Monday, October 30, 2006

more collage art

Collage Workshops forming!!


Due to overwhelming interest, I am going to hold 3 hour workshops in collage at my 17th Avenue studio.
This is the drill:

Roberta Lee Woods has a lifetime of experience as a collage artist. Her open, intuitive approach to teaching guarantees a fun and rewarding class experience. Roberta currently offers three hour collage workshops at $100 per person. If you have a friend, the workshop fee is $175.
This fee covers both instruction and materials, and a list of resources.
We will use found papers, paint, ink, glue, graphite, and more. Feel free to bring something to add to the melting pot!

Please email artist@robertaleewoods.com to schedule your workshop.

Should be great fun! A chance to make some art for holiday gift giving!

Monday, October 09, 2006

found out about the best glue

After all these years, found out I should have been using neutral PH pva glue.
(not elmers, and less gloppy than gloss medium)
who would of thunk it?

Friday, September 08, 2006

Animal Friends Rescue Project: My Foster Dogs

Here there are, my rescue dog family:
Reese:















Rocco:


















Pepper:


















Chi Chi:


















Pancho:


















Sebastion:































Moe:



















Nova:


















Dakota: He was getting a dental and the vet found bad cancer inside, and had to put him to sleep. I still miss him.

















Josie:


















Diva and Chloe:

















BamBam

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

3D nature of books


my hand bound rice paper book, its an old (20 year) casien painting. the paint permeates both sides of the paper, so turning it into a book was kinda cool. i think it have 6 signitures. (learning the language of book.) bound with waxed linen 4 ply cord.

new class this week-a much different process. i got really into the first project, accordian books. not really interested in anything else right now. this is a tiny one.



here is one using my little 4 x 4 canvas board collages as covers.

this is the inside, the paper is from nepal. i glued the folds together and stuck some thread in there. now i need to figure out how to emblelish the pages.

Monday, July 24, 2006

feeling rusty




rust rocks.

cool paper artist in holland


this is "star fruit papyrus" made by a British artist, Andrea Cook . She lives and works in Tholen, NE. She also teaches for all you world travelers. Cal and I are going to her studio next time I visit him.

this one is called "beetroot papyrus"

red fish paper from nepal


everyone always asks me where i get the papers. this site is one of my favorite sources.
NepalesePaper.com Exquisite handmade Journals, Stationery, Photo Albums, Wedding Invitations and Wrapping Paper from Nepal. All products are Fair Trade and tree-free.
of course i got the fish, but they also have elephants, stars, stripes, and suns. also Tibetian prayer flags.
According to their site: This wrapping paper is handmade from the bark of a local mountain shrub. Proceeds from this wrapping paper benefit the Nepalese traditional craft industry as well as the environment.

how cool is that?

Saturday, July 22, 2006

world peace


the dali lama:
I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we succeed in building a better world through human understanding and love, and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.

sounds good to me.

i saw these guys when i was in death valley.

another prayer:
Seek visions always of world beauty, not violence not battlefields.
the hopi elders

big collages


i love working on this 3oo lb. watercolor paper!
you can do anything. glue, paint, scratch, (did i say glue?)
it comes 22 " x 30", i get it in a five pack at the local art store. Lenz Arts . such a deal. I used to work there about 20 years ago. Glad it's still around. Nice to be able to run out and find some obscure art product when you need it. Support your local art store!!!


my friend dale took these photos when he was here last week.
i took him to my studio at 17th ave.
we share a passion for great art materials.
we met over 20 years ago in Baileys Crossroads VA when I took a retail job at a local art store after art school.
this sign was made with my favorite brush that finally broke and some very old letraset.
anyone remember letraset?

the studio is getting cluttered.






more assemblages in progress.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

encaustic class at cabrillo


day 3 of the wax painting class.
book spines: i feel like the
ripping apart every old book i own.
this was from an old copy of
the book of common prayer.



made this small object: wax pour and old computer part.
buffed it out.
how cool is this?

& we have our own blog:wax max.

Monday, July 10, 2006

ikea


ikea frame

finally made it back to ikea last friday. looking for a way to finish off the hundreds of small collages i did this winter. this is what i did: a fish collage in a handworked ikea frame.

i have been overwelmed with the remodel and summer visitors to do any posting.
boardwalk, santa cruz pier, moss landing, pescadero, china town....

Saturday, June 03, 2006

work in progress


one of my boxes. not sure where to go from here. thinking of closing off the bottom with a piece of plexiglass & some funky screws. that is a row of glass marbles on the lid. and of course, you gotta have fish.



the current state of my worktable as of tonight. hard to believe i get anything done here.



maxx is critiquing collages in progress.




i bought these two small beautiful little encaustic works by daniella woolf on the splat tour today . found a home for them on this shelf with an old doll and a nice piece of pottery.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

17th ave


this is my new collage studio. i just have to move all my stuff over there.
(big job).
it will be a change to work away from my house, but i think it is a good thing.
got into open studios again. guess i will be showing my work here.

Monday, May 29, 2006

the pups



maxx and i went on a road trip this winter, this is our stop at the grand canyon .






amber is my girl dog. they found her behind PETSMART on river street, she was less than 8 pounds when i adopted her, she loves to wag her tail, and wants all the attention.




little misha is a funny dude, he will be 4 soon, and seems to be mellowing out a bit. i had a tough time with him, we went to puppy school, but he did graduate, and he always makes me laugh.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

my art table




this used to be my kitchen table. i got it at cost plus about 7 years ago. keep thinking i will sand it off and use it in the dining room again, but it hasn't happened yet.

maybe when i move to the new studio. or maybe i will take it with.
life is a mystery, after all.

time for sopranos.

my favorite glues





these are the adhesives i use on a daily basis. hot glue guns work, but can also burn your fingers! ouch!
my personal favorite is Liquitex Gloss Medium . it leaves a shine if you put it on the surface- we like that.
you can also make image transfers with it. i learned about this at the SEDONA ARTS CENTER while taking a workshop led by Gretchen Bierbaum, President and Founder of the National Collage Society.

sometimes i'll use a rolling pin to get the paper to lay flat on the panel. a printing press would also do the trick.

dreaming of caye caulker




didn't get back to the island yet this year. too many health issues.
i miss swimming with the sharks.

random thoughts

still here with no water. started gluing refrigerator magnets in my collages. thinking of these as design experiments.
basing each on a color. reminds me of crayons .

red



green


blue