Art & Soul Stencil & Printing

Here are just a few of the stencil self portraits that came out of the classroom. I was so busy running inside and out that I missed photographing some wonderful work.

After we prepared our collages and sprayed our stencils we finished with a coat of encaustic medium. This kept us pretty busy as you can imagine.

Plus cutting the stencils. So many decisions.

I'm going to try to do some of these techniques with misters instead of the toxic paint in a can. The fumes are really something.

But oh, the beauty of that opaque black paint is hard to beat.

Then I taught a class where we made nature prints with brayers, cut rubber stamps, pulled prints from gelatin, made masks and more. Another busy day with lots of physical movement about the room.

We printed papers to use in our journals and for other projects using feathers, leaves and masks that we made ourselves.

We pulled monoprints.

Made prints in positive and negative from the masks we made.

Tried various water-based inks including Akua, Speedball and Createx.

For the gelatin prints we used acrylic paint. Primary colors plus black.

Here are some of the results.

It was fun.

And exhausting.

After the students left three young men came in who worked for the hotel and showed great interest in what we had been doing all day. They hardly looked older than high school students and my heart went out to them, laboring at mundane jobs just as I had been at their age. The first question they asked was if you had to go to college to be an artist. (My answer was no, just do it.) Then they wanted thorough explanations of how the prints were made and asked to look through my journals. Finally their boss came in and I was afraid I'd gotten them into trouble but he was interested too and had his own litany of questions. Finally he took my hand-out which I offered and made prints for the boys and himself so that they could have the recipe for the gelatin and directions for making the prints.

Once again I reflect on the pull art has on all of us. That these workmen were fascinated by the process and loved the beauty of the colors spread out on the trays before them. Art is innate. Art is a joyful dance. Everyone loves to push around color, to play and make beauty. Sometimes I feel like I am at the intersection between human beings and something transcendent. There is magic in making art. This is the magic I love to share.

Art Unraveled Part 1

While taking my usual airplane shot I saw this unusual phenomenon bouncing off the cloud below. It is the shadow of the plane itself surrounded entirely by a double rainbow. The 2nd rainbow (located outside the first one) is fainter and just under the tip of the arrow I drew but I had to share it. Now the question. Does the rainbow exist apart from the observer? I know the shadow would still fall on the cloud but would there be a rainbow without my cones and rods to make the colors?

I want you to know I was a Mesa High School Jackrabbit. Forget the Tigers, Lions and Hornets. I'm a jackrabbit. This guy took a 15 minute grooming break while I shot many photos on my iPhone.

Coming into Phoenix, Arizona. My humble beginnings. Each time I return I am a new version of myself; older, wiser, more in love with life.

I finally shot some of the motel signs along Main Street in Mesa. Shot them in Toy Camera, that is.

These signs were here when I was a 12 year old baton twirler with the East Mesa Jr. High marching band. We marched in a parade behind people in Western regalia riding horses.

While we were in Arizona this time the heat was between 101 degrees and 107. It was wonderful; thank goodness for air conditioning.

We visited the Heard Museum and as I walked into a Navajo hogan tears splashed down my face. I love this Valley of the Sun, despite painful memories growing up here and a fierce desire to escape.

I was always wrong for this place. Wrong religion, wrong political persuasion. The only way I fit in was with the diversity of cultures. I always loved the mixing of peoples: tribal, hispanic, anglo. A rich soup of color and flavor. The passion stirred well into the stoicism.

How many times have I eaten here and with how many companions? This restaurant has been here since 1960 or so. Their cheese and onion red enchiladas are perfection.

Of course we visited the house I grew up in and that my family owned for 42 years. It is in the heart of the barrio now sheltering a new generation of desert dwellers.

Okay, enough memory lane. A huge part of the experience for me. And remember how I said this would be my last year to teach in Arizona? Pah! I take it back. I'll submit again next year. It was so much beyond my expectations in terms of rich reward. The people at Art Unraveled filled my cup to overflowing.

So the first class I taught was "Stencil Self Portraits" and the classroom lighting and my haste led to some dodgy photos so please look past that and appreciate the work that came out of the students.

We worked from photographs of ourselves or our family. But mostly of ourselves.

This one has buttons and hand stitching.

The last thing we did was a coat of wax medium to glow and help integrate the elements.

We transferred onto the wax.

Embedded tissue into the wax.

Some people (hi Maija!) did more than one piece.

This is the prep before the stencil went on.

Leading to this!!

Mother and sisters.

Children and collage.

Blurry I know but I want to show you how well they turned out.

I also said I wouldn't teach stenciling again because of the chance of a windy day but when I see results like these I can't help but want to endure the concern.

We made proofs on pretty paper to be used in other projects.

Aren't they all delicious?

Home again for less than a week and then off on another adventure. I have 2 more classes to report on and lots of laundry waiting. Oh, and the e-mails? sheesh! I'm off at a run. Be well and thanks for stopping by.

Saying Good-bye to Asilomar

It's true; 2 posts in one day. I want to share the last of my photos with you before I move myself into the studio for some serious plaster play. This class, which was held on the first day of the retreat, was titled "Stencil Your Family" and that's what we did. Students sent me their photos ahead of time and I stencilized them, then we cut, collaged and waxed over our creations.

We had lots of family members, past and present and some that were borrowed for the occasion.

We had ooh la la nudes and movie poster lovers that were actual relations.

We had children in their best cowboy clothes. (Marian, I'll mail your proof to you if you contact me. It was left behind.)

We had bodacious sweethearts and blonde bombshells.

Grafitti inspired images in bold colors.

And a twin set for girlfriends to divide.

Children from photographs taken long ago that we wove into our creations.

Charlie Chaplin with the Art & Soul guitar logo and the face of a shy nephew.

A long distance runner with a bright future.

And a self portrait.

These charming images need to be clicked on for closer scrutiny. They are all wonderful. Again, sorry if I missed any; I always do my best to get them all.

I hope Stephanie won't mind that I share this beautiful photo of mommy and daughter. Melissa is 12 years old; that age of being squarely in the middle of child and adulthood. Don't you think she's the spittin' image of her beautiful mother? It was poignant to be around young daughters again. I loved it.

From Asilomar we drove up Highway 1, across the Golden Gate Bridge and to the house of our friends that you've met before on several travels to Mexico.

I couldn't decide which of two pictures of them to post. Do you like this one?

Or this one?
hee hee.