i think i'm rested up from my trip... rested up and back in the groove - wanting to paint again! thank you for your kind and supportive comments about the muslin pages tutorial. it was my pleasure!
before i left town last wednesday, i was in an obsessed frenzy finishing this doll. earlier in the week i took jane des rosier's online cloth and clay doll class, after which i quickly cut out the doll pattern and got to work. alas, the stuffing part proved tedious so i left most of the pieces sitting, unstuffed, until the day before i went out of town... then i decided i wanted to finish the doll so i could give her to one of the friends i was going to visit. here she is sitting in the cup holder in my car - practicing keeping her arms down. they wanted to fly straight out to the sides!
what i mostly wanted to learn from jane's class is how she combines cloth (muslin, heh) and paper clay, and i certainly learned that. i also wanted to watch her sculpt a face. i tried (more or less) to mold the eyes and lips the way that she does, and you can see what i got -- a very, uh, attentive look, and lips about 5 times bigger than usual, hee! but onward!
she went to someone who loves the color orange and plants...
the back was my favorite part. i ended up using everything from colored pencils to watercolors to acrylics. definitely going to use *everything* on the next one. working in the muslin books has resurrected my love for oil pastels and colored pencils. i'm reaching for them more than watercolors these days...
speaking of muslin and watercolors... my sister made a Barely There book! that made me smile!
if you've done a painting on muslin or you made a book, i'd love to see pics... if you're willing, i'll show them here (or post a link to your blog) so we can all be inspired...
i haven't painted much in my own Barely There book... i can say without hesitation that they're great for traveling though. perfect, in fact...
some pics from the last week...
the moon coming up on wednesday evening. i stopped to take this - is it possible to *not* take a pic of the moon when it's so close to the horizon?
earlier in the day, this is the top half of a smoke plume from one of the forest fires burning west of here. it was huge. i thought i'd be able to get a picture of the entire plume from this spot (near burney, california), but i only got the top part.
from the same spot, looking east instead of north i could see most of the fires burning last week.
and yesterday... even though we're a good 50 miles away from the fires, our air was super smoky. it turns everything orange...
i bought the latest issue of raw vision while i was out -- oh! i love that magazine! i love outsider art! i thought this 'sourcebook' looked fabulous...
there were several artists in this issue whose work moved me, but none more than ted ludwiczak's stone faces. he lives on the hudson river in new york state, and brings the rocks up from the river himself. there are many many of these faces in his yard. this is what he said when told that his work will occupy a prominant place in a new hudson valley cultural center:I'm just happiest - and i feel the most at peace and the most connected with this river and this place - when i'm handling and carving my stones.
XO
Beautiful Lynne. You are so inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI find that I want to do everything . . . and you're not helping.
Love love love that doll. No excuses. She is magnifique.
ReplyDeletelove the doll
ReplyDeletelove the muslin
love, love your pics
and the stone faces are incredible
Lovely post..So much and so inspiring. Your doll is to cute.
ReplyDeleteThe artist who did the rocks are great.
Where do we find this magazine? I have never heard of it! I need to get one or get a subscription if I can. Can you send me the address? Oh those fires! It is just so scary when you see them. Our skies have been so hazy and unhealthy here. I agree with all the previous posts. That doll....OMG! Isn't she just the best sitting in the cup holder?? I love things with longs legs like that. You definitely are NOT helping with "want to do things", I agree. I, too, want to do them all. If I wasn't so darned tired from this medical regime...watch out!
ReplyDeletehey Lynne, your doll is like seeing one of your paintings step off the page! she's beautiful!! seemingly so poised and coy, too, though I know those arms do want to fly :) lucky recipient!
ReplyDeletebarely there has so much presence! loving it all,
Karin
hee, lesle! i can tell you that i will be NO help in curbing the 'do everything' urge!
ReplyDeletethank you, loani -- very much...
hey manon - thank you! and i agree, the stone faces are incredible...
hi poetic artist, thank you!
teri, if you click on 'raw vision' in the post you'll go to their website and you can order it from there. i have serious back order issue lust...
yeah, the smoke...
thank you about the doll. : ) xo
hi karin - yes, she definitely wants to take off... and coy's a good word. she does look awfully coy - dear me! hee, hopefully she'll put it to use for the good of all. ; )
Lynne, I really respect your creative journey: always trying new things but staying true to your vision. The doll and book are beautiful and there are a couple of pages of that book that I covet quite badly!!! I was at Washington state Uni, one summer, about 30 years ago and we watched Mount St. Helens blow, for the second time, from the roof of the building. It was amazing, like watching time-lapse photography. Didn't get any photos though x
ReplyDeleteI have begun some pages using your techniques. I am having a lot of fun. I posted the first bits on my blog.
