52 Boxes from Jason Andrew McHenry

Here's a little pre-Day of the Dead treat for those of you who love assemblages and shrines. For one year, Jason Andrew McHenry created one box a week filled with the most wonderful objects and paintings. If you go to his site you will see why I cannot describe them; they are so various and imaginative and strange. Mesmerizing. He made the skeleton above out of painted fimo. The straw flowers represent the marigolds that mexicans favor to celebrate this holiday. I think the variety of his work is thrilling. You will be inspired to collect and assemble.

Paper Mache

I love to make things out of paper mache. I like the lumpy, glumpy quality of the material. I like it that I can make the glue in my kitchen out of flour and water. That is how we always made it as children; that and newspaper and we could make our own sandals and furniture. My sisters and I had freedom to create from our imaginations. We had few toys from the store so we made our own fun and that, I now realize, was a wonderful thing for a child. The "boot" above is the trash sack in my studio that I grabbed one day for an object to mache. Of course the sack was already slouchy and half worn out but no matter, lumps are good. So the materials are newspaper and Elmers glue and acrylic.

The next photo is of a small object; probably about a foot long. This is my couch that I made one day while young Nathan made a Godzilla. Nathan is 21 now and he has misplaced his Godzilla but the couch and cat and pillow is still going strong. We used flour and water paste which the bugs are eating up now from the inside. Every few months I shake more "sawdust" out of holes that have appeared in the bottom. Lesson: use Elmers for longevity.

Then a few years ago my friend Sky came over for a play day and we made madonnas. Mine is above; very serious with faux gold leaf and a holier-than-thou expression. All made from paper mache. Sky's was a cross between SuperGirl and Madonna-the-sex-Queen and by praising it endlessly I think I convinced her I had to have it. It now hangs in a spot of honor on my madonna wall. Awesome!!

I love her little frog-flipper hands. The boobs are very pointy. She be bad.

A couple of years ago at Halloween my friends from another state came for a few days and we had a paper mache party. We needed party costumes in a hurry and I think the masks were still wet that night when we went out trick or treating. It was so much fun playing in glue as an adult. Well, you already know that. This was my mask. My friend's was truly frightening as he made a huge beak on his with toothpicks for teeth. Yikes!

Last item: the big picture and frame all made from paper mache that hangs in my dining room.

If you need Halloween stuff (pumpkins and headstones and skeletons - oh my!) dont forget how much fun the paper mache can be. Invite friends of any age to play too. You will make something awesome that you will still be loving 20 years later.

Life Lesson: Generosity

Look what came in yesterday's mail. While Carla Sonheim was here she gave me the little bag on the right which I love love love with all my heart. She also showed me all the other bags in her stash that she had brought to Art and Soul to sell. The bag on the left was one I particularly loved also for the great fabric she had created with a technique she learned in a class from Tracy Bautista. Yesterday the 2nd bag arrived in the mail along with a fabric transfer (at the top of the photo) and a thoughtful note. Carla has a show in Albuquerque only a week away and yet she took the time to send me the bag I had admired. I am humbled by her generosity. All I can do is bow my head and say "thanks". And pass it forward. What a wonderful life lesson.

I owe another humble public thank you to Laurie Mika for gifting me with this precious shrine. I did a really tiny favor for her and she turned around and overwhelmed me with this gift. What is it with the women in this particular arts community? They are advanced. Evolved. Early adaptors. Spiritual giants. They live by the laws of nature, which is to share, help each other, get along, play nice. They are my teachers.

Fall Mac Camp

Welcome to Silverton Falls State Park and Mac Camp. This is a view of the meadow that separates the small cabins from the dining hall and the classrooms. On the morning I took this photo the ground was covered with fog but the air was quite warm. We had sunshine and mild weather for the whole weekend so we got in lots of hiking as well as classes and meals and meetings and time on the network. This was my second time to attend Mac Camp and I love the experience. Mac people are like the people I meet in the arts community; smart, funny, inclusive and quirky. In other words, nice. We had great conversations and lots of fun there.

