Andrew's Creativity

The Peters Valley Experience (Part 2, 3, & 4)

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Part 2: The Mailboxes

Mailboxes?? Yeah, and each one of them at Peters Valley Crafts Center is different. I did not realize that I had that many photos of them so I decided to put these in one category just like what I did with fire hydrants. Think of this part 2 as a photo gallery...

I noticed that one mother bird took advantage of the missing door (above), but where is it? I saw that it was on the ground close by (below).

Part 3: The Food

For some reasons, I didn't sign up for the meal plan. Instead, I paid for each meal individually as I was eating breakfast at a local B&B place nearby. But on the first day of the workshop, I had my breakfast at this dining place after the end of the early morning trip from my home. Oh yes, they do serve vegetarian diets.

I'm sure you're wondering at to what the heck that thing on the left side of the above photo is - that's one corner of a big tent - see below. We had a choice as to where we can enjoy our meals: 1. inside; 2. on the porch; and 3. under the tent.

Look at how festive it was on Fourth of July! Love these colors of the gelatin dessert! Here's the lunch that I had on this holiday at Peters Valley - I believe it was my first time I was away from home on this holiday. No, I didn't see the fireworks - not interested, tho.

I believe that the photo below shows the last meal I had before I left Peters Valley to get back home before heading down to North Carolina for Penland School. Oh, by the way, a big black bear did appear in this area - I have a picture of it taken by someone from Peters Valley Crafts Center, but I didn't have the time secure the permissions to publish his photo on this blog.

Part 4: The Lodging

For some reasons, I decided that I would stay at a bed & breakfast place instead of staying on campus. Somehow, I found this spot on the web and decided that I would stay there for a couple of days to avoid the Interstate 80's commuter traffic. I did commute back to Peters Valley on the last day. This is The Inn at Maple Lawn in Layton, NJ. Please notice that the dark color in the photo below is supposed to be dark green, not blue. I don't know what was wrong with my digital camera - it acted as if it decided to be color-blind early in the morning. You can see better colors on their website - it is actually that green!

I stayed in the room on the second floor in the front. It is a pretty big room with the modern conveniences including air conditioning and HD television! It is very funny to see a very Victorian room with all these high tech - no, the high tech stuff were not done in steampunk style, but that would be a fun idea!

I spoke to the one of the owners of this place, and he is a woodworker. He and his wife did a beautiful job with the whole place - he told me about the original owner who was a doctor. Very, very interesting history! And by looking at the way the rooms were done, I could tell that his wife is a mixed media artist, and he even showed me her studio. No, I did not take a photo of the studio - I consider that a private spot and I want to respect that person's privacy. Anyway, I have not met his wife yet, but I hope to drop by for a cup of coffee and chat with her when I get back to Peters Valley to visit the crafts store.

I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfasts there alone - I was the only guest there at that time and their daughters did a GREAT job of making me feel at home! When you make reservations to stay at this place, be sure to tell the owners if you are taking any workshop at Peters Valley as they will contribute a percentage to the Crafts Center. I strongly recommended this place - if you can walk up the stairs as the two guest rooms are on the second floor.

The Peters Valley Experience - July 2-6, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 03:32:00 +0000

Part 1: The Village

The first time I came to this place was when I was a high schooler, attending their crafts fair in this location. I went back to the crafts fair again last year (2009) but it was in a different location - Sussex County Fairgrounds. For a long time I have wanted to came to this village for a workshop, and I got an opportunity to attend Beatrice Coron's papercutting workshop, Short Cutz.

At the beginning of last July, I drove my car into this area, and got myself registered at the Peters Valley Crafts Center's administrative building. Before I tell you about the studios, the food, where I stayed at, and Beatrice's workshop, let me show you the rural area in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Here's the sign for the parking...

A map showing where I was (as pointed by the red arrow on the right).

The middle building is a store, and the other two buildings...umm...I forgot what they were...

This area used to be called Bevans, NJ, but it's now part of Layton, NJ.

The crafts shop...

Pots of pretty plants on both sides of the stairs...

To me, this is really an interesting building. I find it unusual to be three stories high in the middle of "nowhere".

In front of the tall building are three cool pieces of sculpture - covered with broken ceramic pieces.

Further up the hill is a kitchen and dining hall.

In the corner of the wraparound porch is a bird's nest...cute babies.

Peters Valley Crafts Center's administrative building.

The red barn...

One of the on-campus lodgings...

The "church" - it's now a meeting place. This is where all of the current instructors (the ones teaching from July 2 to July 6) gave their talk about their work - most of them also showed the slides and/or videos. All of them in one night, and they were AWESOME.

Interesting old gravestones - I am sure if that name (Layton) has anything to do with the changing of the village name...

I discovered this cool accident while I was taking photo of the "church".

One of the roads...very quiet and not too many cars.

One of the pretty stone houses...

Walking path between studios, parking, and dining room.

Saw this sculpture on the walking path.

Love this rural vista!

Maintenance building...

Ah! That's my paper-cutting instructor extraordinaire, Beatrice Coron!

I will tell you more about her and her work, but let me show you something else first - coming soon in the next posts. Stay tuned!

March 2, 2010: Window Shopping and Dining in NYC

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Since this day (March 2) was the last day of Printing with Polymer Plate workshop, I decided that I would celebrate my birthday belatedly at a restaurant even thought it was on Ground Hog day. Yeah, a whole month later, but better late than never. I made a reservation on-line for dinner at Union Square Cafe using the Open Table's website. I arrived at this restaurant too early so I decided to do window-shopping on the six blocks long section of Broadway between Madison Square Park and Union Square Park. I saw an interesting object in front window of a furniture store, Environment, and I have no idea as to where it came from. I should have gone into the store to find out, but I didn't. I checked out their website, and I found it very interesting (and green, too).

