lisamitchell

Barcelona's VI Festival of Artist Books and Limited Editions, and a special guest...!

It's been quite some time since I've last posted; since the beginning of the new year I have been dividing my time between various projects. I am very pleased to finally share some news on them with you:
Next month will be time once again for this year's annual celebration of the Barcelona “VI Festival of Artist Books and Limited Editions”, hosted by the Barcelona Cultural Association IDLE (I libri de...), organized and curated by the Association's Art Director Elisa Pellacani.

(click here for my summary on last year's Festival 2010: “Human Book”)

The Festival is held in Barcelona once a year, to specificially coincide with The Feast of St. George, on April 23rd, 2011, declared by UNESCO as the "International Day of the Book". Each Festival carries a specific theme; this year, its fourth, has been titled “Use A Book”, intended to inspire reflection on the usefullness of the book in artistic creation.

The Festival features the work of book artists from the world over, and coinciding with this year's theme of "Use A Book", will include “handbooks, travel logs, journals, books to build with and books to play with, memoirs and projects: the book; an opportunity for the artist to dialogue with the world".

 
My participation in the Festival this year is particuarly special, as not only will I be taking part as a book artist and author at the event, this year I am honoured to have been invited to participate as a contributing author in this year's edition of the book-catalogue that is edited and published to coincide with the day of the event, (April 23rd), of this year's edition of “Use A Book”. (Whoo-hoo!)

The Association ILDE is currently coordinating a program of events, including “meet the artist” venues, book talks, exhibitions and specific workshops so that everyone will have the opportunity to be present and take part in and enjoy the Festival “Use a Book” 2011!!!:

 

I will be present as a participating author at these meetings and exhibitions, as well offering workshop activities planned as part of the Festival at the various participating venues in Barcelona.
For further information on the many venues and workshops being planned for the Festival, please click here to consult the Association's website.

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In conjunction with the Festival, I am also pleased to share some news on upcoming workshop opportunties with a special guest artist who will be present to coincide with the Festival 2011: for the first time in Spain, Cheryl Darrow, owner and founder of “TENseconds Studio” based in Texas, USA will be present both at the Festival itself as well as at several other venues where she and I will be giving workshops.

Cheryl Darrow is the author of the book "Metal Effects", the DVD&CD “the A to Z of METALworks” and two “Die Cut Art” books.

She is the "creator and owner of TENseconds Studio, founded in 2004, which she runs together with her daughter, Megan, since 2005. Cheryl conducts mixed media workshops at Scrapbooking shops and workshop studios all over the world. She has taken the age-old art form of repousse and brought it into the 21st Century, using her many metal embossing tools, mats, a wide range of coloured metals and her incredible selection of fabulously textured molds. Her passion for arts includes Calligraphy, Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and showing others how to "metalize their worlds"!"

You will be amazed and inspired at all the wonderful things you can create with TENsecond Studios metal, tools and molds! Come and see us at the Festival and join in on the fun and creativity in our workshops!

Here is a small sample of some of the amazing Scrapbooking, mixed media and artist book projects that have been created using TENsecond Studio's fantastic products:

I will be updating in the near future with more details on Cheryl and my workshops.
In the meantime, should you have any questions or if you are interested in reserving your spot (as spaces in the workshops are limited), please don't hesitate to contact me directly by email...To be continued...!

this Friday: an "inedible Fondu"

This weekend is Barcelona's annual craft and hobby trade fair, "Creativa". I will be collaborating with Scrap House Barcelona for the third year in a row, and sharing some new workshops, which (I am happy to report) have sold-out!

I am really looking forward to my first workshop on Friday afternoon, as it will be the official "debut" for the Ranger Melting Pot® in a workshop in Spain! We will be experimenting with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) and Beeswax! I've put together a vintage style Christmas project on wood, which we will use as our base for a series of 3-dimensional pieces that we will create out of UTEE and wax, by way of another great Ranger Inc. product, known as the "Mold-n-Pour" (so addictive!)

Here's a peek at what we will be making!

...So versatile, what you can do with some stamps, some Tim Holtz® "Idea-ology™ Findings, Ranger "Perfect Pearls" pigment powders, acrylic paint, UTEE and a nice hot Melting Pot® of bees wax...! Can't wait!!

Enjoy the rest of your week! ...Happy NOVEMBER!

on Saturday afternoons, when I was 7...

One day, when I was 7, I went over to my uncle's house. He was going to baby-sit me. I thought he was cool, cuz he was my mom's younger brother (her other 3 brothers were older, and all had really serious voices and I never got their jokes). He played really good piano and sang (I always remember it being "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney, or "The Lime in the Coconut"), and he carved things in wood. And had the cover of a Bette Midler album painted on his bedroom wall. And had a round waterbed covered with white fake fur. Like I said, Cooooool.

