Tag: Classes

Categories
Art Students League Workshops

Twigs and Berries

While my social status remains ‘distant’, there are of course little projects going on in my life, and an overall goal of reviving my creative endeavors. Professionalism dictates that I have to maintain some sort of public profile, even when health guidelines say I should be sheltering as much as possible. I’m trying to strike a healthy balance, but the need for social interaction and creative productivity certainly figure into my idea of a healthy lifestyle. These, I guess, are the sorts of questions and choices many are confronting right now.

As mentioned, classes began at the Art Students League of Denver September 1. It’s been slow going with enrollment at the school, but the need to bring in some sort of revenue is there. My September class for example was cancelled for low enrollment. I have another beginning October 19 and there are still limited spaces available. The cleaning and distancing protocols are stringent. The link is here.

To help make up for lost revenues during the shutdown, the school is hosting an online Artist Showcase in which all proceeds go to the League.

Let me stop right here and emphasize how wonderful my experience with this organization has been for over 10 years, and how hard they’ve worked to help artists during this crisis. Though the classes- and thus, their major source of revenue- were cancelled for months, they’ve tried to do what might help strapped artists most, and are still scrambling to provide opportunity where they can.

So I’m donating multiple pieces to this sale in order to give back. All the pieces are small, as they will be shipped to your house. One of my lockdown projects was to do a little painting and to re-hang the walls with new, or re-arranged art. It was a fun and refreshing thing to do, especially when stuck inside. Might I suggest this sale as a way to jump start your own Fall home refresh?

This small monotype is part of a series of deconstructed trees I did in the Fall of ’19, and will be available as part of the Art Students League of Denver’s Artist showcase, designed to make up for revenues lost to the Covid 19 shutdown. The art will be mailed directly to your home. and is available in November at ASLD.org

Another new thing for me is online classes. I’ve triumphed over my natural reticence for learning new technologies and designed a course that uses non toxic Akua inks and simple techniques to hand roll monotypes at home, and it’s gone pretty well so far. Another benefit of this type of class is that people outside my area can now take a class! Please click on “Contact Me” above if you have questions, or simply go to the registration page at ASLD.org beginning October 13th.

Open Studios are also re-opening at the League, with a difference- print room open studios will be monitored for now, to ensure compliance with the distancing and cleaning protocols. I’m going to be one of the monitors.

This applies to those already certified to use the facility, usually done by taking a class.

First, I’m glad to be back in the studio. I will be working on my own work as I’m monitor, and it’ll be nice to explore some new ideas after 6 long months. But for those feeling the rust ( as I will be, too) I’m happy to answer any questions or provide brief refreshers. Most of my shifts will be on Sundays in October, November and December. I hope to see you, should you feel that it’s the right time to get back into the studio for you.

Hope this finds you well, and I hope to see a return to art making for all.

Categories
Art Students League Uncategorized Workshops

Fall Forward

I’m finalizing what seems like a very busy schedule for fall workshops, and I’ll post complete details with links on my “Workshops” page soon. They’re all available for registration now, with “Monotype Portfolio”, my newly re-named workshop for advanced beginners and beyond, up first.

Monotype Portfolio, which is intended for those who’ve had a basic printmaking course, or perhaps some college experience back in the day, begins Monday, Sept 11, and continues for four weeks after that, making it very affordable and a nice fit for those glorious early fall evenings. Quick refreshers on color and using the press are given to start, then we jump into Chine Colle’, layered prints and advanced registration techniques, and framing, if the class is interested. It is intended for those who might like to execute a series, or perhaps enter a show.

After that, there are both daytime and evening sessions of Monotype Starter, my re-named beginner’s basics workshop, and then back to Portfolio after the Holidays.There is a Saturday Monotype Blast, and a Moxie U sampler as well.

Denver Public Library workshops are back, too, with free 1 1/2 hour drop-in workshops for the family beginning in September and running at various branches all fall, ending just before the Holidays. Other events may be added.

I’m also going to have a rarely-seen large piece in a show at the State Capitol, though I don’t have details on that yet. Click on “Contact Me” if you have questions about any of these, or come back for updates

“Ice Storm” Monotype, 15×11″, 2016. It’s been a very pleasant summer, and I’m not trying to rush it away, but perhaps a bit of creativity and good conversation in the big bright ASLD print room might warm up the chilly days to come?

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Categories
Art Shows MoPrint 2016 Workshops

Workshops, Shows and Free Stuff Scheduled for Spring ’16

It has been a busy beginning to 2016, and I’ve neglected to post in a while. It’s been a good start to what looks to be a hopeful, transformative year.

I’ll post upcoming ASLD classes, library workshops and samplers here. You can find all of the various links on that page.

"Sex Worker", Monotype, 30x22", 2014. This piece about women's stereotypes is included in the 2016 "Pressing Matters" show juried by Master Printmaker Bud Shark. More info in the post below.
“Sex Worker”, Monotype, 30×22″, 2014. This piece about women’s stereotypes is included in the 2016 “Pressing Matters” show juried by Master Printmaker Bud Shark. More info in the post below.

A couple
Of notes:
This Spring’s DPL workshops will be the last of the year, as I’ll probably take a break from those over Summer and Fall. They’re free, so they’re the best way to try monotypes.

