I'm a City of Ottawa Art teacher...wanna take a course??

This winter I will be teaching at the Nepean Creative Arts Center in Bells Corners, down the street and to the left of the Wallacks on Stafford Road.

Since my interests are many, my skills are pretty varied too. I'm going to list my courses below, but you can get all the information and the registration info from the City of Ottawa Recreation Guide here.

All my classes will be held at the Nepean Creative Arts Center, 35 Stafford Road (Bells Corners) Nepean.


ADULT CLASSES


Paint Your Pet's Portrait
Course Code: 410908
Thursdays Jan 14 - Mar 25
7-9:30pm

Just like it sounds. Bring in a photograph of an animal you wish to paint, your current pet, a deceased pet, a pet you'd love to have, or any animal really that you have an affinity for, and lets try to capture their essential nature on canvas. We'll learn how to see the form, what is essential to convey about this creature and how to transfer from a photo to a canvas. It will be necessary to talk about what to do with all that space around the main character as well, so thinking about the backgrounds will also be part of this class.


Drawing and Acrylic Painting for Beginners
Course Code: 410890
Wednesdays 7-9:30pm
Jan 13 - Mar 24

We'll explore drawing techniques, composition and design. From this start we will create the foundation of what we will paint. Using our drawings for the basis of our painting compositions we will then transition to acrylic paints learning about colour and design as we progress.


Print, Paint and Draw
Course Code: 410843
Fridays 7-9:30pm
Jan 15 - Mar 26

Combine drawing, printmaking and painting to make mixed media works that challenge the maker to go in directions they never considered before. The combination of these media will bring about unexpected results. We will work with found objects, collage, monoprints, collagraphs, drawing and painting mediums to create out work.



Taking a Line For a Walk
Course Code: 410901
Wednesdays 1:30-4 pm
Jan 13 - Mar 24

Understand the simplicity and complexity of drawing a line. Study the characteristics, expressive qualities and types of line through various exercises and different mediums such as charcoal, ink, and graphite.


Fresh Start For Your Artwork
Course Code: 410896
Fridays 1:30-4 pm
Jan 15 - Mar 26

Learn from your previous beginnings or completed works of art in any medium. Through sharing artwork with other artists, participants learn to improve aspects of design, colour, composition, technique and communication.

ADULT & CHILD CLASSES

These two courses are for "the pair of you". One adult (19 yrs to 99+ yrs) plus one child.
In each class you will interact with each other, as for both classes the hands of the adult may be needed to help out the young one, and/or the young one will spur the adult on with their free thinking. It should be mutually beneficial for the two of you and the group as whole.

Registration for these courses is made separately ie. the adult registers themselves and the child is registered under a different code.



Stop Motion Video with Puppets *Two workshops offered this winter*
(Adult + 1 Child between the age of 9-12)

Jan 16 - Feb 13 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 410879
Course Code Adult: 410869
Saturdays 10am -12 pm

also

Feb 20 - Mar 27 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 410882
Course Code Adult: 410885
Saturdays 10 am-12 pm

We will start by creating our characters from scratch using simple wire armature for the basic body shape. To this we will add sponge for flesh and muscle and nylon to cover the form and make a skin. We will then use fabrics to create the clothing (or the pelt if it's an animal or a bird or an alien) and to bring out details of the character. Once the posable puppets are created we will give them a home by making a backdrop for them to move within. Paper, cardboard and found objects will complete this scene. From here the class will be dedicated to shooting the frames to create our short animation. We may have time to create individual films or it may be a class collaboration. This will be decided as the class progresses.


Funky Plastic Jewelry *Two workshops offered this winter*
(Adult + 1 Child between the age of 9-12)

Jan 16 - Feb 13 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 411059
Course Code Adult: 411071
Saturdays 1-3 pm

also

Feb 20 - Mar 27 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 411084
Course Code Adult: 411o77
Saturdays 1-3 pm

I will be teaching two forms of plastic jewelry: friendly plastic and shrink plastic. Each of these mediums use different artistic skills, painting and drawing for the shrink art and sculpting for the friendly plastic. We will make brooches, magnets, earrings, bracelets and/or anklets. Plastic has been my life for almost 20 years. Let me show you what I know. Guaranteed to be a hoot.

Etsy... you are a dream! New Etsy Up

Hello Etsy. What a dream you are to post on. After using ebay for many many years with ever more complicated forms to fill out and a longer and longer wait to get from page to page, etsy is a dream. It's clean, it's fast, it's friendly.

Wow.

Etsy you did good.

I started my Etsy shop today. It's listed under my press name: Prissyfistspress.

