Some art journal pages...

Attn: local blog readers: Class -- Photoshop for Artists & Crafters - Beginner Level

Sunday, March 18, 2012
at Captured Moments, Curry Road, Schenectady
10:30 am - 3:00 pm (bring a bag lunch)
Cost: $50
Please email me at kerristabile@gmail.com if you are interested in attending. I will send you my mailing address for payment.

In order to provide hands on instruction, class is limited to 10, so sign up ASAP!!
If I receive an overwhelming response, I will offer a repeat of this class on April 15. (same time, same place)

What you need to bring:
1. A laptop (this is a MUST) with some version of Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements installed on it, and a power cord to recharge your laptop if/when necessary.

2. One or two images to play with/experiment with in class -- this can be a (color) photo, artwork that you have created & photographed or scanned, or artwork/photos you have "borrowed" off the internet -- You will use these images to experiment with the techniques that I will teach during the day. I may also email an image or two to participants if I think we need to be working with the same image.

Based on the feedback I received, I have decided to begin at the very beginning, so if you have some Photoshop experience, you may want to wait for a more advanced class, which I hope to offer in the future.

What you will learn:
Creating & using layers
Familiarity with the toolbox
Adding typography & type treatments
Using artistic filters (i.e., making a photo look like a painting or other work of art)
enhancing the pictures you take (color correction, etc)

Practical tips for artists and crafters
-- how to create & size a blog header
-- how to optimize images for the web

And any specific request that we can cover within the time we have!

Thank you and I hope to see you soon!! --

Oops, I almost forgot to mention...

People magazine includes a feature this week (almost last week) on my niece Avery and her donor, Dalton, and his amazing family. Check it out. It's the issue with Elizabeth (not so) Smart's wedding on the cover.

Feeling Heart-y these days...

The actual page was a bit washed out but Photoshop makes it all better. Speaking of which, I have to post the announcement for an upcoming class... more very soon!!!

An evening at Journal club...

Thank you, Marilyn and Melanie, for a wonderful evening of instruction, cameraderie and inspiration. See you in February!!

My soundtrack for 2012...

Does each of your years have a soundtrack?
So that when you hear a song, it brings you back to that place in time where you first heard it, reviving memories you thought were long gone. It's just one of the amazing gift that music gives us. It audibly marks a place in time.
Every now and then I hear a new artist or band that just transports me – a new album that, although I’ve never heard it before, is already in my bones…like the songs were already a part of me and my whole being was just waiting for them to finally be written and played and sung.
I heard just one of this band's songs and I knew I would love them. I bought the cd without hearing another note, and I feel like these guys are old friends, (okay, young friends) who've been singing me awake for years... the beginning of my soundtrack for 2012.
And just so that you can appreciate the whole picture of how I love my music, I play it really really loud from my iPod dock and dance around my living room like I am the star in my own music video -- sometimes I even add this drum or tambourine.




Eli Young Band – Life at Best"…keep on dreamin’ even if it breaks your heart"

A mischievous elf...

Avery at Christmas, 2011.
I hijacked this picture off of my sister's ofoto account. I think it was supposed to be our Christmas card, but either I've been dropped from the mailing list or (more likely) my sister didn't have a chance to send cards. I know, she looks so grown up, doesn't she? She'll be eight in April, but like so many precocious little girls, she is often seven going on seventeen.

She had a brief overnight in the hospital just before Christmas due to an intestinal bug and some dehydration, but overall, she is doing awesome, and we don't ever take this smile for granted!!

A favorite place

Peebles Island, Cohoes NY. Early mornings with Mike and the dogs are the best time, but Max can be a handful so I don't usually take my camera. But last week my very first best friend from childhood visited, and I left Max behind so that we could take in the sights and capture some of them in pictures. It was a gray day, but no less amazing for lack of bright sun. A bald eagle flew across our path and over the water during our walk, but neither of us could move fast enough to get a photo, so we just stood in awe of it's beauty and wing span and all it represents.

525,600 minutes...

I am thinking about how best to use the 525,600 minutes that make up 2012. Admittedly, I've already frittered away at least 2,880 of them. It's only January 4, but I spent most of January 1 and 2 as a sofa spud, having enjoyed the last few days of 2011 celebrating life and love and friendship to thoroughly.

After the anticlimax of that ten-second countdown to midnight each year, when -- in spite of decades of dashed hopes -- I still continue to expect something magical to happen, I really do love the beginning of a new year. Like a new pair of boots or a new haircut, it's more than just another day -- it's the promise of a fresh start, and it never ceases to invigorate me. And clearly, as you have to wait in line for a treadmill at the local gym only during the month of January, I am not alone in this feeling.

