Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Collages and Watercolor

Yeah, so then we were asked by Maggie to bring in 100 magazine landscape photos! Can you imag... Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't notice the new person over there in the corner. Yes, you. Why don't you take a moment to zip back a few posts to see what I'm talking about and then come back and join us... ok, where was I? Oh, yeah...

So, some of us weren't as well prepared as others *cough*. For instance, here's someone (who shall remain nameless), on the train to Stresa, clipping photos from travel brochures she found in the train station.

Ok, ok, so I cheated too! Yes, some of the landscapes I used were scaled down photos from my photo illustration portfolio! There, are you happy now?!? (Editor's note: Please disregard the shameless attempt by the blogger to increase traffic to her photo illustration site.)

Anyway, the Smashing Color goddess, Maggie Maggio, had us do some more color smashing exercises with all these photos. It was pretty cool to take all these landscapes and sort them by color. Obviously, there were more than one type of color in the photographs, but if you try grouping photos with similar color schemes you might be surprised at the results. Out of my 100 photos, I was able to make four or five distinct piles with similar colors with only a couple of photos that didn't fit any of the piles. You should try it some time.

Then were got to play with them by taking a pile we liked and pasting together a collage... Mine is the one with all the purples and (gasp!) pinks in it. That's the lower left corner for all you color blind folks, and for all the dyslexics it's the one with... oh, heck. Never mind.

The last thing we learned from Maggie was how she made her lovely watercolor pieces... not familiar with them? Well, here's Betsy from Etsy sporting one of Maggie's pieces... Doesn't she look good in it? And don't her lovely faux stone and silver earrings look great with it? Don't you think Betsy should have bought that stunning necklace and taken it home with her?

I'm afraid on that last day with Maggie I had a flair up of my fibromyalgia (the bane of my existence) and missed most of the lesson on Maggie's watercolor technique. Luckily, young and healthy Nadja was there with her trusty camera and took a few pictures.

To close, I wanted to share just a few more photos I didn't get to fit into the description of the Stresa workshop.

Here is a sampling of Nadja's fantastic polymer clay mixing skills (mind you, this was her second class with Maggie)... see how wonderfully she has matched her clay to the color chips?

I also wanted to share something very important about polymer clay and color. It's all about the "strength" of the color. One might think that because Zinc Yellow is so bright it would stand up to a color like Alizarin Crimson, but you would be wrong. In order to get what would look like a 50/50 mix of these two colors you would need to actually have almost all yellow to just a pinch of crimson. Check this out...
The last photo is a preview of things to come from Louise Fischer Cozzi. Here is Louise featuring her latest earrings. Aren't they stunning! Brava, Louise!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, wow, wow!!!! What a class...you and Nadja had so much fun! And your wonderfully written posts just leave me waiting for more. I just can't imagine spending a whole week learning from such fabulous artists and playing with all the new techniques! But I sort of get to through you!
P.S. I'm taking a 2 day class from Jana next month and can't wait!!!

Raven's Clay said...

Oh Susan, you lucky dog! I've wanted to take a workshop from Jana for a looong time. Ever since I met her at Shrine Mont. Please give her a big hug from me. I think you'll love your workshop!

Anonymous said...

Ciao Melanie!!!!, it is so wonderful reading all your posts. It is like living again all the super moments we had at Stresa. Excellent also the prisma photo. Brava Nadja!!!!

Raven's Clay said...

Claudia!!! Ciao!! What a delight to see your post. I hope you have been happily claying since last I saw you. That was a great workshop, wasn't it? :) I really miss Italy. You are so lucky, living there year round. *sigh*

Anonymous said...

looks like you two had really great fun there. I'm envious:)
Oh, and I have to tell you that I really intend to come to the synergy conference in Febuary - i checked it again and the line up really catched me. I'm busy figuring out flights and cost coverage, but I will be there! I try to convince Nadja and Martina too...
hugs
Bettina

Raven's Clay said...

That's fantastic news, Bettina!! We shall have to get together - perhaps even share a room? I may have one or two folks I'm sharing a room with, but I have heard you can have up to four folks in a room. Plus, there are kitchenettes (little kitchens) in the rooms, so we won't have to spend so much money eating out. Keep me posted on your plans.

Anonymous said...

Wow Mel, you really have something to crow about! I checked out raven's clay too- fantastic! Much love- laura in branford

Raven's Clay said...

Laura!!! Thank you sooooo much. It was so wonderful to see your post here. Thanks for visiting. :)

Big "little sister" hug to you!