Roz Wound Up

Seasonal Palette Changes

Landscape painter Diane Wesman has a short informative post on changing her field palette for the fall season (which sadly ended with some snow and then icy rain about 10 days ago). Check it out at the link provided. Take a moment to scoll back through other posts as well and see how her pastels as well as watercolors evolve to capture the seasonal light and color changes.

It's time to change it up a bit more as we move into winter. Diane continues to sketch in the fields all year long so I'm sure she'll have some more shifts coming. Diane is a friend, so I'll be able to look over her shoulder and see what she's thinking. I'll keep you posted.

It Only Takes a Moment to Change Your Attitude

Above: Page spread from my current journal. The grid paper sketch was completed in a notebook I carried around with me on this day—I had to travel light so I couldn't carry the large journal. I was working with a thin point Staedtler Pigment Liner. I glued the paper in that afternoon and later that night added additional sketches of the French Bull Dog. The page had been pre-painted with metallic rubberstamp ink. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

You can be having the worst day in your life, but if you are a visual person it only takes a wink of recognition to whip you out of it. You'll see something that you love: the light on a puddle, the smile of a mother walking with her child, the blazing colors of fall leaves, the odd fashion juxtapositions of people waiting at a bus station, or the intent gaze of a dog—and you'll have to sketch.

Trust that impulse. Don't swallow it. Get your pen out of your pocket and go for it. Don't worry if you come up with a finished sketch or not. Focus only on catching something from the moment: a few lines, the energy, a sense of what caught your attention and called to you.

The rewards will be great. You will feel frustration at your circumstances melt away. Arguments with loved ones will fade to the background (and you'll see your way through to patching things up). You will smile. But most of all you will breath again and you will have taken action. That's how things happen in life: we move our energy out of a cul-de-sac of despair, anger, even petty insult, and suddenly we have balance again. Our step is lighter.

On this day, after a horrendous trip with the in-laws to the ear doctor (horrendous for them because it was their appointment) I was exhausted and stressed, sure I would never get back to the studio in time to meet a pressing deadline. I pulled up to the post office to mail an insurance form for the folks. It was job number one that had to be done, regardless of other tasks. My shoulders sagged, and I know I wasn't breathing with more than the top third of my lungs.

And then I saw her, black and white and graphic and full of joy and earnest goodwill—a Border Collie leashed to a bike stand, waiting for her owner to come out and join her. She waited with polite patience, and every so often she would turn her head away from the door to watch other people and animals, but her mind was focused and ready for the return of her owner.

"She'll move in a minute," my mind said, beginning an argument against drawing. I countered with, "that's just enough time." I whipped out my notepad and pen. I scribbled. I just let the frustration of my day escape through my hand as I felt around her energy, her face, her body.

And because I was watching her and not my paper, when her owner did emerge two minutes later I got to see the full explosion of joy on the dog's face as her tail wagged, her body shook—but she maintained that sit as her owner approached to greet her.

It only took a moment, those two minutes, to brighten my day, to open my heart, to shift my mood, and most importantly, to get me breathing again.

I mailed the form, had a pleasant exchange with the postal clerk who was having a rough day (so I got to pass on some of that sustaining energy), and had no trouble meeting that deadline because my energy was moving forward.

The next time you're grumbling, tense, and about to pass out from lack of breath, take a moment to look around. Let something you love catch your eye. And draw it. It's as important an exercise as moving your body every day. Practice saying, "A moment's just enough time."

December Sketch Night at the Bell Museum of Natural History

Above: Grizzly Bear stomping on a salmon at the Bell Museum. This was my third sketch from the November sketch night. I had been working in fine point pen all evening, squinting at insects. I wanted to open up my arm, shoulder, and eyes so I went out into the Touch and See Room and sketched this specimen in 2 minutes, working as quickly as possible, with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and watery washes of gouache. The pre-painted background is olive rubberstamp ink. The paper is Winsor & Newton 90 lb. Hot Press watercolor paper. The tab in the gutter is from a pre-cut page. (I cut pages out of my casebound journals when I first start working in them, so that there will be room for collage materials that I add. Leaving a tab holds space at the spine, and prevents the opposite page in the signature from falling out of the book.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Remember:Thursday, December 2 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. is Sketch Night at the Bell Museum of Natural History on the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Campus. (Link is to directions.)

You are free to draw whatever you want in the Bell, but there is a theme for the evening: SEA CREATURES!

Remember—you can sketch anything you want in the Museum. Don't stay home because you don't think the topic will inspire you. Believe me you'll find something of interest at the Bell. There are also some live turtles and snakes. Come and join the fun.

