DOLL FUN!!!

I have an artist friend that is the one who does "doll art" and she does a great job! She recently sent me this doll

I LOVE HER!!

What this did was inspire me to try my hand at doll making, in my way with my style. My doll is made out of a 2x4 block of wood, painted papers, yarn, fabric and other embellishment.

What fun to try something new and out of your normal "box"!

I had fun.....you may see more!

BACK



OKAY...I DID IT...

WARMING UP for my "Doodling" Workshop!!

I decided to go for it....4 videos, can do in one day or take forever!!

ONE OF THE FINISHED projects!

If you are interested , click on the WORKSHOP icon on the left column of this page and then click on "LET'S DOODLE"

ONLY $15!!!

DOODLING WORKSHOP?

I have been doodling ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil. For the record that is about 60 years. It seems here lately that a lot of young new artists are coming out with workshops to teach others to doodle. I'm amazed! But maybe it is something I take for granted and assume everyone knows how to do. So maybe I should get on the band wagon and do a little one day doodling workshop. Maybe I do it different.....I don't know, but if all these women have something to teach in doodling then maybe this old lady can too. Hmmmmm....we will see.....

IN THE STUDIO WORKSHOP

A great day in the Studio with my student Mary Carr!! We had a great time painting papers, exploring, experimenting, visiting and eating! Nothing like a day full of art!!

Next "In the Studio" workshop Nov. 2 and 3rd.

This workshop is just too full of great stuff for just one day!!

FABRIC PAPER DRYING ON THE LINE



Mary did some terrific work once she got going!



JOURNALING

 Have been working a lot in my visual journals lately. Just needing some time to play and loosen up and explore. I really enjoy this part. It's a time when I can just do what I want....no thinking "will this be received? will people like this? etc." It doesn't matter.

TO ME there is a difference in a visual journal and an art journal.

In an ART JOURNAL I am working on certain images and exploring different techniques and mediums. These pieces are from one of my Art Journals
a VISUAL JOURNAL is a place where I can express thoughts, emotions, feelings, etc.

This is one I am starting. These are just some painted papers I did and now I will see where they go.



DOODLING IN THE AFTERNOON

Sometimes I just break out in "Doodle"!! I can't help myself. Found myself drawing this cat on my work surface this afternoon. Nothing going on in my little brain but "doodle". I think that is what art is about anyway....Letting go....doodling your thoughts.....having fun. Maybe not for everyone but certainly for me!

My "It's Okay to Play" online workshop is going to be over Dec. 1st and I've got some ideas to restructure it. There are sessions I want to keep, but some I want to re-do. I've been in the studio experimenting and coming up with new things and I want to pass those along to my students. To see what is going to be different, go to http://okaytoplayws.blogspot.com/ in the next few days. I'll be posting the changes over there. VERY excited about sharing my new ideas with you!



STUDENT WORK

Papers made in my "In the Studio" painted papers workshop. These are made by Mary Jane Pierce!

I haven't been on my blog much because I spend most of my time in the Studio experimenting and coming up with new ideas to teach my students. My first "In the Studio" workshop was on Sept. 27th and we had a great time!! I can take 3 students at a time and what we found was that one day was not enough! Too much information! SO it has been extended to 2 days.

This is a lot of fun for me because they are not the only ones learning! And it is so much easier to teach in this setting with all my "stuff" there!

GOOD JOB Mary Jane!!

BEGINNING AND END OF "THE BEGINNING"!

 In my workshop "In the Beginning" you Start with this......



and end with this!

And we have a whole lot of fun in between!! I finished up putting this workshop together yesterday and was so surprised to look at the whole process!! It was a challenge for me to work with only 3 paint colors and limited other media and supplies!! As Artists we get into trying this and that and the other and soon forget the basics. Creating this workshop helped me remember where I started and appreciate how I got where I am today!

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

In the Beginning Overview from Suzi Dennis on Vimeo.

IF you are thinking about joining me in this little fun workshop for Beginners, I hope you will watch this video.

It is a 2 minute overview of the 11 Session Art workshop for Beginners, "In the Beginning". This is a self paced workshop strictly for beginners starting with the basics in working with acrylics all the way to creating your own collage with your own painted papers. Come join us!!

BACK TO THE BASICS

I'm starting the process of putting my new workshop "IN THE BEGINNING" together and I LOVE IT!! I'm having to go back to the basics and that is a place I have not been in many years! I have been using a palette of all kinds of colors and all kinds of brands and all kinds of "helpers" and all kinds of all kinds!! In this workshop I am teaching the basics of mixed media, mostly acrylics and going to teach my students how to paint papers with limited materials. I don't want anyone buying a lot of materials that they will be stuck with if they find this is not for them.

Besides, back to the basics is healthy! Right!!

I'm up for the challenge and I can't wait to see what I come up with!!

LET ME EXPLAIN

Okay....give me a chance to explain. This was a "what if" piece in my journal today and this is what journals are for!  I've noticed art work in the past where images of people were all weird colors, and yesterday I was in a gallery and there was a piece with a guy with a blue face, green nose and ever what else. Now this is something I have never ventured out and done before and it got my curiosity up. I've never had any problem doing this with my paintings of animals, but I guess my tape in my head on correct colors for people is just wound too tight. So....I decided to give it a whirl. Well, here she is "Feelin' Blue" and I think I am too! Maybe my nursing background is kickin' in too.....blue = no oxygen. hmmmm.

IN THE BEGINNING

Watch for new online workshop

COMING SOON!

This workshop will be designed for the person who has never picked up a brush and always wanted to and/or the person who has picked up a brush and didn't know what to do with it.

By the end of this workshop you will have created a collage piece from papers you painted on your very own.

AGAIN.....for BEGINNERS ONLY!!

STAY TUNED.......

WORKSHOP WORK

We are having a great time over in the "It's Okay to Play" workshop. At this point in the workshop we are learning to paint papers to use in collage. This is only a small sampling of some of the beautiful pages that are coming out of this class! Wish you were here if you're not, but it will be offered again!

NOW HERE'S A THOUGHT

If this idea is already on Pinterest or somewhere else, then forgive me, but I was in the Studio and started to throw away an empty water bottle when it dawned on me that if I cut the bottom of it out I would have a handy little container for whatever I need it for!! Right now I have cotton balls stuffed in one of them. I don't know about you but I am always looking for containers for all kinds of things.

Hope this is useful!

Have a good day in your studio!!

STAMPS, STAMPS AND MORE STAMPS

 Having a good time carving stamps again. Been awhile but these guys in my workshop keep me on my toes! These are all carved using Speedball carving tools and Rubber blocks for carving. Really fun and easy to do. Working with this material is like cutting into butter. There are other materials and I have used them, but I always go back to this one. Just draw your image on the rubber and carve away what you don't want. Don't forget about REVERSE!

You can see here how when you stamp with the stamp, you get the reverse.

This is a fun way to make a stamp with hot glue! just draw on a block of wood with the glue and let dry. It is not a flat surface so the result can be different depending on what you are stamping on.

Here are some strips of stamped and dyed fabric paper hanging on the drying line.

Goodbye Charlie

This morning I was working in the Studio in my prayer journal on the 23rd Psalm piece "Even tho I walk through the valley" when my husband came in to tell me our old cat Charlie had been hit by a car and was dead on the side of the road. I slipped into the valley. I was crushed. We have several cats....all but Charlie and one other are indoor, but Charlie was special. He was old and scrappy and started coming around here for food a couple of years ago. Skiddish at first, but we won him over. He and our dog Pooch were fast friends. This is the only picture I have of him. I took it for a video I was doing for my online workshop "It's Okay to Play". I'm sad today and will miss my friend. Sleep easy old man.

Prayer Journal

Haven't been in my Prayer Journal in awhile but decided to get back there. I've started a new journal and my intention is to do "something" in it every morning as a meditation time. Have had a crazy year with illnesses and hardships in my family and among friends so guess that is why the 23rd Psalm was on my mind today. "Even tho I walk through the valley". And even though I have and I do, I know that my Lord is with me always. His grace sees me through.



