"Open" and Class Review of Creativity Boot Camp

I really enjoyed Creativity Boot Camp, a wonderful, free, two week class that gave class participants lots of options for what to get out of it.  Participants were challenged to pick one medium and create something in that medium each day, incorporating  a random prompt.  I chose plaster as my medium because it's something that I had been meaning to explore but hadn't gotten around to working with.  The randomness and openness of the prompts gave me the opportunity to create all kinds of things that I really loved and to discover new ways in which to use plaster.  You can peruse these by checking my labels for plaster or bootcamp  I loved having the push to create every day for two weeks - I think I really grew as an artist and have many more ideas for what to do with plaster.  The class also had a variety of ways to connect with other participants - a comments section, which I liked; a mr. linky tool that was fantastic and easy to use; a blog roll in which I participated; a flickr group (which I ignored - I hate flickr); and some forums which I perused occasionally.  I found several new blogs and artists through the class, who I know will continue to inspire me as I visit their blogs.  The class also had an "assignment" every day - often involving writing.  I didn't do these very often because they didn't really "speak to me," but that was okay! I had thought about a lot of the same things when I worked through The Artist's Way a few years ago.  I think other participants got a great deal out of these activities.  I did love, love, love the photo walk assignment though - such fun!  One of the most interesting things about the class was how it took on a life of its own.  I think it was originally intended to be a fairly small class for a few blog friends, but it drew hundreds of creative, interesting people.  Simply amazing!  CBC is continuing with weekly prompts called "Sunday Creative," and I'm really glad it is.  I want to continue to use plaster and to share my creations with others.  The first Sunday creative prompt was "open," and I used radiant pearls to create this card with an open water lily on plaster.  I hope you like it!
All-in-all, Creativity Boot Camp was a wonderful experience for me and something that allowed people to grow in whatever ways they chose.  As I said before, simply amazing!
If you participated, what did you think about it?  What was your favorite creation?

Each New Day

Well, Creativity Boot Camp is over.  I'll post a full review with my thoughts in a few days.  In the meantime, the final prompt was "smile," and I'm posting a page from my plaster gratitude journal with a quote that always makes me smile:
As the sun makes it new
Day by day make it new
Yet again make it new
Confucius, interpreted by Ezra Pound
This page also reflects the last journaling prompt which encourages you to think about being creative every day.   For those who participated in Creativity Boot Camp, I'd love to hear what you thought about it.

Smooth, Alcohol Ink Tags

I love plaster because it is so highly textured, so it was difficult to figure out what to do with today's prompt at Creativity Boot Camp - "smooth."  I decided to smooth it out by adding several coats of gesso on top of it.  I got it so smooth that I was able to get alcohol inks to "stick" to it!  I love alcohol ink and am happy to find another surface to use them on.  I'm making another set of tags for my art journaling class which continues this weekend.  I can't find my hole punch, but I will punch a hole and add some nice ribbon before I give these out on Sunday.  Art journaling and scrapbooking have both helped me come to terms with my handwriting because I do not do any computer journaling - it's all by hand.  Have you learned to love your handwriting yet?

Hush

I absolutely love how this turned out! It's a scrapbook page on plaster that will go into my "favorite photos" album that I created in Shimelle's Something from Almost Nothing class.   When I was reconstituting this piece of plaster, I used water that had some paint in it from my brushes, and I loved how it gave it a very light tint. For this background, I decided not to paint it or add any other colorant.  When I read the prompt for today's Creativity Boot Camp assignment, I thought of this picture of a nest I found in a hollowed out tree on a nature hike this spring.  I stamped the title and feathers and am just really pleased with it! In fact, instead of putting it in an album, I might frame instead!

Art House (Full Bodied Acrylics)

I'm working on finishing up my ATC's for a swap with my mixed media group. The theme is "new home," "new beginnings" or anything to celebrate our new studio.  So, I made these little art houses out of plaster.  I stamped the circles with heavy bodied acrylic paints to get a lot of texture.  Inspired by the "full bodied" prompt for creativity boot camp.

It's Raining Tim! Hallelujah! (drizzle)

There's a new Tim Holtz based challenge going on in blogland! It's being hosted by Studio L3 and features challenges from Tim's A Compendium of Curiosities.  The first challenge features the water stamping technique found on page 35 of the book.  I've been thinking about umbrellas and Tim's umbrella man stamp since the Creativity Boot Camp prompt, drizzle, went up last night.  I decided to see how the water stamping technique would work on plaster, and I'm thrilled with the results.  In fact, I think it works even better than my attempt to use this technique on paper, which you can see here.  I put two layers of gesso down on the plaster before the distress inks, and I think that helped a lot.  I can definitely see using this technique to create very cool backgrounds for larger plaster pieces.  Anyone going to join me in this Tim challenge?  In other blogland announcements, Shimelle posted a bit about her summer class.  I signed up already.  Have you?

Little Bits of Fun (Ornament & Fly)

I'm really pleased with these little plaster tags I made as gifties for the students in my art journaling class on tomorrow (Sunday).  They are little ornaments that I will put on top of their package of supplies and fit the Creativity Boot Camp Saturday prompt "ornament".  Each one has an inspirational quote about art journaling:
*Trust that small still voice that says "This might work and I'll try it."
*Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." and
*Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working."
I also made another ATC with a home theme.  It is response to the Creative Boot Camp prompt "Fly."

One of the reasons I have been making ATC's with houses is that my mixed media group is doing a "Home" themed ATC swap this month.

Getting into the fluid flow of summer

In the Harbor (acrylic paint on plaster)

Today's artwork was created in response to the Creativity Boot Camp prompt "fluid."  Today's prompt also suggested creating something outside your typical style.  So, I went with an abstract piece.  Definitely not my style, but I'm okay about trying out new things every now and then.  On the other hand, I really do like developing a particular style and creating within it right now.  I think it's really helping me create art that is uniquely me. And I'm not wild about this piece, called "In the Harbor."  It reflects some of the things I saw in my walk around my harbor neighborhood the other day.  I really struggle with abstract pieces and don't see myself doing many more of them. How do you feel about abstract art?


"Fluid" also made me think of the start of summer . . . The kids' school ended on Thursday, and I'm thrilled to be out of the "up at 6:30 am; run around all day; oversee homework; put them to bed" rut!  
Oddly enough, I did get up at 6:30 am this morning anyway, but it was to watch the opening game of the World Cup - South Africa v. Mexico!  We'll definitely be watching a lot of soccer this summer, as the whole family are big fans.  DS Henry and I watched the game this morning on the Spanish language station, Univision, instead of ESPN.  Even though ESPN has credible announcers (not as good as the BBC) and even though I don't speak Spanish (Henry does), it was still way more exciting to watch it in Spanish!  Tomorrow of course is the biggest game of the qualifying round for us  - U.S. v. England.  I don't hold out a lot of hope for our boys, but, given England's propensity to self-destruct (apologies to all my UK followers), anything is possible.
On tap for this summer - DD Clara starts Jr. Lifeguards on Monday (five hours at the beach everyday; she loves it).  Then she'll go down to Southern California to visit cousins.  In August, we'll head up to Lake Tahoe for a week.  DS Henry is playing on three different baseball teams - as long as the games don't conflict with the World Cup.  He's also got a regular volunteer job lined up starting at the end of the month, working at a sports camp.  I'm teaching a class two nights a week this summer -alternative dispute resolution.  By doing so, I'll have a much lighter teaching schedule next year.  I actually started back this week already! During the days, I hope to spend time in my art studio and work on some research and writing for my real job.
So, what's up for you this summer?  Are you World Cup followers? Any big plans?

She wondered if she would ever grow up

She wondered if she would ever grow up enough to wear a real party dress
Thank you for pushing me to continue thinking about the "On the clothesline" series.  For this art journal page, I did experiment with cutting a dress out of plaster and applying to a regular page.  It's in response to the Creativity Boot Camp prompt, "grow." The journaling is written on the clothesline.

Heavy Metal Relatives & Inspiring Photos

Favorite Relatives (art journal page)

I have to say that the process of taking the Creative Bootcamp Online Class - focusing on creating something everyday in one medium and working with a random prompt - is really ramping up my creativity.  When I read the prompt for today, heavy metal, I groaned because I had no idea how to incorporate it into my plaster work.  Twelve hours later, I had four competing ideas:

• Using some fabulous rusty stars on the dedication page of my gratitude journal.  These are very special and wonderful stars that were sent to me by a very special blog friend
• An art journal page responding to the Creative Therapy prompt "A favorite relative" and that features a picture of my Aunt Vera and Uncle Nano riding a motorcycle together in the 1930's.  I would use plaster to create a road for them to ride on and some wings to go behind a skull.  Journaling reads:  Aunt Vera and Uncle Nano.  How could these two not be my favorite relatives - just look at them!  I became close to them when my parents sent my sister and I to stay with them one summer in Houston, Texas.  Years later, I inherited lots of memorabilia and heritage photos from her when my sister and I handled her estate.  Even though they're gone, they live on in my art.
•  Making tags out of plaster and seeing if I can put eyelets into the plaster.  The tags would be for my art journaling class that starts this weekend and each would have a quote about art journaling.
• A piece for the "On the Clothesline" series, a heavy metal t-shirt painted black with a silver skull and skinny jeans with teeny brads for rivets.  On the front, the journaling reads: "On the clothesline . . . her heavy metal clothes were waiting."  On the back, I would write, "As her soul softened, she sensed her heavy metal uniform no longer fit her."

