I don't really know where the last thirty days went...but I sure was busy!  Since I last posted I've done 7 lectures and taught 3 full day workshops and 3 1/2 day workshops.  That's a full plate by anyone's standards.  Most of my workshops so far have really been focused on "mixed-media" applications.  It's thrilling to know that this lively, energetic, and consistently changing art form is very much on people's agendas these days as they set out to learn and make art.  My classes at The Art Colony were so much fun.  The cast and crew of this family run business are all great people and they enjoy a lively interaction with their local and snow-bird customers through a series of workshops through-out the "season" in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area.  I enjoy the break from my damp cool temps in Pasadena in February while I'm out in their sun-filled environment.  It's like a mini-vacation from winter.  While I was there I did a few lectures as well with the College of the Desert Acrylic Painting Class as well as at the fabulous and friendly Palm Springs Art Museum.  Be sure to check it out when you go to the desert.  It's got great exhibits both permanent and rotating.  It's theater presentations are nice as well. 

I had a couple days home and then repacked and headed out in my supply filled car to do some filming with my cohort in mixed-media madness, Julie Prichard.  You already know about our on-line collaboration Color: Beyond the Basics which began in January and now serves over 150 artists worldwide.  We are in the process of wrapping up another HUGE class which will debut after a mini class finishes.  The mini class is called PRETTY PAPERS.  You'll learn a lot of wonderful tricks and tips we promise. This is a bonus class in that you get the whole class all at one time along with the PDF and all the videos.  We don't like our students to be bored and we want to keep you all on your toes as well!  The big class will follow Pretty Papers and is promising to be totally amazing.  We had two heavy days of painting and filming last week and it's looking great.

I said goodbye to Julie and drove over to Poway (near San Diego) to spend the weekend with my fabulous friends at Stamping Details
where I was teaching all last weekend.  We spent three 4 hour sessions working on mixed media pieces and all day Sunday was devoted to using OPEN Acrylics by Golden Artist Colors, Inc. for fabric applications.  This workshop was based on my new book:  MIXED MEDIA & COLOR by Design Originals.  It was an amazing day filled with a riot of colors and lots of lively conversation about the possibilities that new products open up to the artist.

I made it back home late yesterday afternoon and fell into bed!  Boy did that feel great. This morning after all the stuff was unloaded and the basics of life were returned to normal (groceries, laundry, bills and mail, etc.)I am finally at a point where I can say I spent these last 30 days immersed in mixed media, with great productivity and success! Amen. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that I did finally finish all my pieces for France (I'm participating in and exhibition in May)and I'm quite satisfied and pleased.  So now I will look at my calendar and see where the next road trip will take me.  Talk to you soon!

It's winter over most of the country, but here in Southern California, we can never decide what season it is.  After an awful week of constant rain the world outside thinks it is almost springtime.  In fact, it is almost springtime here.  I walked out into my garden today and the tips of my narcissus and daffodil bulbs are starting to pop out of the ground.  In 10 days or so my ornamental plum in the front yard will be a riot of bubble gum pink blossoms.  I only just finished getting the roses cut back for their 3 mos of rest, so everything else must feel compelled to pop into action!  That means my favorite time of the year is just around the corner.

Spring means discovery and its vitality is compelling.  Each day you can experience a change that speaks to growth. 

As far as growth goes, I want to talk about how exciting it is to see the students in our Online class COLOR: Basics & Beyond working on their color understandings.  Julie and I had hoped to inspire students to coak out of their colors the full possiblities in each bottle.  We have them doing all kinds of mixes, check for transparency and opacity and examining how the colors shift and change.  We have over 125 students enrolled and still going.  There are great dialogues going on within the network and some fantastic problem solving as well.  When collaboration blooms we can feel good about our efforts. 

Speaking of collaboration...As an artist and a person I love collaboration.  I am not sure everyone feels that way, but for me it must stem from my years as a teacher.  It seems that a good idea only gets better when you put it out there to get worked on or with others.  Should we be doing more work in collaboration with other artists?  I say YES!  I am enjoying my collaborations with Julie Prichard as we plan our classes.  I have several artist friends that I regularly collaborate with and enjoy creating exercises in which one artist begins and another completes or acts on the pieces.  For me art is about problem solving and what better way to do this than to try to work on something someone else has begun, respecting yet differing from their style. 

If only we could find a way to convince our educational system to recognize that art is the key to keeping minds flexible and keen, that it fosters creativity and problem solving skills and can be done in a team as well as individually!  If only we could really see what is there in front of us. 


                                        

                                                        How many shades of gray does it take to convey shadows?

                
                                                                If you were purple wouldn't you love to be this shade?

