Convergence: Molly's excellent Milwaukee adventure, part 1

Faithful readers of this blog have heard me go on about Convergence, the Handweavers Guild of America's biennial conference, for several months now.  I was excited to be selected to teach two studio classes.  Now that the conference is over, I want to share some highlights.

First, it was just great fun to teach such a capable, curious, engaged (and engaging) group of students.  They truly are the "cream of the crop," and tackled everything I threw at them with good humor and excellent results.  In both Fabric Painting 3 Ways and in Art Journaling to Kickstart Creativity, our goal was to experiment, to try many techniques and activities, to explore rather than to make finished products.  Nonetheless, I was impressed at what students were able to do,  Take a look at what happened in Fabric Painting;

Some great work with Dye-na-Flow silk paints

One student's take on Van Gogh, using Neocolor II watercolor crayons on cotton

Students applying Dye-na-Flow silk paint after their resisted designs have dried

Applying Pebeo gutta resist to stretched silk.  Resist contains the free-flowing silk paint
"inside the lines."

This resist design turned out great!

So did this one!

Using a toothbrush to push Shiva Paintstik oil paint onto fabric inside masked-off areas.
 The red-orange area shows a pattern transferred from a rubbing plate underneath.

Using rubbing plates and a Shiva paintstik to transform an "ugly" commercial fabric.  

The other class, Art Journaling, did a series of sketchbook exercises designed to explore line, shape, value and color.

This student's marks and lines convey particular emotions.

a collection of linear patterns gleaned from magazines and other sources

collage combining varieties of shape and line

a grayscale constructed from found papers

I've been seeking feedback from my students, and one student wrote that she felt one mark-making exercise didn't have much to do with what she is really interested in--weaving!--but then she found she was able to translate her marks into a weaving draft.  Well done!

I first started preparing for Convergence over a year ago.  It's hard to believe it's finally come and gone.  I'm already looking forward to 2018.

Convergence Classes

Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to be teaching at this summer's Convergence conference in Milwaukee?  This is the biennial conference for weavers and other textile lovers and artisans, sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America.  It's about time I shared some of the details about the classes I'm offering.  So here you go:

Fabric Painting 3 Ways:  This is a class in surface design.  We'll be creating patterns on commercial cotton and silk with three very different kinds of paint: Shiva paintsticks, Neocolor II watercolor crayons, and Dye-na-Flow silk paints.  Neocolor IIs are watersoluble wax crayons that work like watercolors on paper or fabric.  They are easy to use and to clean up and give great results with minimal drawing experience.  Shiva Paintstiks are oil paint in stick form.  They can transform commercial cotton fabric into one of a kind material for your art quilt, mixed media piece or collage.  Dye-na-Flow silk paints offer intense color and are easily heatset with an iron.  We'll experiment with all three of these paints, using stamps, stencils, rubbings, resists and other techniques, on both cotton and silk, to make a fabulous collection of patterned fabrics that you can use in a whole range of projects.  And you get to take home starter sets of each kind of paint!
There are still a few spots left in this class.  Click HERE to register for this full-day class scheduled for Thursday, August 4.

Fabric samples painted 3 ways

Art Journaling to Kickstart Creativity:  This is a full-day expanded version of my Design Kickstarters class.  It's designed to get you comfortable with using a sketchbook or visual journal to capture and develop inspirations for your textile projects.  Learn how to get around the fear of the blank page and generate quick compositions that can be the start of a new design.  No drawing experience needed!  Get acquainted with the essential elements of art and design and do hands-on exercises to learn how to make them work for you.  We'll also cover how to use photographs as sources of imagery.  This class is all about the playful exploration of possibilities.  Several spots still available in this class; click HERE to register.  It's taking place on Friday, August 5.

Collage is one way to work in a sketchbook

6/1/2016 UPDATE:  Collaging Convergence has been cancelled due to low enrollment.  But there's still room in the two classes above!  
Collaging Convergence:  I thought up this class as a fun way to cap off your week at Convergence.  Bring the goodies you've collected during the conference, combine them with mixed media materials and papers I'll provide, and make a collage that will encapsulate your experience.  You can choose to make a mailable postcard or a larger piece that becomes a lasting memento.  Learn tips that make collages visually exciting--there's more to it than just gluing a bunch of random stuff down on a page!  Discover how to use collage as a strategy for generating designs--and how to elevate it to create a true work of art.  This 3-hour class takes place on Saturday, August 6.  

Collage materials collected at Albuquerque Convergence 2010

 I hope to see you in Milwaukee! 

