Artfest, Day 2-"Iron Chef," Artist Edition

The regular "Iron Chef" TV show pits one chef and crew against another to create a four-course dinner in an hour. Pikers! Try making a piece of art in 45 minutes!

 

You have to use at least five of the ten elements on your table. Oh, and you'll have to force the elements to work together. Go!

Some of the Artfest instructors accepted the challenge, including Michael deMeng and Andrea Matus (you'll see her in tomorrow's post)...

Jill Berry (I call her piece "Bound and Determined")...

MaryBeth Shaw...

and Clarissa Callesen, who suddenly realized time was running out. (This video's NSFW, so turn down your speaker volume):

There's no winner -- unless 'we're all winners here!' --

-- but it's hilarious and exciting watching the creative process cranked up to 11...

... in all its weird manifestations.

Ta-da! Tomorrow: Day 3 of my classes at Artfest with Andrea Matus, in which I freak out just a tetch. Leave a comment here or friend me on Facebook so I can hear what you have to say!

Artfest, Day 2-Strange Angels

Yes, it's late, but it's still Tuesday! Keeping my promise!

It's been four freakin' years and three retreats (wow, that many already?) since I took a Michael deMeng class. This one was "Strange Angels." Your choice as to whether it's a fallen one.

I already knew what I wanted to do: make a 3D version of a joke my former boss and I shared. At my day job, I interview people for a colon cancer research project. During my second call ever to a study participant, someone actually answered the phone, the widow of the person I was trying to reach. I was doubly taken aback, and stammered, "I'm so sorry," and the widow replied tearfully, "I'm sorry, too" -- and hung up.

My boss chuckled at my shock and promptly named me the Angel of Death.

So I got to work on my alter ego in Thursday's class.

First rule of a deMeng class: bring only those things you're willing to strap down, dismantle, or disembowel.

Next: figure out how you're going to attach things. Drilling and wiring, or joining them with caulk, will keep two separate items together a lot better than using some sort of glue alone.

Bonus points for getting the instructor to make sparks fly!

Oh, but the most fun part is the paint. Oh, the paint washes!

How cool is this? I wish I'd thought of detaching the legs of my angel. (Wait, that sounded really sick.)

They make everything pretty and ghoulish and delightfully grungy, they do.

And I got ghoulish, all right. Bound to happen when I wrap a colon around an angel of death...

... as she clasps a ghostly hand.

For delicate connections like the hands, I learned to add an "armature" -- here, it's a wire running between the two hands to add support like a skeleton supports a human body.

Another thing I learned: blacking out a doll's eyes almost makes you forget it used to be a Barbie.

It's more of a study than a finished piece -- I'd like to add and change a few things. But wow, the next version could be really cool!

Tomorrow: "Iron Chef" Artist throwdown! Watch the instructors turn out finished art in 45 frantic minutes of painting, gluing, and heat-gunning!

Artfest, Day 1-We're here!

Welcome to the Artfest 2011 recap, Part One. We're out of the car and we're here!

And someone thinks it's really freakin' cold.

Before Tally-the-weather-weenie-from-L.A. and I headed to our home-away-from-home in the Fort Worden officer housing, I set up my pieces in the gallery space. Artfest allows you to exhibit pieces you've made, for free, and you can sell them if you like.

From prior experience, I wasn't expecting to sell either of the pieces I brought; I just wanted eyeballs on the art.

And I got compliments right away, which was lovely. One of them from Michael deMeng, my instructor for "Strange Angels," who was chatting with someone nearby. Another compliment from the mother of my second instructor Andrea Matus ("Veils of Psyche") -- Katarina loved the layering. Why, thank you -- you're too kind.

Then it was off to our house, 10-E, which stands for "there's a bunch of excellent artists who also happen to be total tens in the looks department."

Coincidentally, that's the east end of the same house we had last year. Kinda hard to unpack while I'm handing out hugs to all my art peeps, whom I only see online because we're all scattered. Hey, Julie! Gonna take some pictures this year?

So I didn't bother.Off to dinner and the Opening Ceremony. (Look -- a photo taken from a distance that's not ridiculously dark!)

Teesha and Tracy Moore, the organizers, lay out a few ground rules, but it's mostly welcome and inspiration time. The instructors also introduce themselves, which is especially great if you've never taken a class with them before. Here's Jesse Reno...

Andrea Matus...

... and Michael deMeng, among many others. 

After the instructors' hellos, Teesha introduced a woman who discussed chakras and how they relate to creativity... she had us breathe and visualize stuff to inspire us. But I have to say, it brought the mood down from giddy excitement to peace-like-a-river contemplation. Not nearly as fun as last year's surprise dance rave: 

Bring back Surrealized for next year's Artfest!

More tomorrow on my first class. You can also see a few photos on Facebook: Go to the top right column of the blog and Like my fan page friends and supporters page, or send me a friend request. Love to hear from you!