Life Interferes With Art!

This has been a very stressful week. I had a crisis at work and that took all of my time and energy to work through but the crisis is over and I can get back to what I REALLY love--art! I really hate it when life interferes with art!

This past week my BSU Art Methods class helped to hang an elementary school art exhibition called Go Green. The artwork in this exhibit is made entirely of recyclable material. It was really interesting to see what the kids came up with. Some have pretty wild imaginations! It was good experience for me. I find that I am kind of slow in deciding where to hang things and we had to be done by a certain time. My past experience helping to hang exhibits at the Vine Art Gallery really came in handy.

Last Tuesday, my BSU class helped some kids with another mask making project. It was fun and I had a ball. The kids loved it too.

Another project that I have started myself on is another wildlife piece. I have been wanting to do a black bear piece and so far, it is turning out very nice.

We Art Women

"Still Waters"

"Sawtooth Silhouette"

My family and I have been sick with the flu this past week, so all blogging had to stop for awhile. In spite of the misery of being sick, some really cool things have been happening lately. I was accepted into the annual We Art Women Juried Art Show. I have posted above photos of the two pieces that made it into this show, which are "Still Waters" and "Sawtooth Silhouette". This art auction & exhibit is a one day affair that is a fundraiser for Women's & Children's Alliance of Boise, which is an organization that helps abused and battered women & children. The art show and auction will take place February 26 at the Esther Simplot Perfoming Arts Center in downtown Boise. This show also offers some cash awards. Could I be lucky enough to win one? We will have to see.

Passing Through The Waters

I just completed my other illustration for Isaiah 43:2 and I have posted it above. This illustration is for that part of the verse that says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you."

I mentioned in a previous blog that I decided not to go with the original idea that I had for this part of the verse having to do with water. I had actually started on it, but I didn't like the composition or the way it was turning out. I think the idea of using the concept of surfing was much better and has far more impact. This was the first time that I have done any type of art having to do with surfing and giant waves and I think it turned out great.

I think that in light of the current tough economic times that we are all living in now, it is important to focus on anything that is encouraging and to not lose hope. This verse, Isaiah 43:2, I feel is God's promise to me that He will be with me during this time and that I will get through it all without drowning!

My Tiger Mask

Sometime within the next week or two our Art Methods class at BSU is going to a grade school in Garden City to help some kids make marti-gras masks. So last Tuesday during class we made masks. This is a new art form to me and I found it very interesting. We also saw a video presentation on masks and mask making. The teacher gave us some pre-cut heavy foam masks (not decorated) and we spent the next hour or so decorating then. I decided to create a tiger mask. (See photo above.)

The tiger is my favorite wild animal and since I am a huge cat-lover, that was the first thing I thought of. I really had a lot of fun creating this mask. Another reason I choose to do a tiger is because it is the mascot for the school that I work at, Hillcrest Elementary. I don't remember ever creating a mask before--not even in grade school.

I actually took my tiger mask home and did some embellishments to it by adding feathers and some glitter paint, which really made it pop.

"Transformation" Vine Arts Gallery Reception

"Walking Through The Fire"

"Good Hare Day"

Today after church at the Vineyard we had a reception for the new Vine Arts Gallery show called Transformation. The show consists of art, poetry and photography that depicts how the Lord has used other people and circumstances to transform and change you for the better and how the Lord has revealed Himself & changed you through his love.

I entered two pieces that fit the theme of the show very well: "Good Hare Day" and "Walking Through The Fire." Both of these pieces are shown above.

The reception lasted for about an hour. I had some very interesting conversations with some fellow artists that I don't get to chat with very often. I always am amazed at what happens when I get together with other artists. It is like one species connecting with another of the same species. We are alike. There is a common bond, a common way of thinking and a unique feeling of oneness that I really love. I connected with one artist who is actively pursuing getting her children's books published. She likes my art and wants me to be the illustrator. We are going to get together so I can read her stories and illustrate them. The challenge will be to get someone to publish us!

My First Week as a Boise State University Student

Last Tuesday (1/20) was the first day of my first Boise State University class, "Art Education Methods For Elementary School." It sounds like I will be mostly doing a lot of observing other art teachers in the process of teaching art classes to K-8th grade kids--30 hours worth to be exact! Part of my homework will be to plan a short series of art lessons for kids. That will probably be easy since I have already planned many lessons on paper and have already used them when teaching kids art lessons downstairs in my house.

Then last Thursday, our class when to the Boise Art Museum to observe a tour guide conduct a tour for a classroom of kids from Horizon Elementary school. The art that was being discussed was a series of works by a Japanese artist, Jun Kaneko. He specializes in large (7-9 feet) ceramic pieces called Dongos and other art work that focuses on various patterns of lines and circles. It was fun to observe the questions and comments that the kids would make about the art--questions like, "That looks like a big jelly bean." Then we observed the kids going into an art studio to make their own version of a Dongo. They had the kids make whatever kinds of patterns they wanted onto a large paper cup, which sort looked like a Dongo in miniature.

Leopard In a Tree is Finished

I have finished my "Leopard in a Tree" piece. It is posted above. I am very happy with how it turned out. What a pretty kitty!

I originally had done the entire leopard, including the back end and legs, but when I cropped it (as you see above) I thought it looked much better than what I actually had done, so I'm only going to use the first half of the piece instead of the whole thing. Sometimes it works better when you go with Plan B instead of sticking with Plan A!

Artistically, I think I learned something new doing this piece. I think I stretched myself a bit more with this and did some things with mixed media that I had never tried before. I really mixed it up with watercolor & salt plus colored pencil and turpenoid, then I added a bit of white acylic paint spatters over it.