SUNDAY 4

I would say - we are having way too much fun here. I'm falling behind on the blogging but figuring I have weeks to tell you all about our time - hanging out & doing art.

Photos of the 3 artists taken in the great room on Sunday, around a lunch of classic cheese fondue.

Pat, entered the scene on Saturday with piles of creative writing & art books to share. Before we started dipping the bread cubes into melted Gruyere and Emmentaler, she treated us to a reading from The Artist's Way Everyday by Julia Cameron.

Ustairs in the studio, Martha was surrounded by a sea of red painted papers but downstairs she resumed her role as photographer. She stepped away from the dinner table a moment to take some photos she used in her 'short' about us -

STUDIO VIDEO found in right side column.

There's Marcia, always with a ready-to-go radiant smile. Though we only met in person several days before, we were already knee deep in a rich friendship formed over FB and blogging. I'm spending hours in the studio with her, downloading everything I've ever learned about taking art cross-culturally. She heads back to Nicaragua a few days after leaving here.

So there we are - the 4 creatives - happy, satisfied & filled to the brim with artmaking memories. Our 24 hours together as a 4-some came to a close when Martha had to leave for home and the work week ahead. Bummer! Marth, we miss you!!!

Marcia blogs-Story Ropes. click: Monday in the studio.

Marcia blogs-Making Art Books/Telling My Story. click: Tuesday in the studio.

OCCUPIED TERRITORY

Pat & Martha arrived Sat. afternoon joining Marcia & me.

studio takeover within the hour!

working on collages

yesterday

Marcia

Martha

Pat

me in blue-T

link to Marcia's blog for her experience on Saturday

wordless book art on ledges

MARCIA IN MY STUDIO

On thursday, Marcia flew in from Seattle, Washington for a week.

She spent a good part of the last 1/2 yr teaching art in Morocco & recently time in Nicaragua doing the same.

Our place is the next stop on her journey.

She comes to learn what I and other visual artists have done when traveling with their art to other parts of the world, working along side of faithbased NGO's.

She wants most of all to use:

her passion for art

& her 'story'

as she comes along side & encourages women & children overseas.

That is what we are keeping in mind, brainstorming along the way, & working toward. For a week we'll be looking at & doing art together - learning new methods, materials & formats that she can use on the journey ahead.

First project, still in progress, an accordion book of crosses.

Marcia is also blogging about her time here. different point of view & photos. Do take a look at her blog, Moroccan Art Adventure. Click here for her blog entry.

ACCORDION BOOKS IN THE PLANS

Getting ready. Marcia arrives tomorrow.

Unfolded 3 accordion books on tabletop to show Marcia. I love making these!

Marcia wants to make one inspired by her time in Morocco. She took great photographs & has been painting her way through these inspiring images the last couple months. Can't wait to see what she does on the pages of an accordion book!

Thinking of the Moroccan imagery makes me want to do more with the dye vats of Fes. Maybe I'll make an accordion book too! Circles in squares. Might make the book out of brown paper bags. It was a great surface to work on. Ahhhhh possibities!

THE ARTISTS ARE COMING

Just ahead

CREATIVITY UNLEASHED

Marcia (in Nicaragua)

art teacher/painter Adventure Morocco painting series

Martha (w/camera)

photographer/collager/on verge of creating 'shorts'

Pat (creating)

writer/artist/newly published Poems from the Boatyard

arriving soon - getting ready - blogging the experience ahead

WAIT 'TIL SNOW FLIES

Spring officially began today. Decided to pack up the snow designs and wait 'til snow flies again to complete the project.

I've completed collaging all the pages. It's at a good point to take a break. Will return to the project in the fall.

Trying out the design in Blurb bookify.

SEQUINS & BUTTONS

finished collaging

adding buttons & sequins

scanning next

swirling

BLUE CATS

Stamped & heat-set cats and trees.

Added trees in other snow squares.

Working on this one.

Lights out in the house.

WORKING ON NIGHT

snowing

all day

into night

need to print more trees and a blue cat

WINTER'S ALMOST OVER !

i see winter's almost over

finishing snow book

today

1. painted accordion book

2. worked on snow collages

3. paper clipped squares to accordion book to see flow

4. close-up

5. more on this tomorrow

click pics to enlarge

CAT ON A HOUSE

Back to working on the snow book.

Cat enters the story.

Making progress.

BYE BYE ART LIBRARY

It's been fun blogging about the experience of creatinga sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011 & visiting the Brooklyn Art Library in NYC to see the 10,000 books, including my own, that came in to be part of this extraordinary 'show'!

Look for my sketchbook, RAIN, in the right hand column of this blog. I've made a short video reading & explaining the book.

Hoping to self publish RAIN, a whole 'nother creative project. Keep you posted.

RAIN VIDEO

We shot a video here at home before I sent my sketchbook off to the Brooklyn Art Library. Nelson had me page through the book, reading the story & giving simple explanations of how the pages were created.

Click RAIN to see the video.

RAIN is one of 10,000 sketchbooks that can be viewed for one more week at the Brooklyn Art Library, NYC. From Brooklyn all the books will travel together to other locations around the US for the next year.

Me and RAIN down at the Brooklyn Art Library. See previous posts for photos and story about seeing the 'show'.