Next store is ABC Home which is one of my favorite NYC stores to browse. It is so full of ideas for using both new and vintage items. I later found out last month that the basement is now filled with items from The Conran Shop which made me very happy - I can check it out in this location instead of having to go all the way to their bigger store on the Upper East Side. Anyway, in this particular window display, I learned about the South African bead craft organization, Monkeybiz, and also a little about Barbara Jackson. I looked for more information and found out that there was an exhibition of the beaded people & animals held at /Nancy Hoffman gallery back in 2004. The gallery's website contains really good pictures of the exhibition itself (very colorful), and it made me want to visit this gallery in Chelsea art district soon to see the works by other artists.

Next store - another favorite - Fishs Eddy which is diagonally across from ABC Home. I love this store - all restaurant quality dinnerware. I am not fond of fancy, expensive and delicate chinaware - I prefer the thick and heavy dishes.

Love the way the wooden trays were used - as shelves.

As soon as I saw this, I thought it was such a clever idea - glassware repurposed as a chandelier. It looked so COOL!

Finally, it was time for me to go to Union Square Cafe. I heard about it many times in the past, and it was on my list of top NYC restaurants that I wanted to try. It was Danny Meyer's first restaurant, and I have heard of his name. I also owned a cookbook co-authored by both him and Michael Romano. I also found out that Danny's group also operates two cafes at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) - that fact alone from Wikipedia explains everything. I have had lunches at MoMA's cafe they were just superb. Anyway, at the time I was there at Union Square Cafe, Carmen Quagliata was the chef. Look at how elegant this plate of butter...

Three different pieces of bread, and a bowl of wonderful olives (got my second one after I ate all of the first bowl).

Since I had little time before I went to a printing studio, I had to order several small dishes. First one is Winter Vegetable Minestrone with Parmigiano Reggiano. Earthy & divine.

Next is Sliced Cara Cara Oranges with Fennel Vinaigrette, Toasted Pinenuts, Mint and Ricotta Salata. They looked eeriely like tomatoes, but they're actually oranges. Not orangey, and not tart, either. Can't describe the taste of this cool orange - totally unlike any other oranges that I've had. Also, I didn't know that ricotta is also available as firm. Several days after I visited this place, I unexpectedly found these cara cara oranges at De Piero's in Northern NJ, and I was able to figure out how to make this same salad myself at home. It is now one of my favorite winter dinner starters.

Last one is Greenmarket Squash Tortelli with Cranberry-Sage Brown Butter. Oh wow! It is so delish, and no, I am not going to try to figure out how to make them myself. I am hoping to go back there again soon. I gave them a positive comment in Open Table's evaluation form, and I got a very nice personal thank you note from this restaurant. I am very impressed.

Unfortunately, I could not stay longer for the dessert as I had to be at a printing studio on time to finish my project below.

When I go back to this wonderful restaurant, I will make sure that I will have more time to enjoy the dinner - hopefully with a friend or two.

Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:31:00 +0000

March Madness with Mann and LoBue

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:22:00 +0000

(Image above created by Keith LoBue)

When I first read that Thomas Mann and Keith LoBue were going to teach a two-day workshop together in Danbury, CT for one of the East Coast Art Retreat's events, March Madness, I decided that I would jump in at the opportunity to learn from both of them in one class. But both of them also taught their own individual workshops before the big "Found to Finished" workshop on March 13-14, 2010. So, I decided to take Keith's papering class on March 12. The picture below shows my workspace - I just wish that my home workspace is as neat as below!

I learned how to paper on just about any surface - metal, wood, organic material, or glass, to name a few. The photo shows all the work I did in one day - one of them is an antler that my brother brought home from Greenland.

Ya know, Keith is truly his own invention. Yes, he's a real stuffsmith - so inventive and so original that he had to patent himself! (just kidding...)

Beautiful image created by Keith LoBue)

The next day, I found my table with my stuff moved from the original location to the new one - right between these Thomas' and Keith's. Thank you Sal & Ellen for making sure that I get to see the lips of both instructors! Shown below is Thomas Mann's workspace.

And this is one of Thomas' collections...

...Keith's workspace below...his private notes were blurred on purpose.

This is one of Keith's collections...

These two pieces were created during the two-day workshop. Shown on the left is Thomas' creation, and the right is Keith's.

Shown below is Keith's creations on display for sale...

And this is Thomas Mann's display of jewelry pieces...

My creations - all cuff links. Two completed pairs and one yet-to-be completed pair.

The top pair - pieces of coral were attached to the wooden tiles with chains (yes I made the chains).

The bottom pair is not yet completed...

The middle pair is my favorite - the tops of two nuts, watch gears, and rebar wire were used for these pieces. I was the only person in the class to make these cuff links and they are NOT easy to make.

What a great weekend it was! And I love to be able to pick and combine the best from both Thomas and Keith - they are so different from each other! Check out both of their websites - they're really cool.