Now, it's 20 hours later. I have completed the gratitude dedication page and the "favorite relative" art journal page (posted above) .  Plus, I formed the tags but haven't had a chance to add eyelets, color or quotes.  The "On the Clothesline" piece will have to wait for another day.
I also worked on the bootcamp inspirational assignment to go for a walk and take pictures of things that inspire you.  I walked around the harbor neighborhood near my studio and found these inspiring things.  I encourage you to click on any of the ones you like to see them bigger:

Jeff Clark's Maverick's Surf Shop is right down the street.  If you're a surfer or know surfers, then it will mean something to you that Jeff Clark lives in my town, and the Mavericks Big Wave spot is walking distance from my studio. He has a bunch of old rusted out trucks in front and an assortment of surfboard.  I would love to take portraits in front of these!  For now, I really loved this perspective, sky and color combination above.

You may recall that I love graffiti photography, and I loved this landscape of the bluff above Mavericks, which was painted on a container outside the surf shop.  I can tell it's an old painting because the satellite dishes shown on the bluff top have been replaced by new, more modern versions.

One of my neighbors.  I love the industrial nature of the harbor. I also find inspiring the weathered red metal, the blue, blue sky and the shapes in this photo.

I'd love to take portraits in front of this weathered wood wall.

My favorite find of the day - a beautiful statue of an angel reading.  I'm submitting this photo as my "final" for the Get Out of Auto Mode photography class.  It was taken in aperture priority with an fstop of 5.6, ISO 200 and WB set to full sun.

Crabpots, weathered wood and rusty metal - wonderful textures.  Crabpots are everywhere, and I love them.  Here's a look inside one:

I find the jumble of robes and floats and metal very intriguing.  I also love the barnacles and shells trapped inside. Next up, s simple flower photo.  I found the color and shapes very inspiring, but admit to having trouble getting a proper focus:

And finally, I took a real (not an i-phone) photo of the red truck and green tree outside the studio:

I have no idea why I find this view so inspiring.  The colors and the old-fashioned feel of it are definitely a part of it.  Sorry for the long, long post today! I hope you found something inspiring in it!

My Town (multilayered plaster aj page)

"Where I was born, where I was raised, where I keep all my yesterdays." Montgomery Gentry
"There's only one place they call me one of their own." Bon Jovi
Multilayered techniques are right up my alley! I am working on a Gratitude Art Journal, with plaster pages.  Each page in the journal will complete the phrase, "I am grateful . . ."  This page is about how happy I am that I grew up in a small town and lived there my entire life, until I went away to college.  I am happy to be giving my children the same experience, even though it's in a different town than the one where I grew up. The quotes today are from country songs.  I always use a lot of quotes and words in all my art.  It is a definite part of my style.  The technique I used for this involved collaging patterned papers on to a plaster page and then painting over it with several layers of paint.  I journaled in between the layers of paint and used a glazing technique for the top layer, so that some of the underneath would show through. If you click on the image above, you can see the details better and read the journaling. This is the same technique I used for my creative circle blog hop post, which you can see here. A different art journal page I did about where I grew up is here. Thanks for all your lovely feedback on my recent posts!

The Picnic Dress (collage on plaster)

She wore this dress to the picnic, and memories of the day lingered in its folds. 
Day 2 of Creativity Boot Camp, and the creative prompt is "picnic."  WTF???  I take a deep breath and think about some of the things I have been wanting to do with plaster (my chosen media), and one of them has been to create certain shapes and collage on them. One of the shapes I have contemplated is a simple dress or shirt.  I figure I can make a nice, spring dress that someone might wear to a picnic and then collage on a variety of flowers and heritage images of women.
As I look through my collage images, I find one of my favorite images. . . I don't know who the couple is exactly (beyond friends or relatives of my Aunt Vera) or what the circumstances are, but this photo always reminds me of budding romance.  I imagine that the couple met each other while attending a picnic.
As I start to sketch the picnic dress on to the plaster panel, I am having trouble imagining it as a freestanding form, but I really begin to like the idea of it as a dress hanging on a clothesline.  I have always been fascinated  by clothes hanging on a clothesline, and you can see a favorite photo here and the art journal page it inspired here.  As I continue to paint and collage and create, an idea is born for a series of collages on plaster.  The series is titled "On the Clothesline," and today's collage is the first in the series, "She wore this dress to the picnic."  On the back, I have written, "She wore this dress to the picnic, and memories of the day lingered in its folds."  ETA: I came up with the words to tell the story; they aren't a quote from someone else.
I hope you enjoy my creation (and its story).

Creativity Boot Camp Media, Take 2!

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home."  Twyla Tharp


I'm very excited about taking the two week free class, Creativity Boot Camp, which you can learn about here.  Participants are to choose one media to work on during the two weeks, and I have chosen to work in plaster.  It's a media I love and one that I think can really become a signature of my artwork.  Sorry for the odd post yesterday asking about your media (the only content was an "x").  Not sure how that happened, but it was interesting to hear that many of you are still undecided . . . a couple of photographers, an art journaler and a digi-gal round out the list.  Really hoping people decide to do a variety of things.
The creative prompt for day 1 was "ivory," so I made this ivory house out of plaster and put it on an ATC titled "Run away. . ." The idea is based on the Twyla Tharp quote above.