Address http://prissyfistspress.etsy.com

I have a link to the side of the page here that will take you directly there.

Fellow Ottawans and other locals

If you live near me and you see something you want in my Etsy shop I will be pleased to bring it with me to one of my local markets or shows for local pick up. Just email me or convo me at my Etsy shop.

And here's a sample of some of the things in my shop. If you click on their titles it'll take you directly to that item in my etsy shop. For the rest, pop by and take a look.

Unwanted: tipping cows

8x10 acrylic on canvas

Unwanted: idling
8x10 acrylic on canvas

Play - blank greeting card with detachable magnet

Wishing machines - friendly plastic angel earrings

Devine Swine - friendly plastic piggy with googly eyes brooch or magnet

First I got ready for my markets and now I'm getting ready for shows...

Since I last wrote I started the Carp Market. As usual I was pressed for time and had to do a massive push to get things done. Here's a shot of a container of friendly plastic characters, fresh from the oven, trimmed and ready for their pins to be glued to their backs and then mounted onto cards and titled. lots of steps to get one jewellery piece ready for the market. This bucket held 90 characters that I made over a week. Here's a shot of what 90 looks like.



I'll show what a few look like close up finished and on their display cards a lady a lady bug
a bird and a mermaid.

Don't you love the luscious full colours of this stuff? I do. Love it. So shiny.



And where do these little lovelies live? Here. This is the craft building on the Carp Agricultural fairgrounds. I took this during setup the day before market started for this season. And here's an interior shot of my Carp Farmers Market booth as I set up for the season.No pins on my boards yet. But I do have my sign, completely made of friendly plastic, up.



Meanwhile Ottawa market is in full swing. The crowds are large and enthusiastic.

Everyone is happy to be out and catching up with each other and how we survived the winter this year. We are all so relieved to finally experience the good weather.

Somehow Mobius Tim and I re-configured our shared booth at the Ottawa Farmers' Market. I say somehow cause we have tried to do this for two years now and with the simple change of two tables, one to the front and one made smaller at the back, the whole space has opened up. And it takes us about 20 minutes less to set up and take down.
We're thrilled.




And this is a shot of the Ottawa River as I drove back from the Sunday market yesterday. The sun was perfect reflecting off the water. It was our first truly summer day.

Nice.

And, oh look! So shiny....



Now to get ready for Art in the Park in the Glebe a week from this Saturday. Lots on the go. Lots. More on this later.

Here's something new I made for the Glebe show... but I've had to bring it out already at the market due to my work being popular right now (thanks everyone)... enjoy!

The Big Bet 24" x 24" acrylic on canvas

... yes those are the keys to a BMW on the line...

Day Olds - Bacon and Eggs

Reaching back into my friendly plastic archives I found this! A bacon and eggs brooch. Measuring about 1.5" tall, 3" wide, it was fairly popular, especially when I made it as a huge hairclip... oh and earrings! One side bacon, one eggs. This yellow friendly plastic was awesome. Such a true yellow colour. It's since been discontinued. If i want to use yellow now I have to take it from a "rainbow" stick. *sigh*

Day Olds - Sept 6 '07- Roadkill

Roadkill was created before I knew how to drive. Somehow, since I can drive now, I haven't really wanted to make roadkill anymore. Maybe I am too close to it now.

When roadkill was designed it was made to be the shape of anything.. any animal/all animals that may be squished along the roadway. This was a very popular design. I made it as earrings, as a barrette, as a tieclip and as a pin.
It may be the only design I have ever retired. For now anyway.

Made Fresh Today-Sept 4 '07 - Turtles

Turtles Turtles rah rah rah

There's been a surge of interest in the turtle over the last two or three years. I used to make them now and again but I get more requests for turtles now than ever before. I guess they are a real symbol of our environment, and the dangers the environment faces now. I know frogs are a real marker of the health of our environment and we are surely failing to keep it up to snuff for those creatures.

But I digress.

I was asked to make sea turtles for a store in the US Virgin Islands and as I was researching the design I realized that the sea turtles have flippers instead of the feet I make on my land loving turtles. When you make their flippers, they look just like little wings on their bodies. This is apt as they sail through the water. A lot like flying if you ask me.

I've been trying to find a picture of what I made and it's lost to me right now. When I get my hands on it, you'll be the first to know.

BTW I give all my friendly plastic jewelry pieces names or captions, and for a turtle I have only ever had one caption: turtles turtles rah rah rah from the ad usually run at Christmas for the box of turtles chocolates.
It's really hard to come up with a caption for a turtle pin. Do you have one? If so, I'd love to hear it.