Dear Everyone ~
Cat Bennett, my dear friend & awesome co-teacher, and I are delighted to announce our Club Artful theme for November: Fanciful birds in a slim paper portfolio. We will meet Sunday afternoon Nov. 2 from 2–4pm. It’s also the Sunday that daylight saving time ends. Praise that extra hour for whatever you wish to do before we convene. You could sharpen your colour pencils, trim your papers, artfully arrange your tools, or sip an extra cup of something.
November is the first session of our second quarter of Clubs. We’ve already shared a few lovely comments we received from students during our first three sessions here. We wanted to add this from Becky F., in nearby Evanston.
This is such a good activity for me. It is pushing me to set aside a bit of time more frequently to do some art. While the drawing part is still somewhat intimidating, the more I play at it and get used to using different techniques, the more confident I get. :) While my hand does not always follow where my brain wants it to go, it usually does not matter! And these small art projects are such a wonderful break from the outside world… Thanks so much to you and Cat for all your efforts. XO, Becky
In our upcoming Club Artful, students will learn how to make a slim gusseted paper portfolio with three interior flaps—for beautifully ensconcing ten-ish pieces of cover-weight paper in random sizes.
Cat previews what we’ll be doing in the second hour:
“Color and the wild swing of a brush is a language unto itself. It speaks of our spirits but doesn’t constrain them. So many times, artists say they want to be ‘free’. I’ve felt the urge myself at times, especially when making observational drawings or paintings when I can get knotted up trying to get things ‘right’. There is a fine balance between rendering the world around us with some accuracy and letting our spirits soar.”
“In this session, we’ll learn to create without too much attention to detail. We’ll get the feel of things and let our brush carry us forward. We’ll learn to mix and blend color and use both a wet and a painted ‘ground’ for our images. We’ll have references of birds as the take-off point but, once we’ve looked at them, we’ll exaggerate color and form to create birds that walk on the wild side. And we’ll be right there with them! They’ll be a good reminder of how we can loosen up and have fun with art too.”
As always we like to assure Everyone: you do not need a specific kit of materials for the Club Artful projects. This is an opportunity to use papers you’ve collected and art supplies you have on hand. We will provide a list (right after you register) detailing exactly what you will need paperwise, including dimensions, and what supplies and tools we will use during the session. Our mantra is Low prep, high charm & plenty of delight!
That said, if you’d prefer to have papers pre-trimmed, our Assorted Sheets for Holding & Befolding presents the papers I used to make my sample portfolios. I was curious myself how the different paper weights would pair up, and I dare say I am quite pleased with the outcome. We have assembled three bewitching (We had to say it!) palettes: True-bluish, Sprightly & Springy, and Rosy & Ruby.
We hope you will join us for our upcoming Club Artful adventures!
Club Artful
Autumnally, Bari & Cat