Mail art Update

 I discovered that I had 3 postcard blanks in a shiny green paper. Oh, so perfect for something simple

 I used some pieces of type cut from a LIFE magazine, circa 1965

 A think strip of Washi tape completed my designs. I got some fun comments on them when I posted them on Facebook. I really like how BOLD they are.

 This piece was done before the text pieces. The "divided" is a handtag from something my honey purchased awhile ago. It's done with an iridescent, holographic magic ink! The text is French, and a bit of Washi tape to finish it up.





More Tiny Town activity.

 Tuesday was the 2nd of 6 sessions of my 2d-Design class. We did the random experiences. They're a lot of fun and generate good examples of design principles.

Circles and squares, randomly placed, and secured. Next step, isolate an area, followed by discussion. Make something new!

My class and mail art, too.

 My 2-d Design class started this past Tuesday night. I have a lovely group of adults, who jumped right into the experiences that I offered up.

 We started out with squares and some ideas and then develop the principles of design from that.

 Any of my former VCU students, who might read this blog, will remember these experiences.

 Today's mail art included part of an old postcard, more of my playing around with new rubber stamps, and Washi tape. I am loving making simple Mail Art. Not sure where I'll send this one, yet.

 Here's a photo of some of my veggies from the farm, and some items that M brought from the farm in Maryland. I may have posted this before, but I am so so very fond of farm goodies.

This is one of my favorite photos of two photographers, who found interesting views in two directions. Quite adorable, yes? It was taken last spring at the zoo in Washington, D.C.

#75 series

 This is the day for the letter "L." I was thinking of all sorts of "L" words this morning as we walked to and from the market.   Thinking, thinking, "L" words.

 Nothing came to mind except Love and Like and Lovely. Nope, didn't want to do those.

 Then it came to me, as we walked, that I'd cover a large piece of mat board with music and then toss different sized black squares on it and glue them where they landed. Love the random aspect. Fun!

 I got so energized that I forgot to photograph my process, so you'll have to imagine a large piece of board, covered with music, and then black squares.  It was quite meditative to cut out the black squares in 3 different sizes. And now I have a stock of them in a tin.

 After I cut them out, I added the color bits and the letters. I worked on some of this while talking on the phone with cousin D. I got carried away, I couldn't stop myself.

 I had to keep making them and now I have a whole stash to address to mail tomorrow. I made it to the deadine of midnight (EST/GMT -5)

 Oh, yes, I decided on the word for this series after I completed the postcards.
Learning, that's what the "L" stands for. I love to learn, I spent lots of time learning to play the piano, I spent lots of time learning to be a good basic design instructor, I love learning Spanish, and new stuff in general.

Yes, "L" is for learning, may I continue to do so for a long, long time. 
Have you learned anything new recently?

the Nathan Lerner Exhibit

The other day, we went to see an exhibit entitled Nathan Lerner and the New Bauhaus in Chicago. Well, we're originally from Chicago and know of both the old and the new Bauhaus, but we'd never heard of this man, or so we thought. It turns out that we are artist descendents of his. He was the class mate and/or teacher of our teachers. We recognized projects that we'd done as students. We couldn't believe that we'd never heard his name mentioned, or did we, and did we forget. His photographs were wonderful. He did many of Maxwell Street in the 1920s and 30s. As a kid, my father took me to Maxwell Street to buy a jacket once, which I loved. I remember the street being like a big flea market. It turns out that we do know this man, but in an unexpected way. He gave up photography for awhile and did design work. He is the man who designed the honey bear bottle and the sponge mop!! Also, he and his wife owned the building that Henry Darger lived in, and discovered his work when he moved out to a nursing home. We'd seen their names in the Darger catalog from a show we'd seen. Okay, so things are coming together! More than this, we got all emotional about what our teachers passed on to us, which in turn, we passed on to our students. For real, we got out of the museum (MAHJ - Musee d'Art et Histoire Judaisme) and stood on the sidewalk and were all like "can you believe this?" His wife is a classical pianist and is giving a concert in her husband's honor tomorrow night. We're planning to go to the concert.

My Design Class #2

I'm having the best time with my basic design class at VMFA studio school. These adult students are terrific! Guess what their assignment was?

Black and white

Here are some images from the class that I taught last night at the VMFA studio school. It was such fun and the students, all adults, got into it quickly. They got some great results from their experimentation.