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HI everyone! The recording of Saturday's Zoom call is now up and available (including Suzi Shapiro's slide talk PDF), as well as the PDF for the Collaborative Recipe Book! Here it is too...please feel free to share with family or friends! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!! https://www.carlasonheim.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Creativity-Lab-2024-Recipe-Book.pdf

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On December's Lessons & Connections with Sweet Thanksgiving

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On December's Lessons & Connections with Sweet Thanksgiving

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Forty two years ago, my sister gave us as a wedding gift a set of laminated recipe cards on which she’d hand written and illustrated some of my mom’s favorite and most used recipes.

This year, two days before Thanksgiving, with the recipe for Aunt Gay’s Pecan Pie out on the counter, I received word Aunt Gay had, at 87, peacefully died in her sleep.  Since there was to be no funeral or memorial service per her wishes, I held memories of her in heart and mind as I made this year’s pie. Then, when the December assignment arrived, I decided (after watching lesson 2) to use that recipe along with the nuts and bottle on it to draw an accompaniment as my way of honoring my aunt’s life and her influence on my life, with Sweet Thanksgiving.

Once again, I almost didn’t pick up on and enter into this month's assignment and am glad the idea came of a way to do so.  It yielded a sweet connection, a link from my aunt to my mom, through my sister to me, and on to who knows else?  I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here learning, growing, entering into Creative Arts challenges/invites, and still be making pie!  Thanks again to Carla for providing another prompt/push/invite with a life of its own!  --Louise

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The inspiration recipe written and illustrated by my sister 42 years ago!

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Oops, just finished November's book. Very enjoyable. It took me several weeks because I had to think about it for a while and decided to do different somewhat smiling faces. Then, I kept repainting areas to try different expressions and techniques. Then I had to fix some of that. Finally, I just stopped ... however I might go back...

I'll have to draw and paint food next year.

Happy New Year! Jessie

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Our very last 2024: Creativity Lab lesson is up at the site! xoxoxo

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I love cabbage and make cabbage soup in a variety of ways, with chicken, all sorts of fish, no protein and with all sorts of broths..if I have made bone broth, I will use it otherwise store bought broths..

squeeze of lemon at the end is a must

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Hi everyone! I hope you are well today. The December Friday Zoom Recording is now up at your class page!

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Hi everyone! The Lesson 1 video and December's To-Do List are up and available at your class page. xo

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Hi everyone! Saturday's Zoom Call for November is up at your class page. Have a great Thanksgiving week (U.S. friends!) and we'll see you soon!

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This was fun to do... lots of "researching" small origami structures that could be tiny gifts, cutting up tiny letters for the cover and not losing them, and trying out alcohol markers for a project, among other things.

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November Lesson 2 - Inside Emergency Book

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November Lesson 2 - Inside Emergency Book

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This is a photo of the inside of the "Descriptive Words for an Illustration" - Emergency Book. This was so much fun.

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I had trouble making this emergency book. I made the pockets too small even when I folded over 2" - but then I thought it was folded again for support? Also, I couldn't figure out how to use an illustration of mine - the size of the book and find a gelli print, etc. to glue to the back to fold over for a border.

My "Emergency Book is 'Descriptive Words for an Illustration.'"

On the inside there is a set of cards for: Method, Mood, and Quality. Cards are picked randomly from each category & the art is created following those instructions.

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Oh my ... I have an obsession for creating tiny books. This is a photo of some I've made recently - and some in the past. Over the years, I've probably made hundreds of tiny books.

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My mini books for journaling for 14 days

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I love these mini books which are 2 1/2"x

1 1/2"

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I am still catching up... still in September... still working on contour cutting. Romare Bearden was a challenge but corrective snipping helped. I was way too literal but I couldn't seem to loosen up. Maybe next time.

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A Few Previous Mini Books and Two new ones

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I used bits and pieces from a holiday catalog for collage on acrylic painted paper. They were tiny... I lost a few eyes and other elements, somewhere.

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I've added photos to our Lesson 1 page... an image of books I've made so far just waiting to be filled, and an example of two the I'm working on. Reminder to you and me both: they don't have to be "neat" or artistic... or they CAN be as well... you do you! Really loving all of the mini books so far.