So I don't recall much about how I spent that particular afternoon, but what I do remember was gravitating over to his record collection in the living room, and flipping through the albums. And all of a sudden he said, "Do you like stories with songs in them?" "...sure", I replied. "Would you like to listen to this one?" as he pulled out an album with the image of a crocheted profile of a boy, wearing a pointed cap on it, titled "The Point", Harry Nilsson" above it. It looked harmless enough. "Okay..."

So he put the album on and I laid down on the floor on my stomach, with the album cover opened up like a book in front of me, and began to listen. I followed along with the lyrics of each song, and listened to the story from beginning to end. Or I should say "from side A to side B", cuz you had to flip the album over in the middle of the story. Old school, remember?

When my mom came to pick me up, my uncle came over with the album, held it out to me and asked if I would like to take the record home. "You mean, like to keep?!?!" I said, not believing my ears..."Sure, go ahead, take it home with you." he replied. I was completely impressed. No adult had ever given me an album before. And it wasn't a kids one...! It was new. That was a very special gesture in my books. 

Harry Nilsson's "The Point" was listened to over and over again throughout my childhood, and shared with my siblings as each of them reached the age where they would appreciate it (or before that!), and with many friends, as the years went by. The songs are permanently engraved into my childhood memory, and in my heart. When I hear Nilsson's voice begin narrating the album, it swoops me up and carries me back in time to the living room in my old house, to that little girl, laying on the shag run in front of an open album cover, entranced in the story of Oblio and his dog, Arrow and their adventures in the "Land of Point"...

The film version here, from 1971, isn't what's on the album, as the video is narrated by Ringo Starr--however the songs are the same. "Think About Your Troubles" remains one of my favourites. And bits and pieces of the The Point have stayed stuck in my world as I grew up...the play on words (my favourite line is at the end, when someone from the crowd shouts, "he's got a point there!", or the Rock Man when he says, "Hey, Baby, wasshappnin', you boys look a little shook up! You been messing with the bees!?). And of course the the story itself: Nilsson's genious, both in musical talent and as a writer and storyteller...

I don't own the album or a record player anymore. But still, every once and awhile I stumble upon it and give it a listen.  To go back, for a little while, to that living room floor...and to that little girl.  
I hope you enjoy it... :)

a little update and some new workshops

Hidey hoe! Comment ça va? I hope all is well in your orbit. Things are tickety-boo around here...busy, but managing to keep myself at an arm's length from getting stressed by any of it. Except today I guess I have to admit--because I was, by 10 o'clock in the morning, dealing with 1) workers on our rooftop hosing water at high pressure to try and determine the source location for the various incessant leaks we've had in our ceiling since 2004 (which have been repaired only 3 times), 2) addressing the kitten pee left by our lovely new pets on our aupair's bed...in other words, looking up on the Internet recipes for "how to clean cat pee out of mattress and sheets" and brewing up a concoction of "hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and hand soap" to clean as instructed...AND 3) walking around with plastic bag atop my head, as part of my head de-liceing ritual. How's that for an entertaining start to your day!?! Holy Rumoli! ANYHOO...Fortunately for me, the afternoon was "less eventful" :)

I've some new workshops coming up over the next two weeks: On October 30th, I'll be teaching an "Altered Photo and Images" techniques workshop at "Scrap, Paper, Tisora" LSS in Vilafranca del Penedés (near Barcelona), and then the weekend of 5-7 November, teaching for the third year in a row at Barcelona's annual Craft and Hobby and Fine Arts trade fair, "Creativa". (Creativa began in Belgium in 1998 and currently is held annually in a circuit of 16 cities throughout the southern regions of Europe.
This year, Spain is participating with its recently held in Valladolid fair (1-3 Octobre), the upcoming Barcelona fair, and then a third and final edition in the city of Zaragoza, in 2011 (25-27 February).

I will be teaching two new workshops at the Fair--I'm looking foward to those, as we will be learning how to work with a product that isn't very well-known in Spain: the Ranger Melting Pot, and some great techniques using melted bees wax and Ranger UTEE to create a hangable Christmas-themed project!
I will also be teaching a techniques workshop that focuses on a variety of products from the Ranger Distress line. Fun, fun, fun!! If you're at the fair, please do come by the Scrap House stand and say hi! Information on the workshops is posted here, on my Spanish blog. 

