Linda Sagastume instructor

Postcards…inspired, made, and seen…

The Mary Chenoweth exhibit is up and ready to be seen at the Fine Arts Center. Over the last month I have attended a lecture about Mary, and a print making study workshop inspired by Mary’s contributions to Colorado College and the world of art.

Join me as we make postcards inspired by Mary Chenoweth and her dedication to sending postcards to her many friends while traveling the world. I can’t wait to share bits and pieces of Mary’s life with you that I have recently learned so you have insight into the woman who carved the iconic doors into Bemis School of Art. Also, I have some new ideas for postcard making that we will use during my upcoming workshop. Small art can be fun, easy, and accessible. Whether you send the postcard, or keep it in your stash, the process is what matters. Reflecting upon your collected ephemera, working with color combinations, and using different media for mark making are the integral parts of creating postcard art. Take a look at students from my last “Inspired Postcards Workshop” and some of their creations.

Here is the link for my workshop, register soon, only a few spots left!

https://artschool.csfineartscenter.org/events/a95-inspired-postcards/

In this workshop all collage materials can be used. Items you have stashed in a drawer from your travels, black and white photocopies of letters from a dear family member, vintage items, even bits of fabric are fair game for making postcards. Hope to see you August 30 for this workshop! We will also go into the Fine Arts Center together to view the Mary Chenoweth art exhibit.

The actual printer used by Mary Chenoweth to create her art and inspire her students is still in the Colorado College print making classroom and here it is for you to see. Keep your eyes open for new print making classes that will be offered at Bemis by CC Instructor Kate Leonard. It will be an exciting new program open to the community.

Student Art from The Secret Garden

As the snow falls and temperatures dip well below freezing in my neck of the woods, how about a gift of the garden to make you smile. Don’t get me wrong, winter is ok, but I treasure the beauty of a garden scene. Here is some lovely student work from my adult Secret Garden class I taught last fall, virtually at Bemis…enjoy!

We worked with acrylic paints and our inspiration came from Frances Burnett’s classic book, the Secret Garden. The techniques we explored included abstract expression, collage, silhouette, under painting, Marimekko design (stamping with veggies from around the kitchen), and a garden path.

Painted papers, including brown paper bags

One of my favorites…Graffiti Garden

Inspired by Marimeko Design

Acrylic paints and stamping

The classics will always be near and dear to my heart, especially The Secret Garden written many years ago. I have read the book to my children when they were little, seen the play at The Denver Center for Performing Arts and now have been celebrating the beautiful themes of the book by making art with adults and children. It is a heartwarming story about friendship and discovery…on many levels. The characters are ones you will remember for a long time and it is no wonder this book continues to be enjoyed by people of all ages today. If you have not read it, do yourself a favor and find it at the library, or perhaps a used copy at your favorite thrift shop or second hand bookstore. Losing yourself in the magic of this book with a hot cup of tea will be a delight…I promise!

Secret Garden Highlights

Secret Garden Art Lessons

This summer I taught two sessions of my Secret Garden art class online. The class consisted of video content and “live” class time via ZOOM. We met Monday through Friday for an hour together and students viewed the videos outside of class. It was a wonderful experience for me as the instructor and also for my students. Every class time found them prepared and ready to create. Kudos to all parents and grandparents for encouraging and supporting their students!

Some students had their art space set up on the deck, thankful weather conditions were a summer sort of perfect.

Looking through the keyhole into the secret garden was our first lesson. I had an old metal key, fashioned in the shape of the keyhole depicted, just the type Mary Lennox would have used to open the door into the magical garden space. This provided inspiration for our lesson. Students were encouraged to paint the door and the garden using their own imagination.

From the “Graffiti Garden” made with black and white copies of former art, to “Mary Lennox” the main character in the classic children’s story, to the “Garden in Blossom” made with Spectra Art Tissue as the first layer, each student responded to the lesson using their creative intuition. And take a look how their work is full of shape, line, color and value, the concepts we focused on throughout the workshop.

