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Thursday, July 21, 2016

So How's Your Summer?


I hope you are having a good one! It certainly seems to be flying by quickly. Mine has turned out to be a surprise in that I discovered something about myself. I'm completely enamored with online classes! I love how affordable they are, and how I can complete them at my own pace and in my own time. And I love learning new things. Hopefully I've not overwhelmed myself, but I signed up for several summer courses. This "Go With the Flow" girl is just one example. She's a lesson by Marieke Blokland from the Art Journal Summer School 2016 series of classes. We get two new lessons every week until September.





The lessons are beginner-friendly which is exactly what I need. Far from an art class star in my school days, I never thought I'd be interested in or show any aptitude at all for painting and mixed media. And yet, here I am, enjoying every lesson and doing my best to master the current skill. This lesson was taught by artist Kate Crane and was quite relaxing to complete. 


I've also made several of these paper flowers as wall adornments, using old calendar pages and scrapbook paper. These are the brainchild of Jenniebellie who will be one of the teachers this summer. She also has a YouTube channel on which she demonstrates all sorts of mixed media and journaling projects, including these flowers.




One thing I find about branching out into mixed media journaling in addition to quilting is the explosion of supplies in the workroom. Paper, stitch, painting- they all have their own specialized supplies. Why not combine them all? Well, that is another course, of course! This one is taught by Joanne Sharpe and is based on her latest book shown above. The class is titled Paint, Stitch, Play and explores all kinds of paints and markers on fabric. The muslin booklet, also shown above, will contain a catalog of the various paints I have on hand along with some class projects. One of our first exercises was to make the booklet and to practice free-motion stitch-doodling as shown in the sample below.




So I've stayed quite entertained with practicing all the new products and techniques I'm learning. Summer fun, indeed!


5 comments:

sonja said...

Your summer fun on line classes sound great. It is surely the wave of the future and i don't miss airports and travel but I do miss the people you meet at these outings. Your freemotion red on white looks marvelous. the idea of a muslin book interests me, tell us more, show us your summer fun! And thanks for leaving comment on the shortest post ever, be well, sonja

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Lucky you to be able to take these classes. They all sound like fun, but I don't think I would care for the doodles or drawing. I'm much better at cut and paste. The fabric art supply sampler sounds incredible. Of course, i don't have feed dogs, so I can only wish for free-motion work like what you created. It certainly looks like something I would love, though, since I'm always experimenting with paints on fabric.

I'll be watching to see what you come up with each week through September. Looks like you have a full schedule ahead of you!

Robbie said...

You are really expanding on your art life!!! And doing so well at it! Interesting...I was on amazon looking at some books and this book 'the art of whimsical stitching' came up as a book others bought (along with the ones I was checking out). So I ordered it from our library. It's not at our local library but I expect to have it within a week! I always like to look at the book before I buy any....great having our library system.
Keep up the online classes! They are wonderful and certainly are fitting into your 'summer' time!

Createology said...

There is just never any reason for anyone to ever be bored with all the many resources we have so readily available. Your classes look like lots of artsy goodness. I like working at my own pace and at any hour of the day or night. Love what you are creating.

sonja said...

after thought on the red car.....looks abit like my corvair monza 1962. wonder if they made a station wagon??? Also sorta like a vw but then ...?