At an event on Monday I got to be the talker. At an event on Saturday I just got to jump in and create with the gang.

Both good.
(And there’s a puzzle-to-solve at the end.)

I was happy this week to present a program to a group of textile artmakers in the Villages, Florida

We were informal, and I just set up some examples of my work and I talked about them. What I like best when I talk with other artmakers is to dig into the meaning of things. Why do you make what you make? What does it mean to you? What does the artwork I create mean to me?

That’s the heart of artmaking. If we can all leave a time together thinking a bit more about what we long for our art to be, and what might help us get closer to that, it’s a good day.

As always, when I talk about my work to other artists, I learn a lot. The process of forming words to describe my work helps me to deepen my own thoughts. So, I recommend this to any artist. If you don’t have a chance to stand up and talk to a group of humans, you can stand up in a room all by yourself (or talk to your dog!) and describe your art. Each time you do so it should get better.

Then on Saturday I painted fabric with Arts Etc., a Surface Design group in New Smyrna. This group of friends has been together for about twenty five years, and I have been a part of the group for about ten years.

Our goal was to paint yardage starting from the back to the front. Working outside, we allowed ourselves to get messy, work wet-into-wet, and create pigment puddles on the fabric. While those dried, we worked on stencils to create imagery in the layers that would come forward.

Less intense color and less intense imagery in the back. A little deeper and more defined in the middle layer. Then the most detailed – and maybe throw in black or white or color complements – in the front.

I love watching a group of artmakers take a single idea and create in completely unique ways.

Here’s a work-in progress from my fabric painting from this day.

We all brought home things that will need more work, and now the independent studio time will kick in.

I have two more presentations scheduled for this month. I’ll be presenting in-person in St. Augustine this week, and then via zoom in Minneapolis at the end of the month.

Alone in the studio is good. I learn there.

Out in the world is also good. More – and different - learning happens there.

Puzzle – Did you notice the common elements in both sets of pictures? It’s my moveable easels, which are just sheets of lightweight plywood cut to about 36” x 48” I used them to display at the Villages. I use them as a working surface in the fabric painting in New Smyrna. And they are one of my favorite workhorse tools every day in the studio. They are a great way to create working space for more than one project at a time, and to set that project aside in between stages.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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