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It was a very quiet night but we drew patterns and it felt nice. xo

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Art Juice

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/art-juice-a-podcast-for-artists-creatives-and-art-lovers/id1451530001

I listened to #175, Louise Fletcher with guest Jane Davies titled, "Creative Exploration with Jane Davies." One interesting point was "improvisation" can be a starting point, while working "intuitively" builds upon previous experience. (It was probably worded better in the podcast.)

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Art Juice: A podcast for artists, creatives and art lovers

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Visual Arts Podcast · 269 Episodes · Updated Weekly

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Hi! Just a reminder that November's lesson will be 1.5 days late, and go up Friday in the late afternoon Pacific Time. Thank you for understanding! (P.S. I'm finally feeling better and will be able to film tomorrow morning.)

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Kindness and Grace are my Words of the Year for 2024. 

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Maximalism Stitching/Painting on a Canvas Bag

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Maximalism Stitching/Painting on a Canvas Bag

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I enjoyed this project more than I thought I would because I always get a little stressed when it comes to sewing. I guess the free form nature of it was what made the difference for me.

~Lisa

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Cut-outs! So difficult for me! I had to turn the source picture around while cutting my blue paper. And make slices and cuts here and there to make pieces sort of fit. The graffiti Picasso eyes are wondering what happened. I have had all the background pasted on for Romare Bearden's collage for 3 days but the elegant figure intimidates me.

It's been enlightening to attempt walking in an artist's steps. I'm looking forward to trying to create something "from scratch" at some point to see if cut-outs are easier to do when there isn't an artist piece to emulate. I'm guessing not.

Everyone has done amazing with all the cut-outs and add-ons and changes...very inspirational!

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First two (one was me)

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I don’t remember the models… this was the last group :)

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Oct Max, On Following after Matisse into More with Maximalism

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Oct Max, On Following after Matisse into More with Maximalism

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Transition piece done after Sept's collage work, using Matisse's Piano Lesson as the base. Blocked in all of his shapes/colors first (which brought out the Cubism and was interesting all by itself) and then went to town Decorating the Room with More!

Lots of fun, which surprised me, as Maximalism wasn't an approach I initially found interesting or saw value in when it was first introduced as our theme. What I discovered in it was the opportunity to work without the inhibitions of "Is this too much or over the top?" concerns, allowing/inviting an unexpected burst of creative freedom.

The cat on the piano came from Eva's idea presented on Zoom. Also added at the end, 2 cut pieces from the original print (the teacher and the student), with the words "Pretty Spectacular" as the finale summing up this month's encounter with the More of Maximalism!

Once again, I'm grateful for the Push/Invite/Encouragement Carla presents! --Louise

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Oof, my hands gave out. I used a piece of fabric paper, aka paper fabric aka paper cloth from a previous project. So I needed to use an awl and Japanese hole punch to make the holes for the needle and thread, like sewing cards for kids. I could add Posca marks in brighter colors for maximalism.

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Oct Max-- Another (2nd) More is More 2D Paper Collage with Magazine Scraps

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Oct Max-- Another (2nd) More is More 2D Paper Collage with Magazine Scraps

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Another maximalist approach using collage leftovers for back ground with magazine patterns and images on top. A continuation of something relaxing I discovered I really enjoyed doing with Sept's Copy the Master's Lesson! --Louise

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Oct Max--More is More, with More Collage, 1st one

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Oct Max--More is More, with More Collage, 1st one

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Found my way with what I had on hand!! And that turned out to be the leftover paper scraps and cut edges from the Sept collage lessons that were still out on the work table, with More and More added from the box of saved magazine pieces, and painted stitches in honor of Lesson 3!

Appreciating Carla's examples and encouragement along with Karla and Jessie's work/postings which helped open the door to More. --Louise

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Hi everyone! The October Saturday Zoom session recording is now up and available. xo

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If you live near Boston...here is a flyer on Zinefest on Saturday the 19th. There are resources listed at the bottom. https://www.watertownlib.org/615/Zine-Fest

(via Julie Fei-Fan Balzer newsletter)

Jessie

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Watertown Zine Fest 2024 | Watertown Library, MA - Official Website

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Learn how to inspire change, self-reflection, or creativity with your own Zine. Beginning in 2021, Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) will collect patron-submitted Zines for WFPL first-ever circulating Zine collection!