2010: A Creative Odyssey

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:41:00 +0000

As I was going through the photographs that I took during the past eight months (March-October), I am amazed at how quickly time flew by, and how quickly these untold stories pile up. So, I decided to write up a list of possible story ideas for the future blog posts:

March:
1. Dinner at Union Square Cafe
2. Art-Is-You's March Madness Workshops with Thomas Mann & Keith LoBue
3. Collage Workshop with Jonathan Talbot
4. Mail package from papercutting artist, Rob Ryan

April:
1. Autotrain trip from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL
2. Visit to Winter Park, FL
3. Artists Week in Sarasota, FL
- Outsider Artist's House
- Kayaking Trip & Fossil Hunting
- Daily Beachcombing
- PaperMaking
- Nature Prints with Tropical Plants and Shells

May:
1. Nature-Inspired Class at Selby Botanical Gardens
2. Crafts Center Visit in South Carolina
3. Studio Visit: David and Agnes Adler
4. Daytrip to Warwick trip - Folk Art Fair
5. Meadowlands, NJ
6. Gallery visit - Lilitz, PA

June:
1. Two classes at The Center for Book Arts:
- Paper Diecutting on Vandercook - Roni Gross
- Alternative to Type - Byran Baker
2. City Tour: Brooklyn, NY
- Renegade Fair
- NY Transit Museum
- Etsy Labs (second visit)
3. Visit to City Island, NY

July:
1. Papercutting Workshop with Beatrice Coron at Peters Valley Crafts Center
2. Experimental Letterpress and Printmaking with
- Lynne Avadenka and Roni Gross at Penland School of Crafts
3. City Tour: Knoxville, TN
4. Museum Visit: Indianapolis Museum of Art
5. Book Arts Coterie with Pam Sussman
6. City Tour: Chicago
7. Printer's Ball at Columbia College in Chicago Illinois

August:
1. City Visit: Ann Arbor, Michigan
2. Fallingwater - Mill Run, PA
3. City Visit: Lancaster, PA
4. Art-Is-You's Art in the Garden: Judy Wilkenfeld

September:
1. Oregon Coastal Tour
2. Nature Printing Society Workshop - Charleston, Oregon
3. City Tour: Portland, OR
4. Advanced Collage Workshop with Jonathan Talbot

October:
1. Art-is-You's October Retreat:
- Michael Albert
- Diana Trout
- Keith LoBue
2. Letterpress Printing at The Center for Book Arts

Wow, what a year! I know that it's not over yet...but it is already FULL! The list above is by no means exhaustive - there are a couple of other things left out but not unintentionally except for the first few weeks of November. As long as time permits, I will be working on the above topics one at a time. Stay tuned!

Visual Ethnography: Hearts

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Everywhere I go, I see hearts. Not intentionally, I often find them in unexpected places. These pictures below were taken in various places at various times during last year(2009) and this year (2010). Here's the photo essay for your viewing pleasure.

New Jersey

Holderness, NH

Port Townsend, WA

New Jersey

Brooklyn, NY

At an airport

New Jersey

New Jersey

San Francisco, CA

Wykcoff, NJ

New York, NY

Paramus, NJ

Penland, NC

New York, NY

New Jersey

New Jersey

Brooklyn, NY

Studio Inspirations: Penland School of Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:05:00 +0000

A year ago (Nov 05, 2009), I decided that I would take a "preview" tour of the Penland School of Crafts on a "break" day during the Nature Printing Society Workshop week at Wildacres Retreat in Little Switzerland, NC. I have heard so much about this school, have seen a good number of beautiful handcrafted objects done by artisans trained at this school, and also saw several books written about it. I had to check it out to see if I really wanted to go there.

The road going up to this place was pretty steep and winding. I was a bit nervous about not being able to find the school until I saw the above sign - I was very relieved to find that I was not lost out in the "wilderness".

After passing the above sign, I went further uphill and found this sign that lead me to the parking lot near the building (Horner Hall) which houses both the gallery and the shop (really cool).

In front of the building are two wooden chairs...seem very inviting.

Close up details of the handrails on the steps...

The guided group tour began at the Horner Hall. We had to carpool and drove up to the campus as it would take too long for us to walk. I saw this cool car on the parking after we arrived and before we began the tour. Hey you, why don't you join us on this tour?

Cool sculpture at the coffee house patio which is on the right side of the dining hall.

As we were walking toward the weaving studio, we saw this building which is now a supply store.

We walked out at the back of the weaving house and encountered this cool wall.

We went into a jewelry studio and saw these benches...

Clay studio...

Wood burning kilns...

Ceramics studios...

The most modern of all Penland's buildings...

Letterpress room...

Another section within the same modern building - printmaking room. The equipment shown below is etching press...

Cloth for removing lithographic ink from the plates...

We exited from the printmaking room and...

walked up the hill on the way to glassmaking studios...

this area for molten glass...

this area for flameworking...

On the way to ironsmithing studio...

Coals for iron-working...

So glad I saw this gate - it was on the cover of a big book...

Next building...woodworking studios...

Down the hill to the social hall and other studios (photography is underneath).

Books and Paper Studio down below...

LOVE the color of these bottles!

I asked the tour guide as to whether they will be offering a class that is a combination of printing & bookbinding. I was told yes...not knowing that I would ended up in this building below with two instructors nine months later (July 2010). And I know one of them from The Center for Book Arts in New York City! What an incredible coincidence!

Yes, I did go there last July and it was truly a mountaintop experience! So many stories...but, they will have to wait until later.

Studio Inspirations: Etsy Labs

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:02:00 +0000

One Sunday last February, I decided to go to DUMBO section of Brooklyn for the Church of Crafts meeting held at Etsy Labs. Etsy moved to that area from another location that I visited last year (as reported in this blog post, A Bunch of First Times). I took the subway, and then walked under the Brooklyn Bridge - it was a nice day.

Studying the map as it was my first time in DUMBO.

Ooh, lots of visual candies in this area.

