New Workshops

 (thats my paper as the background, I am loving painting papers right now!)

This weekend I have two fun things going on…Saturday, April 26th Endada Music and Art Festival at Montgomery Bell Academy  (11 to 4 come visit!)  and Small Books Galore on Sunday, April 27th, see below for details.

Small Books Galore is all about the small easy book out of reuse of course; different pamphlet binds and the perfect bind (or as I like to call it the glue bind)!  How to use scraps and find papers to create fun and spontaneous memory keepers or presents.  I love small books and want to share the intimate nature of creating a small piece of work with you.

I have some new workshops coming up in May.  I am teaching at a new location…..Your Heart on Art over on White Bridge Road.  Your Heart on Art is a non-profit providing art therapy for anyone with life changing events to come and get some art on!   I am excited they are hosting REmake Art in May with three different classes.  Please let a friend know and lets get together and make some art.  You can see more about the classes and register here.

One of them is Fabric Painting for all ages!

Attitude

A positive attitude and the rest will follow.   Mmmm.  Yeah thats what I believe and I am always trying to re-convince myself that when I get in a negative spot. (not that I get in a negative spot often but occasionally)

I have been learning some great new lessons this year and I am growing as a person and artist everyday.  Every project I do, every class I teach, I learn a little more (sometimes a lot) about my practice and especially about reuse.  As an artist it is easy for me to work in reuse, I have it down but as an professional working for others and with others it does become a little more challenging.  I question it more or let it slide some.  I am finding my self continually drawn back to the fact of how important it is to me and finding ways not to compromise that.

One example is a class I recently offered and will offer again in April, Experiment and Explore in Paint.  This was my first ongoing class held on Thursdays from 2-4 for five weeks.  It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience for me and the students.  I went over a new painting technique each class.  Manipulating gesso in different ways, playing with new tools, acrylic transfers and skins to name a few.  I did a few demos and some homework was doled out over the five classes.  We used repurposed substrates and acrylic paint, medium, gesso.

I felt a degree of waste and didn't feel like I talked enough about reuse.   Maybe I didn't feel the class would respond to it or am just getting more comfortable in my teaching skin.  I made notes on the materials we used and things that we threw away, wasted.  Not much, some tape and paint.   The paint was most of the waste (subjective I guess).

I personally source my paint from damaged, bad or used paint but don't always feel that is the best to force that on students.  But as I said I am learning and growing from these experiences and want to add more reuse in the curriculum and stick to my guns more.

Please join me for class starting on April 10th every Thursday till May 8th from 2-4 pm. $135.00 for a five week session at Plaza Artist Material.   Email Courtney at artandrecycling@gmail.com to sign up.  We will cover how to develop themes in a body of work while exploring and experimenting with new techniques.  Plus more reuse!


Artwork below for your viewing pleasure…….

Your my polka dot.  I'm your stripe.  We fit together right.  (He He, to my valentine of course)

Inspiration

I have always been a big proponent of 'Don't Use It Lose It' in regards to my body but for some reason forgot about my mind.  Ha.  I am not saying I stopped learning okay maybe a little or not absorbing as much knowledge as I could in different aspects of my life.  Example I would say I am not a writer, even a bad writer.  Well I am, only because I have labeled myself that way and didn't try to change that.  So here it is, me changing.  I am going to learn to write better.

http://saskiapouwels.nl/index.php?project=project6

I am beginning with snagging text for projects.  I was fortunate enough to receive a grant from TACA called the Master Artist Apprentice Program.  It is so awesome in so many ways but number one way is getting to know my Master (yes I call her Master or Master in Commander)  Nance Cooley.  The text snagging is my homework with Nance.  She keeps and has encouraged me to keep workbooks of images and text, letting the ideas spill out on paper unedited.  Letting the ideas come, showing up everyday doing the work then being able to look back and see themes and ideas develop.

Life is full of surprises and we have to look out for them and appreciate them.  Learn to appreciate the little nuances that make life grand.  I have a few people on the out skits of my life that seem depressed and stuck in old depilating patterns.  I want to help but know that is not possible.  All I can say is change is inevitable.  Learn something new and challenge yourself.

 I am fascinated with learning more about Artist Joseph Beuys.  I love the spirit of his political art activism, his quotes or slogans still ring true today "Unity in Diversity" and "We do not need all that we are meant to buy today to satisfy profit-based private capitalism." Or this one is super awesome "Art that can not shape society and therefore also can not penetrate the heart questions of society, (and) in the end influence the question of capital, in not art."

Reading and studying Goya's War: Loa Desastres De La Guerra.  "One must be horrified by what one sees"  Looking for text and ways to talk about consumerism and excess better.  "…we should be horrified.  We should not just find this horrible we should be horrified.  We should protest, we should deplore.  We should take a moral position." (Susan Sontag- Regarding the Pain of Others)

Fine Artist + REmake

This is a new series highlighting the amazing work of Fine Artists around the world that explore materials in a sustainable and thought provoking way.  Many showing how art can play a role in environmental change.

Ackroyd & Harvey

"Sculpture, photography, architecture, and biology are some of the disciplines that intersect in Ackroyd & Harvey’s work, revealing an intrinsic bias towards process and event and often reflecting urban political ecologies by highlighting the temporal nature of processes of growth and decay in sites of architectural interest as well as contemporary art galleries and museums worldwide." (http://www.ackroydandharvey.com/biography/)

The exploration of new material, space and questioning of society is intriguing in their work.  Chlorophyll grass images to growing crystals on skeletal systems the team pushes the boundaries of art making, using science and new discoveries to confront the viewer.

Go to their website for more artwork and information.

Art Art Art

As an artist I was confused.  I didn't want to make more stuff.  I wanted to inspire change.  Reuse was my way to make sense of my art.  I love the possibilities of sourcing material, experimenting with new surfaces, manipulating found objects.

Please look for ways to add reuse to your art and life.  We have lots of stuff.  We have to stop pretending we live in a disposable society.

Buy REuse art here!

Only a few more days...

till the New Year!  I love making goals and this year is about DREAMING BIG!  Number one goal, Dream Big (but of course the environment is number one with each and every goal, list, thought and dream.)

  Thank you air for breath, earth for abundance, water for life.

Make Wrapping Paper

Ways to help out and Reuse this holiday season.  One way is the wrapping paper.  Yep! make that wrapping paper because it is so much cooler to give with style, oh and fun!

I made mine with very fluid leftover dye, any water based paint will do, or stamps or whatever has color.  Any paper will do, newspaper or tissue paper will work.  Look for packaging material, what do you have laying around or what is available to be used.  Look in recycling containers, source printers ( I got my paper from one, Thanks Twyla! It is the disposable paper in-between printer plates, score! very similar feel to tracing parchment paper).  Begin looking around you for excess in paper.  Once you start looking it comes to you, definite learned that this year.

I had fun with the brush stokes loose and free, playing around with christmas trees, stars and circles.  I stuck to three colors to make it manageable and not to over complicate things.  The colors being sort of a theme in themselves.  

Here are some different examples of way to make wrapping paper from Morning Creativity and a more natural approach here.  One of my favorite homemade papers came from my sisters family years ago.  Little girl hand prints turned into trees.  I still have it and plan on reincorporating it into a gift back.  

Below is me playing around with pattern and design with the wrapping paper. 

Remember to REcycle this holiday season!