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Hi everyone! Lesson 3 for October is up and available. xo

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A friend and I went to the Phillips' Mill juried art show (phillipsmill.org) and saw this example of, surely, maximalism. Amazingly it's made from paper mache. Jessie

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This was an excellent and fun class - and what better way to 'invent' a 'new person' by drawing another on top of the first blind contour, erasing the lines we don't want & 'presto' - a new image is born.

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After watching Carla's lesson - my favorite artist was the work done by Hundertwasser. In keeping this theme in mind, I created my own "Maximalism" artwork. Really - the word "clutter" comes to mind for me, but I like the word

'maximalism' much better.

Because my Internet is SLOW - almost as bad as "dial up",

I don't participate in any social media so can't really take that 'deep of a dive' into maximalism artists. However, I do go to local art galleries. One of my favorite is "The Art Spirit" in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. An artist I really like is Robert Grimes, and I've purchased several of his paintings.

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My entire life is "Maximalism" - more is more is my motto. Because I'm older - now 74 - everything in my house has meaning --- my photography, artwork, plants (some over 40 years old), art supplies, clocks, lamps, record albums, woodwork, old photographs, books, etc.

When I was younger, I worked for an architectural company for 15 years - later designing the house I now live in. So,

"architecture for inspiration" is something I've always thought about.

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I used my 2 sets of circle stencils, ink, colored pencils, and neocolor ll crayons for a maximalism effort. I was going to line them up but was overtaken by a chaotic urge. I took a photo in case of disaster, cut the page into squares for more maximalism, hopefully not wretched excess. So now there are circles and squares as a unifying theme, maybe. I came across a lovely cubist maximalist bathroom that I would like to visit, and Eduardo Paolozzi's Bash silkscreen print which looks very maximalist. (Click on picture, they are below.) Jessie

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I recently watched a Zoom for a class here where the instructor scrolled through a visual of the work that had been posted to Facebook. And I'm now wondering if a brief non-comment scroll through the Facebook presentations for our lessons could also be part of our Zooms, allowing those who don't use Facebook to see what else has been done and find additional encouragement, amazement and inspiration there? --Louise

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Sept Collage -- Part 4, Contour Cutting and Zooming with Carla and Henri 

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Sept Collage -- Part 4, Contour Cutting and Zooming with Carla and Henri 

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Decided after watching the Sat Zoom and contour cutting the flower shapes, to see what contour cutting the Blue Nude with a single cut would yield (instead of in pieces as the original was done). The figures turned out to have a flow of their own, looking more Matisse-like than the first copies using a template, with my floor ending up looking something like his too! Another fun zoom exercise (and lesson) that brought enjoyment and surprise. --Louise https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2014/matisse/the-cut-outs.html

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Hi everyone! Lesson 1 for October is up at your class page. Please share any "maximalism in home decor" articles, etc. that you come across and I will compile them as best I can at the class page!

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Another Variation on Piano Lesson by Matisse

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The learning curve with this one involves starting with a full gray background and adding the other shapes on top rather than attempting to piece it all together as I tried to do. Had fun working things out though. Experienced this as the more difficult of the three assigned. I like the way the piano area turned out and was tickled to have found an ear to use for the woman on the stool. Homage to Picasso and his cubism, with the metronome. --Louise

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Sept Collage--Following Henri's Scissors Part 3

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Sept Collage--Following Henri's Scissors Part 3

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Third one tried, again before watching the 2nd Zoom on flower shapes, using colored/printed floral tissue and magazine lace. This one gave the blue template used for the other two a place to rest, bringing up the idea of cutting a Fourth freeform, using contour flowers from the Zoom to complete the set. --Louise

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Sept Collage-Following Henri's Scissors Part 2

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Sept Collage-Following Henri's Scissors Part 2

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Second one tried, before watching the Sat Zoom, where flower shapes were cut and encouraged. (Like I was closing in on the freedom/free form of that, but hadn't arrived there yet, cutting instead the flowers from magazine pictures. Did save the scraps from cutting, as Carla mentioned, and was able to use those shapes around the form. Thinking about spritzing or spattering some paint on to pull it together, but am not there yet either. --Louise

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Sept Collage-- Following Henri's Scissors Part 1

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Sept Collage-- Following Henri's Scissors Part 1

