Free Class: Eco-Friendly, Hipster-Trendy Gifts

Here's my latest FREE class:

Eco-Friendly & Hipster-Trendy
Holiday Gifts 

On a budget?  Like to recycle?  Need a holiday gift for the coffee drinker or book reader or lunch toter in your life?  

If the answer is "Yes, yes, and yes!" then spend the evening with us.  You'll create a handful of easy-to-make presents out of ordinary materials, cast-off treasures and colorful junk. 

Like all my classes, the only requirement is a willingness to have fun. Be there or be square!

Kirkland Library on 

Thursday, December 9 from 

6:30 to 8:30


To register, click here.

Free Class: Día de los Muertos

Moi:  Join me at the Kirkland Library on Sunday, October 17 from 2-4pm for a free art class.

Gentle (Doubting) Reader:  Do you say "free"?

Moi:  Yes, I did.  Free...as in "no money required".

Gentle (Skeptical) Reader:  That's unheard of!  How can that be?  Ce n'est pas possible!  What kind of trickery is this??!!

Moi:  No trickery whatsoever.  It's a gift to you from the Friends of the (Kirkland) Library.

Gentle (Intrigued) Reader:  What will we do in class?

Moi:  You'll learn about the rich traditions of the Day of the Dead holiday and draw elaborate skulls.

Gentle (Worried) Reader:  Dead?  Skulls?  That sounds scary.

Moi:  Not at all!  It's a time to celebrate, not mourn...and the skulls are fantastical creations, full of flowers and vines and little paisley shapes and dots.

Gentle (Self-Doubting) Reader:  But I can't draw.

Moi:  Pssst...neither can I.  But that's the beauty of this class...you don't have to know how to draw.  And by the way, EVERYONE is an artist, whether they realize it or not.

Gentle (Inspired) Reader:  How do I sign up?

Moi:  Register on-line or by calling the Kirkland Library.

Gentle (Helpful) Reader:  Do I need to bring anything?

Moi:  Just your bad self.

Perfect Pairs: Quick Books!

Closeup of a sculpture at the Kirkland Library

Enscribed brick at Kirkland Library

The rest of the best

The remaining pictures from the "Drawing Unruly Birds" class. 

Wowza!  Each feather is unique...like snowflakes:

Aren't these just fabulous colors?  And those eyelashes...they're not unruly at all!

Birds on the far end of the wire:

An inventive young man using his own personal relief transfer method:

The "Circle of Life"...unruly bird style, complete with bird listening to an iPod:

Unruly cats!

I think this one spied his "perfect mate":

These 2 are having a sweet conversation about the correct placement of the egg:

I was disappointed I wasn't able to post all the participants' work...some of my photos were blurry.  So if anyone from the class doesn't see their work, feel free to scan it in and send it to me and I'll be happy to post it.

More class photos

My vote for the happiest unruly bird:

I love the tail feathers...and the watchful bird in the corner:

Clearly a "star" is born:

Paging Dr. Seuss...paging Dr. Seuss!  Stat!

I had no idea unruly birds were multilingual!

Can you see the mama bird with her 3 babies?

Stay tuned...more class photos tomorrow!

Unruliest birds of all!

This evening I "taught" the "Drawing Unruly Bird" class at the Kirland Library.  Usually there are almost all adults in my classes, but because it's summer vacation, there were tons of kids.  I didn't teach them a thing...they all came up with the most amazing, creative unruly birds possible on their own.  Here's a sampling of the artists at work:

I love the different tail feathers!

Flap!  Flap!  Indeed!

Birds in spaceships, mama bird walking a snake on a leash, daddy bird with a bowtie, bowler hat and a cane, baby bird with a little backpack and yellow sneakers...in a zillion years I couldn't have come up with something this imaginative!

Do you just love mama bird with her purses?

Elegant

A colorful sampler:

I love the bird with the feather in a headband...a hippie bird, perhaps?  Did you notice "Goldlilocks has chicken pox"?

And the littlest artist proudly displaying his work

  More photos tomorrow!

All Zentangled Up

Saturday's Zentangle class at the Kirkland Library was a ridiculous amount of fun. There were lots of familiar faces, a few new ones, even two mother-daughter duos. We spent a lot of time laughing, sharing stories (including one about blanketing a friend's lawn with skewered Easter Peeps...aka "the peep show"). We even managed to get in some doodling:.
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Procrastination by Zentangle

Last year I posted about a fabulously fun doodling technique found on Zentangle. I had forgotten about it until a friend sent me an example of her work and I happily avoided paying bills and changing the cat litter this week by creating this Zentangle Sampler. I'll be teaching this class at the Kirkland Library on Saturday, April 17 from 2-4. Stop by...it's FREE!
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I tried to replicate some of the examples from the site and just kind of made up some of the other squares. It's surprisingly relaxing...and addictive.

The key is to break down a pattern into the smallest repeating image and then draw multiples of it. Using a fine-tipped black pen (like a Micron) is good for the lines but definitely use a thicker one to fill in black backgrounds.