Jennifer Menken, who runs the Touch and See collections, will be on hand for science questions and I'll be there if you have any drawing questions or need some suggestions on getting started. Bring your sketchbook and a pencil or pen, you don't need anything fancy. All skill levels are welcome.

If you're a Bell member it's free, if you aren't a member there is a $5.00 museum admission, but the event is free.

Ken Avidor informed me that if you have a Minneapolis library card you can ask a librarian for free passes to the Bell!

Jeffrey Larson—One-Man Show at the Galleria

On Friday, November 19 my friend Diane and I spent over four hours at the one-man show of Jeffrey Larson. The previous weekend I had attended an oil-painting demonstration of his at the Atelier with two other friends. We are all fascinated by his art, his use of color, his ability to capture light.

I can go on and on but I think the best thing for me to do is to simply direct you to his show and website (the latter if you don't live in the area and can't attend).

If you get to the show there is a DVD running which is an interview and painting demo. I suggest you budget time to watch it, as it is well worth it to hear him talk about and demonstrate his process.

The show is at the Galleria in Edina, at 69th and France Ave. (West end of the Galleria, near the Big Bowl.) The gallery is open each day, though the hours vary depending on the day. The show has been extended into December (I think the 21st but I can't find my card). Call the gallery for details and to check on hours: 952-594-1360.

Attend with someone who is willing to spend the time to absorb these stunning images.

You can view images from his show on his website.

The show pieces that were sold before November 21 have been replaced, so if you have already been, you might want to go and look at the new pieces they put up.

There is a book of his images available at the gallery.

My Bugs from the Bell

Left: My first sketch of the evening. Purple Nexus Pen on Winsor & Newton 90 lb. watercolor paper, hot press, that had been pre-painted with swirls of brown rubberstamp ink. (Date added at end of evening when I had my PPBP in hand.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

The focus of the November 4 sketch night at the Bell Museum of Natural History was "Insects." I've posted work from others who attended, as well as a cool sketch of me as a bug by Ken Avidor. Check the Bell Museum category for posts.

I promised I would post my sketches from the evening and have just been able to scan them. In this post you'll find my two insect sketches. I began with the cicada at the left. I like working with purple ink and the Nexus pen makes this possible "on the road" without a dip pen. I found it difficult to sketch this specimen as I had to hover over the case, but also because a photographer came to visit the group and I started to talk to him and then neglected to remember that ink floats on W&N paper longer than usual—so the drawing was smeared. But I actually like that. I painted in a couple wing color notes and then I was on to the next bug adventure, giving my back a rest.

Right: my second insect of the evening. If you click on the image to view the enlargement you can read my notes. I found it somewhat easier to sketch this bug (which incidently is the model Ken Avidor used to turn me into a bug!) because it was in a small case that I could tilt up against my backpack for a clear view while I was seated.

As I worked on my second insect I could be heard to remark, "They are so symmetrical!" Which was my way of complaining. But we must work on regardless. There were more conversational breaks for me at this outing than the first evening, so after a bit I decided to focus on my notes and then moved on to larger subjects.

I'll post my third and final sketch of the evening on Sunday. You'll see why then.

Playing Around on Folio Paper

Above: Sketch of an English Bull Dog from my current journal, made with Folio paper, about 8 x 7.5 inches. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen sketch with gouache painted in and around the sketch. Text boxes added when paint was dry, with the PPBP. Text in the boxes written with the Faber-Castel Pitt Calligraphy pen.

At the last MCBA Visual Journal Collective I was showing pages from my current journal, which I had only begun the Friday before. As I paged through I realized I had yet to sketch anything in the journal! EEEK. It was all about projects, with drafts of things I'm working on; or shows that I had visited, etc.

When I got home that night I watched a bit of TV and my mind kept coming back to this fact, so I took a couple minutes before going to bed to sketch a dog.

Coming back to Folio paper is always a happy/sad moment for me. It isn't the old Folio available before 2000. (You can use the search feature to find out more about Folio paper.) That was pretty much a perfect paper. (I mean it paper gods!) The new Folio is a great paper in many respects, so each time I start a new book with it I try to remember that. I also have to scramble a bit to readjust how I work because while the paper will take wet media it isn't a watercolor paper and I was just coming off working in a journal I'd made with heavily sized watercolor paper.

When this transition happens I find that it is fun to scratch around with the brush and reacquaint myself. A sort of meditative process, "Oh yeah, now I remember, this was like this, and this worked that way, and here's what happens when…"

This paper is great fun for the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, but it is also great with the Faber-Castel Pitt Artist's Brush Pen. Recently I've been working with the Faber-Castel Pitt Calligraphy pen (mostly using black, but it also comes in sepia and a sort of wine color) and I really love how it moves across this paper. Check them out if you are up late one night!