But by mid-year (if not before), many of our good intentions have fallen away, and we settle back into old, comfortable, familiar routines. So how do we harness the energy of the new year, or any other catalyst for change that comes our way, so that we can continue to remain motivated to achieve our dreams?

The things that motivate each of us can be different, but I like to start with a word -- a word that demands thought or action or reminds me of where it is I want my dreams to take me. Rather than a list of resolutions, which can be too long and specific and daunting, my word is the common thread in all that I try to accomplish in a given year.

My words for the past four years have been health, wealth, believe, and authentic. Each has served me well in different ways, and has made me faithful to this practice. I worried about announcing my word this year, because it is one that I think can be perceived very negatively, for women in particular. But I have my reasons and my personal interpretation of what this word means to me and how it will guide me. I almost changed it for a second runner up word at the last minute, but (at the risk of sounding very flaky right now), this word just keeps coming back to me... my word for 2012 is POWER. -- I know, right? It sounds like I am aiming for world domination or something, but that's not quite what I envision.

I'd love to know how you experience the new year, and if you have a word, or another form of resolution or intention, please share it!

All I want for Christmas is more time, Santa...

I am learning, as I grow (older), to take (my) time. Even in December, when the rush to get so much done in so little time looms, I no longer give in to the craziness. To be honest, I can't do it and still feel charitable toward humanity. I love people(some of them), but I hate crowds of holiday shoppers)(and general mall rats), and while I used to be able to shrug it off, I realize I don't shrug so easily anymore, so I try not to subject myself to more than my fragile (peri-menopausal) state can handle.

I should add that I am incredibly lucky (fortunate & grateful), to have a job and a life that allows me some time to take time... but even if you don't think you have any at all, you need to find some -- or make some...we offer our best selves to others when we take time for ourselves first. This is not selfish in my opinion, it's just fact. (and it's also just awesome!)

So that's my opener to what I did today... I visited the most amazing visual delight
within at least a hundred miles of my home (even though it's 10 miles away). and that is Artifacts Store...and open house (literally) the Cunningham house, open, for the holidays, along with their
store, which happens to be next door. I cannot begin to describe how magical this place and all its treasures is all year long, but particularly during the holidays. Here are just a few glimpses of my treasures. The first photo is of a sign that now sits above the "art door" in my dining room.




Beth Cunningham and her "holiday helpers" adorn the bags with bells and ribbon, there are guest artists and artisans in her "open house" with one-of-a-kind wares, and the ride to Melrose on a cold, clear December day is a total indulgence.

Thought for the day...

Photoshop fun...

Sometimes when I am in between art projects and need to fuel my creativity, I take a piece of art I've already created, scan or photograph it, and then alter it in Photoshop. Playing with typography and words (and photoshop layers) satisfies my soul.

Plaster Encaustic Fusion-The Evidence

Here's a peek at the incredible art that our students created during our Plaster Encaustic Fusion workshop held at Captured Moments in late Oct. and early Nov. It never ceases to amaze and inspire me how everyone takes our instruction and elevates it to new heights. Also worth noticing is how we all begin with exactly the same basic materials, and end with entirely different pieces of art - the alchemy of creativity and vision. This class was also a textural delight of beeswax, wood, wire, corrugated cardboard, acrylic paints, and exotic papers...and also the most fun and creative group of women around.



Marilyn and I are finished with classes for 2011 so that, like you, we can enjoy time with family and friends during the busy holiday season. We will return refreshed and inspired in 2012.

Thank you to all who pop in to see what's new, and to all of you who take classes. I am grateful to know you and to share this fabulous, messy, creative life.

Peace.

Footnote: Marilyn has also posted pictures of our class...stop by her blog to close ups...and also credits to our students (I too planned to credit our students but I am still under the mistaken impression that I will remember things without writing them down... and then I remember...oh, that's right...I forget things! ;o)

Searching for my meraki...

One of my good friends recently decided to pursue a career change. It's a completely different field, and she's pretty much starting from scratch. It will mean hard work, long hours and several years of study before she is finished. But instead of feeling overwhelmed by the challenges that certainly await her, she is excited and invigorated in a way she hasn't felt in ages -- her words, not mine, and they made me question the last time I felt really excited about a job or a new project.

It's not that I don't enjoy my work -- I am incredibly fortunate to work with great people, in a field that I still find satisfying, most days. And my side line in mixed media is also a source of enjoyment and creative expression. But I am feeling like much of what I do comes too easily these days. I am not challenged enough -- not afraid enough? -- something like that. I am not even sure what it is I am looking to do, but I am looking. I want to feel more alive, and I don't know what is is that will make that happen for me.