Wow, I don't think I have blogged two days in a row, but I wanted you all to know to look out for my New book from Design Originals:  MIXED MEDIA AND COLOR.  It is beautiful, colorful, and filled with ideas.  For those of you who want to work with fabric, consider that most if not all of the techniques are useable on Fabrics of all kinds.  So check it out.  I spent a long day working the booth for the CHA retail show today.  It was crazy good with lots of fun people of all ages stopping by and working at the booth on our mixed media projects.  We worked with only 3 colors and the results were awesome. I'll leave you with an image from the book!  I cut this stencil and used Interference colors mixed with GAC 900 (Fabric Medium).  Enjoy and goodnight.  Be good to each other.



                                            .

I'm getting ready to head to the CHA Supershow tomorrow.  I know I'll see many friends and others that I see only once a year at these special events.  I'll be in the Design Originals booth.  They are the publishers of both of my books, Altered Surfaces and Transfers & Altered Images.  This year I have a new book coming out.  It is filled with new techniques that can be used on all your favorite surfaces AND on fabric!  Yes, Fabrics as well.  Look for it soon...Mixed Media and COLOR! 

This weekend is the launch of my online class Project deConstruction with my friend and colleague mixed-media artist Julie Prichard.  We are so excited about this project.  We have over 100 students enrolled and once things get rolling, we know that more will join in.  Just from our pre-class discussions and threads we already have quite a dialogue going and people are starting to really think about color.  This first class (one of many we have planned) is Color: Basics and Beyond.  We wanted  help people to put aside all the fears they have about choosing color and really get them to understand what color is all about, how the colors relate to each other, and what they can do with color!  Julie and I will be available through the network to interact with our students and we are expecting some amazing art work in the process.  Don't disappoint us!    

I just want to mention my friends from Poway at Stamping Details. DiAnn & Michael Ogawa and all the crew from the store will be at the CHA Show all weekend in Anaheim.  If you go, please stop by their booth and say hello!  They are an amazing group of people and I look forward to my teaching weekends there.  In fact, I'll be there at the end of February!

For my workshop schedule please check out my working artist page at Golden Paint.

Well, wish me luck.  The rains are finally starting to slow down, my bag is packed for tomorrow and  all is right in the world...at least for the moment.  Talk to you soon!

So much has happened in my life since I last wrote.  Lots of emotional stuff... which definitely influences the way I see the world.  It's not appropriate that I share the details, as this is not really the forum for my emotional life.  But my emotional life does indeed influence how my world sees color. 

I was recently in Florida visiting my family.  I love going to Florida so I can once again truly appreciate the sky.  There is so much of it with so little pollution that the clarity of blues and whites and grays is so in your face it is breathtaking.  I've lived in many place throughout the US and the sky is always how I measure how right things are in the world.  Of course the sky changes, weather and seasons affect its color and line and emotion.  The bright happy blue can flip to an ominous roiling gray tinged with shades of green in the flash of a few moments in time. 

My first visit to Florida in November was a happy one, a family event which brought people together from near an far, favorite cousins from Canada visiting Florida for the first time in many years.  The sun was out, the sky was gloriously blue with huge puffy clouds.  All was right with the world.  Florida is funny, though, because it can be raining on one side of the street and sunny on the other.  Just like life.  I returned to Florida twice within a month, the second time more solemn.  It seemed as though nature knew things were going to shift.  The skies became cloudy, gray, and dim.  Rains fell, and everything was solemn. 

Why am I writing about this?  Because emotions color us and our world.  I have painted through grief before and found solace in grayed down blues and hazy surfaces.  I've discovered myself painting doorways when I had not planned on it.  Art and color are expressions of who we are and how we see the world.  They heal us and protect us when we are not able to tolerate the glare of bright raw color. 

I find that I need to put away my favorite transparent colors and seek out the solid weighty pigments found in ochres, umbers,and siennas at times like this.  I don't really want to see everything, it is better for some things to be obscured and visually unavailable.  References are sufficient, in your face images don't seem appropriate.  I mediate my bright colors with micaceous iron oxide to grey things down and lend grit to their surfaces. 

I'll know when it is time for the bright colors to return.  Maybe it is a good thing it is winter, things all around are ready for a rest.

I'm so inspired by this new project that I fall asleep at night thinking of how to communicate what I do to those who will share in our adventures.  The e.mails between Julie and I fly through cyberspace and I am beginning to hear from friends who are ready to sign on.  What's really important  to me about this new adventure is that it is about making art more accessible to those who want it in their lives.  I've heard from so many people across the US and the globe that they don't have access to teachers who speak their language.  Well, that's not going to be a problem come January 2010.    Julie and I will start filming segments in just a couple of weeks. 

As for what is happening in my life...I inherited a ton of bricks around my yard.  The borders of my garden were lined with these red bricks pointing up to create a zigzag line.  Very unnatural to me.  Well I am happy to report that 90 percent of the red brick zigzags are now GONE!  I've replaced them with natural river rocks of various greys and browns which really is so much more in keeping with a garden.  The bricks have been recycled into a back patio where no one sees it!  Not that brick isn't lovely, but it just didn't seem to go with the garden.  I'm gradually getting rid of all the straight lines too!  My gardener is helping me make curved beds which seem to go with the irises and lily beds better than straight ones.  My tiny lettuce is growing by the day.  I can almost taste those first leaves. 

As you all know I get a lot of inspiration from my garden.  My studio looks out into it from every window and door.  It's my backdrop so to speak.  The colors change with each season.  My roses have had a little fertilizer and they are happy to be blooming again just before the holidays.  It will be their last bloom of the season, but it's always glorious.  The oranges and grapefruit trees are heavy with the winter's harvest.  It will take some cold weather to color them to their appropriate orange and yellow, but I'm patient and they are as well.

I have this wonderful trumpet flower in my yard.  It creates blooms that remind me of angel bells.  Pale and ghostly in color but very cool to see when they bloom.  Right now the yellow one is filled with blooms.  The peach one is resting, but I know they will be coming.

Well, that's it for now.  I'm committed to writing more often in this blog!  I'll be talking about my favorite Historical colors next time.
Keep a watch out.

It's a glorious November morning here in Southern California and I'm writing to share the news that Julie Prichard and I will be collaborating to offer online classes in painting and mixed media!  Julie is a student of mine with a fabulous blog "Lost Luggage" that has a tremendous following.  Last spring she launched an online class called "Layer Love" that was a terrific success.  She followed that with a couple more exciting classes.  As we talked and learned together in classes I came to know and respect Julie and feel she is the perfect partner in this endeavor.  She is also the guru of "getting it done!" 

We will be creating classes that specifically address our audience of mixed -media painters.  We will build on Julie's Layer Love format and create a series of on-line classes for you.

Project DeConstruction will be an exciting and positive forum for you to participate in. Don't be shy to e.mail me through my website or respond to either of us as questions come up!  It is part of the package!  On-line learning and on-line support!

As for what else is going on?  Well,  my two existing books, Altered Surfaces and Transfers and Altered Images will be joined by a new book in January 2010! I can't wait for you to see it!  This time I wanted to focus on my love of acrylic paint and FABRIC!  Yes, Fabric!  I got some great people together to push the envelope as far as we could and you will find out so many more things that you can do with Acrylic paints and products that you won't believe it!  Printmaking, silkscreening, "dyeing" and more!  And the best thing...the information included can all be applied to paper as well!  So get ready for another member of the Altered team...
This book will also be released by Design Originals

My teaching schedule has been crazy busy this year and I'm close to wrapping the year up.  I'm looking forward to having a few weeks in my studio painting in preparation for an exhibition in France in May of 2010.  That in itself is motivation to work!  France in May is glorious.  I was there 5 years ago and finally understood Van Gogh's starry night color.  A mix of Dioxazine Purple, Anthacrinone Blue and Black.  It was right there in front of my eyes as I stood out in front of my auberge.  I had never seen a night sky that color and haven't since. Truly amazing.

That's the news for now!  Watch for the classes and the new book!  Happy painting.

As the end of September nears, many parts of the world begin to see small shifts in color reflected on the plants and trees surrounding them.  SInce I live in Southern California, that just isn't going to happen here until sometime in December!  And then it is still only minimal.  There are a few really spectacular trees that blaze up in shades of Indian Yellow Hue and Quinacridone Magenta and Burnt Orange,  and then there are the Ginkgo trees which blush completely yellow and then in a dramatic huff, drop all of their leaves at one time.  But who could live without the Ginkgo tree...an ancient and unique form,with the loveliest leaf shape.

So in lieu of actually walking through a forest of trees I will  imagine the colors I would use to paint the forest and share them with you.

I've been thinking a lot about the differences in pigments.  The earth provides many of the raw materials from which we create paint pigments.  All of the Siennas, Umbers, and Ochers, the Ultramarines, Cobalts, and Cadmiums.  These colors are so much a part of painting history.  Old masters would grind chunks of pigment and mix their own paints using these raw sources.  These earth pigments have an important role to play in creating paintings.  They are solid color, without a lot of sheerness.  They are so perfect for creating the substance of our forms and landscapes, they give weight and body to our masses.  When we try to create mixes out of them, they are subdued and sturdy, not vibrant and sheer.  This is an important thing to know.  So many of us make mud an can't figure out why.  I always liken it to making mud pies when we were children...If you add dirt to clear liquid, the liquid turns cloudy with lots of particles in it! 

So, as I walk through my imaginary forest I look down and around and see the Umbers, Sienna's and Ochers that create the solid horizon lines, and form the structures of the trees and the earth that caresses their roots.  I see the range of mixes that can emerge from them in combination.  I see hits of Cadmium red, yellow and orange.  The remnants of grass has lost its crisp bright green and taken on the dusky nature of Chromium Oxide, with overtones of Ultramarine Violet, and Cobalt Blue.