The MoxieU classes are very affordable and allow you to experience the League’s gorgeous print room. Sorry, the one scheduled this term rather quickly sold out, and I guess I’ll need to try and schedule more of these in coming terms. Contact the League at 303-778-6990 if you’d like to be on a waiting list, as cancellations do happen.
The regular workshops have been divided into two lower cost sections for beginners and advanced beginners. The Monotypes for Beginners section is filling fast, so I would register quickly if you’d like to take it.

The Monotypes for Advanced Beginners is intended to provide a more studio-oriented atmosphere for people who have taken Monotypes for Beginners or who have printmaking experience from another class or school. Please contact me if you have questions about this workshop. There are still spots open.

I have a one day, Monotype Sampler workshop on Saturday, May 14th, for people who can’t do weekdays. Very affordable at $67.50 (members). It’s a 6-hour intro, and most can get several small prints done in that time. There are spots still open.

There is a free demo planned for Saturday, March 19th, 1-2:30 PM at Meininger Art Supply on Broadway. Their set up is gorgeous and viewer-friendly with overhead mirrors and a P.A. system and comfortable seats, so you don’t have to strain to see and hear. A discount coupon for supplies is included.
I have several shows coming up this spring and I’ll put up a separate page for show/event info soon. Many are part of the Month of Printmaking Colorado fest, and I’ll be at many of the other MoPrint events, as I’m on the organizing committee. So let’s schmooze! I’m expecting to be in four shows this Spring:

“Print Educators of Colorado”, Space Gallery, Opens Feb 25th.

“Pressing Matters”, Juried by Bud Shark, Art Students League, 200 Grant St. Opens March 12th.

“Planting the Seeds: Pedagogy in Print”, The Corner Gallery, Lakewood Cultural Center, Opens:  TBA (March)

“Summer Art Market”,  200 Block, Grant St, June 11-12. I will again be showing with monotype artist Taiko Chandler.
I also have a couple of nearly complete pop culture posts in the can, and I’ll put those up soon. One is a review of “Pretty Deadly” by Kelly Sue DeConnick, who is leading the breakthrough for women creators in the heretofore embarrassingly male dominated comics field. The other is a pet project; a close reading of a favorite Beatles song.
I think it will be a good year, and I wish you a prosperous and hope filled 2016.

Categories
Art Shows Books, Comics, Music Summer Art Market

Drawing a Crowd

Unlike past shows, I’m sharing a booth at the #SummerArtMarket2015 with another monotype artist, Taiko Chandler. I’ll post some of her work soon. It has allowed me to dial back the preparation of the small-to-medium-sized prints that usually sell there in favor of some larger work, which I will still need more of to crack into a more sustainable position from a business perspective, but also to more fully develop creative ideas. I’ve worked hard in past years at creating a large inventory of smaller pictures, so I should be able to fill a half of a booth to please the mostly smaller, middle income collectors at the show and continue to make bigger works for a higher end gallery market.

I’m also mentoring to a certain extent. Many past students in my workshops have been moving into a more professional approach to creating and selling and the SAM is a good place to test yourself. I try to help with some of the more practical concerns of presenting, showing and selling art. Taiko is one of those artists, though she’s made a fair amount of progress without me so far, so I find myself wondering what her very polished work will bring to the booth in terms of eye appeal and new visitors- two heads are better than one?

At some point, usually in May, those practical concerns start to outweigh all the aesthetic issues. I’m sorting, wrapping, and framing art. I’m digging through the garage to make sure I have important items to transport it, hang it and keep it dry.What’s an important supply item for artists? Trash bags! They help you to transport, store and protect art at an outdoor show, and they double for the same purpose for buyers bringing it home. Art supplies include bungee cords- mundane items, yet so useful when the wind comes up.

I’m also making art, mostly smaller items again to fill out the bins and to cater to beginning collectors with small walls. I’ve made some larger work, especially in April and early May, which I’m taking to the photographer this week. I’ll post some pictures and add them to the gallery next week.

I’m doing another free library workshop this week as well, and my Summer workshops are open for registration now. The weather is still wet and cool, so I’m still reading a lot too. I’ve started a “women in comics” post which will inevitably grow too large and be chopped into separate parts. My comics posts, as I’ve said, are an attempt to post something that taps into a larger conversation about the culture wars than just my studio work. It allows me to “think out loud” about the things I’m reading, which in turn helps me to process them. It turns out that conversation -and the reading stack- is large and getting larger. My supposedly brief foray into mainstream comics has extended into a larger inquiry into comics’, and all pop cultural, expression of societal change, and that subject is starting to get a lot of attention in some very high places. There’s actually a lot of material out there, and I’ve enjoyed digging into it. I imagine I’ll continue posting about where my library and bookstore excursions lead me.

Art Spiegelman (Raw Magazine, Maus) speculates in Dangerous Drawings that comics started taking off in the mid-19th Century after printing presses began the expansion of reading into lower, less well educated classes of society. Libraries often use them to perform the same function with immigrant populations today.
Art Spiegelman (Raw Magazine, Maus) speculates in Dangerous Drawings that comics started taking off in the mid-19th Century after printing presses began the expansion of reading into lower, less well educated classes of society. Libraries often use comics to perform the same function with immigrant populations today. Marginalized creators, too, such as Second Wave feminists in the 70’s and 80’s could get access to cheap printing and spread messages in underground comics about social change.

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