Big Fat Art with Jane Davies

WARNING! Long post with lots of eye candy!

But first, let's pause for a brief infomercial to remind you,that I am teaching at THE INK PAD in NYC on Saturday, April 5, and there are just a few spots left!   Here's the video teaser, and you can also watch Stencils & Silhouettes on YouTube:

OK - back to the regular post: On Thursday, I set out from my little town in Glen Ridge, NJ on my Road Trip to Big Fat Art with Jane Davies.  

Months ago, friend Judy Shea and I decided to do this workshop together.  We had each taken classes with Jane before and wanted to study with her again, and how better than to take a class together.


Since, in my challenged knowledge of US geography, Vermont sits on top of Massachusetts (NOT), I planned to stop at Judy's overnight "on the way."  I figured that driving 4 1/2 hours to Newburyport and stopping there overnight would break up the drive.  Plus, I'd get to hang out with my good friend.

As it turns out, it is actually farther from my house to Judy's, than it is from my house to Jane's!  Rupert, Vermont, is north of Albany, NY, which is north of where I live.  But no matter, I was thrilled to see Judy's new home in Newburyport, and also have dinner with friends Corrine Gilman and Kay Wallace.

 

 The port of Newbury port

  

 The town square at night

  

I loved this tribute to war victims in Iraq

Judy, me, Corrine Gilman and Kay Wallace after a great meal!

Judy's home is beautiful.  Her studio is gorgeous and filled with Judy-goodness.  And when she writes on facebook or on her blog that she lights candles for people, she really does! Here is her beautiful candle holder where she lights her candles.  Seeing this really touched my heart.

On Friday morning, we were off by 8:30 for the four hour drive to Rupert, VT.  

We were lucky enough to have fantastic housemates:  Adele and Linda - both wonderful artists and smart, observant women! 

Adele makes beautiful mixed media work combining her love of calligraphy and mixed media materials.  

She has a fabulous series where she actually dries slices of fruit and uses them as substrates.  Check out her website!

Jane is a very generous teacher; I highly recommend taking a class with her.  She was funny, kind, and very quick to call me on my anxiety about abstract work (remember this recent collage challenge with Julie Balzer?) and my desire to create symmetry and recognizable forms.  

 For example, at the end of Friday, I couldn't resist coaxing an owl out of one of my "starts."

But Jane challenged me to push out of that comfort zone and take my "starts" (first layers) into an ugly, awkward second, third and fourth layers, before beginning to calm them down into work that approaches a finishing stage. 

Here are some of those starts and awkward layers...

Can you spot Stencil Club stencils in this piece?

 I used Dots and Dashes, and Circles and Squares stencils as I worked on this piece.

Through the workshop, Judy and I sat across the table from each other and agonized together.  We also took pictures of each other taking pictures!

All of the women in the workshop were incredibly talented and fun.  Here are pics of some of them and their work:

Marilyn and Wendy going over Marilyn's technique of rubbing off layers with alcohol wipes.  She achieves amazing depth and texture this way.  I don't have pictures of Wendy's work, but it had such a light, playful feel to it, and I loved her color sense.

These beauties were made by housemate Linda, who had the neatest workspace I have ever seen.  Her talent for making order out of chaos definitely translated to her work, which had beautiful balance and line.

I don't have a picture of Sharon but happily I have this picture of some of her artwork.  She definitely has an urban feel to these pieces, and I love the angularity and her varied use of strong and delicate marks.

Lou is a therapist and journalist who uses her art in her practice.  She loves bright colors, so no wonder I was attracted to her work!

Loved working in a firehouse!  These are Kathy's pieces.  Sadly, Kathy had to leave us early because of a scratch on her eye.  Hope you're doing better Kathy!

Unfortunately, I wasn't diligent about taking pictures of everyone and their beautiful pieces.  But trust me, they (the women and their work) were amazing!  And Jane has a great video up on her blog with some of the beautiful hands at work. 

And on Sunday, I began to feel like I was "getting it..." a little!  I worked hard on one of my pieces, and felt like it came to a conclusion.  Using my Medallions stencil really helped pull it together.

Before leaving, I had to paint a picture for Jane - and as she LOVES her chickens, that's what I turned one of my big fat art pieces into.  Here's the before and after!

And although I'd painted something figurative on a piece of big fat art, Jane was pleased!

So do you gravitate towards figurative work, or do you lean towards abstraction?  And what happens to you when you are forced out of your comfort zone?  I want to know!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.