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First one tried, using the Blue Nude's shapes (trickier to cut and arrange than first appeared!) as a template on magazine paper. It took a while to get my collage papers sorted, (tissues, dress patterns, rice papers and a bin of pages containing images, designs, and art torn from nature and art magazines over the years. From there, the playful arranging introduced in Lesson One sort of morphed into this with Matisse leading the way. And surprised me by taking off with a life of its own, inside and outside the "jar" holding the orignal idea. --Louise

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Copied version of R Bearden's Patchwork Quilt

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What a fun assignment! Once started, I didnt want to quit. Worked from outside in, and as someone said on Zoom it was like putting together a puzzle. Mostly magazine scraps as that's what I had. --Louise

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Cutting collage out - 'blind contour' - is so much fun. I've really enjoyed all of these classes. I had a gelli print of our

cat, Sally, so put the collage garden in front of her.

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while doing this exercise it really made me think about shapes...also I forgot to put the background parts down first and then layering the other parts on top..

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Hi everyone! The Saturday Zoom recording for September is up and available at your class page. :D

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From the pages of Nat Geo, a journey of giraffes make their way via Zoom and Citrosol (used to release the ink on the NGeo magazine pages) into my journal. Appreciating another challenging Zoom, taking me places I wouldn't otherwise go.

--Louise

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I liked all 3 of the artist's master copies, but decided to make a collage from one of my original drawings. I used some of my collage pieces and drew the faces, etc.

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I really love this quote by Romare Bearden.

~Lisa

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No, I can't stop making these collages. Currently, I'm taking a free collage class & we're making new stuff every day. I use collage for backgrounds, animals, trees, birds, etc.

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I made another animal cutout using various pieces of my collage ... "Ernie the Elephant."

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Here's the giraffe I cut out while watching Carla on Zoom. The reason I don't participate in Zoom is because my 'mountain Internet' is SO SLOW...and sometimes doesn't work at all. In addition, we only have 20GB/month with 50GB for 'bonus time' - from 2AM-6AM. That's when I watch all my art lessons.

Collage is so much fun and I really enjoyed this lesson!

Thanks Carla.

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Hi everyone! Friday's Zoom recording for September is up at your class page. The first 1.5 hours is the regular session, and the last 1/2 hour is the 'zine tutorial I promised (InDesign, making a PDF, sending it to the printer).

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Karla, you are amazing, doing all those wonderful art pieces in a short amount of time! What a catch up!

A collage month! Excellent! I organized by Large and small, Pieces with text, printing, magazines and book pages, etc, Translucent and textured, Photocopies, Decorative papers. It was badly needed... I couldn't find anything. Too much (and never enough) scrappy papers.

PS Muriel Pemberton, The Indian Elephant, artwork at Chris Beetles Gallery, a lively piece!

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Organized collage bits and pieces September Lesson 1

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... is up and available!

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I had to take my gelli plate out along with a lot of my texture items to start making both solid prints and plain color prints.

Finally I asked my husband to "STOP" me. Making gelli prints is so addictive!!! Plus, I already had about 30 textured & plain prints - but just had to make more. Looking forward to this assignment!

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I had to draw an 'elephant's behind' and collage it.

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Since I adore elephants, I drew quite a few - some in 'erase blue pencil' so I can use watercolor on them later, others using a black pen & graphite pencil.

I created one collage from various small pieces I've saved, but never rearranged them over & over. I have TONS of collage - none of it sorted....maybe one day?

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After watching the Zoom with David Lasky and all the information he gave us regarding Haiku - I immediately wrote 6 of my own regarding nature and wildlife. Thanks to David for all the wonderful guidance.

My 'Haiku' involves a day in the backyard when I was throwing an apple to a doe and her fawn. Out of nowhere,

a cougar leaped past my head attempting to attack the deer.

He didn't succeed because the mom and her baby were back the next morning.

In the 45 years of living on our five acres in the mountains, no cougar has ever come this close - 2 feet. For awhile, I was in shock.

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A trip to Little Switzerland, NC would not be complete without a stop at WildAcres. This sign says it all…

~Lisa

https://wildacres.org/

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A visit to Little Switzerland, NC for some BBQ and to see knives being hand-forged. It was like stepping back in time and so interesting to watch this artisan make his wares. In this short video, it shows him firing up the fire with his bellows. I bought one of his cheese knives with a leaf on it.

~Lisa

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These are two girls I drew with the "close your eyes and draw circles", etc. lesson. I added a short story 'in the manner of Ed Emberley."

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Here are ten of my drawings from a few of my journals. I put them in "I-Motion" and made it go as slow as I knew how. Some I added phrases too.

It takes a while for this to start & I wish the photos could go by more slowly, but I can't figure out how to do that.

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July - Journal Mining - Lesson 2 - Monoprinting

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July - Journal Mining - Lesson 2 - Monoprinting

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I'm still trying to catch up. Today I used a photo of my mom to create a monotype. I had a lot of problems - my acrylic markers didn't work, my Tombo markers didn't work, so I finally used watercolor for one (the top middle one), and then mixed some matte medium in with acrylics - no water like Carla did in her video.

This was lots of fun. Because some of mine didn't print all of my mom's lines on her face, I embellished a bit using light graphite marks. I added the photo of my mom in the middle, bottom row. She was 88 years old.

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Hello! The August Saturday Zoom Recording with guest artist David Lasky (Haiku Comics!) is up at your class page!

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I have no idea where this idea came from. I used about everything I could find - lupine seeds for drumsticks, a plastic tablespoon for the face along with beads. Her hair was made from pine needles lying in the yard. Inside the drum are popcorn seeds so it actually has a nice rattle to it. Since her legs are pointed skewers - she can be placed in a planter - or maybe she'll be used to scare bad things away? I missed the 'zine date' - but that's okay.

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I love drawing both cats and birds - then adding a word or phrase. Two of these have a cut out sentence & I'll add more to the others when I glue them into a book.

My last layer of my paper mache' is drying and I haven't finished Lesson 2 for June - Monotypes.

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Here are a few "funky/weird" people/animals I like to draw. I'll glue all of these and more into one of my books. I find

song lyrics to go with each sketch.

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Over the years, I've made so many books & zines, I should open a store. My two favorite, creative art projects! Some of these books are filled & others, I'll fill with the next photos of a few sketches and collage.

In the middle is a ZINE I created of Bob Dylan's lyrics. It

turned out nicely as I used various colors of ink and collage on each page.

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I've been filling sketchbooks for 24 years, so picked out a few of my more recent sketches. This is a sketch I made of my dog, Gunnar, standing on top of my husband's shoes because he doesn't want him to leave. The sketch is more of a cartoon, so doesn't look much like either of them. I used watercolors for the top left & bottom one, and colored pencils for the one on the top right. One has Gunnar's eyes closed - the other two - his eyes are open.

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I finally received my cyanotype paper and solutions but had to wait 24 hours before I can use the solutions. Instead, I worked with the paper and fell in love with this process.

The top cyanotype I used acetate to cover both of these. The bottom ones, I used my glass plate from my darkroom & left it in the sun for 40 minutes. The treated paper was too long to fit into the glass plate, so that's why there is a line in the cut out of my dog, Gunnar. What Fun! I'll make more later today using the solution.

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Didn’t use the correct paper for watercolor, but still cute

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Today redid frog

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From this,

I completely got the wrong end of the stick in July in changing an art piece in 3 ways. Got disheartened.

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Super fun yesterday…Thanks Carla and David!

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I drew my darling, big fat lipped Shar-pei, Gunnar for this one and added red & green watercolor on one, then a lime green and ultramarine blue for the next, and the final one is a red-orange with maroon watercolor.

I'm waiting to receive my cyanotype solutions & paper and am on the 3rd layer of my late paper mache'....

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Oh well...late but still working on projects as I had a few surgeries. This is just one photo of the "Blue Book" I created. It has about ten pages - total, so didn't want to photo all the pages. I used mostly Karatake watercolor - blues.

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Dog Days of Summer! I hope you are well. Our last lesson for August went live today... Poetry Comics! I'll see some of you on Saturday's Zoom, and then we have a two-week break before September.

