Workshops Part 3 PBI Laura Wait

My third & final class at PBI was with the talented, fun, & saucy Laura Wait.

I have been an admirer for some time & jumped at the chance to take a class with her. So glad I did!

 

Our first exercise was to tape a brush to a LONG stick, go outside with a large sheet of paper

 and Sumi Ink, proceed to make BIG marks on the paper, flip paper over & rub it around on the grass (if you want, which I did). Phase one of mark making.

 

After that we introduced color, shape, hand writing (not necessarily legible) translucent color, dirty sumi water, unusual tools to make marks with...play & experimentation was the name of the game.

 The results were as varied as the personalities in the room.

 

 This grouping is all from my pages. 

It was great to have a soft wall to pin everything up for viewing. 

We were encouraged to bring some sort of symbolic marks along as a jumping off point for marks.

I discovered a Hobo Language. Developed during the depression as a form of communication among the Hobo community.  It's simplicity was perfect for my purposes. 

The all red pages are direct riffs on the Hobo symbols.

One of my pages, a personal favorite.

 These types of exercises get you loose & allow you to play which provides some amazing results.

 

Being attentive to the details of drum leaf book construction. 

That would be another entire post. Lots of accuracy is needed. A departure from the mark making.

From there we created several books each from the cut up pages. Size & orientation is up to the individual. Lots accomplished in a 4 day workshop. That's how PBI rolls.

 Happily displaying our completed books.

Next workshop review, my 3 days in Petoskey with Christine Mauersberger.

Black

The "color" Black is actually the absence of color. It absorbs all light so nothing is reflected back for us to see. 

I heard a piece on the radio just a couple days ago about a current exhibit at the Getty. The work of French Artists, some well known others not. All black & white images. "Black can be intense and dramatic," says Timothy Potts, director of the Getty. "I mean it's dark, it's the color of the night, of the unknown, of the scary."

 Frank Skiles is an artist who uses black with great effect in my humble opinion. Check out his art quilts.

There is nothing more appealing than a simple composition of black Sumi ink & brown Walnut ink on white paper. These three images are my creations. The first is a packet of small size "cards" cut from larger pieces of mark making play.

                                                                     Accordion open

                                                                Accordion closed

This little guy has been one of my favorite black objects to have on my mantle. A designer once told me you need to have something black in an arrangement. It gives your eye a chance to rest.

Speaking of rest I'm glad Sunday is a day off so I can get my thoughts together for the next few letters in this blogging challenge.  Wish me luck.