Old Arty

Who the heck is "Old Arty" you might ask?  Two years ago I felt that I needed something that would help people find the studio so during a hot August week I decided to create a flag.  At first I wanted to do a complicated triangle pattern but it was soon abandoned for a flag that could resemble the look of stained glass and was a little easier to sew.  Using rip-stop nylon and my trusted sewing machine, "Old Arty" was born.  Feeling a little like Betsy Ross, my flag flew proudly in front of the studio.  Unfortunately a rip-stop nylon flag out in the Texas heat and winter cold....should I mention rain and hail.... doesn't last more than a year.  Once again the holes are patched, the rips are repaired and my flag is happily flying again.

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!

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.

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