Only Day Two from Castle Hill Workshop

student palette

It is only day two from my workshop in Truro and between the sunsets and the energy in the workshop things are started to happen.

Balancing Act

Are you listening? 10"x 8"  oil on board 2012

It has always been a balancing act trying to work, paint, have a family and the rest but lately it has felt extra hard and frustrating. I have been out of the studio so much that I had an anxiety attack the other day. It was one those, I think I will stay in bed and sleep days. But  I told myself what I would tell a friend or a student: "Just get in there, shut the inner voices off and work".  I actually listened.  I took my coffee down to the studio and  decided  to "take stock" and  really look at everything hanging around, which totals to about 25 pieces in various stages. I found a few works that were waiting for me to name  and photograph. These three little paintings are from a group of 8  that are almost done and there are 6 24 x 24's  that are up and ready to be finished. Now I just have to get back in there.

The Pit  10"x 8" oil on board 2012

The Mirror 10" x 8"  oil on board 2012

Whoa...Montana!

I am back from Montana.I still can't believe what an amazing experience it was!

Sara Mast and I came up with the concept "Fuse" for our workshop last year.  Our vision of how it would unfold came true.

It is not until you are in big sky country that you get  it. There is an openness and connectedness to the earth and the cosmos that I never felt before.

Sara opened her house and studio for 4 days to myself and 3  students. It was a small workshop  that created huge energy...so much that the rains and rainbows came almost every night.

We spent the first day going over  materials, health and safety practices with both encaustic and oil along with basic technical information. The second day  things heated up. Sara and I "riffed" on  the 30 drawings in 60 seconds. Everytime I do this excercise myself it changes, so adding Sara's input to the mix was great. We watched as the participant's uptightness left and freedom seeped in. There was collaboration and dialog.

Hanging the work up is the time to look, see, analyze, reflect and discuss ways to move forward. This is not about product, finished works of art or creating a "style". This exercise along with others are about discovery and reconnecting.

We demonstrated our own unfolding process of collaborating together. It is something we have been discussing for a while, collaborating not only by teaching together, but by painting together.

`

It was fun but we need to work on knowing when to stop...maybe we need to do a timed session.
 

We also worked on a monoprint together.

And we had the students try it out. It was very interesting to watch the egos  coming and going.

Another group activity

Three of the days we had a Gyrokinesis instructor and a Nia instructor give us a class. We all felt  tensions being released after hard work in the studio and a sense of community.

Here we are on the last day..very happy but very sad for it to be over.

 We are plotting and planning for next years workshop.  Mark your calendar: Workshop 1- July 28-August 1.  5 spots are filled
If you are interested please email me: lpart@earthlink.net
or Sara:sara.mast@wildblue.net

From painter Karen Chesterman
"The atmosphere of the workshop was one of playfulness and serious focus.  Sara and Lisa demonstrated the limitless possibilities of expression inherent in the medium.  It was just what I needed to take back to my studio.  Thanks you again for a great workshop,  you guys are a dymanic duo....."

Photos from Asheville

 

 

30 Drawings in 30 minutes

I have been using an exercise in my workshops for over a year now and it is by far one of the best ways to get students to loosen up and stretch.( I should give credit to one of the books that gave me the idea but I don't remember which one, sorry) I used the format and have improvised on it. It is 30 drawings in 30 minutes on small paper with mixed media. I usually start out in black and white and then introduce various materials as I go along.  It is a call and response kind of thing...fast,  guided but no thinking involved. It brings out the inner vocabulary along with strengths and possible weaknesses, It also allows for further development....idea making and possibilities. It is amazing when you put them all up what information they hold. You can see my assistant's post about it here.


At Cullowhee, I did the exercise for my students and then again with Rebecca's class but one of her students missed it. So I decided to do it one more time with Leslie, one of my people, calling the time and prompts so that I could participate. It was the first time I did the exercise and it wasn't as easy as I have led people to believe. Time, judgment, criticism, and crap gets in the way real quick.  I managed to push that aside and get moving.

Leslie had us do the first 15  drawings in black and white and the next 15 in color...the same directions. Below are an example of a few of mine. The prompts are suppose to be a structure. When I call them I get a kick out of the people who don't follow the rules, and of course I was one of those!

Scribbling, line making, shape making, emotions, were just some of the directions

"Making marks"

Sadness

Quiet

Loud

I don't remember what prompt this was but I like the space and the tiny spot of red

yes..I do like Cy Twombly's work....

This is when my heart got pounding...putting things together, imagining them big, shaped, installed and shifting in space. ( without the pushpins of course)

Playing with them

Looking at them here on a larger scale I would say that these are telling me to focus more on subtlety, and space in my work. I plan to revisit oil paint on a larger scale. Any other insights are welcome!!!

I am off to Montana to do my workshop with Sara Mast next week. Big sky country and Yellowstone!!.Still a few more days to sign up! I come home for a few weeks and then I will be teaching at Truro Center for the Arts  (two spots open)


Studio time in between and after.

Workshop information:

Visual Arts Center in Summit, NJ
Truro Center for the Arts in Truro, Ma (2 spots left)
Shake Rag Alley , Mineral Point WI
Snow Farm, Williamsburg, MA
and Private time for instruction and mentoring.
Email for more details

Next blog post : Studio visit with Barbara Fisher in Asheville.

Back from Cullowhee Mountain Arts

Deep 3  16 x 12 oil stick on paper

I am back from teaching  a week long workshop Cullowhee Mountain Arts, an exciting new program of workshops held on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. The facilities of the art department were outstanding and it promises to be very exciting program as it grows.

I  was teaching Encaustic and Embellishment and was so lucky to have artist Rebecca Crowell down the hall teaching as well. We have been pals on Facebook and on our blogs but have never met. We have a smilar approach to painting and teaching  and since we both had small classes we were able to share information, powerpoints and materials. I am liking the idea of collaborative teaching as well as art making. Rebecca  and I started a diptych at this workshop and may have to make a date to finish it.

Here we are after visiting the River Arts District in Asheville

Here are my four students and their work.  There seemed to be a focus on circles and energy in the group, all displayed in different ways.

Maggie, Leslie, Dawn and Pat

Leslie's 4 pieces

Dawn

Maggie

 I didn't make any actual artwork during the week but I worked on a few paper pieces and I did my own 30 drawings in 30 minute exercise. I will be posting those later this week.

# 3  12 x 12 oil on paper

#2  12 x 12 oil on paper