View of Manhattan Bridge.

View of Brooklyn Bridge.

Discovered this corner bookstore - cool books.

Ah, Jacques Torre. I remembered watching his TV show and his chocolate demonstrations at at a supermarket in Short Hills a while ago.

Looks like a cold, stern-looking, high-tech, "professional" entrance.

I couldn't get in - it was locked. I couldn't call - I had to wait for someone.

Fancy neon lettering!

Ah! I got in after waiting a very short moment.

As I walked in, my eyes popped out and my jaws dropped to the floor - I had to drag them across the floor all the way to the gathering room.

Nice kitchen!

Got in the gathering room - that's the sewing area...

silk-screening area...

cutting and supplies area...

Ed Roth was there last week? Aaaaah!!! I completely missed that! Oh well, there's always next time. I will have to keep my ears peeled...(I mean eyes - I'm deaf and a lipreader).

LOVE that piece!!! (still walking around and admiring the handcrafted decor...)

That key fob - how clever!

Gigantic lamp...

I was knitting as the hostess, Callie, of this DYI group (Church of Crafts) was cutting the hearts - aren't they cool?

What a cool place it was! It was so fun to see the difference between the former and current locations. Yes, I went back there again last June after I visited the Renegade Fair - to be covered in a new post. Keep your ears (eyes) peeled!

Polymer Plate Printing

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:02:00 +0000

One day during the first week of February, I was on my way to Studio on the Square for the first class which covers the digital preparation of the art work to be sent to the vendor (Boxcar Press) for their platemaking. Before I went to the print shop, I had to stop at Pratt Institute to have my ID photo taken. I was attending Pratt Institute for other class (Embroidered Art Journal) at the same time I was taking my other two classes (In Your Own Write and Polymer Plate Printing) in other two locations.

As I was walking away from Pratt, I noticed a group of bicycles parked next to the subway stop on 14th street and ...

I looked up and noticed the bicycle image painted on the building sidewall. How coincidental.

I arrived in Union Square area, and noticed this cool graffiti-covered truck.

Whenever I am in the Union Square neighborhood, I often pay a visit to this huge Barnes and Noble bookstore - one of my favorite NYC stops.

On the east side of Union Square is the "skinny" building where I was heading for the printing class.

C'est moi! Yes, it is I who is printing. Mindy, the instructor, took this photo. Oh, there's nothing wrong with your eyesight - I did digital surgery on my face as I'm publicity-shy. (smile)

After I did the digital preparations and sent the files to Boxcar Press, I later return to the print shop two weeks later, trim the polymer plates (with adhesive backing), and then put them on the metal plate. The photo below showed my first printing attempt with polymer plates - a set of notecards for myself to be sent out.

On two separate days, I did the printing of my larger image - tha first artwork that I did for Nature Gathered collaborative group two years ago.

This is the first one of the 30 signed prints which was given to the instructor of the printing class, Mindy Belloff. Yes, the rest of the prints (29 remaining) are for sale - I will be working on my other blog so that it will include a button for Paypal.

It was a very good class, and it proved very helpful in my future printing efforts. Five months later, I went down to Penland for two weeks long letterpress & printmaking workshop, and instead of having it made by others, I learned how to make my own polymer plates. It is a photo-chemical process and I would not want to do that at home but at some print shop or even delegate it to a service provider. I found Boxcar Press' service to be excellent - they provided me additional information on how to properly prepare the digital files. Oh yes, I did see Mindy Belloff's Intima Press & Studio on the Square at MoMA PS1 Art Book Fair a week ago.

Embroidered Journaling

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:16:00 +0000

A while ago, I saw American Craft Museum's (now Museum of Art and Design) exhibition, Extreme Embroidery, and I was blown away by the creativity and cleverness of the artists who incorporate embroidery techniques in their work. I was also inspired by my origami friend's Japanese embroidery project when I visited her on the way to Squam Art Workshops in New Hampshire. Last year, I met Iviva Olenik in one of Church of Crafts' meetings held at Spacecraft in Brooklyn, NY. She told me about her Embroidered Art Journal class which was held at Pratt Institute in Manhattan last February. So, I decided to sign up for her Sunday classes so that I would learn the embroidering basics.

Yes, the month of February was really cold and so was the classroom - I had to wear layers of warm clothing.

Shown in the photo below, we saw what we would be learning during the classes. The first class talks about the basics of the supply list - like needles, threads, fabrics, etc...

Iviva's samples of embroidered art journals.

Couple of classes later, we learned more interesting techniques...

Look at one of her work - be sure to see it very closely. Yep, lots of knots!!!

Iviva is known for her style in stitching the letters in her art & journaling work.

My "sampler" - learning how to embroider...

I decided to use this old map of New York City as part of my Nature/Urban art journal project.

Here's what I did so far - it takes a LONG time to do this...I don't know when I will complete it.

I saw someone doing the embroidery work on the large bubble wrap, and I thought it was so cool that I adopted her technique on the envelope wrap (with smaller bubbles) to be used as cover for my embroidered art journal project. It is not yet completed, but here's what I have done so far...

Iviva's work in Fibergraf Collaborative project with Jon Baker (graffiti artist) can be viewed in the exhibition, "Golden Blueprints - Grids, Graphs and Charts" organized by Woven Spaces at WG Gallery (November 20 - December 4) in Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, NY. I'm hoping to see the exhibition soon.