Roz Makes it into Jean Shannon's Journal—Project Journal Infiltration

Above: Roz as sketched by Jean Shannon at a meeting of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective. ©2010 Jean Shannon. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Jean Shannon, member of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective, sent me this great sketch of me using my hands to speak! I love it.

As an added bonus Jean sketched the tool chest I put on the swap table at the October meeting on the opposite page. (It was a cool metal chest with a neat handle and clip, visible in Jean's sketch, with a lot of fun drawings on the cover—a kid's tool chest. I'd hoped when it was first given to me, to turn it into a book project, but after a decade it was time for it to find a new home and Jean's is a very welcoming one.)

Thank you Jean, for participating in Project Journal Infiltration!

If you live in the Twin Cities area you can join in the project too—it goes through Labor Day, 2011 so there are still plenty of meetings and outings where you can add me to your journal. I look forward to it!

 

Some Painting and Collage for Monday

Above: Stenciling, painting, and collage on a recent page spread in an 8 x 8 inch (approx.) journal I made with 90 lb. Winsor & Newton Hot Press watercolor paper. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Whenever I teach a class that lasts over several calendar months I find more of that "approach" that I might be teaching shows up in my journals. It's because my mind is constantly thinking in terms of "what can I mention to my students?" And then when I think that way I start thinking of things that I want to do. Also since the weirdo journal I've been breaking away from pages done in one sitting. Everything goes in cycles for me in my journals. At anyrate, the above journal spread was created while all these thoughts were stewing in my mind.

One day I used stencils that I sprayed with fluid acrylics (Nap. Red; Golden). Typically I just put the paint and a very little bit of water—since the paint is already very fluid—in a little spray bottle. For this spread, however,  I actually got out my old mouth atomizer which is fun to play with, and build up lung capacity. I was working on backgrounds throughout the book and not thinking about what I might put on this spread.

Why use fluid acrylics? Because I knew there was a 99.9 percent possibility that I would paint on the page spread and I didn't want the background color and texture to blur when I painted, or have it get picked up and contaminate the painting's colors. If you are going to work on a sprayed background with dry media (colored pencil, chalk pastels, graphite) or simply work with pen and ink, you could use watercolor instead of fluid acrylics. Simply make some diluted watercolor and place it in a small bottle or dish and insert the atomizer, or put the diluted watercolor into your spray bottle.

Note: if you are using a spray bottle for your acrylic mixture ALWAYS clean and thoroughly rinse your bottle the moment you are through working as acrylic paint dries waterproof. I recommend you do this even if you're simply working with watercolors, because dried and caked paint, even if it's watercolor, is always a hassle to clean up.

One night after this I happened to sketch the man's face with a worn out and dried out Faber Castel Pitt Artist Brush Pen. I was working on a piece of graph paper just because I like texture to show through. I used some gouache that I had out on a palette—in light soupy washes on this slick paper. When it was dry I cut out the head and glued it to this page.

A few days later I decided to paint a dog, using blue paint. I don't use black paint so typically I use blue and orange to get rich darks. Here I just had some dried out Holbein gouache. I sketched the dog's head first with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and then I painted over it with opaque applications of gouache. It bothers me that I used one blue for the man and another for the dog, but not enough to do anything about it. For a more harmonious outcome you might want to stick to one blue.

For about a week, until I got to the end of the journal, I intended to stamp something behind the dog in large letters. Nothing really jumped to mind. No one said anything catchy to me, and nothing spoke to me. Dick said to leave it alone. He doesn't often weigh in on my art choices, but he liked this the way it was and was worried I lose the stenciling. My attitude is that if that happens I can always stencil another page, but obviously something in me was leaning to his opinion too.

I had already placed a sheet of vellum tracing paper over the spread, traced the outline of the dog and man, and cut out a mask to put in place while stamping (so that I could stamp right up to the images and make it look as if the letters were behind the heads). This mask was moved from work pile to work pile several times during the week while I juggled projects and finally, when I filled up the final page of the journal I shrugged and tossed the mask into the bin. The spread was finished.

It's still a good example of approach for my students in the current collage and sketching journal class. I hope you all enjoy it too.

Pages don't have to mean anything (though this one actually does mean something to me with its silence which is probably the reason nothing suitable presented itself for text)—at least not something obvious to someone else. You can stop at any time you think something is finished, or when you finish the book and need to move on. Mix up a page of your sketches and collage, with or without words, and see what comes up.