One of the many wonderful things about the camp is the park itself. Miles of hiking trails and lots of scenery for people itching to use their cameras. I am not a photographer but even I could rip off a good shot here and there with such good subject matter.

This morning on the way to breakfast I noticed the trees were dripping moisture onto the ground even though it wasn't raining. At night the fog rises and the moisture settles onto the leaves and moss and then in the daytime it releases that moisture back onto the forest floor. The intelligent forest creates its own weather; in this case "rain". For this reason we must preserve the forests. When we cut them down, what is left behind can never bring back the conditions needed to regrow them.

There were so many kinds of moss and lichens. If I had another lifetime I would go back to school and be a mossologist. I have always felt a special affinity to moss. I am like the moss myself. I love the fertile, green places. When I die I want to be moss.

My wonderful room mate JoAnn and I made several forays up and around the hiking trails taking pictures. She very wisely said that being in a green environment energizes her and makes her feel more alive. As soon as she said that I noticed I was feeling more energized and enriched by the green around me. Thank you, JoAnn!

Some of the trees here are enormous. It makes you feel humble and protected and like the earth is a loving entity that cares for us and wishes us well. Oh, I love the forest, dont you?

Horses are allowed in the park and on the trails too. This is good. I like to share the beauty of the earth with animals. They use their eyes and ears and noses to enjoy nature as we should too. We can learn so much about loving our lives by watching what animals do and learning from them. I love to watch my cat as he sniffs the air around him for scents to identify and learn from. This life is such a mystery. We can never understand it but we can learn to sense it with all our abilities and to learn to live lightly and joyfully within it.

This is the window to the cabin where JoAnn and I shared a room. In the daytime we opened the window shade to let nature in.

So many little oddities to behold. So many varieties of everything. It makes the world so interesting.

A few fallen leaves. We live and then we let go. It is as easy as that. The leaves show us how.

This is what one of the classrooms looks like. Here the brilliant geek Steve Riggins is teaching us about podcasting and RSS. I think he knows everything about computer technology. I bow to his huge left brain. He the man!

This is the dining room where we share questions, answers, political opinions, friendships and email addresses. The food is quite wonderful. I ate everything except the peanut butter pie.

More fall colors. It made me feel quiet and introspective. It made me shiver with joy to see so much beauty everywhere I looked. Such purity.

Thank you for coming with me on this little walk through a lovely corner of Oregon. If you can ever get to Mac Camp it is really a great experience with many facets of enjoyment. You can sign up at the PMUG group in Portland for the next one in April.

In closing:
"Beauty to the left of me, beauty to the right of me, beauty before me and behind me. Beauty all around me. I walk all my days in beauty." (paraphrased from Navajo)

And another one I like from Theresa of Avila: "All the way to heaven is heaven."

Cigar Box Madonna

I'm feeling crafty today. I have Plaster of Paris, a new offset trowel and John's excellent Japanese saw in addition to the piles of other tools in my studio. I locate a cigar box a friend has given me. I am going to make a Madonna reliquary with a shadow box inside. I have only a general idea of what I hope it will look like when I finish. The shadow box inside the cigar box will showcase a little painting on canvas that I will paint. The little canvas is on the right under the scissors. I gather some inspirational photos and cut an arch shape out of foamcore. I will attempt to cover the arch in plaster and paint it ultramarine blue like the arch in the photograph. Then I will use golden hues on the Madonna, taking my color cues from the photo. I am thinking about Day of the Dead, Mexico and Spain. We have plans to travel to Spain in 2007 so I am all about the Hispanic influence.

Ack! Trouble already. I coat the dried plaster on the assembled arch with ultramarine paint but it looks ugly. So I coat the Plaster of Paris with Golden's modeling gel. While that is drying I paint the canvas Madonna. When the gel is dry (well, almost dry. I am impatient.) I try to sand and form it a little better. I am making fair progress when suddenly I hear a loud snap. It is the plaster breaking off the board. I try to cut the board down and the whole thing comes unlaminated. I toss the arch in the garbage.

