Whoa, where have I been?

I'll admit it, I've lost my desire to blog. It seems like so many steps in comparison to just updating my status on facebook with photos, art or clever musings (or so I think anyway.....). But after spending a month in Australia with fellow blogger, Seth Apter (nicknamed, Setho), of The Altered Page, I've decided to give it a go again.

However, my first attempt just ended up erased and I just realized that I have no photos on my computer yet, relating to my recent trip. Well darn, no wonder I tend to give up so easily. So be sure and click on the link for Seth's blog, because he's got a lot of great pictures from our Australia trip up already!

Seth, Michael and Andrea DeMeng and I participated in the Australia Roadshow for Art -is- You. In case you aren't aware, AIY, is an art retreat that I have been teaching with for many years (2015 is their 10 year anniversary)! After Sallianne (she and Ellen run AIY) moved back to Australia, it was her dream to bring out some of her United States and Canada instructors and spend time in various locations teaching our Australian friends. It was my first time there, so it was quite the adventure.

We rented a huge van that we nicknamed, "Walting Ma-til-duh" (was suppose to be Waltzing, but Michael misspelled it). It was packed to the hilt with luggage full of art supplies, boxes full of art supplies, containers full of art supplies and a few bottles of wine (heehee). Along the way, we picked up 2 other roadies, Lovely Linda and Miss Jeno-o. The rule was whoever sat in front was on lookout for Kangaroos or Koalas. We'd all scream when we saw some kangas, but sadly never saw a koala in the wild; apparently this is because they have become quite endangered :( But right before coming home, I did take a tour to a animal refuge where I did get to spend some time with the endearing koalas and the ever charming, wallaby's.

We spent a lot of time in that van driving all over Australia, through the bush, to the Sunshine Coast, over to Melbourne (St. Kilda) and a darling place called Rafferty's Resort  in Mercure, 2 hours outside of Sydney.We spent our time in the van listening to music (cd's like Queen, soundtrack to Priscilla, Queen of the desert, Abba (of course) and others. We had many a sing along with Michael making goofy voices (like Donald Duck) to sing versus. We laughed alot. We also played a phone game where you pick a category, put the phone on your forehead and others give you a clue and you try and guess. That was hilarious. Quite possibly the worst player ever would be miss Jen-o. She sure came up with some great answers (that were no where close, haha). The big thrill would be to see who got a prezzie everytime Sallianne had to gas up. I think Michael got bath bubbles in the form of some macho plastic dude, Andrea got flipflops, don't remember what Seth got and I got a fishing lure (hey, you might see it in a piece of my art.....)

It was a lot colder there than I expected, even though it was winter (I just sort of thought, "it's Australia, how cold could it be?) However, it was a bit damp and overcast and they don't heat buildings like we do - so yes, it was a tad chilly at times (and I had only packed a light sweater, duh). Lucky I threw in some fingerless gloves and had bought a knit hat at the LAX airport due to  Aussie fb friends telling us "how cold it was". But other times, although chilly, the sun shone bright and beautiful. Some where on the drive we even encountered a bit of snow.

Think i'll have to go over to my facebook page and hijack some photos for this post. be right back. ok, got a bunch of awesome pictures to show ya. these ought to keep you busy for a bit. We made a few stops at some of "Australia's Big Icons", like "dog on the tuckerbox", "the big banana" and "large Ram". They were quite amusing and we even bought a map of the icons to start checking them off.

Setho also has a second  blog post up about the van ride. read it here. 

Patron Saint of discarded things with Michael deMeng

I am please to announce that I will be hosting artist Michael deMeng again this year in Wall, New Jersey. The dates are Oct. 5 and 6th 2013.

As far I as know there is no such thing as

 a Saint or Deity of Discarded things,

 which is a pity because

there are many like me who wander the

 highways and byways looking for bits of

 detritus to incorporate into

o

artwork. Seems like an activity worthy of

 guidance or protections. In fact I recall

 one instant where I was

traveling Oaxaca Mexico in a large van

 with 10 or so students. On the side of

 the road we passed a large

dumpsite filled with oxidized goodies…all

 of a sudden everyone in the van starts

 oohing and ahhhing. The

driver looked a bit bewildered, and

 wondered what in the world a bunch of

 gringos would find so interesting

about an orange-ish/red heap of metal.

 Little did he know, that to us, it was as

 if we came across the holy

grail. The possibilities of creation were

 endless. In this class we are going to

 create a found object patron,

saint or deity that will aid in our artistic

 endeavors of finding and recreating from

 discarded things. Using

some sort of structure to build of (such as an iron, a shoe, a phone, a shadow box…just about anything) we

will create a place for our effigy to

 watch over our undertakings. This shrine

 will be filled with all sorts of

unusual elements as adornment but will

 also serve as a place to add future bits

 of randomness.

the fee is $200 paypal directly to Michael via paypal. Please email, me, at keeshagirl4@aol.com for more information.

deMeng'd, again

Michael  deMeng was in the house this past weekend. He was here last year and we had so much fun that we begged him to come back again this year! (and at the conclusion of this years class,we were begging him to come back next year as well!)

This year we made our own ventriloquist dolls using vintage doll heads. It was really a lot of fun and if you didn't attend, you really did miss out! (yes, rubbing it in!). Each piece was so uniquely different from the next and that's what made it so cool. His techniques are interesting enough, but totally applicable to your own style and whatever makes you happy. (especially if you are one of those students, like me, who don't really pay attention and just sort of drift off into their own world, ha!)

It was a great group and a very laid back casual weekend with lots of laughs, paint, lighting things on fire, pizza, martini's and watching funny old videos and tv clips on you tube. (after hours!)

 

Everyone had their own theme and direction where there ventriloquist doll would take them. There was a native American boy, a Ring Master, a wood imp and even a robot! So as you can see, we had a great time and lots of fun.

Michael is an amazing artist and an amazing teacher. He is patient, kind and makes everyone feel comfortable. He is great at problem solving and allowing our ideas to come to life. We are very grateful to have gotten to spend another weekend with him.