Susie Monday . El Cielo Studio

Carved type from the V&A, London

Now that business is posted (if you missed the latest on the workshop front, either download or go back a day for details) I want to continue my posts of photos from the summer's wonderful journey through Scandinavia. I'm posting these by Sensory Alphabet category --just for fun, and because this blog serves me as a kind of collection jar for memorie, studio actions, future ideas and playdates with ideas.

So today's idea is LINE. Here are some of the photos I took that jumped out of iphoto:

Potsdamplatz, Berlin

Stockholm horizonVasa rigging, StockholmRepainting the line

Bridge between Sweden and Denmark

Tallinn street scene

The line the wall made, Berlin

Berlin

Finally, the Fall-Winter planning is done -- it's taken me a long time to get my thoughts straight and then to plan an all-new series of workshops. I've been running repeats of some favorites during the past season, so it seemed time to develop a new group of inventive weekends.

The problem with that is, that for all the new toys and tricks and materials that we artists (especially we quilt art/fiber art/mixed media artists) are bombarded with, there are really only so many with substance and style and staying power. So, I have decided to concentrate on what I do best, focusing on creative process and on helping others to find their "sweet spots," their strong suites. Yes, there will still be fun and new and different techniques to explore during these weekends, but the majority of them will have more to do with digging deeper, loosening up, starting from scratch and pulling rabbits out of our (proverbial) hats --if any of this makes sense, then you are a better mind than I!

Nevertheless, here's the fall-winter rundown, with a link here to the brochure up in la-la land -- you can download it (in theory) by just hitting the button, or by pasting the address into your browser bar. If you don't get it and want a pdf copy to print, notify me by email --use the form on the sidebar if you don't have my email address handy. I'll email you an attachment that is sure to work!

Nurture your creativity as you come away from a weekend with renewed energy, new  materials and techniques in surface design applicable to fiber, ceramics, jewelry, painting and mixed media work. Susie Monday leads artists’ retreats and workshops throughout the year at her studio near Pipe Creek, Texas, about an hour from downtown San Antonio. El Cielo Studio workshops are designed with the needs of the participants in mind;  free time is scheduled throughout the weekend for reading, reflection and personal work in the studio. You are welcome to bring projects in process for Susie’s critique and for peer feedback in an environment of trust and respect. You’ll share meals, poetry and stories, music and advice for living an artist’s life. Enjoy the 25-mile vistas from the deck and strolls down the country roads. A spa and pool, and large screen media room are also available to participants. The fee for each workshop retreat is $160 for a 2-day event with discounts for early enrollment. Comfortable accommodations are available from $15 -  $30 per workshop. Most workshops offer a Friday night potluck option. Limited enrollment. