the redman lives! at last hallelujah. vision realized and it feels pretty good- now, except my wrist that really still hurts from rubbin all the grout off those tiles. outside it is snowing now, snow-globe-a-ramma. too cold out now for outdoor mosaic work- under 55 degrees is a no-go. that is why i just had to put it on the calendar in october and getter' done as they say. it was four full days of pretty intense creative labor. a big shout out to all the people that rolled up their sleeves and pitched in- the resident artists at redline and my fabulous family. thank you!!

the idea that took about 8 months to come to fruition- there was tile making making and glazing and baking with the redline teens- (my boy amaru got his finger stuck in the slab roller and spent weeks recovering from the crushed finger) the there was gathering tile and broken dishes from the community, there were supplies to be bought and hauled, and returned and rehauled, (hobo, menards, lowes AND home depot) and ordered form the internet, there were masons to consult, a good line on mirror glass to be found- glass to be cut (and more bleeding fingers- redline teens this time), then brick cleaning, cement mixing, brick parging, tile braking and cutting, tile placing, tile grouting and grouting and grouting, and grout sealing, and sealing and sealing.

ta-da!!!!

The mosaic marks the back "artist entrance" to redline milwaukee which is where i have my studio space. it was just a plain grey door before. now it is a plain grey door with a huge redman pointing to it. kool.

so we had our timeline show at redline that ran through the month of july and now already august is almost gone. i really need to get better at posting stuff in a timely manner. alas o my. it was a pretty intense experience. i busted my butt to get this painting and my mosaics done in time. i leaned how to hang a 100 pound piece of the wall with the help of "french cleats" and three strong people. i enjoyed the process of laying out the show with my fellow artists to develop a flow between the pieces and between the color and black and white elements in the show. I loved that my "pie" sculpture ended up placed in front of the last remaining section of heimo wallner's mural. i ended up echoing this combo by painting a frame heimo-style around my "sun" painting with india ink at the other end of the gallery. that was a lot of fun. that ink really flows. i had not really tried it before. it was a good discovery. the funny part is that heimo really did not groove so much on that painting. the paradox of it all was quite entertaining. all the work in the gallery really ended up looking great together and i was proud of what we had accomplished in our year of studio time as a collective group. pretty radical.

my son's first grade class came to redline for a field trip to see what real artist studios look like and to try a little mosaic making. the kids got the hang of it pretty easily and didn't make too much of a mess. they were thrilled by the chance to ride the city bus as an extra added bonus. i was glad to be able to encourage their creative juices and to show them that people really can be artists when they grow up. the best part though, was when he brought his mosaic home from school after they were finished and the teacher handed them out. during dinner he made his papa and i both close our eyes while he took it out of his back pack. when he said "open" he had it proudly displayed in both hands held high with a huge grin on his face.

on friday we had our "pulp possibilities" opening at redline milwaukee. it was fantastic the way the show came together and it was amazing to see all the incredible artwork that came out of it. i learned a lot in the process. in the hanging of my nests i realized that i am not very comfortable on high ladders. i learned about lighting a show- hotspots and cross lighting, looking out for bright lights in your eyes. i learned about flow the gallery, elements that draw you in and how to balance the work in the space. i learned about text panels to describe artwork, and the alternatives to them. all good stuff. the best part of the show though, was the inspiration that it provided to learn the art of papermaking and the exploration of the endless possibilities it offers. 

Howdy. Welcome to my new blog! yipee-o-i-ay!

Sooo, this week I had the fabulous opportunity to help at Teen Night at RedLine Milwaukee. It was supercool. We started off the evening in the gallery watching some fantastic short films put together by teens at Bruce Guadelupe School that dealt with their sense of identity. It was incredible how varied and unique each film was, and what an awesome job they did filming and editing and putting it all together. I really got a glimpse into their world. I wish I had some photos of that, but alas I do not. Better luck next time.

Then, we had the honor to take a close look at the work of Milwaukee Artist Kevin Boatwright whose work is currently on display. It is super spontaneous and has a ton of texture and is just fresh como la lechuga if you know what I mean. He talked with us about how he approaches his work (he gets his materials together and goes for it) and how thankful he is to "just have a moment of serenity" in which to create. How cool is that? I can feel it. He utilizes boards, window caulk, paint, spoons, palette knives & paint brushes to create his masterpieces. He likes to "keep things real" and paint from the heart to make art that can speak to his people. Dig it.

Then, Kevin led us in a workshop and demonstrated his technique in the classroom. That's when things got really crazy. Check it out: