Woo-hoo, double-digit weeks! I’m awash in class options, and taking a break from trying to finish anything, individually or in series.
Learning
I was so frustrated with my watercolour attempts last week that I went back and tried again, without even rewatching the video. Better! As in, not great, but a little more control, less surprise.
I started the next lesson with relief, and finding a little more freedom: skies or general moods.
Phew, I think I’m getting somewhere. Really, I just want to be able to create layers for my work, but this looks more like what I can work with. Just in time, as a whole new set of lessons has started, over at the Collage Makers Summit. That’s going to be a lot; I think I’ll parse those 14 lessons out over more than the two-week span of the class.
Viewing
I had an unstructured day last week, so I decided to fill it with a SkyTrain excursion to Richmond City Hall. An artist I’ve been following, Diedre Hofer, has some works up there in their public spaces. As much as I appreciate her social media feed, I really enjoyed seeing the detail and layers in her work close up.
I followed that trip with a wander around the First Saturday open studios and Vancouver Art Walk galleries, starting with Sascha Westendorp on E Hastings, then Carlyn Yandle at Shady Acres.
Next, I finally got to see the Paneficio Gallery windows, filled with Dana Cromie‘s work, and met Valerie Arntzen, tucked behind those windows and full of ideas for collage and installations. Thanks to both of them for the organization around First Saturdays and more. I rounded off my wander with a tour around Monte Clark’s current show, where I was pulled in by Roy Arden‘s collage work.
Meetings & Making
I took a break from poking & prodding my series, and just played with some ideas during my open studio meetings. I did start trying out my altered spelling book pages as layers for some florals: there is potential there, but it is definitely still a work in progress.
It was also a fun week for the Paris Collage Collective: a tree!
Overall, a nice break from agonizing over final elements in my so-close series, and a lot of fun ideas flooding in. How was your creative week?