In Your Own Write

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 14:57:00 +0000

As mentioned in my previous post, this year (2010) was a truly wonderful, productive, and educational one. During the month of last February, I took three different workshops - not on consecutive days, but spread out over several weeks in three different venues: handwrites, embroidered journaling, and polymer plate printing. This post focus on the first one - "In Your Own Write" - an informal calligraphy class given by Anna Pinto at Baird Center in South Orange, NJ (arranged & hosted by Book Arts Roundtable) on Feb 6 and 13 of this year 2010.

We started the class by learning and practicing writing the block capital letters.

We were then introduced to "amen" alphabet developed by Corita Kent, and also fun techniques.

I had this book for a long time, but for some reason, I did not pay much attention to Corita's writings until Anne pointed them out in the class. Oh, yes, I did later visit the gallery in Chelsea Art District to view Corita Kent's exhibition. It was wonderful.

I practiced the amen alphabet at home using my father's favorite quote that he had in his workshop. I incorrectly ascribed this quotation to Thomas Edison - it was actually Sir Joshua Reynold's. No, we didn't learn how to do the background in Anne's class - I did that myself at home.

On the second day, we learned how to use walnut ink, and here are the practice writings that I did.

The next one - I absolutely adore this "Arts & Crafts" style - I was learning how to use gouache for this.

I love this quote below by Francis Bacon, and did that at home before the second day of class.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Anne Pinto again eight months later at Book Arts Symposium at Rutgers University's Dana Library in Newark, NJ. She did the name tags for the attendees, and I LOVE how she did with my name!

I did not stop using the "amen" alphabet after her February class. I did continue to use it for my other projects which I will show in future posts. I am so glad I took her class which inspired and motivated me to continue to practice "handwrites"

Oh by the way, Anna told me about two Society of Scribes' events which may be of interest to you: 1. their Holiday Fair; and 2. 2010 Members Exhibition, "Poetry of Line" at National Arts Club in New York City.

November 6, 2010: A Great Day in New York City

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:13:00 +0000

About a week before I started several trips into the city, I came up with a personal plan based on the theme, "letterpress and book arts" that I created for the month of November. Included in this plan is last Saturday's visit to two book fairs and art book store. At the last minute, I decided that I would also include the walk on the High Line, visit to Chelsea Market, a brunch somewhere, and quick exploration of Chelsea Art District to collect some information for future gallery visits. Of course, I brought my camera with me, and took many photos (150+) with no specific theme or category in mind. For the past two days, I have reviewed, selected and processed them for these posts. Several interesting patterns emerged while I was reviewing them - I saw how each venue, store or neighborhood has influenced my visual orientations before the next subsequent visit. And these pictures also reflected the width and depth of my interests. This trip alone (only seven hours) was an incredibly rich, highly informative and serendipitous day for me. Not only that, most of these sights are loaded with memory triggers, associations and connections. You are more than welcome to walk with me on my journey by clicking on each title below. Enjoy!

What a great day it was! You would not believe that the whole trip took me only seven hours. You could say that I am a fast walker, but I walked much slower than usual. Otherwise, I would not be able to take that many pictures, nor remember so much details! And I came home, not exhausted, but refreshed and happy that things went well in accordance to the plan that I created for this day.

Back to the Blogging World

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:29:00 +0000

Hi everybody! I'm still alive and kicking like crazy! This year has been an incredibly busy and rewarding one. I have gone over all different places for various reasons, and as my four-year training plan is getting close to completion, I am now on my way to start my new journey as an artist/designer in my own right. I am no longer bound by the restrictions and constraints within any workshop or class, and I am so looking forward to creating my own works which reflect my own style and aesthetic sensibilites.

Also, I'm in the process of changing the overall look and feel in of my three blogs. I don't want to have to shut down and change all of them at once, so please bear with me as I am making micro changes one at a time over a period of time.

My goodness, I have loads of stories and pictures to show you, and it's quite a challenge as to which of them should be told first. Again, I had a FANTASTIC year - so good that I had to push blogging tasks aside. But, so many of you have been very patient with me, and okay, you deserve a big reward for waiting and encouraging me to get back to blogging. Thank you so very much for your patience!

I'm now working on the next post about the wonderful exhibition that I saw at a crafts museum in Portland, Oregon last September. Also, I will be writing another one about the July adventures pretty soon (oh wow!!)...so stay tuned!

&rew's Creative Life E-Mag

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:15:00 +0000

&rew’s e-Letter

Hello!

January's almost over, and as I was going through the photographs, and thinking about places I went to, one common and recurring theme came to my mind: "recycle and repurpose". In this tough economic time, it appears to me that it is a very fitting and appropriate theme for this e-mag issue. Some of the photographs were "recycled" from older posts, and some of them were also "repurposed". I hope, that by going through my posts, your eyes will be opened to the new possibilities or ideas for any objects to be used for other purposes other than what they were intended for. Enjoy!

e-Table of Contents (Links)

Redmond & Bend, OR - A Tour of Two Visionary Artists' Sites

Photo Essay: Repurposed Objects/Structures

Nature Inspired Composition Class at NPS Workshop & Future Locations

Artist Friend's Studio - Paso Robles, CA

Spacecrafts - Brooklyn, NY

San Francisco, CA - Exploring Fort Mason

Book: Papercraft

Two Books on Recycled/Repurposed: Eco-Books vs. Re-Bound

Repurposed Object/Structure

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:14:00 +0000

When I was a young kid, money was pretty tight and my family had to make do with what we have. My father has a knack for recycling wood crates into built-in cabinets, and he often picked up discarded oak furniture long before they were popular as antiques. The picture above shows how my father used the coffee cans for storing different kinds of nails. I have used paper egg cartons for making Christmas wreaths and topiaries - they sold rather quickly. I used to have a small blackboard, and I wrote a real corny and tacky statement: "Turn Your Garbage Into A Thing of Beauty". Anyway, I am proud to present you a collection of photos that shows how certain object or structure can be repurposed. You may have seen some of the photos before - they were "recycled".

