Artist Retreat This Time Around

At times you could hear a pin drop. At other times laughter and hilarity reigned. It was once again a wonderful retreat.

We arrived with an incredible amount of "stuff" and produced an equally incredible amount of art.

I have tried to capture a corner of our work room in the photo above.

Many of us participated in two creativity challenges.

Artist Trading Cards

We used any medium to create 2.5X3.5" cards. Each card is signed and numbered on the back and gives the artist's contact information. The cards are given to or traded with other artists.

Here are some samples of our efforts and a picture of part of the clothes lines of cards produced. We had a fun card exchange at the end of the day.


The Shoe As Art

Our shoes had varied histories. One thing they seemed to have in common was that they were worthless in their present state. Sorry, I did not think to do before and after shots.

Here are some of the final products. They are now Priceless.


We left on Thursday afternoon with these treasures, lots of memories and some fine art started, finished or just in mind. A great time. Thanks to all the 26 great artists friends who made it happen.

A Time For Art

Off To My Artists Retreat

Monday will begin a special time with 26 fellow members of Women Contemporary Artists. We will be at Day Spring Center in Palmetto Florida for our annual “retreat”.

Our cars, loaded with art making gear will arrive at our big, windowed, workroom at or around 10 am. Yours truly will be early.

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The first order of business is meet and greet: lots of hugs and talk as we stake out a table and set up for some serious work and fun. Fueled by muffins and coffee we cover tables and chairs, don aprons, fill water containers and make the space “ours”. We get keys, find cabins and unpack tooth brushes and paint wear, and some of us will even get to work before lunch.

Ah, lunch. All meals appear without cooking, planning, shopping or cleaning up! Only a woman can fully appreciate it. And we do

This year we have two special workshops for those who wish to participate: “Shoes As Art” and “Artist Trading Cards”. I will arrive with two large brown bags of stuff carefully gathered for said projects. (With luck there will be pictures next week). For those who have other projects and can resist the hilarity and mayhem that usually accompanies these workshops, it is perfectly acceptable to work on ones own

Some things we have done in the past.

Day Spring is a beautiful, wooded property ideal for walks, reflection, or plein air painting. I am sure there are many ways for artists to “retreat”. Ours has been happening for many years, the past 10 or so at Day Spring. It has evolved with us. Try your own. It will be special too.

Vacation Inspiration

Let me begin at the end. We read a travel report that said if this fellow had only one day to stay in Copenhagen he would take a Boat Tour of the city, eat at his favorite restaurant and spend the day at Louisiana. We did two of the three. My inspiration came from the last, a visit to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Located on “The Sound” a strait between Denmark and Sweden that connects the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean the Museum sits atop a bluff and the Sculpture Gardens reach down to the water.

Inside the sprawling site there are major works by Giacometti Warhol and the like as well as special exhibitions by the contemporary avant garde. Hours of wandering and delight for any contemporary artist.

The architectural firm 3xN's Learning from Nature pavillon in Louisiana's Sculpture Park

We were there for a large-scale exhibition on sustainable architecture, “Green Architecture for the Future” The ingenuity and energy demonstrated gave a sense of optimism for the future. It was creativity in action.

Louisiana was a day in the park with wonderful art and stimulating ideas. I would love to have one of my paintings described that way.

From Russia

We are in Moscow at the moment. Spent yesterday learning about the Russian avant garde artists. Great time. We will be on the Volga and off the net for the next ten days or so.

The above painting is called Venice and was one of my favorites. (Label later.)

Ready to Go!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Ready to Go!

The luggage is packed and ready to go. Now, if we can also get ready to accompany the bags, all will be OK. That is still in some doubt.

I hope to be able to post to Art Alive while traveling. To follow the trip go to Round The World

Phone Painting

Robert Genn of The Painter's Keys had what I considered an intriguing letter about painting on an iPhone. Now I have had an iPod since my last birthday and it does most things the iPhone does except phone and take pictures. I was hot to trot.
The iPod store said yes the new Brushes App. would work and I could have it as a download for $4.99. SOLD.
The Brushes program is listed under "entertainment" and it is clearly not intended as a Professional Tool (Whatever that is.) I have a Wacom Pad and Corel's Painter Program. At this point Brushes is, for me, more like finger painting. It is indeed glorious fun.
If you want to hear more about this tool and see iphone art by David Hockney and others, check it out on Painter's Keys. You might also enjoy the comments and discussion of digital art. Sorry, Robert Genn is generous about sharing but I was unable to make a link here.

Google Search gave me lots of amazing examples of phone art and a You Tube video of a portrait being created on iPhone.

We leave tomorrow for a short vacation with family. Those air miles will slip away as I practice painting on my iPod. May even share some of the results next week.

Sorry about the links. I will try again, but just now I must go pack. We leave at 6:30 AM.

My Studio

Where it all happens.
Welcome.

My Place to Paint.

This is the corner of my studio where most of the painting happens. Note that the easel is empty because I am working flat on a series of 12x12" canvases at the moment.

My Place to Plan.
My corner for thinking, planning, reading, watching a video, or napping.

My Place to Compute and Print.

Sometimes I think my computer and printers do as much work as my brushes. I could not function without them.

A View to Feed My Spirit.

The view from that window behind my work table.

Thanks for taking my virtual tour. You are most welcome to come for a real tour. Just be prepared for a little clutter and watch where you step. That might be art underfoot.