ReplyDeletexox
Terrific post! I love outsider art, too. We have a great museum in Kohler, Wisconsin, that features some incredible examples of it.
ReplyDeleteLove your doll. I'm starting to experiment with muslin, too, so everything you do interests me! The way you use EVERYTHING to make art really inspires me.
:0)
Best wishes from Wisconsin,
Angela
Thanks for all your sharing. I have bookmarked your painting muslin tutorial. I have never made a doll but I love yours, maybe there is one in my future yet. I have been in the summer doldrums and feeling a need to return to creativity, your blog, your work is definitely inspiring me to come out.
ReplyDeletelove, love, love the doll - she is so true to who you are and your art! big lips and all! hope we see more of these wonderful creatures - the photo of the moon - gorgeous and RAW VISION - one of my fav mags - these artists have been my biggest inspirations in my art life - they are so true to their feelings and aren't pulled away by the next shiny object on the path!
ReplyDeleteI was drawn over by the 'La La La' on eof my favorite centering sounds!
ReplyDeleteYour dolls and the muslin paintings are fabo...and the faces carved in stone and the smoke plumes and all of it is so rich.
I recently did a kids studio where they painted, stamped, stitched and transferred onto muslin making 'Eco-Flags' (as in ecology)
they came out wonderfully.
LH, what wonderful photos! I too took Jane's doll class last November! I still make dolls here and inbetween other projects. Yours is terrific! Love all the pics you posted! I am still working on my pieces of muslin. I tried to rust some up but they began turning black, all black! I quickly took the unblackened ones out so they would not continue to stain. I think I will try again but with a different rusty object and a smaller one. This is going to take some time I think!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhere to start Lynne...another inspirational post! Your cloth doll is fantastic and certainly has your special touch. I love her wings too. I also signed up for this class with Jane a few months back, but my dolly is still in bits...you have inspired me to *play* with her again. Your dolls have such personality.
ReplyDeleteThe new muslin pages are wonderful, such amazing images and colours and the barely there book that your sister made is lovely.
Those carved faces are something else...I must keep an eye out for the magazine, so much interesting art!
Have a lovely weekend.
Jacky xox
oh lumi, you are so kind... well i couldn't veer off and do something that wasn't me if i tried. it would fall flat in about 5 seconds. i seem to have preprogrammed that way, lol. xo
ReplyDeletewow, that must have been amazing to watch mt. st. helens erupt. i think that anyone who doesn't have immense respect for the power of nature isn't paying attention...
hey zom! well you know i've been and i've looked and i've GRINNED. thank you!!
hi angela - thank you for visiting! i was just reading that kohler bought an outsider art project (a stone building or castle, if i remember right) somewhere and they're going to restore it to its orginal condition. i'm buying kohler for sure if i ever need bathroom fixtures, hee!
the muslin is so much fun, isn't it? so much potential... such a good vibe.
hi jan, thank you! hee, you could make a doll and she/he would say funny things to you when you get in the doldrums next time. i know this one was awfully supportive as we rolled down the road. ; )
hee, jeane! big lips and ALL?!! well maybe but i gotta leave those big lips off next time. yeah on raw vision. i don't know why i haven't subscribed... i'm going to. and i agree, 'outsider artists' are true to their inner voices. it's the only song they sing, i think...
ooohhhh donna, those flags sound wonderful... as for la la la, i jokingly put it in for the title of the draft version, and then thought that it was absolutely perfect! la la la *is* centering, and if i'm saying it (singing it) i'm flowing right along...
hey janine, black, huh? i've got some buried right now with rusty stuff, so it'll be interesting to see if it's black when i dig it up. thank you about the doll!
hi caterina! thank you!
hee, jacky, my doll would probably have stayed in bits for a long time too if i hadn't decided i wanted to give it to the friend i was going to visit. that stuffing part - ugh! i like this size a lot though, so i will make more...
yes, check out raw vision -- you'll like it. xo
Wow Lynne, you have been busy. Your doll is so funky. I would have loved to have been in your class! I was just thinking of buying some paper clay and muslin myself.
ReplyDeleteI am in the process of using muslin rags to clean up and I will let you know when they make it into a journal. :)
Wow! Love your sweet orange bird/woman doll. She is so spritely.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't wait to try and make my own barely there book. You have inspired me to give it a try. I just have to go and get some muslin.
