Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Beautiful Art Show at A Creative Art STUDIO


In August we had our Hot Hot HOT Summer Art SHOW. It was very hot outside (107 degrees that day) but the art in the studio was very cool. Stephanie Allen and Brian Ward kicked off the show with wonderful Jazz followed by the Boxcar Bandits. You will be able to view or purchase the beautiful art by our local artists until mid November when A Creative Art STUDIO and Gallery celebrates our 2nd birthday with a new show and once again wonderful music. Thank you Denton, Texas for having such a wonderful community that loves the arts!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Painting on Yupo or "Going with the flow"




I love watercolor. Coming from a stained glass background and working with hard pieces of glass, I find so much satisfaction painting with watercolors and watching the colors flow. Like glass, I love the intensity of the colors when painting on Yupo paper. Yupo paper is a synthetic water-resistant paper that is made from recycled polypropylene pellets. That means that when used with watercolor, your paint will dry only by evaporation and there will be no absorption by your paper (as would be with regular watercolor paper). Painting on Yupo you can get some of the most intense colors and there is sometimes a feeling that the paint is really in control. In the recent watercolor class at the studio, the students painted on Yupo. Check out the pictures of the students and their paintings in progress. Lots of fun!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Creativity with Glass




Tiffany stained glass is a type of stained glass assembly that uses an adhesive copper foil and tin and lead solder. This July the Tiffany stained glass class met twice a week for three weeks. The first class the students made a small hummingbird suncatcher and the second class began their larger project of their choice. When the projects are complete, I will post photos of their beautiful work. Here a peek at the class and their projects in progress.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Bead Class


Recently I taught a class on basic beading at the studio. I have always loved beads and their beautiful bright colors remind me of stained glass. One great advantage of working with beads is that you have something portable to take with you where ever you go. In the first class of basic beading the students learned some basic wirework and beading techniques and made some beautiful beaded necklaces and earrings. Pictured are some of the students modeling their creations. In the second class students learned to make a bracelet using a basic wirework technique and a bracelet using stretchy cord. The secret in using stretchy cord is to tie a good knot and use a dot of glue on the knotted cord. The last class in the series involves making a pendant using collage and stained glass techniques. First the students created a small collage using paint and images, then sandwiched their creation between two pieces of glass using lead free solder. The pendants are reversable with an image on both sides. Lots of fun to make and wear.....Robin

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Industrial Street Bash


A Creative Art STUDIO had a booth at the Industrial Street Bash in Denton in early June. The weather was hot, Hot, HOT but the day was still enjoyable. I took a sampling of art to the Bash so that people could become familiar with some of the items at the studio. The music was great. Boxcar Bandits kicked off the celebration, but I was glad to get some air conditioning at the end of the day. My secret to survival on this hot day: a scarf filled with ice around my neck and lots of water!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Sculpting a Face Class




May 24, 2011: Linka Behn recently taught a class on sculpting a face with air-dry clay at the studio. If you are familiar with Linka's work you know that she often paints faces and is able to capture so much emotion and feeling in her work. In this class she taught the students to create faces with personality using air dry clay and simple clay tools. When completed the faces could be mounted on a pedestal or added to a work of art. Nice job guys. Those faces definitely had attitude!....Robin

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Beautiful Stained Glass


Recently I did a commission job for a couple that lives in a log cabin near the Oklahoma Border. This stained glass was to be installed in a home bar that would be backlit and the design was to have a Native American flair. The stained glass took about three weeks to complete and is now in it's new home. I loved working on this window and found such joy each day looking at the beautiful colors.

Encaustic Monotype Workshop with Deanna Wood







In May, Deanna wood gave a workshop on Encaustic Monotypes. In this process you use the encaustic technique to create beautiful one of a kind prints. Encaustic has been around a long time. In fact, encaustic painting were used to depict Mummies in ancient Egypt. The process uses wax and pigment which can be used to paint images on surfaces or to embed images into layers of the colored wax. Lots of possibilities with this medium. Check out the pictures of the workshop!




First Friday Denton with Fritz Schwalm





First Friday Denton at A Creative Art STUDIO is always a lot of fun, but June was one of the best gatherings. Fritz Schwalm, singer/songwriter was a definite audience pleaser with both his original and cover tunes. Linka Behn, artist extraordinaire, lead visitors in creating the community abstract art painting. This masterpiece was created with signatures of people at first Friday followed by everyone painting in all areas created by the signature's intersecting lines. The results are pictured and I think it came out pretty neat. The art is always amazing at the studio and also changes frequently so stop in and see what is new.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

First Friday with David and Vanessa










We had a wonderful First Friday, May 6th, 2011. David White and Vanessa Helvey played on the back patio. Just in case you didn't get to come, they sounded incredibly wonderful. Although a little hot during the day, the temperature cooled down just as David and Vanessa began warming up. Linka Behn, Kerry Boutell and Crystal Nelson all were demonstrating art in the front Gallery. Linka demonstrated sculpting faces. She will be teaching a two day class later this month and share her face sculpting secrets. While Kerry worked on watercolor Batik, Crystal introduced ATCs, better known as artist Trading cards. We also kicked off our third community art project this evening with a large collage that everyone could work on. We will keep adding to the collage until it achieves that magic look that says "I am now art."....Robin

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Time Flies When you are having fun!






Wow, I just looked at my last blog entry and I can't believe it has been so long since I have written. Since the last blog so much has gone on at the studio. On March 26 we had a wonderful art opening. We are now up to 40 local artists in the gallery and the new art show does look incredible. Drew Zaremba and Brian Ward opened the show with wonderful Jazz which was perfect for the spring show. As people viewed the art one of my favorite groups Baloney Moon set up in the back for an incredible evening set. They played outdoors, as you can see by the photo. I am hoping that we get to have more events that include the outdoors. Thanks to everyone who attended.......Robin

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tiffany Stained Glass Class projects






In the late fall I taught a Tiffany stained glass class on Monday evenings. The students first made a small suncatcher during which they learned the basic skills of cutting glass and soldering. Their second project in the class was a larger window which took the remainder of the class to complete. The small windows have a metal frame around the outside and are ready to hang when the class is complete. Two of the students even did original designs which is quite challenging when you first start out. Their projects turned out great and I wanted to share them with you.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Birth of a Stained Glass Window



When making a stained glass window you must first plan out your design and then draw a pattern or "cartoon" in order to have a guide as you cut the glass and construct the panel. Once the zinc frame has been cut you begin to cut the glass and solder the foiled pieces of glass into place. I decided to do a photo journal of this stained glass panel as it grew to completion. I didn't get a final photo and the window is already shining brightly in it's new home, but you can get a good idea from the final photos of the final product. There is something very satisfying about taking raw materials and creating a beautiful piece of art...... Robin

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Happy New Year, 2011























Happy New Year everyone. The studio had it's own new year celebration on January 7th. As you can see by the photos, top hats were required. Fritz Schwalm performed at the studio for the very first "First Friday" of the New Year. What a wonderful evening. Fritz's has a wonderful voice and played music enjoyed by all. Linka Behn and Kerry Boutell demonstrated their amazing art techniques and we had the most wonderful crowd in attendance. Good food, great music and wonderful conversations. Can't beat that!