I also would like to share, or more correctly shall I say "introduce" you to someone I have just discovered via Youtube. I saw this video the other day and it just left a huge smile on my face and made me have a little think. And I like people who inspire me that way. As such, I always like to pass that on. You might have already heard of him (as things sometimes take a little bit longer to reach me over here in Spain). His name is Sean Stephenson. And here's one of his videos. I hope you enjoy it :)

Have a good one! And I agree with him: life is s'posed to be fun--it's too short to be so serious...So go get your groove on and get SILLY!

"where good ideas come from"

I am so inspired by this animated presentation outlining Steven Johnson's new book, "Where Good Ideas Come From". It's done with nothing but a white board and 2 markers. Love the topic...Definitely a book not to be missed! 

And if you're interested in hearing of what Steven Johnson has to share, here's a recent presentation he gave at one of my favourite places on the Internet to watch, listen and learn from people all over the globe who have some very worthy things to share: TEDTalks. Enjoy!

 

on the road again...!

Hey, it's been awhile...!! And it's been a super active September! Been busy with multiple projects and things at home, what with all that getting into the new "back-to-routines" routine. But of course you know how that goes, I am sure you've had a busy month as well.
Tomorrow will find me on the super speedy AVE train from Barcelona to Madrid and then on to Valldolid for our first edition of Spain's "Creativa" Craft and Hobby Fair,

...where I will be teaching two new workshops for "Bambola Casa Creativa" Scrapbooking stores, based around the Madrid area.

I am looking forward to sharing these two new workshops with participants at the fair--(both workshops have sold out if I am correct). I'm also looking forward to the road-trip part of it, as it's the first time I have visited this area of Spain (Valldolid). I am told that area is where the "purest Castillian Spanish" is spoken. We will see how it compares to my Barcelona Spanish (which I usually unintentionally tend to mix with Catalan, so I'll have to really make an effort not to mix the two languages this weekend! ;)

Click here, here and here for more information on my workshops, if you are interested (or simply want to practise your Spanish! ;) 

Cheers and enjoy your weekend!

        ...Happy OCTOBER!!

the miracle is you...

My inspiration today comes from this video by Kute Blackson, "The Miracle Is You". 

A lovely combination of music, images and spoken words created to remind us of the immense and magic universe that is alive in every one of us, and of the Universe beyond that we all are a part of...Enjoy :)

mother and daughter

I adore this photo by Mark Shaw:

"Jackie swings Caroline in the shallows at Hyannis Port in 1959"

This photo just makes me feel good...I just sit and stare at it. I guess that is what good photography is meant to do. I don't know much about Jaqueline Kennedy, but I think she must have been a pretty good mom. This photo captures it all.

And it makes me think about this summer. I am actually really glad for all the time we have spent together this summer, my daughter and I. We didn't take any big family trips this year, for various reasons. So that meant she and I spent a great deal of the summer simply "hanging out" together. Doing whatever. I haven't been too concerned about doing or accomplishing anything specific...just taking it day by day.

There have been many days when we have stayed in, usually close to the fan (like today, it's just soooo hot!).
And there have been days where we've out and about. We've enjoyed time together in my studio (she painted a couple big paintings on some scrap cardboard while I did major reorganization and cleaned!), and time visiting with friends at the pool, or staying up late and enjoying the cooler night air. Places with air-conditioning, like the library, restaurants for lunch, the occasional art gallery or shop (and I've noticed she now gives me fashion advice, telling me which clothes would look good on me or which to try on!) or even just sitting and watching her tv show with her on the sofa, talking about it...what she likes about it, etc. There's so many things there to share. And it all makes me realise how many opportunities there are for me to connect more with her (when I'm not busy doing all those other things around the house!)

I think the key part of it is that it's not about doing...it's about the being. That feeling of being connected. In Spanish they use the word complicidad which in this particular context--in a relationship with another person--would translate to affinity. Something I truly hope my daughter and I will always feel when we are together...

Just as Shaw was able to capture in that single instant in 1959. Mother and daughter. Affinity...to infinity. May it always be so. :)

What? Almost the end of August?!?

Hey there! Wow, I can't believe we're almost at the end of August. I remember thinking that I couldn't believe it was July and now look, almost two months have flown by!

How's your summer been? We've had a really pleasant one...No ocean-crossing trips for us to Canada this year unfortunately, and it's been the regular muggy hot blazing-down-on-your-sweaty-forehead-all-day sunshine...but we've enjoyed our days together, trying to keep cool and trying not to have too much going on around home...
But not to say I haven't been keeping myself busy, as there's been lots going on in terms of projects and workshops. (The easiest thing is to refer you back to my Spanish blog, where most of the photos are already posted).
The end of June I helped organize the 4th "Byron Katie's The Work" workshops in Barcelona, with our wonderful Certified Facilitator, Brianda Domecq (who has recently started sharing her writing on her own blog, "Everything Begins at 60", a most enjoyable read!) and the workshop went very well...More are planned for 2011! 