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I'm somewhere or everywhere in July lessons. Most likely I am in a state of confusion because of playing with too many art projects at once (little 2 inch square face sketches suggested by an art friend, a "snake" style accordion book from a 18 x 24 inch wacky painting, more grids...) But...so interesting... and I hope to be better at sketching faces/heads after number 100 or so. Looking forward to trying a difficult subject sketch using blind contour. Jessie

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Hi everyone! The August Friday Zoom recording is now up and available at your class page. xo

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Wabi-Sabi: the beauty of the withered, weathered, tarnished, scarred, intimate, coarse, earthy, evanescent,tentative, ephemeral 

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Going through a word journal from 2011, I found a description of a dream/vision I'd written down and forgotten all about. After watching lesson 3 and seeing the box-set up, the idea came of using that story for the words and adding some drawings and enlarged words/thoughts, kind of like we did when drawing cartoons on earlier Zooms. And that brought me back to drawings I'd done on black paper with colored pencil during Covid, when I'd spent time copying other people's work. The drawing above, done during that time, is one of my own (in keeping with what was discussed about copying in this month's first Zoom, and how it can lead to personal expression down the line!). When I saw it, with words and picture presented together, something relaxed in me, and I knew how to start-- with a new set of cards and words, black paper and colored pencils. All to say, I've a clearer idea in mind now, truly mined, and will see where it leads!--Louise

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It has to be my subconscious coming through, as these look curiously (suspiciously? revealingly?) like they might be parts of myself! It really is fun to draw while listening to the others talk and share stories. I'm wondering if something shifts inside while that's happening, allowing these to come out! --Louise

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Looking back over my sketchbooks it is very clear that I am not a writer. I don't have any reactions, aha! notations, comments (except the one about bird-sketching) or philosophical statements in sketchbooks/ journals made before this class. What a void! Or maybe avoid. I did notice what I liked in the past and how it relates to what I do now. (I didn't write that down though.) Jessie

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With eyes closed draw four circles for heads, then, open eyes to add hair and facial features, close eyes to draw body, open eyes to fill in and finish.  Try tying them together. How???  Grids to the rescue! 

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Once again, I started out unsure, almost ready to quit at one point, and ended up with another "Huh!" of surprise at what showed up. Not what I expected, imagined or would draw if focused on figure drawing, I'm guessing they came from somewhere on the far side of conscious awareness!

Thankful again for Carla's cheerfulness and imaginative invitations. Also appreciated the talk/story shared about copying leading to personal expression --Louise

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have been mashing up bridgeton hairdos and silly doodle faces

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This poem read today, entitled "Contribution" touches on part of what I enjoy about making things, and that involves the sweetness and potential of connection, between myself, the materials, and others. --Louise

"Because the purple clover

and the tiny sweat bee

appreciate each other

life goes on.

Your contribution to the world

doesn't have to be

a great or a small accomplishment

It is enough--

It is glory--

for you to offer mindfulness and gratitude

You pollinate the world

with your attention."

from Unfolding Light, by Steve Garnaas Holmes

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From the Assignment, with ideas printed from the Pinterest page, to shaping with tape (previous posts) to design elements and features, finishing up with final color ideas from a quilt seen online, to create the Pinbuds, PinLeaves and TerrapinRest in post below. 

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Notebook pages on June's Project Process

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Notebook pages on June's Project Process

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Click on photo for full page view. --Louise

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What a project! Different finish than first imagined, with more time needed than first expected but fun to do in the overall. Definitely another creative stretch outside the box! It was the Scotch masking tape along with Carla's enthusiasm that got me going. I'll see if I can put together a process page (Jessie style) --Louise

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Hi! Your July To-Do List is ready! See you Thursday, July 4th for our first July lesson. xo

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No room for a large project so it had to be small. Wet paintbrush holder had already been on my mind: placing painty brushes on any convenient jar etc sometimes had messy results. This was an enjoyable project ... the surface painting steps required a tea, coffee or several day thinking break. It came down to a color free for all. Jessie

PS I really liked the newspaper covering the best.

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I’m still having a blast with Cyanotypes. I made this and another print on cyanotype fabric as a wedding gift for my son and his wife. I was over the moon with how they turned out. And of course, the newlyweds loved them. Thank you Carla for your perfectly timed lesson. ❤️ 🔔 👰‍♀️ 🤵‍♂️

~Lisa

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Hi everyone! June Lesson 3 is now up at your class page. 'Zine deadline info too!

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Paper mache LAYERS! Lesson 2 June is up!

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Once started, it was hard to stop. Made out of the leftover curved cardboard scraps from the apple tray. Not that I need more pin holders, they just sort of grew on their own! I did not expect to have this much fun with shapes and tape. Will have to see how the next step goes!--Louise

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Taped and ready, made from an indented cardboard tray used to ship apples. --Louise