Owls and Lampshades

WISE OLD OWLS

I thought I was done painting owls and mushrooms. This was the rave in the 70's. I painted owls on shirts, on walls, in sketch books, on blue jeans on everything. I made them out of clay and macrame!! It was the thing. I thought it was over. Wrong. Owls are back and they are everywhere! There are even workshops in "How to Paint and Owl"!! Okay...time to recycle I guess. But I don't mind because I love Owls. They are BEAUTIFUL birds. So here I go. Wisdom. But....I refuse to do mushrooms again!!

This I did for myself. It occurred to me the other day that all my art is for someone else. Either as a gift or to sell. I decided it was time to do something for Suzi. This is an old lamp of my Mom's that I love and it sits in my studio and provides a nice soft light that I like to leave on at night. But the shade was rotten. I've seen a lot of DIY lately on doing artistsie things to lampshades, but I don't like to copy, so I thought "hmmmm...what can I do that is just me" and this was what I came up with. What better way to use up a bunch of my scrap fabrics and paper! Not to mention buttons and other pieces of "stuff". I love the way it turned out! And it is all for ..... ME!

Wonderful Gift!!

A friend of mine has a dress shop and she gets these WONDERFUL fabric swatches from people she buys from. Today she says "Do you want these? I'm just going to throw them away."

DO I WANT THEM!! I couldn't get there fast enough!!

I think this is one of the best parts of what I do....the wonderful "gifts" people give me that they have no use for and are like gold to me!! Through the years I have received so many priceless "jewels" from others. Thank you Marcia for these fabrics and thank you everyone else through the years that have contributed!

Making Fabric necklaces

Wore my new fabric necklace to Gallery Walk the other night and had a very favorable response to it and lots of requests....so....you know what I'm in the Studio doing now!! I love to figure things out. I never was good at going by other's instructions, so when I started doing this it was figure it out as you go! Each one has gotten a little easier as I figure out what works and what doesn't and what is too time consuming. I think I have a good rhythm going now so look out!! Here they come!! The fun part of the necklaces is making all the little stuff to hang off of them! Most of it I already have cause I do a lot of experimenting with fabric, paper, clay, etc. and then just stash them until I need them. Coming in handy now. My Mom and Dad, who survived the great depression always said "don't throw it away...you might need it sometime!" If you could see my studio, you'd understand!

Art Journal and Gallery Walk

If you are in my "It's Okay to Play Workshop" you will see this book in it's early stages. It is the book I decided to use for my art journal in the workshop and did several videos from this book. It is a 1931 recipe book. Just wanted to share how far it has come and it is still a work in progress.

Also a reminder for Local People of tonight's Gallery Walk! I will be featured again at Blue Moon Art Gallery AND August is a Blue Moon Month!!

COME SEE ME!!!



Fabric Jewelry

So.....first I want to say that this is not AT ALL what I had in mind when I went into the Studio today!! But somewhere between going in there tuned into my Left Brain as I was organizing getting stuff out to work on the right side of my brain decided to take over and make a Fabric necklace!!! I didn't even see it coming!! I have seen several fabric jewelry pieces lately and I guess this just shuffled up to the frontal lobe and said "Here I am. make me." So I did. It's kinda fun and I like it. Going to wear it to my Art Opening tomorrow night and see what kind of feedback I get. I'm thinking of making a few of these to go along with the Scarves in the fall.

And Finally...

"Dancing Girl"

So this is my final piece in the "Watercolor" Experiments. I used watercolor, Marker, Acrylic and collage papers in this one. The whole 9 yards!!

The Surprise for me in this piece is the Gray Background. I nevernevernever use gray. Ever. It's not a part of my artistic vocabulary......until now!! I love it!! Look at the way it enhanced this piece! And what made me do it was pure "play", experiment, asking myself "What if"!!

You will see more gray mixtures in my pieces now!