Workshop at Teahouse Studio

 I traveled down to Berkeley, California recently to experience a two-day workshop at the Teahouse Studio,

 which is the workplace of artist, and gracious host, Mati Rose McDonough.

 The star of the workshop titled "Layers of Lines, Layers of Meaning: Thick Embroidery" was our instructor, Rebecca Ringquist, who is a wonderful fiber artist from Brooklyn, New York.

 Rebecca shared with us her techniques for creating richly layered, embroidered pieces.  These are some examples of her beautiful stitched art.

 Rebecca, on the left, checks out the work of her students on the sunny patio outside the studio, where we also gathered for delicious catered lunches.

 One of my classmates, Penny, had a clever way of organizing and storing her threads...wrapped around photographic slides in a carrier.

 One of the exercises in the workshop was to do some timed embroidery sketches...I was Penny's subject for one of her pieces. :o)

 Here's a portrait of our class group, from left; Mary, Jessica, Rebecca, Penny, Leah, and myself.

Below is a sampler I made in class, using hand and machine embroidered sketches on sheer fabric and linen, and applique.  I came away from the workshop with new embroidery techniques and a load of inspiration!

flying lessons

Delicious color! Super-talented artist Helen Shafer Garcia was teaching this week at the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland and I grabbed the opportunity to take her "Batik Flora and Fauna" workshop. The colorful, folk art quality of Helen's current work really resonated with me. The class combined watercolor painting and collage, and I was completely hooked!

Helen is an excellent teacher with a fun sense of humor and laid-back style.

There was a pile of inspirational material to choose from in class to get us started.

I almost had this finished by the end of class, which was satisfying. Can't wait to do more!

workshop with Rogene Manas

Art by Rogene Manas

Rogene Manas traveled to Portland from her home in Eugene, Oregon this month to open an exhibit of her work at the Guardino Gallery and teach a 2-day workshop at Collage on Alberta Street. Lucky us! Rogene was featured recently on the OPB program, "Oregon Art Beat" and you can view her segment here.

In class, we learned how to use paper clay to create dimensional artwork that resembles wood carving, a distinctive feature of Rogene's work. Starting with a sketch, I chose an image of a familiar figure in my yard as inspiration, a scrub jay.

After transferring the sketch to rolled-out paper clay, the piece was cut out with an exacto knife and attached to a board. The clay was "carved" while wet with the help of a wooden clay shaping tool.

After allowing the clay parts to air-dry overnight, we returned the next day to paint and finish our pieces. Rogene taught a "dark to light" painting technique, which gives her work a folk art look. Some of us added paper collage to our backgrounds; I used some torn dress pattern tissue.


I was happy with the final result and look forward to doing more with what I learned this weekend...so many possibilities come to mind!

new tricks

I've long admired the soldering projects done by my art friends, and recently took some instruction from one of those multi-talented friends, Jan Harris. Here, Jan is demonstrating how to begin assembling a tiny glass box to hold some teensy-tiny treasures...

My completed ornament, holding a frozen Charlotte doll and little key...all suspended by a chain with soldered charm...which led to more charms and ornaments later on at home...

As you can see, I've gotten a little carried away with my new skills. These pieces will be incorporated into jewelry and ornaments for the PAC holiday show in December.

Jan is an excellent teacher and frequently offers classes at the Collage store on Alberta in Portland. I'd highly recommend taking a workshop with Jan, and visiting this store!

for the eyes...and taste buds

It's always satisfying to come away from a class with something you'll enjoy for some time to come. Such is the case with this "wood collage totem" I created in Karen Michel's workshop at Artfest this year. It was fun to put all these bits and pieces together...some from my stash and others from friends. Karen is a wonderful artist and teacher...I'd highly recommend that you check out her work, and take a class, if you have the chance.

And something tasty...Smoked Salmon Spread

1 8-oz. pkg. Philly cream cheese, softened
4-6 oz. smoked salmon (not lox)
2 Tablespoons Best Foods mayo
juice of half a lemon
1-1/2 teaspoons dried dill or 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons worchestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce, a few dashes, or more to taste
3-4 green onions, chopped

Put all in food processor and pulse til smooth. Garnish as desired with chopped green onions and lemon slice. Store in fridge a while to develop flavor. Yum!