Just a sketch...

...from the roof sundeck of Las Brisas in Laguna, day after seeing the Pageant of The Masters with Younger Daughter.

I'm Back!

Spent three days in Judy Coates Perez' Art Quilt class at Idyllwild School of Arts.  Learned techniques for painting on fabric and more mixed media collage.  Whether I'll ever actually quilt (sew sew sew) anything is still unknown, but the class was great fun and so were the other students.  Here's a group photo of the Lovely Ladies at Idyllwild, sadly missing a couple who must have been hiding under the tables.  The school took photos of us all and hopefully will send them on later.

Here's a fish painted on cotton sheeting swimming in an iphoto bowl.  just imagine you're looking through a face mask in a tropical sea...

...and here's a collage, also on fabric.  Should I stitch around the hands or leave it alone?

While in Idyllwild I stayed with a former classmate, now friend, Liz.  Her home is bustling with birds and squirrels, wonderfully goofy dogs and small visiting grandchildren - a delightful time!

Mask II-Travel Jester

click to enlarge (the mask and the stars glow in the dark!)

  MY MASK (Two)


This Travel Jester
amuses the Queen in me -
she’s out of this world!

Camera to eye
she juggles the hemispheres,
keeping track of time,
thinking on a different plane,
digesting the globe.

She is feeling younger but
mindful of the sky;
its starry message fills her
with the glow of time:

never ending and goodbye…

Painted Silk Scarves

Yesterday I took a silk painting class from Ruth Dorn, formerly referred to as "The Mask Lady".  I took three mask-making classes from her ten years ago.
 I previously posted these masks (here's one) and will do so again. Ruth continues to teach several crafts at her Talmadge Studio. (This class will repeat on August 7th.) She's a great connection to other teaching artists as well.

Silk painting is really fun and the results are practical for use and gift giving.  Unlike canvases they store easily!

XOXOXOX

 

sheer XOXOXOX

The Elder Rapunzel

The golden ladder of my hair,

once enough for several princes,

is brittle now and curls around my chair

before the fire like tired smoke.

My cottage hugs the ground,
a grateful shipwrecked sailor.
Windowless, I live alone
and have outlived my jailer.

The tower I graced is rubble now.
The sons I bore took root afar.
Once I kept a talking bird.
I have a spider in a jar.

The sunlit beacon of my hair
has dimmed to winter moon,
brittle now around my chair
before the fire like tired smoke.

(from the series Fairytales for Seniors)

Quick Zoo Sketches

koalas

giraffe

meerkat

rhinos bathing

The Last Jacaranda

Mischievous Fourth