Monday, April 29, 2013

Create, Destroy, and Create

It's time for a new quote over at Artists in Blogland's Color This Quote challenge!


This month's quote is by Pablo Picasso:
"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."
I think about this quote every time I alter a book.  The first time I cut into a book, I felt as though lightening might strike me for "destroying" it.  Here's a fast forward video of my most recent book project.



I am "destroying" the book as it previously existed, on my way to create something new.

But to make the paper for the book, trees had to be destroyed.


And for the trees to grow, their seeds had to be destroyed.  (Think of an acorn, which is destroyed as soon as the oak tree starts to grow.)


This quote speaks to me of the emptiness of the idea of creation.  It is not something that happens "out there" in a moment in time.  It is part of a continuous flow.

Just as a wave is not suddenly born out of the ocean, creation does not suddenly occur - there was something before and there will be something after. 
 

Linking to Artists in Blogland, Mandarin Orange Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Monday Mantras, Simon Says Stamp, Make It Monday, and Creative Every Day.

The winners for the giveaway in my last post are:  Maria Ontiveros (Watercolor with the Henry Miller Quote), Beverly Baird (Hamsa Stencil), Claudine C. (The Heart Can Do Anything Watercolor), Textile Recycler (Priestly Blessing Stencil), Boo (Garden of Your Heart Watercolor)!  Send your snail mail address to me at jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Keeping it Fresh and a Giveaway



One year ago tomorrow, I decided to think about my artwork differently.  I started this blog with this post.  Who would have thought that in just 12 months, I would have discovered a mixed media world that was completely new to me, attended retreats, become a Stencil Girl designer, studied with so many wonderful teachers, and made some dear friends!  This is cause for a celebration and a giveaway!


Albert Einstein said "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."


If you always plant the same seeds, you'll always grow the same crops.  Start Fresh.  Plant new seeds."


FRESH is the word up for One Little Word.  What have you done to keep your art, relationships, or life fresh?

And now, for the one year blog-a-versary give away!  Comment on this post by Sunday night (let me know you follow this blog and/or my FB page for one or two extra chances to win!) and I will pick 3 winners for one of my watercolors.   Each one is approximately 7 x 9-1/2" and on Arches watercolor paper.  I will also give away 2 of the Priestly Blessings stencils - one with the Hamsa, and one without (here's a link to the blog hop for that stencil, so you can see different ways to use it!)  Let me know in your comment if you have a preference!  So that's 5 winners!


UPDATE:  And the winners are:  Maria Ontiveros (Watercolor with the Henry Miller Quote), Beverly Baird (Hamsa Stencil), Claudine C. (The Heart Can Do Anything Watercolor), Textile Recycler (Priestly Blessing Stencil), Boo (Garden of Your Heart Watercolor)!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.  Linking to Art Journal Everyday and Paint Party Friday (links in the sidebar).

Sunday, April 21, 2013

City of My Dreams



I grew up in Brooklyn and then Manhattan, and the city holds a special place in my heart.  For the last 27 years, I've lived 15 miles outside the city in Glen Ridge, NJ, but NYC still feels like home.

On Saturday we had a New York City day.  Before going to see a show, we went to the Museum of Modern Art.  Here are just a few of the paintings that really struck me.  There was a Jackson Pollack painting that was an homage to Henri Matisse.  Both artists used large areas of black to illuminate light.

Jackson Pollack

Henri Matisse

This painting by Mark Tobey looked uncannily like stones I had photographed that morning! 


I loved this painting called "Figure" by Varvara Stepanova.  Each area of the body has such amazing texture.

Paul Klee's whimsical faces and cat with a bird on her mind made me smile:


As we left the museum, I saw a grate with a great pattern (yes, those are my boots!), and Samy bought a fabulous hat/scarf/gloves concoction:
 

We spied these amazing murals in the park between 49th and 50th streets:


The cityscape is my favorite! 

Had dinner with one of our dearest friends, Kathy Ricardo:


And then went to see Peter and the Starcatcher -- which I whole-heartedly recommend if you're in the NY area and want to see a wonderful, family friendly show!  There was a graffiti wall with the word "Create" on it -- and that little red shape at the end is Samy, adding her signature and a quote to the wall...

All in all, it was a great day in the city of my dreams.


I created this skyscape using the bottom of my Derwent Ink Blocks tin!  It's the sample for the class I'll be teaching at The Ink Pad on Sunday, May 5.  Here's a brief look at the process:


I'll also be teaching another 1/2 day class that day called "Manage Your Mediums!"  Here's peak at a sample of the canvas we'll be creating: 


 and a detail photo!  Visit the Ink Pad for more info about the classes and to register!


Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Linking up with Mandarin Orange Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Monday Mantras, Simon Says Stamp, Make It Monday, and Creative Every Day.
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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Stencil Test Drive: The Flying Tulips


It's time for the Flying Tulips Stencil Test Drive, featuring the fabulous art of


I created this pattern when I was working on the Renaissance line for Aviv Judaica.  It is so versatile and reminds me of dress or upholstery fabric.  So I used it to make a dress!


Here's a quick video to see how I did it.  Watch how I struggled with the background of this project.  But one "disaster" let to another, and suddenly, I liked it!


I hope you'll go make your own art party! 

Please visit Kristin Dudish and Maria McGuire to see what they did with this stencil!

I'm a week away from my one year blog-a-versary.... stay tuned for a big giveaway!

Linking to Paint Party Friday, and the challenges at Artful Times and Inspiration Journal (masks and stencils), and the challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show (stamped background).   As you saw in the video, I struggled with this background quite a bit -- and it wasn't until I pulled out my stamps that it all came together! 

P.S. I will be teaching two classes at The Ink Pad in NYC on Sunday, May 5.  Here are two quick promos for them.   

 

and

 

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Karma of Artistic Giving


One of the things I love most about our community is how much artists share with one another.  From all the tutorials, to the step outs, to the wonderful comments we leave on each others' blogs -- there is a lot of beautiful generosity and love going around.  

So in this spirit, I share some of the steps in a mixed media canvas.  It is unquestionably influenced by the amazing women I studied with at Art is You.  It started with lots of collage (Cindy Wunsch), included the liberal spreading of molding paste around a mask of a house, a bird and a heart made of model magic, and scribble paint (Sue Pelletier), and incorporated some of the face shading I learned from Pam Carriker.   I'd like to think I've taken what they've taught me and made it my own.



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  This is how we learn.  We study, we look at art, we continue to create, and we take into our spirits everything we've learned from everyone we've learned from.  No amount of knowledge is ever wasted!  


The lovely sentiment is from a trade I got at Art is You from beautiful woman and amazing artist  Kirsten Reed!

 

Submitting to the April challenge at the Artistic Stamper - Texture! 


Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.
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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Make a One Page Book, Inspired by Alisa Golden


What??? Tutorials!

Tutorials are everywhere!  Artists in Blogland has a monthly "Techniques on Tuesday" tutorial going on.  The challenge over at Inspiration Avenue this week is to share a tutorial.   Every Tuesday, Kristin Dudish has been doing a tutorial try-out and inviting others to try it too and link up.  Carolyn Dube's Gelli Plate class is up and running with lots of great tutorials.   So, I decided to do one as well. 

I love books!  As you know, lately I've been loving altering old books.  Recently I got a this book:


and decided to try the simplest one - the X Book!


This was so much fun, and easy to make.  The instructions in Alisa's book are very clear and easy to follow, although I do recommend folding and cutting a blank sheet of paper before doing your project.  To give you a sense of how user-friendly the book is, here is how Alisa portrays the folding and instructions:


Best of all, the book is on sale right now at Amazon!  You can see more on Alisa Golden's website and blog.  

(Here's another You Tube tutorial on the folding process, if you need some more guidance, and a "hands free" one with a slightly different take.)

Of course, I had to add my own spin to it -- adding in journaling cards, inclusions and tags...



Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.  Linking to Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Everyday at Balzer Designs, and Creative Everyday.  Hope to get around to visiting everyone this weekend!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Art is You

I spent 5 glorious days at Art is You in Nashville last week.   How to describe it -- soulful, supportive, nurturing.  How to describe me there -- inspired, focused, and giddy with happiness to be among kindred spirits.

My first class was with Cindy Wunsch, who I talked about in this post after I took her class at Create NJ in July 2012.  We started off making collages focusing on creating lots of texture on our canvases.  My collage:


turned into this painting,


I think I was subconsciously painting Cindy and me!

 

My biggest challenge at the retreat was taking a portrait class with Pam Carriker.  Pam is phenomenally talented, inspiring and actually managed to demystify realistic portrait painting for me!  She has a line of "face map" stencils with Stencil Girl, which helped us practice facial proportions.  She gave us step by steps about shading that made me feel like I could actually master face painting one day!

You can see my portraits right at the start of this video,



where you will also meet Sue Pelletier, a whimsical, tell it like it is kind of lady, with whom I felt an instant connection.   We had a wonderful time creating our individual house canvases and making whimsical birds and hearts out of model magic and wrapping them in tissue paper and gauze.  My birds are going to take a little flight over to Simon Says Stamp and Show, where the current challenge is "Fly."

What a fun group!

Another great thing about being at Art is You, Nashville, was getting together with MaryBeth Shaw, owner of Stencil Girl, and some of my sister Stencil Girl designers!


From left to right are me, Sue Pelletier, MaryBeth and Pam Carriker.  So honored to be working with these amazing women!  We have some cool collaborations planned so stay tuned!


Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.