Then I look up into the leaves and they shimmer with light and dance in the light breeze.  They are bright and cheery and alive with color.  These colors are not solid and sturdy, these are the colors made from pigments sheer and surreal!  Ahh, I recognize my favorite Quinacridones...the full range now in the glory of autumn...Red, Magenta, Violet, Burnt Orange, and how they bleed one into the other taking full advantage of their ability to do so.  Of course there is Nickel Azo Yellow leaving the last hint of green before bursting fully into yellow, and then Indian Yellow Hue sitting right next to Sap Green Hue kissing it goodbye for the season.
In the shadows is the ever present Payne's Gray along with Dioxazine Purple providing us the depth and dimension as we look through the leaves.  What would we do without these wonderful deep colors that morph so easily into every shade of shadow we can possibly imagine.

Oh, well, I must get ready to face another 90 degree plus day here in Southern California. In my garden there is not sign of fall, my roses are still in bloom and I'm still picking my tomatoes.  But I know Autumn is coming,  the days are shorter, the mornings are cooler and I can see it in my mind's eye.  Thanks for walking with me.

Hi there everyone...I know it's been way WAY too long since I've visited this space to say hello and think about color with you.  Well today as I walked through my garden I could not help but think about color.  The roses are frantically blooming and the irises are nearly spent, but I managed to capture their colors on my camera so that I could think about them after they were gone.  I have this arbor in my backyard that rains rose petals for two months.  Technically the rose is white, but as with every color that's nuanced by what is adjacent to it.  Against the green leaves the white seems creamy, but when the petals have fallen on the brick patio you can easily see the pink blush that is present.  On the opposite side of the arbor is a riotous pink rose that ranges from bright to pale on the same rose in a thousand different combinations.  Sometimes the outer petals are bright pink, the kind you can only get from using Quinacridone Magenta to mix a pink, sometimes they are pale.  It's endlessly fascinating to see.

Strolling down the bushes is a veritable colorfest.  Yellows turn to peach, jumping to a rose with petals that are red on the inside and white on the outside, to white, then to a different yellow, and on to one that is yellow, orange, pink and blush all on the same rose. 

The only way I feel I can really capture the color of a rose is when I use my acrylics as watermedia.  By mixing in the water to the fluid paints I can capture that almost velvet feeling of color that is the essence of a rose petal.  Water actually is a problem for Acrylic Paint in that it upsets it's perfect balance and causes the pigments to float out of the bond that was created when the paint was manufactured.  If you have ever wondered why your pigment seems uneven when you are using a very wet brush to paint, this is why.   It doesn't mean that it isn't beautiful and wonderful and exciting to see the outcomes when you work in a watermedia form.

Try it on wet paper and watch the fluid acrylics spread and leap and explode.  If you haven't tried the Light Molding Paste or the Coarse Molding Paste with the watermedia techniques then you are in for even more surprises!   Such fun.  Enjoy.  Let me know how you like it! 

Remember...when you stop to smell the roses...take a good look at their colors as well.

Hi everyone!  I just got back to Pasadena from a visit to the Golden Artist Colors Factory in upstate New York!  WOW!  If you ever find yourself near Syracuse, it's worth the extra 1 1/2 hour drive to have the opportunity to visit this amazing place first hand.  I've worked exclusively with Golden Artist Colors as a Working Artist for the past three years.  Prior to then I was a solid devotee of their products.  I can now assure you that their commitment to quality and service is without comparison.  I understand so much more now about what it takes to get those bottle and tubes and tubs out to the stores and into our hands.   Buy with confidence that this is a company that will stand behind their products.  I asked the CEO, Mark Golden, what was the company's policy about returning products that don't see "quite right" to a consumer when they open them.  He said they wanted to know when products weren't "right"  so they could trace back the batch and run tests on it to determine where there might be a problem.  Often the problem could be that someone opened the bottle in the store and that the contents were exposed to air causing them to shrink or dry out.  But if the product is indeed "failing" they WANT to know.  They actually keep samples of every batch of every product in storage for just that reason. 
More than 20 years worth!

Golden prides itself in being an "artist driven" company.  That means a lot of their products have been developed because artists, like you and me, have asked questions that provoked them to explore an answer that ultimately led to the developement of a product to respond to the question...Did you follow that?  In other words, someone asked a question, someone actually listened, and someone made something to address the question. 

There are two exciting new product lines this year...Digital Grounds and "OPEN" acrylics.  These two lines are pretty incredible.  You need to log  onto Golden Artist Colors, Inc. and check them out.  Anyway I've got work to do and I need to be thinking about what color is next...shall we say YELLOWS!  See you soon.