I'm catching up on my blog reading and I wanted to THANK YOU for posting that link to Jane's classes. Also, a thank you for your wonderful notes on muslin pages. You KNOW I loved that. lol
ReplyDeleteI just love that art doll. Somebody is very lucky to have her in their garden. :)Bea
what a great post . i love the paper clay / muslin doll. in fact i love all the muslin art. i wonder how all that would work on raw silk . i will have to send you some.
ReplyDeletethanks again for the wonderful info .
xxoo
kathy
mmmm i sooo love raw vision :o)
ReplyDeleteyour art work is so natural and rich...just lovely.
Those muslin pages are all so Hoppe. A perfect match!
ReplyDeletehey patti, hee, i think funky is the perfect word for ms. orange bird woman! boy i love that paper clay, and well, muslin -- that's no secret.
ReplyDeleteyeah, let me know when the muslin gets made into a journal. it'll be FINE, that i know. : )
lol, leanne, okay, so maybe patti's funky with your spritely, cuz i think they're both perfect - the funky, spritely orange bird woman! ya gotta get ya some muslin... you'll like it. : )
hi bea! you're welcome for the link! i might have to take another class -- that face painting one looks mighty tempting... and thank you!
oooohhhh, kathy, i wonder how it would be on raw silk too. lol, i can just see you sending me some and me getting totally addicted to it like i do to just about everything you send me! seriously, i bet it'd be nice.
you're welcome... : )
thank you, kate... yeah, raw vision... i was thinking about you when i read it -- the UK was on lots of pages...
hey seth! hee, so hoppe! hope you're having a great break!
Hi Lynne: ohhhhh myyyyy : ) what can I say that hasn't been said ?? EXCEPT that I sooo appreciate your sweet and gracious spirit, your art soooo reflects the kind, creative being you are. thank you, thank you, thank you is all I can add for what you share and give. I read your post on KarinB's blog and sooooo love it. my B'day was on the 12th, soooo, like Karin's tree, I'm feeeling special about your "la la la" post on the 12th also, hahahaha : ) was out on holiday most of the week, but took my muslin pages and sketched a bit, WHAT FUNNNN !!! you are so right - you can erase easily on them and for me this is a MUST, ha : ) just wanted to say hi and let you know how special a being you are (pissed: in case no one else hasn't told you yet, ha :)
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Sandra in AZ
Ohhh I feel quite faint at the sight of those amazing stone faces....and your doll is so charming. Love the muslin page with the red heart. Delightful post!
ReplyDeleteHi Lynne: you know ?? after thinking about a word I used in my earlier post AND thinking about it ("pisst") I think I spelled it wrong - ohhhhhhh myyyyyy, : ( I should have used "shhhhhh" instead, hahaha : ) I hope this one makes you smile : )
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Sandra in AZ
I love your face's and your doll is so cool...I have taken Jane's class and am featured in Fall Art Doll Quarterly 09. Your doll gives me idea,s to make them more simple...I have signed up to follow your blog...
ReplyDeletehappy birthday sandra! and thank you so much for your kind words... hee! that's funny about 'psssst'! yeah, it gave me a smile... : )
ReplyDeletei love how easy it is to erase on the muslin too! i can be a big eraser! it's a nice, tough surface which i really appreciate.
happy week to you! xo
robyn, i thought about you when i read this article (not that i haven't looked at it about 50 times). aren't those faces something -- he does them on a small table outside his house. no fancy studio...
thank you, deidra! i've just been to your blog and i also love the faces of your dolls... now i want to go cut out another one. : )
Lynne you never ever disapoint.
ReplyDeleteLove Renee xoxo
there are too many beauties to comment on ms, Lynne H... the trees, the way the insects write, the way you see!!! The doll, i love her... so elegant what is her name?
ReplyDeleteThe rocks, the Vincent and THeo, i try to read it once and awhile.... the colors... i have been seeing so much grey tones over the water lately here--and blues and so, thinking about painters. You are Beautiful ... keep seeing and saying, it rises over the world!!
exoblessings
What a great post. I am totally inspired.
ReplyDeleteI love your blogs and i often visits your blogs.... Thanks for the post.
--
Venus
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I love your work!
ReplyDeleteBut disagree about Ted K's stones.
I think that he should put them back in the river and stop desecrating beautiful stones.
His work is hobby level, The kind of stuff at roadside souvenir stands.
It bothers me to see stones crapped up like this.
If you would like to see a real stone artist, visit the noguchi museum in queens. it will blow your mind