Theresa Harsma at the November MCBA Visual Journal Collective

Left: Theresa Harsma displaying one of her structural projects made of trash. Click on the image to view an enlargement.

On Monday, November 15, book artist Theresa Harsma spoke to the MCBA Visual Journal Collective about her work, her approach to materials, and her thoughts on getting your book works out into shows.

Her inspiring talk began with her tale of collecting junk on a short stretch of beach on Lake Superior and stringing it together to form a hanging narative.

Theresa thinks outside the box when creating her book arts pieces, both out of the box as to what defines a book, and as for what materials she uses—she recycles trash and other disposable items to create her structural and textural books.

One material Theresa makes repeated use of is tea bags. She creates pages out of their stained papers, she uses their tags and thread. While she admits to drinking a lot of tea and having friends who save tea bags for her, she also explained that she will dye boxes of tea bags for a particular project.

She also jokingly told us she has realized she doesn't have to save everything—"I can stop."

Theresa drove several points home during her presentation. She stressed the importance of letting your friends know what your are making artistically, not just so that they can save things for you, but so that they can let you know when they encounter something that might be of interest to you, such as an art call for an upcoming show.

She has found that being part of a supportive network of art friends has exposed her to show and grant opportunities. Friends will come up with ideas and ask her to participate in an event they are organizing.

Relying on artistic friends for help when working through the application process is also essential. Theresa said that sometimes she'll be preparing a grant application and wonder if she is getting her point across. An art-savvy friend is a great source of balanced feedback.

Above: Theresa Harsma next to a table covered with her book works, explains the window in a circular book (plastic cut from one area gets reused elsewhere in the project). Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Theresa resides south of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area in Owatonna, MN. Each month, from October through May the Second Tuesday is OWATONNA ART STUDIO TOUR, from 4-8 p.m. Theresa suggests:

If you come from out of town and arrive in the afternoon I suggest checking out the Louis Sullivan designed bank building on the corner of Cedar and Broadway, downtown Owatonna.  Just a few doors down guest artist Dee Teller is featured at Central Park Coffee.  Also Lynette Yencho has an amazing mural in her home.   

You can contact Theresa through the link provided above (scroll down to find her studio information). Theresa teaches workshops in book arts. She also conducts small private classes in her studio. Check with her for topics and times. Her approach to book arts will surely have you thinking outside the book!

Mini Misters at Wet Paint

A Mini Mister is a small spray bottle, about the size of a liptstick (or at least I think so as I don't wear make-up). I always have one with me as they are great to spritz my pan palettes when I'm out and about.

You can do a lot of other things with them too—spray them on watercolor backgrounds that are still moist and you'll get all sorts of ballooning patterns; spray them on watercolor pencil work to soften things; spray water on sheets of polymer clays as a release before pressing with texture sheets. Even more fun, fill them with paints and ink and spray them on your pages (or your polymer clay, or your paintings, or your walls—spray away). The spraying on the background of this pigeon sketch was done with a Mini Mister.

They are made by Ranger and come in a packet of 3, which is good because I need one in my bag and one on the drawing table and one, well you get the idea. And you'll also understand that I mislay them. So I need to buy them frequently and because of that I asked Wet Paint if they would carry them. Of course I went on and on about all the things they would be useful for to other customers.

Of course I could have gone to a scrapbooking store or craft store, but the problem is I can't go to one of those stores without a "friend." I literally get faint as well as distracted. But I love shopping at Wet Paint because I know where everything is and who everyone is, and since I spend time there every week it's also good for the environment because it reduces my carbon footprint to buy all my supplies at one place (I don't think they'll be carrying ice cream any time soon however, though frankly I'd rather they add back Schmincke gouache first—but both seem to be highly unlikely because of space considerations and customer demand.)

Now when I lose one of these I can just add it to my Shopping List—the only shopping list that really matters so of course it's capitalized.

I wanted to be sure to mention this to all of you because several people have asked about my spraying in my journals. Now you can get a Mini Mister when you pick up the rest of your art supplies.

Tip: I like to use Golden Fluid Acrylic paints or acrylic ink in my Mini Misters—each diluted slightly for easy spraying. The resultant backgrounds will then be waterproof and I can work on them with wet media without any pick up. You can just as easily fill the Mini Mister with diluted watercolor or gouache if you don't care that your background won't be waterproof. Walnut ink is another great candidate for use if you don't mind a watersoluble background. Also Dr. PH Martin's fluid watercolors. Please remember, however, to thoroughly rinse your Mini Mister after use with any paint product because the paint could dry and clog the mechanism.