Each class started with a time of sharing the work completed, detailing choices made, and the “why” behind it. My students were confident, eager to share, and open about describing why… vines were added to the door, or why particular words were written for the graffiti expression, or why Mary Lennox was depicted with her hair in a certain style. Every class time I looked forward to the sharing piece because the elements of personal style began to emerge and I wanted to encourage their discovery. The main objective – for my students to love creating art.

How about this? After our first class, one student loved their work SO much it found it’s way by their side upon going to sleep and in the morning… well, it was hard to find. Talk about pulling at your heartstrings!

Here’s a Z O O M look…

A virtual snapshot of the first session.

For our last class we have a tea party together. When ZOOM begins, all students are ready to share tea together and discuss what they learned in the class throughout the week and talk about their last painting, “Garden in Blossom”.

This was a first for teaching an online children’s art class and it turned out very well. I have received many positive comments from parents and from me to you…a big thank you.

Just a few days ago I received in the mail some handwritten thank you notes. Here’s a look…

It was a privilege to teach this amazing group of little creatives and I can’t wait to do it again. My brain is working overtime with ideas for my next class so stay tuned. Until we meet again, stay safe and enjoy the last beautiful days of summer. Oh, one more thing, looks like there is a new movie of The Secret Garden being released soon. It would be worth going to see, for this is a timeless story of hope, renewal, friendship, and the treasures of nature.

Expressive Florals Re-Cap

Student work from my Expressive Florals class. Close up of blossoms painted with bold brush strokes, and texture.

The first layer was clear tar gel, applied loosely across a blank white canvas. You can see slight traces of it in this photograph of a student’s painting.

I taught the class in the painting studio of the historical Bemis Art School at the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. You can see the top of the FAC in the window. Lots of space, individual easels and natural light made for the perfect setting.

Before we start painting, several weeks are spent warming up to the shapes of blossoms. This exercise was done in an art journal; layers of text, paint glazing, patterned tissues and then completed by painting a flower as the finishing touch.

Each student has a personal style. As an instructor I aim to encourage discovery and allow a student to develop their unique creative expression. Each of us is wired with creative intuition, we just need to learn to trust it. This only occurs by actively engaging our creative muscle. My class, Expressive Florals is a safe place for students to discover their creative language. It does take time, but just look at these amazing paintings, some students had never painted before! When there is no pressure, or focus on perfection, we find our natural FLOW. And when we move out of our comfort zone…that is when the magic happens.

Text can create a lovely layer in an expressive floral painting. Take a look at what his student created. She hand wrote meaningful words on a piece of thin drafting paper and added it as a layer. It was a beautiful and bold addition to her painting.

To start with a blank canvas can be intimidating no matter how long you have been painting. With the first layer of tar gel, then a light blue grey underpainting, the canvas is no longer blank. We also add big blocks of neutral color, and then sketch the blossom image with charcoal on the canvas. This helps break the ice and eases the pressure of beginning the painting. Also several weeks of fun and useful warm up exercises in the art journal help set the stage for a successful painting.

Pushing and pulling color is part of the process. In other words, darkening and lightening areas to create pops of color. Expressive painting is a “loose” process, quite different than a botanical painting or the wonderful floral still life paintings of the Dutch Masters. In my class we paint from photographs, and also I bring in fresh flowers for inspiration. We are not trying to paint every nuance of the blossom in Expressive Florals. It is more about expression, brush strokes that come natural and interpreting the blossom in a personal way.

Stencils….yes! I love to encourage the use of stencils, a serendipitous layer that adds interest but does not detract from the florals.

My demo painting from a magazine photograph.

Please join me for Expressive Florals (A 41). Next class starts 3/1/18 to 4/12/18, Thursdays, 10-12pm. Register at Bemis Art School at Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.

coloradocollege.edu/fac

Bemis@coloradocollege.edu

Hope to see you in class!!! And even if you have taken it already, come back again, there is always a new expression waiting to be discovered.