Ringing in the New Year with Big Prints

I'm ringing in the new year with hand-printed New Year's cards and matching envelopes. ❄️ 🎨 . Stay tuned for January workshops that I'll be offering, including one in which we make big stamps and print cards, stand-alone prints, and wrapping paper that's so cool that you won't want to use it.

Collaborative Cities Architecture Stamp Project

Check out these pics to see what terrific stuff my adult students produced tonight, in the second session of my current class at the Arlington Arts Center, called Young at Heart. Each student made a series of simple stamps of architectural elements, they then shared the stamps and all printed unique cityscapes. Adding color transformed them from somber to super. This was a project I had previously only done with children, but the adults enjoyed it, too!

Printing on Fabric workshop for adults: Sept. 13th, from 6:30-8:30PM

I'm not saying that you should stop buying dishtowels, but you could make one with me and satisfy that crafty urge, too. September 13th, from 6:40-8:30PM.

DC monuments printmaking project

It was really hard for these girls to concentrate on their art projects today when there was a puppy under the table. Enzo fell asleep and then spent some time in the main house, so the girls did finish their works -- and they look terrific. They drew a D.C. city scene, onto "scratch foam", creating their own printing plates. They then printed them with block printing ink, over previously watercolored backgrounds. Although the D.C. buildings and monuments (all cut out as one piece for ease of printing) don't reflect symmetrically in the water, the overall effect is of a cityscape reflected in water. Making them really BIG gave the finished works extra punch.

My Fall class at the AAC

My fall Tuesday night class at the Arlington Arts Center will start on October 25 (enrollment will probably open in early September), and here's what the theme of the class will be: ART BOOKS Book artists have a history of altering books, in addition to creating new book art. In this class, we will take inspiration from existing books and use them as canvases to create entirely new works of art. Although we will spend some time making books, the emphasis of the class will be on filling these books with our own mixed media art. Participants will be encouraged to see these works as opportunities for personal exploration and expression, trying new techniques (or using favorites).

Summer teen art camp

I am in the middle of a week-long summer art camp for young teens (11- to 14-year-olds) at the Arlington Arts Center. My class is big. Huge! 15 kids, which makes it hard for me to get around to everyone as often as I'd like, and yet they are doing some wonderful things. They've made handmade stamps from foam and printed mottos, sayings, or just words. They've made a square stamp and tried making a repeat motif. These were used to make covers for hardbound books. And then they've made grid collages ... still to come is rubber stamp carving and scratch foam relief printing.