Fabric Painting 3 Ways

This weekend I get to teach this class, which is always fast-paced, fun and messy.  We'll be using Shiva Paintstiks (chunky oil sticks), Neocolor II watercolor crayons, and Dye-Na-Flow silk paints, making patterns and visual textures on black and white cotton and silk.  We'll use various techniques including spraying water, sprinkling salt, texture rubbings, resists, stencils, stamps, and faux-dyed effects.  This class is designed to give students a taste of how each of these fabric paints behaves and what effects are possible, and students will go home with several good-sized samples of their explorations.  They can choose to keep the samples for reference and inspiration or make them into a project of their choice.

When I first started graduate school in Fibers, my professor looked at my quilts and asked, "Do you ever use non-commercial fabric?"  I had no idea what she was talking about--wasn't all fabric commercial?  Soon I was introduced to the wide world of surface design using dyes, paints and a myriad of other techniques.  If you're a quilter or sewist who doesn't want to limit your choices to what the local fabric store happens to have in stock, this class is for you. 

Here's a peek at what's possible:

Neocolor IIs on cotton, hand and machine stitch

Neocolor IIs on cotton, salt effects and stamps

Shiva Paintstiks on black cotton, using stencils and rubbing plates

I used Shiva Paintstiks to alter commercial fabric in my art quilt, Sam at Glacier

My art quilt, Ways of Looking at Dodd Creek #6, used Dye-Na-Flow silk paint on dishtowel background

My art quilt Cherith Farm includes Dye-na-Flow on linen background and Neocolor IIs on organza (eggs)

Doesn't this look fun?  I'll be offering this class again in the Atlanta area on Saturday, Oct. 3.  Click HERE for more information and scroll to the bottom for the class description. 

Teaching and Learning

Recently, on her always-thought-provoking blog, quilt artist Elizabeth Barton wrote about why she teaches.  Much of what she said resonated with me.  She says, "For me teaching has always been about what I wanted to learn myself."   Like her, I love the process of researching, synthesizing and figuring out to present new information.  When I teach about something I've been learning about, I know what questions and issues students may run into, having recently encountered them myself.  I hope that my new enthusiasm for my subject is contagious.  And when the class and the subject are fresh, I am on my toes in a way that keeps the class experience interesting and alive for all of us.  

Terrible photo used as inspiration for quilt below

Start in Your Own Backyard, art quilt by Molly Elkind

I hear sometimes from other fiber artists that they wished they had some of the academic art training I got when I was working on my M.A. in fibers at the University of Louisville.  As a student I felt like I was being given a secret decoder ring for art--I was learning how value and contrast and balance work in a piece and thus avoiding mistakes, or at least taking a short cut through the painstaking process of trial and error.  And I'm still learning! 

Lately I've found that analyzing and figuring out how to teach the elements of art and principles of design for textile artists is an inexhaustible topic.   The students I had in April in a weekend-long intensive class at Fiber Forum seemed to agree, saying they found the class very helpful.  In this class, called Design Intensive:

•  We talk about sources of inspiration, from nature to books to other artwork to emotions. 
•  We look at ways these nebulous sparks of ideas can be developed into actual work.  
• We talk about how to use a sketchbook--it doesn't have to involve sketching!  
• We touch on how to use--and how not to use--photographs as part of the design process.  
• We do lots of exercises to learn how to make value, color, shape, composition and balance do what we want them to, to convey the meanings and feelings we have in mind.  
• We also talk about how to evaluate our work, both while it's in progress and once it's finished, and how to avoid falling into the trap of thinking it's awful and you're a terrible artist.  

Altered photocopy used in design for Mary (gilded)

Mary (gilded), handwoven tapestry by Molly Elkind

I'm offering this 12-hour Design Intensive in a few locations around Atlanta this summer and fall.  Registration is open now for these locations and dates:

• At the Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild on Fridays, July 17, 24, and 31. 

• At Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance (SEFAA), on Sundays, October 11, 18, and 25. 

 For those who don't want quite such a long and intensive experience, check out my one-day Design Kickstarters class at CHG on August 15.  For this class I've boiled down the essential information and most helpful exercises from the Design Intensive. You'll learn how to start a visual journal (sketchbook), do some work with line, shape, and color, and talk about how to make the most of the always-too-limited time we have for our creative pursuits.

And if you're just itching to get your hands dirty exploring various fabric paints and approaches to surface design, you can take my one-day class, Fabric Painting 3 Ways, at CHG on August 22.. We'll experiment with silk paints, oil sticks, and watercolor crayons on cottons and silk.  You'll leave with sets of each kind of paint and a stack of samples you can use to make a small project or use as a springboard for more fabric painting.   I used oil sticks to transform the fabric on this quilt.  

Sam at Glacier National Park, art quilt by Molly Elkind

You can learn more about all the classes I currently offer at my website's workshops page.  And stay tuned. . . I am working now on some new class offerings.