Friday, December 29, 2017

Paste Papers and Bookmaking with Abby Read

  I attended 2 workshops at a local arts center. 
One was on paste papers & coptic stitch bookmaking by  Abby Read, 
wonderful artist & teacher. 
Made sketch notes in my Art Learning Book.
I got to wear a long printer's apron too, a grand costume! 
 If
 
Even though I had done the coptic stitch before,
it's complicated for me & lots of repetition & re-learning helps! 
My finished book! I'm proud of it, like a young child
coming home from arts camp!
This one shines because I swirled in Pearlescent paint. Ooooooo!
(I also added some colored pencil marks when the paper was dry.)
 We made papers to take home! 
You mix a paste with acrylic paint, you goop it on Canson papers, 
you swirl & cut into it with tools like combs & plastic credit cards. 
I used a putty knife. 
It's fingerpainting, except without fingers, as acrylic stains! 
Such joy to dance in lines, to blend colors,
such fun to see what will happen next!
A new book in progress here at home!
The notes help me to be able to do it independently.
More using up stuff that's been around here forever,
 papers I've been saving for just this thing!

Thank you Abby Read and classmates!

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Filling the Air With Christmas

 
 Greetings 
during the season of long nights
when we fill our coastal villages with
Colored Lights, 
Santas, 
Wreaths All Red and Green, 
Decorated Evergreen Trees, 
Fake Candles and~~ Sales. Lots of Sales!

Music on the radio and in shops 
fills quiet air with songs
 Jingle Bell Rock and Silver Bells,
White Christmas and Winter Wonderland...
Meanwhile I take a break,
stopping for a cup of hot soup  
in the back cafĂ© of 
Beyond the Sea at Lincolnville Beach. 
I stare out the back window and sketch...
Only quiet colors here,
 of a low tide 
where the sand meets the woods beyond...
Those are ducks...
They are slower and quieter than people 
at this time of year...

May you have a serene holiday season...R.