I stopped taking photos at this point so you will miss a few steps. The outside of the box isn't finished yet but the inside is pretty much complete. I used the saw to cut down a larger wooden frame that I had on hand to make the shadow box. No arch this time so I glued a row of beads across the top. I painted the shadow box frame a deep burnt sienna red and applied faux gold leaf. I paint everything on the inside and outside of the box black. When I get back from Mac Camp on Sunday I will tackle the front of the box. I think maybe a trompe l'oeil of a southern Spain landscape or maybe something with my milagros from Mexico.

I'll sleep on it awhile and see what comes up in the way of inspiration. Whenever I get to a knarly place I like to let it sit. Often the solution comes to me when it is ready or in a dream.

So I am packing now to go to Mac Camp again at Silver Falls State Park. I'm going to take a class in Illustrator and hike the park trails and hob nob with the other Mac geeks until Sunday. The trees here in Oregon are turning now and are at their peak of autumn beauty; I will take lots of photographs on the hiking trails and enjoy the atmosphere of the rustic lodge and small cabins. Pictures on Monday!!

I almost wrote that I hoped you all would have autumn colors to enjoy too but then I remembered that readers come here from down under too and that they are moving into spring instead of fall. I got an email from New Zealand this week and suddenly this precious and magical globe shrank in size in my imagination and I felt very strange as though once again my perspective of the world has transformed. It is a small, precious earth and we each have to protect it and love it for sustaining our lives.

Peace and love to all of you.

Dancing in the Garden

This is a large painting; 30x40 inches, acrylic on canvas. It is spoken for. The summer is waning, the work is done, the tomatoes are ripe and the lovers are dancing in the garden. Life is but a dream.

The Book Launch Party

Sunday my daughter Shellie and I drove north for four hours to Port Orchard, Washington to attend the launch party for Christmas in Old Tascosa. This is the first book I have illustrated and I think is turned out beautifully, a little gem of a book and a beautiful story of the triumph of hope over the trials of poverty during the 1930's. Casandra Firman is the author and the true story was told to her by her mother. This is Casandra signing books at the party.

Eating, drinking, talking, listening to live music, enjoying the spectacular views of the bay. Friends and neighbors came from near and far to congratulate Casandra and wish the book success.

Casandra reading from the book. We all wanted more. The lives of the people in the story living in the dust bowl days are so different from ours today.

A pensive moment for me - looking out over the bay and thinking about the luxuries we enjoy and how recently people were hungry in this country and frantic to feed their children and provide them with even the most basic needs.




If you look back to the corner you can see dear Shellie patiently standing while I sign books too and take this photograph of her.

It was a very rewarding day and one I will always remember. Collaborating with other artists and helping each other manifest our dreams is the best thing we could ever experience.

Making My Journal

I'm nearing the end of the journal I started in April and that is my signal to start building my next one. Although I like open spine (coptic stitched) journals, the last one I made was much easier to make and quite durable so I decide to repeat that design instead. The directions are here from the pen of Teesha Moore and nothing could be simpler, even if you have never made a book before. Of course you can make the basic design as plain or embellished as you wish. That's the reason you decided to make it yourself!

I decide to use all materials already on hand in the studio. I have sheets of acrylic panel so I cut 2 of them for the covers and tear paper for the signatures. (I reuse old paper. Even paper that has been used previously for silkscreening or watercolor. I am going to paint out the pages anyway and I like to recyle everything.) I pull out some scraps of canvas and get to work. I start by painting the canvas that will form the spine of the book.

I write a secret wish into the spine of the journal. Can you see what it says? I weave this dream into the book so that it will permeate my activities in the coming months. It is like kneading your love into the bread dough.

The next thing I do is glue the spine onto the acrylic covers with gel medium. I follow the directions to the letter and record my own notes on the margin for next time.