Shell casings from my father's WWII days as Navy gunner - they were "repurposed" as handles for measuring spoons. They were made on commission for me by Joy Raskin.

I was in Paso Robles, California visiting my artist friend, and we went to one of the local wineries. I saw this cool water fountain made with wine bottle, screw, and barrels.

A wine barrel repurposed as a chair.

A former water fountain converted into a planter.

A car converted into a gigantic planter for rhodendrons.

A sneaker used as a small planter for succulents.

Couple of free-standing pots stacked up as a "plant post".

Shells cut and assembled as spoons, knives and napkin rings.

Garbage can lids used as "pools" for running water.

Car hoods used as "roof" and "wall" for a theater.

Farm machinery seat...

repurposed as a short stool which enables to me sit at this friendly dog's level.

Elevated freighter line turned into an elevated pedestrian walkway.

Rails incorporated in the landscape design of the elevated walkway.

And lastly, a tribute my father's ability to repurpose just about anything: using the condiment jars to store the nuts and bolts - he built this turnable storage and hung it from the ceiling.

The above photos were shot in various locations: New Jersey, New York City, Georgia, Washington, Oregon and California.

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Nature Printing Society - November 4, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:13:00 +0000

A long while before the Nature Printing Society Workshop began, I was asked if I would take a class on composition for the nature printers. Me? Teaching the nature printers about the principles of composition? Oh boy. Before I knew it, I said yes to the organizer. For several months, I have been thinking, reading, praying and figuring out how to teach the basic principles in six hours. I looked through several books, and finally I said to myself that instead of reading too much academic text, I will just have to figure out how I did my own compositions for the Nature Gathered group. At the last minute, I finalized the outline, wrote short notes, and found several excellent examples from various sources. Few days before my class began, I drove down to Wildacres Retreat Center in Little Switzerland, NC, and looked for the room where I would be teaching.

When I looked at the room that my class was originally located, I was not too happy with it. But I later learned that it was re-located to another room, and I was much happier. And the wonderful class facilitator, Sandra, helped me with the setup and collected the materials fee for me.
The day before, in my room, I had the class materials put together in the boxes with the name label on top.
We started with the principles of composition, and we did several exercises with the paper punchouts to apply what we learned in the class.
I then gave a demo of how I adhere my layout to the surface of the gessoed board. I also provided instruction on how to mix the acrylic glaze with the color fluids.
At the end of the class, everyone put their own work on one counter, and we reviewed all of their work. They did a fantastic job!
At the end of the NPS Workshop week, everyone bring all of their work and printings from four classes to the the dining room where everyone can see what others have done. Each instructor gave a short presentation about the class and their students.
There were eleven students, but some of them either already left or packed the board in the suitcases.
I am proud of their accomplishments, and the class was such a huge hit that I was asked to teach this class again at the Nature Printing Society Workshop in Charleston, Oregon this September of 2010. My class will be in one of the rooms at Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. The number of registered attendees is limited to 50, and you must be a member of Nature Printing Society to take my class. It is my understanding that the limit has already been reached.

But, on May 1, 2010 from 10 am to 4:30 pm, I will be teaching this same class at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida ($50 for members of Selby Gardens, $60 for non-members). If you are interested in taking this class, call 941.366.5731, ext. 239.

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Creative Space Inspirations I

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:12:00 +0000

Last August of 2009, I was staying at my friends' house in Paso Robles, California. Their house sits on top of a hill with a beautiful panormic view.

After reading Lynne Perrella's book last month on artist studios and creative space, I thought about my artist friend's studio, the objects around the residence, and the stores we went to. I have to say that her place, the town and its surrounding environs are one of the most inspiring and creative areas.

There is something beautiful about these farm implements...

A wagon full of insulation caps and bottles.

A globe embellished with mosaic pieces...

Different posters on the exterior wall...

Very cute mouse and a very small glimpse of her studio (pst, pst,I forgot to take more pictures!!)

Botanical imprints on the stepping stones...

Elegant metal decoratif on the deck...

Very nice composition of various objects!

I found this to be very fascinating - and it looked interesting against the pink background.

Several skulls on the wooden fence wall.

I liked this smiley face and love that emergency sign...

We went to various stores in Paso Robles - a great place for antiques and paper ephemera.

Another great place...

One of the things I bought at the above place is this fascinating tissue box. I plan to add more pieces & repaint it. I might sell it if anyone is interested in this.

Thank you so much, Jeri for letting me explore your wonderfully inspirational place, and for taking me to the great stores! I hope to come back soon.

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Creative Space Inspirations II

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:11:00 +0000

More than two weeks ago (January 14, 2010), I drove down to Secaucus Junction to take a train to New York City. It was still daylight when I hopped on the late afternoon train, and after I arrived at Penn Station, I stayed underground and walked to the subway station that would take me to 14th Street. I then transfer to another subway that took me to Bedford Avenue stop in Brooklyn. I arrived around 5:30 pm and it was dark outside. It was a but surreal - it was like going through a time tunnel. I started walking south on Bedford Avenue, and looked at various stores and street art.

I was looking for Spacecraft where a monthly informal gathering, Church of Craft, was held. It is not a religious group in the strict sense of the word, "church", but a fellowship of warm & friendly people who shared a common passion for crafts of any kind. Anyway, I found a place to eat a light dinner before arriving at the store.