I recently read an article that suggested boredom and busyness were two sides of the same coin. The author explained that boredom was a lack of quality work/play and that busyness was the unavoidable chores and "to dos" that take time away from finding quality work/play. This is my life -- I have lots of things to do, many of which I feel are unavoidable - my day job, laundry & housework, mowing & raking, bill-paying & paperwork, and by the end of the week, I've gotten all of these things done at the expense of QUALITY work and play time.

So this weekend I am going to make time to do something new, in the hope that exposure to new places and things will lead me to my next creative adventure. And in order to do this, something else on my unavoidable "to do list" won't get done. For me, this will be the hard part.

--I just finished writing this post, and meanwhile my favorite astrologist (Rob Brezsny, featured in Metroland) gave me this weekly horoscope...Meraki is a Greek word that refers to the bliss you feel when you're engaged in a task that's important to you and that you're doing really well. It's your theme right now, Libra. According to my reading of the astrological omens, everything's in place for you to experience meraki in abundance. Furthermore, that's exactly what your destiny is pushing for. So please get out there and do everything you can to cooperate: Make this a meraki-filled week.

Trick or treat, I'm packin' heat...

I am going to a costume party for Halloween, and I wanted a fake gun to go with my Halloween costume. Due to gun violence and kids getting shot and all that stuff that ruins the innocent fun of blood and guts and Halloween, you can't buy a decent fake 9mm in the toy department anymore (or even the dollar store, thank you, China). I will add that you can still buy fake hatchets, machetes, and bloody fake body parts, however, so all is not lost.

So I went online for my fake gun. As luck would have it, I found the perfect little plastic model through Amazon for 75 cents -- with $3.25 shipping and handling, I still considered this a bargain. It arrived yesterday. Here it is...



No, this is not a re-enactment of Lincoln's assassination, nor is it a photo commentary on the state of the economy. It is my 75-cent gun, and yes, it is smaller than a penny. In my defense, that's not how it looked in the online photo when I placed the order. However, if I had clicked photo number 2, I would have seen this guy, and that might have clued me in...




I am still going to strap this baby to my thigh, with a piece of scotch tape. Can you say sexxxxxxy?

Altered egos journal

Marilyn and I have spent two of the best Sundays with an amazing group of women, creating art journals that express our "altered" egos. Inspired by Christy Tomlinson's she-art online workshop, Marilyn had the brilliant idea to teach a similar class in an art journal format. If she hasn't done so already, Marilyn plans to post samples of students' work on her blog, so pop over to take a look later this week.

For me, the class was part collage and mixed media, part paper dolls, and lots of whimsy. Here are some of my pages so far...

Look.

I am feeling very connected to all living things today...not in the Facebook, smart phone, internet way...but the real warm-blooded looking into another's eyes sort of way...from my sweet Max, always ready for play, to the flock of geese who were resting in the grass by my car at work, to the squirrel I narrowly missed on my street (while driving a smidge over the speed limit and then cringing), to the tiny, barely walking little, little girl with diaper-padded purple leggings, holding her dad's hand and trying to match his pace at the supermarket today. What a world I live in when I take the time to look.

I see a bright light, casting shadows through my window...

Could it be?
Yes, it's the sun!!!! Me so happy!!!

During the past couple of weeks of rain and generally dismal end of summer weather, I did treat myself to an online art class by Christy Tomlinson (her blog link is in my list at right). It was my first-ever online class, but I can see this will be a wonderful way to pass the long, long winter in upstate NY!!!

Here's my first canvas from Christy's She-art workshop, which was an amazing bargain -- dozens of class videos with amazing mixed-media, drawing, painting and texture techniques and PDFs available for download. Thank you, Christy!!

Sunflower on a rainy day...

I am grateful.
I really am.
Every minute of every day.
But enough of this f**king rain already.

Phew. Not quite poetry but I feel better.

Some perspectives on living in the moment...

From the book Spark by Julie Berstein:
Richard Serra was freeing himself from the constraints of making art, by approaching it as play. --

"I'm interested in the notion of play; I'm not interested in the end, I'm interested in the activity itself; I'm interested in not worrying in a self-conscious way about what I have to make."

--Richard Serra, sculptor



or, as Zac Brown puts it:




"soak it all in, it's a game you can't win, enjoy the ride."
(from the song Quiet your Mind by Zac Brown Band)

The messages of process over product and living in the here and now resonate strongly with me these days.

So I'm off to live today like there's no tomorrow!