I lay the acrylic out flat and paint a picture on the reverse side of the front of the journal.
I paint the back cover of the journal and put my name on the back. I have never ever written my name on a journal before. I'm not sure what got into me but I like the little pisces in the center of the vortex.

I open the front cover and decorate the inside of that and also the title page. Nothing was planned ahead. I like to let it happen; for better or worse. It is good practice for accepting yourself whether what you do is beautiful or, uh, interesting.

The finished cover. It wouldn't be complete without a border of gold and raised glitter.

The finished spine. I only had black linen thread so I painted the thread aqua to match the spine. I finished the journal in only a few hours. The part that took the longest was threading and rethreading the beads. What a great, fun project. I hope I can inspire at least one person to try it.

My First Love; the Journal

I've been thinking a lot about what I love. I think that is the first thing an artist must define for herself; what is it that thrills her (or him) and fills them with enthusiasm. Life and art are long journeys and take a lot of commitment. If the artist is to be sustained for that journey, she must start with a full measure of love and joy. I have been painting since I was 10 years old now and keeping diaries and journals for even longer than that. I honestly cant explain why I have done it. My mother did it too. She showed me her diaries when I was a child and I knew right away that I would record my days too. It has been an experience that has informed me, helped me navigate and defined my direction at every age.

The only time I faltered in my record keeping was in the aftermath of two devastating life experiences when I temporarily lost my faith. I dont know what I lost faith in. I just know that I felt silenced. I endured this time without the support of my mirror and eventually I began to write and record again and soon life was good and normal.

Recently I have had several people say to me that they wanted to journal but just couldn't get going. Maybe I am wrong but it occurs to me that perhaps it is not an activity that you should force or feel guilty about if it is not a thing you crave to do. I can't imagine forcing it. That would be wrong. If you would rather read or work out or write novels or cook delicious food, then by all means, that is what you should be doing. Grow roses, raise children, hold your lover close and go to the theatre. The journal is only for people who cannot escape the siren's call.

Do you have an opinion on this? I would be interested in hearing it.

Totally Plastered

This is our talented maestro, Stephanie Lee. She is a generous teacher and a talented artist. She knows her plaster and imparted much of that wisdom to us in the class we attended on Monday. I have been experimenting with plaster for 5 years now without really getting a handle on it and after only a few hours with Stephanie I had the solutions to the problems I'd encountered. Thank you, Stephanie! Here she is holding up one of her pieces and explaining to us exactly how it was accomplished. And what follows are our first efforts; student work it is but I think you will agree that it is really exciting.

Red shoes and dance music. How great is that? I love the chartreuse/red contrast. I think this one was accomplished with colored plaster. Stephanie taught us how to do that! Yay, Steff!

I hope the artists who accomplished these beautiful works will forgive me for not crediting them individually. (If you see your work here and email me I will add a credit to this post.) I took the photos as we were leaving class and everyone was in a hurry so I did not get names. I apologize for that.

Stephanie Brockway was the creator of the board above and the one just below. She sat in front of me and it was apparent from the start that she would finish her projects. I think what she created was wonderful.


Next to Stephanie sat Nikki Blackwood and below is her creation. In my haste I shot a lot of blurry images and this is one of them. But I include it because I think it is so successful and I love the quote. The photo is set behind a 'brick' doorway.


The person who did the next one used colored plaster in a technique called intarsia where you trowel one color over another and reveal some of each.


I wish I had names. These pieces are so beautiful and the artists deserve recognition.


Stephanie Lee will be teaching at Artfest too and you guys that got her classes are going to love learning from her.
I am going into my studio today and after varnishing a big canvas that was a commission (I'll show you later). I've earned a trip to the hardware store to buy plaster, trowels, plywood (I mis-typed and wrote 'playwood' - tee hee!)... I am going to spend the afternoon mixing and enjoying my new plaster techniques. I ordered mica too to press into the surface. Aye aye aye. So many ideas and so little time.

Thank you Stephanie, Glenny, and all the angels from Art and Soul. Life is good when you have art to anticipate.