This Rueben sandwich at the Papa Lima Sandwich is really good - believe me!

After I ate the whole sandwich in less than 15 minutes, I went to the store.

Wow, look at the wood behind the shelves...

and the painted fur rug on the floor...

and the papier mache lamps hung from the ceiling - tres chic!

I love this collage on the wall - fabric and paper.

They even have a place for kids to keep themselves occupied while their parents are crafting.

Lot of goodies in jars all over the place.

A statement from the book, Handmade Nation, on the wall.

Lots of visual eye candies, tools and what-nots on the large wooden table.

I gazed and gazed at these "shutters". I could not figure out what they were made from until...

I got closer to them, and I could not believe my eyes. They were weaving needles from a large loom - HOW CLEVER!! And the paper - dressmaking pattern! This whole thing is just simply ingenious!
Several people walked in at various times. One guy came in with embroidery project. Another people with knitting projects. One woman was cutting pieces from plastic doilies that were popular for doll skirts during 1950-60s.

She was making earrings out of one piece.

Aren't these earrings cool? What was I doing there? I was teaching myself how to knit. :-)

It was 8:45 pm when I had to leave. I found Spacecraft to be an inspiring place - it is a very conducive and supportive environment for any creative endeavors. On the way back to the subway station, I found more street art.

The portraits below were done on the sidewalk with tar, I think.

I took the subway back into midtown Manhattan, and while waiting for the subway to take me to Penn Station, I looked at various amusing bronze work done by Tom Otterness.

Wow, what a great evening trip! I hope to go back again to Spacecraft, and also would love to go to Church of Craft gatherings more often.

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New!: &rew's Creative Life e-Mag

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:34:00 +0000

&rew’s e-Letter

January is one of my favorite months - it represents to me a new beginning, a time to “try again” when past plans failed to materialize, and a time to create new strategies for the continuity of my creative life.

I love the word "new". Don't get me wrong - I do appreciate old things and I often had to create a new mindset that allows me to see the old things in a different light.

It is my hope this issue will provide you, the reader, a plethora of new ways of looking at things and places, a wealth of new opportunities to learn something different, and an inspiring form of positive entertainment.

I present this to you the first bimonthly issue of my new "e-mag". The next issue (#2) will be published before the end of January. May your new year be filled with abundant and overflowing creativity!

e-Table of Contents (Links)

In One Day - Four Sites in NY & CT: Katonah Museum of Art, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, & The Bruce Museum

NPS Workshop – 3D Mounting of Fish Print

Memories and Manipulations - Online Class with DJ Pettit

Bruce Hebron’s The Metal Shed

San Francisco, CA - On the Way to Fort Mason

Portland, OR - Powell's City of Books

Book: Fantastic Recycled Plastic

Product: Paper Toys

First Impressions: Wacom's Intuos4 Small Tablet

On-line Class with DJ Pettitt

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:32:00 +0000

I'm now taking DJ Pettitt's on-line class, Memories and Manipulation, which focus on use the image editing tool, Photoshop. I know that some of you are finding it hard to believe that I am taking her class - believe it or not, I am still a novice when it comes to using Photoshop. Yep, a real novice. Too many people assumed that I have been using it with my blog photos for a long time, and I have indicated a number of time in my blogs that I was and still am using Microsoft Photodraw for 99.9 percent of the blog pictures. But the images below were done in Photoshop using DJ's original image. I cropped her picture, and did the work on it using the tools and a filter in Photoshop Element 8.

I am pleased with what I have done so far. With DJ's help and direction through her on-line class, I am still learning and honing my existing image editing skills. The class runs until early February. I am looking forward to creating more interesting images with Adobe's PSE8 and Wacom's Intuos4 tablet (click here to see my mini-review).

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Nature Printing Society Workshops - 07 Nov 2009

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:31:00 +0000

This is Nature Printing Society (NPS) Workshop's last day, and I was taking another class with Mineo Yamamoto who came all the way from Japan to teach this new class. It has never been taught at NPS Workshop, and it was a big privilege for me to be able to take his class. There were a selection of prepared fish on one table, and I picked this one (I can't remember what kind of fish that is - I find that embarassing because I was once a scuba diver!).

I painted the fish with rice paste and placed the silk fabric over it. I then put the torn pieces of paper around the fish to protect the silk from the stray ink. Good thing I learned how to do the indirect printing in other class the previous day - click here for my first time experience.

The whole class was given one color to ink the fish, but I decided to raise the bar for myself by using several colors instead of one.

I happened to be the first person to finish inking the fish. Excuse me, I can hear some of you thinking: "Of course, he's very fast!" (smile).

After I painted the fish eye, I drew an outline of the fish on the plastic film with a pencil, and then cut the image out. I then used white modeling clay (air-dry) to form a 3-D fish model.

I then applied the rice paste on the dried white clay, and placed the printed silk on it - smoothing out the wrinkles, and shaping the fabric over the white fabric.

The finished product!

This looked unbelievably real from a perspective - it really spooks me!

What a great class it was! I did buy a set of oil-based ink, silk, swab-making kit, and background paper from Mineo and hope to do the indirect printing at home. But I will have to get a good fish - that's another whole different game.

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Bruce Hebron's The Metal Shed

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:28:00 +0000

My friend, Jeri, knows how much I love to see other people's studios and workplaces, so she made an appointment for both of us to visit Bruce's metal studio in central California. After we visited other places in Paso Robles, we headed out into the country. Following the written directions that Jeri had in her hand, we got off the blacktop and onto the dirt road that seemed to lead us to nowhere.

