Artfest-day one of classes

A good way to start the day: I took Gina Rossi Armfield's "Story Painting with Punch" for my first class at Artfest this year. All the workshops I took dovetailed with a goal I've been trying to realize for the past few years: use the photos that are languishing on my computer hard drive.

First things first: print out the photos on matte paper, and go big. The images overlap, but Gina showed us how to reduce the bulk in certain areas. Which sometimes leads to Happy Accidents (more on that later).

I don't often save old credit cards or gift cards, even though I figured they'd be good for something. "Something" turned out to be pulling heavy body paint across a large area. Try it sometime -- it feels so... transgressive.

One thing that's not so fun: losing track of the directions you've been given while you're watching a demo. Possibly the most important lesson I (re)learned that day was that I really do need to take notes, not just watch. Otherwise I start to forget step #1 while the instructor is demo'ing step #4.  And I get frustrated, which throws off my concentration.

Fortunately, Catherine Witherell's jewelry class downstairs set off the fire alarm. Which forced us all to leave the building -- and forced me to stop and smell the flowers, so to speak...

... and gave my classmate Morag Campbell time for a quick broomstick flight around the building. (I kid, I kid. But she does happen to be a flight attendant in her other life.)

So once we got back into class, I got crackin' with some suggestions from Gina.

I combined a picture of the house where my mother grew up, with elements from the house where I grew up. Very different styles of architecture (think early 20th century Victorian vs. '70s California wood and stucco). But Gina pointed out the diagonal lines were strongest: the rooflines, and the curbside in particular.

As I reduced some of the paper bulk, I had a couple of tears -- one right through the bedroom facing the street.

But it worked. This bedroom may have been the one my much-married grandfather slept in while his second wife slept in another during their divorce proceedings. (My grandmother, the third wife, converted that room into a parlor. Oh yes.)

And right away (how 'bout that?!) I used some of that technique for my anniversary gift to The Husband.

I used a stenciled piece of watercolor paper I prepped in a later class as the background, adding a transfer of a honeymoon photo. I lightly went over some of the stencil lines with Caran d'Ache water-soluble crayons, echoing the window lines I extended to the edge.

Then I added a piece of a quote from the Baal Shem Tov that appears on our ketubah (a Jewish wedding contract):

From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being.

I fully realize the ironies of an African-American woman, married to a Jewish man, quoting the rabbi who founded Hasidic Judaism. But I'm also aware of the irony of a long-buried divorce surfacing in artwork people in Malaysia could see online. (Hello, my Malaysian reader!) So there's probably quite a bit of spinning in graves going on right now, but art does tend to revel in life's ironies.

Artfest opening

It's been two years since I first went to Artfest, but it feels like home. You know, a place where you can let your freak flag fly.

Already at work: Ricë Freeman-Zachery and her husband Earl Zachery, busy taking pictures for their next book project.

While Ricë and I caught up a little, look what Tally found:

It's the "Mixed-Media Dollhouse" promo postcards that Teesha allowed us to include in every goodie bag!

 

The day started out great and just kept ramping up to be better. After a relaxing ferry ride, we cruised up the Olympic Peninsula, stopping at a little tea house in Port Gamble.

They let you wear a big foofy hat, or a small veiled one, so you can feel extra girly as you eat your finger sandwiches and tea. (Since they couldn't sprout more heads to wear more hats, another pair of women solved that problem by changing their hats repeatedly.)

Once we'd registered and gotten settled in our officers' housing [ooh, fancy!]...

... we found some of my old friends at the opening night meeting, and some new ones as well.

 

Teesha and Tracy gave us the last-minute lowdown on things, then kicked off a lil' dance party with the band Surrealized featuring a multimedia showcase. (Sorry for the quality of the next pic... point-and-shoots don't do well under trippy lighting conditions.)

Tally and Regina gettin' their groove on...

Meanwhile, LK Ludwig and MaryBeth Shaw were holdin' it down in front of the band...

 

And then it was off to find the party in the dorms, where we found Catherine Witherell... 

 

who sympathized with Tally about the rough drive up, and then we met her daughter the amazing Grace (sorry, had to make the pun) Witherell.

After that, it was talktalktalktalktalktalktalk... partly about the book...

 

but mostly just easing back into an atmosphere where you don't have to explain what the hell your obsession is with that art stuff. Because everyone gets it, even if they don't get exactly what you're expressing with your art. Metal, paper, acrylic paste -- bring it on! It's Artfest. Time to drop whatever occupies you at home and sling some paint/goop/patina/whatever.

Next up: first day of classes. Awwwww sookie sookie now! as the philosopher said.

Back from Artfest!

I'm just settling back into normal life after the whirlwind that is Artfest. Still a little wiped out (see above), but I have just enough energy to share a lil' tease from the weekend:

More to come in the following days, plus a contest! Stay tuned.