily to do more than accept change, but to welcome it, to make it my ally. To always be proactive rather than reactive.


On a more global scale, It pleases me to see the Ghandian philosophy of "being the change" we want to see in the world is steadily being brought to the forefront in our collective consciousness.

And as this new year begins, I foresee so much potential for 2010. It can be magical. It's not going to be easy. I have the suspicion it's going to take a lot of valiant effort on the part of all. But it's going to be so worth it.

Postpartum: 2009

It's that feeling I get anytime I make something or do something I consider a great personal feat or success. Like I had channeled some force completely outside of myself, and the final result has made its exodus from my being and I am left vulnerable and doe eyed.

It's the downward slope near the end of a relationship continuum. Where you look down and see the end of something in site, followed by the gaping infinite space where the fear and endless possibility dwell.

it is the door you close before another door opens, and you are left for several heart-pounding moments in a whispering dark hallway.

2009 has been quite the dichotic one. A veritable yin-yang of good and bad. Or maybe that's an unfair assessment... as many events are not exclusively good or bad, but no less emotionally challenging. I feel haggard.

I can scarcely remember anything that happened before beginning my first semester at CSUF in August, except to say that much of my summer was geared towards preparing for this past fall. Actually, I can hardly remember the past year beyond my 2 weeks in Australia early December.

What the hell happened this past year?

Many many beginnings and endings in such little time. I know many of us have lost friends, mentors, family members, and I want to take the time to remember them especially right now, before the year is over.
Conversely, some of us have found friends, mentors and family members as well, and so in the face of loss, the world continues to turn in a hopeful little way.

One thing is certain, this has not been a neutral year. It has been highly emotionally charged.
Full of many failures and successes. One thing right after another. I don't think I've laughed or cried quite so much in years prior to this one. Maybe a bit towards the end of '08, that fall was a pretty good lead in to this year...

But... in summation: 2009. Weirdly... you will be missed? Or not, you were fucking exhausting. But much of it I wouldn't change... there were some great gems this year. Some of it I would change, but eh. There you have it. Never try to control the uncontrollable. Bend to avoid splitting in the storm, and when the spring comes, you live again. And stronger for it. It's all cyclical.

2010: What lies ahead? How the hell do you follow an act like 2009?? I'm a little excited, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also pretty scared. Mostly I'm afraid of stagnation and complacency. As much as I need a little respite, I don't need to get too comfortable. It may be that I'm becoming a bit addicted to the reality or ideology of change.

Let's make 2010 incredible, shall we?

Bunny- the stuffed animal with a higher degree than me (MFA, no joke), travel journal handcrafted by your's truly, and a cup of refreshing tea. Victoria, Australia 11/09