That's me...........

Canvas Accordion Book!

This book was created from a section of grafitti-style painting on both gessoed and ungessoed canvas and subsequently embellished with a variety of items.

Sheer Imagination: A 2-day lamination workshop

Jamie Fingal and I will be teaching a 2-day workshop in Costa Mesa at CREATE! retreat.  Our workshop is featured in the daily Cloth Paper Scissors email blast:

Sheer Imagination: A Paper/Cloth Lamination Adventure Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison In this 2-day workshop, you will learn to create unique laminated cloth using their own color copies of any subject you choose (travel, art, cooking, funky imagery, sewing, family, and text if desired). We encourage you to create an artwork using a theme and to create your own mixed media apron.  Jamie and Leslie will provide a vast variety of tools and materials for you to experiment with and add unique layers of imagery to your laminated cloth. Color, design, and free motio machine quilting will be discussed as everyone will be fusing their laminated images and sewing them down. This is our interview for CPS CREATE!: Meet CREATE Instructors Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison     1. When did you start creating art individually? Leslie:  I've been interested in art my entire life. I fell in love with quilt making in  the late 70s. When my family moved to San Antonio in 1997, I became interested  in surface design and mixed media, and combining these passions has consumed  me ever since. Jamie: I've been making art as long as I can remember, first as a graphic  artist, then decoupage boxes and suitcase with fabric and paint.  I made my first quilt in the early 80's, onto art quilting in 2001, and wrote  a book in 2007. Now we are team teaching and we bring a variety of strengths to the working  relationship that compliment one another quite well. We are both passionate  about what we do and bring fun and laughter to the classroom.       2. What can students can expect out of your workshop Sheer Imagination  at CREATE Costa Mesa? Separately from each other we have been experimenting with laminating paper  and cloth together. This is a very interesting way to create a unique material  which can be used for a wide variety of textile, quilt, and mixed media  work. It is a technique that is not taught very often, because of the many  supplies that are needed. Since one of us lives locally, we knew it could be done,  and we are thrilled to offer this 2-day workshop!  Learn more and register now.         3. Where did you find your inspiration for this workshop? We felt that we wanted to look beyond the art quilt and create an art apron that  expresses any theme the student desires. The aprons are totally wearable  and will be one of a kind works of art that are sewn.  Jamie has made 3 unique mixed media aprons. I love the symbology  of the apron as a means of expressing an idea. We have both created  a number of mixed media pieces using the lamination technique and are  very excited to share this with our students.         4. What other hobbies to do enjoy besides making art? Leslie:  I am an avid photographer, reader, cook, blogger, and gardener.  I am also a private pilot.  Jamie: I also enjoy gardening, reading, writing, photography,  have a few blogs and love to cook.         5. What are you most excited for at CREATE Costa Mesa? We love the whole atmosphere of this retreat! The students are really  enthusiastic and focused, yet we have a blast with them, and we love  seeing the other instructors, many of whom have become close friends, and  meeting the new instructors and getting to know them.  Costa Mesa has a lot to offer CREATE attendees because of the close  proximity to a wide range of shopping, restaurants, the beach, etc. It is going to be  a great place for this retreat!!          6. What is your favorite memory of CREATE 2010? That is a tough one to answer because there were so many great memories! One that stands out for us is that the students and instructors were so inspiring. One of the best moments for us was seeing the Student Showcase at the end of the week and looking at the amazing  things everyone had "CREATE"ed during the retreat. Truly, it was astonishing.

Pink chair meets Orange chair

Home Depot spray paint colors aren't very much fun.  I did the best I could, but I think I may need to make a trip to Michaels.  I wanted a coral color and a candy-apple red.  I got red-red, and no coral, and I found some purples that interest me.  I got black, too, thinking I might want to do black and white "checks" around the edge of the table.  I did make some progress:

 meet orange chair

pink chair faints from envy

Things with wings

I just returned from a week-long session on color and design composition.  This was session 6, year 5, of an ongoing series taught by Hollis Chatelain.  Although my brain is fried, it is fried in a good way.
I need to struggle with design, composition, value, and color.  I need to be frustrated and filled with self-doubt, at least enough to continue to question and experiment.  I need to push myself.
Does immersing myself in an exploration of these things make my journey as an artist easier?  No.  I think it makes it more complex, more challenging.  I think this is very good.

During the week I recalled a line from the movie, "A League Of Their Own".  Geena Davis' character decides to quit playing baseball because "it just got too hard".  Tom Hanks' character responds, "Of course it is hard.  If it was easy then everybody would do it.  It's the hard that makes it great."  This is a perfect metaphor for making art.

As artists we sometimes get discouraged.  We hit a wall.  We occasionally feel dried up (or is it just me?!).
How do you push yourself as an artist?  What do you do when you hit a roadblock in your work?
I'm interested in these questions and would love to hear from you.

I'll share one exercise from my previous week.  This was one of 33 exercises:  create a series of small studies done in fabric.  The challenge was to create harmony with close values, analogous colors, simple shapes, and horizontals.

Pink chair

I've been thinking about repainting my outdoor wrought iron table and chairs in bright colors.  I'm bored with them.  Today I went outside and puttered in the garden, and before I knew it I had primed the 4 chairs and painted one of them (very) bright pink.  Now, I'm trying to decide what colors the other chairs should be.  Should I paint two and two?  Different colors for each?  What color should the table be?
Don't you like how I plan ahead so carefully?!  I wonder what my husband is going to think when he notices this (after 29 years he isn't surprised by much...).
Feedback, please....

ONE turns into a big number today!

"Joy"

It is with great joy that I tell you about the overwhelming success of ONE, the reverse-auction fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.  Over $8500 was raised in just over 6 hours, and every cent of it goes to ACS.  This makes me very happy.  I have said it before, but I want to repeat that each piece I contributed to this fundraiser was a "love letter" to a dear friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  This was done in honor of my late mother, who was a breast cancer survivor.  This is for my friends Ellie, Karey, Lynne, Keri, and Peggy:  all survivors who are living fierce lives.  This is in honor of my friend Steve's sister, who just yesterday lost her long-fought battle with cancer.  This is in honor of  my husband's aunt, Ardeth Laake, who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in 2009.

Thank you, Virginia Spiegel, for rolling up your sleeves and herding many of us into action.  Over the past several years Fiber Art For a Cause has become one of the leading fundraisers for the American Cancer Society.  I am so honored to have been a part of it from the beginning.