From Hedi Kyle, to Daniel Essig, to Dorothy Wheeler

                  The eight day art retreat, Art Unraveled, in Phoenix, Arizona,   http://www.artunraveled.com/ARTU11/AUworkshops.htm 

recently finished another successful run. I had the great pleasure of meeting Dena Bliss and her friend, Dorothy Wheeler, at this year's event.  They talked me into taking Daniel Essig's Tree Book workshop although it doesn't take much to talk me into taking a class from him.  He is one of my favorite book artists/binders.

Here is Daniel Essig demonstrating a fishbone folding technique originally created by master book artist, Hedi Kyle.

Workshops for me are places to gather ideas and not a place for making a precious masterpiece. The finished project is just the beginning of new innovations to come. Dorothy definitely demonstrated that philosophy when she returned home and created a 60th birthday card/book for her sister.

Here is our basic workshop project.

And here is how Dorothy added her own touch to it.

Mica sheets are laminated (glued) to the inner and outer cover surfaces, front and back, as well as on the front flap.

It's a wonderful concept with great potential for modifications of all sorts.

32nd SKETCHCRAWL AT MIM

Our SketchCrawl on July 23 was held at the Musical Instrument Museum in northeast Phoenix.
I get a charge out of that place each time I visit it. It is such a multi-cultural extravaganza of music and song on video screens adjacent to the instruments of various countries all over the globe. And what a huge place! It takes hours to get through it.

Here was my contribution this time.

Click on "Journal 6" button on right to see photos of the MIM.

DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN REVISITED



It was a beautiful day, as it usually is, at the Desert Botanical Garden here in Phoenix, Arizona, under a partly cloudy sky.  Temperature in the mid 80's. My plan was to do some drawing from photos downloaded to my laptop. However, I couldn't draw to save my life.....so frustrating. But I did take plenty of photos as usual.  I played with some in Photoshop a little more so than usual.

And here is the in-your-face squirrel who I just couldn't ignore. What's an outdoor cafe for if not to charm humans into giving up few snacks here and there. 

See my Musings blog for more garden images.

APRIL16, 2011, SKETCHCRAWL

We had a surprise when we arrived at the Desert Botanical Garden, closing time for the general public was 12 noon because of a special event. So we had to work fast.  I usually work from photos so I took lots of them and worked on this image following my return home.  This frog was happily calling out to others in the pond and observing the humans passing by.  

See more photos from this SketchCrawl on Journal 6.

View The Work Of Book Artist And Weaver Of Dreams, Timothy Ely

Ely doesn't teach just physical book structure, he exudes a sense of spiritual alchemy. 

View his work in "Journal 3."



Quick To Assemble, No Glue Journal

In keeping with the My 20 Minute Journal post I made awhile ago, I now have posted  the tutorial on "Journal 2."

About My Work

Journal 1 is no longer under construction. You are welcome to view my introduction.

First Entry For Journal 7 Blog

I must admit that drawing and watercolor still feel very awkward to me. One reason is because I do not practice either as much as I should. So even though life has a way of imposing other demands thus putting a squeeze on ones priorities, I am learning to shuffle those priorities and finding time that I didn't know I had.

This is my first entry in "Journal 7" with, I hope,  many more to come. 

First SketchCrawl of 2011

Click on blog "Journal 6" to see more.