After a while on what it seemed to me an enternal road with no end in sight, I became a little bit uneasy. I wondered if we knew where we were going...

Much to my relief, we saw this sign and right away, I felf safe.

Jeri parked her car near this "Metal Shed", and we were warmly welcomed by the artist/owner, Bruce Hebron. Although it looked like a shack in the picture, it's not.

Before we entered into the metal studio, we were invited to walk around the place and go inside his contemporary style house (not pictured in this blog to respect his privacy). A wheelbarrow below is used as a planter.

That's his garden...

His hand-created gate...

The tool shed...

This is so cool! A boat converted into a planter. I am getting the feeling that Someone's trying to show me how planters can be created in different ways - few days before this one, I saw a sneaker, a car, and a group of flowerpots being used as planters in both northern Oregon and southern Washington.

A colorful fence made with painted shovels - how clever!!!

After we had our drinks and friendly chats in the private home, we head for the studio. I saw this pizza clock, and fell in love with it.

A wallful of templates - Bruce's a modelmaker and he does the castings.

He builds whimsical models that can be used on tracks - they're collectibles. Shown below are two of his many models.

He does the replicas of horses and steam engines, too.

He also does planes and ships - the one below is a scaled replica of a damaged ship.

This is a wall diorama of a fishing village - about 2-3 feet wide. All made entirely of metal.

Another "diorama" of another fishing village - so detailed and colorful.

My favorite one - a hot-dog stand. I don't know why, but I love it!

Jeri and I had a great time - we thoroughly enjoyed Bruce's stories and adventures. I am amazed at the number of rooms and the variety of tools that Bruce used in the creation of his scale models and dioramas. I wish that Bruce has a website that is up and running, but I'm hoping that it will be soon as he has so many amazing models for sale to the collectors and galleries.

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Update

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:57:00 +0000

Hello! I hope you had a nice New Year's Day, and indeed, it was a great start for me. I'm so excited about the new year as January is always my favorite month. It may be a cold wintry month for some of you far above the equator or a hot summery one for those down under. Or perhaps a perfect one for those close to the equator line.

I'm now taking an on-line class on Photoshop given by DJ Pettit, and wow, it's really great. Oh, most of the photos in this blog were processed with Microsoft PhotoDraw, not Adobe Photoshop or Elements as many people thought. I am now finding Photoshop Elements 8 (a.k.a. PSE8) to be much more powerful, and I'm trying to harness its humongous power.

Anyway, I am currently working on a multiple posts, and I decided that I would publish a bundle of them as "e-mag" instead of publishing them singly. A table of contents containing links to various posts in three blogs ("e-articles") will be published. I am also planning to publish them as biweekly issues - sorry, twice a month, not twice a week. Of course, they will always be positive, colorful, exciting, inspiring, informative, and educational! Stay tuned...

Creativity 2009: The Year in Review

noreply@blogger.com (&rew) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Two thousand nine. What a year of creativity! So full of education, exploration, and experimentation. I went through electronic folders of digital photos to pick out the highlights and it was not an easy feat. They're not necessarily the best of all I have done this year, but they do reflect the breadth and depth of my knowledge, skills and talents. This photo collection also shows the wide variety of media, processes and techniques that I used for my art, design and crafts. Photography, digital processing and manipulation. Printing by hand and with a press. Pressed botanicals, environmental art, and indirect fish printing are a few examples of what I did for the first time. The other examples of this year's first times are taking on-line classes, exhibiting my work in a gallery. and having sold one of my art pieces. Additionally, a few travel and close-up were photos were included. Many of them have been published before and some of them are shown here for the first time. Browse through this gallery and at the end, you will find a personal message.

A very nice comment from one of my fellow retreat attendees - my big favorite:

More than sixty percent of my work done this year was on my own - usually at home. Less than forty percent of the art was created in classes, retreats or private studios. I am deeply indebted and thankful to all of the instructors who have helped me and nurtured my creative & professional growth. Thank you all!

As you can see from the gallery above, the year 2009 has been a very busy and challenging one for me. Several of you expressed your concern over my long absence from the blogging world, and I thank you for thinking of me. I do hope that you can see from the above photos why I sometime did not update the blogs for quite a while - it is becoming more difficult to do both the blog posts and creative work (art, design & crafts) at the same time. Nevertheless, I am deeply grateful for your loyalty and support each time you visited one or more of my blogs.

As for next year, I may have to cut down the number of photos per post as I realized that the blogging is taking up too much valuable time that I needed for my creative work & developments. Plus, I'm sure that you noticed that there are no ads in all of my three blogs. This may change next year as I will seek commercial sponsors so that I can generate income to support my creative endeavors. As for next year, I plan to stay home more often as I will be starting a major project - the development of a "creative think tank". This exciting and challenging project will require a commitment of at least six months.

My travelling plans for 2010? Well, it will be closer and mostly local like New Jersey/New York metropolitan area. I might go back to the west coast again and perhaps south, too. If I do, it will be most likely either a small retreat, a gathering of artists, or even a professional seminar. Of course I do plan to do more creative work - it will be mostly on my own, and most likely influenced by the Brooklyn's current cultural trends. Yes, I do plan to make them available for purchase.

What about teaching? I have taught one hugely successful class this year (2009) at Nature Printing Society Workshop. I am now working on various projects and proposals - I do hope to teach more classes in 2010 as I would love to share my love and passion with you for art, design and crafts.

Lastly, but not the least, I wish for all of you, my loyal readers and friends, a big Happy New Year!

Yours for a creative life,