Then came July, which was busy with family projects, pool and beach time and all that sort of thing until the end of the month, when it came time for workshops in my studio with guest artist and Art Journalist extraordinaire, Dina Wakley. It was the third time I have had the honour (she's such a great person to work with, it's been a pleasure each time) of organizing workshops with her, here in my studio, and the participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves, experiementing with "Altered Portraits" and "Hardware Art Journaling".
If you'd fancy seeing some photos, I'll link you over to my Spanish blog here, where I've posted photos from both days' workshops.

Then we had some family R&R time along with some friends, up in a more mountainous area of Girona, about 90min from where we live, where we set up camp for a few days. It was fantastic--flowers, bugs and butterflies galore, a river to hike down to and splash around in, lots of space for laying about on blankets, chatting, drawing and reading, and even a 1-night downpour just for some added excitement!

Oh, almost forgot--the end of July I participated in a 3-day "Cajón Workshop", where we made--from scratch--our own cajón (first 2 sessions) and then the last day, had a percussion class on a couple Flamenco rhythms with it (Tango Flamenco and Rumba). It was totally fun. Had never used a power sander before! ;) I've yet to stain it--picked up some nice blue wax-based stain at IKEA, and I'm thinking I might stencil something on it too. Anyways, the sound it gives is great! ..and makes me feel all the more proud that I made it myself!!

Ever since I saw these 3 talented women, "Pacific Curls", perform in my home-town in Saskatchewan last summer, I've wanted to get a cajón:

My next artistic play-date was with a fanTAStic stencil and street artist named Andrea Michaelsson, from Barcelona who goes by the name BTOY. She has had exhibitions in Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Brussels, Paris and Warsaw, as well as live shows and features in numerous publications in the genre.
I love her work for numerous reasons--because she's a woman in a male-dominant genre, because her art style rocks, and because I think there is something unique about the images she chooses and the way she juxtaposes them, whether on canvas or in whatever street location she selects for them. And of course the whole thing of painting in the street, clandestinely, intrigues me. And makes me think about things like, who do the streets in fact belong to...? Is art only valued when it's on a gallery wall, in a "proper" location? Does street art not transform what is only a banal cement urbanlandia into the platform for something beautiful for all to see (not just those who visit art galleries)?

I was thrilled to have the opportunity for my baptism into full-blown stencil artmaking with BTOY, and I hope to continue to experiment with it, whether in small format, or perhaps even venture into something bigger, like a studio wall! ;)
Check out this link for some step-by-step pics!

Here's what I produced after several hours of what I have dubbed "practising the zen of the exacto-knife" to create my finished piece:

So that's about the size of it, it's been hot and muggy summer, as is usual for around here, however it hasn't been wanton for creative stimulation, which I am very grateful for. The next couple weeks I'll be rolling into that "back to school" mode, getting new workshops and projects ready in the studio. Meanwhile, I'm going to keep mulling on what would be a worthy grosso modo stencil to create for the wall of my studio....! And of course, keep practising on my cajón!
My goal is to sound a tiny bit closer to this cajón maestro, percussionist David Kuckhermann ;))  Holy timpani--check it out, it's like an entire drum kit in a box...Amazing!

Hope you had a wonderful summer (or winter, if you're Down Under!) and everything is groovy in your orbit!
Keep walking with your own rhythm...whatever it may be! Cheers until next time! 

Inspiring happiness…

I have been watching these videos (see below); they are from a documentary released in 2003, called "Children Full of Life" (original Japanese title, "Namida to warai no happî kurasu: 4 nen 1 kumi Inochi no jugyôon"), directed by Noboru Kaetsu, on the Japanese school teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. 

He is an example of those individuals who are teachers by vocation (not because of their degree or job title); people who not only know how to facilitate and inspire learning in others, but in his case, inspiring children to live as a healthy people who know how to express their feelings in a healthy way ("emotional intelligence"), to stand up for what is important, for what they believe. To know their own truth, and to be heard, sharing it...in sum, to be happy and to live fully as human beings. 

Mr. Kanamori is an inspiration not only to teachers, but more importantly, to those of us who are “teachers by default”--us parents, transformed into educators via the birth of our children.

As mothers and fathers, we are free to choose the legacy we will leave our children in what they learn from us, from our example. There’s a quote I heard somewhere that captures this: “I can be my parent’s daughter, or I can be my child’s mother”.
The difference between the two is found in simply becoming conscious.

It's never to late to be the parent you truly want to be.

I hope you enjoy them.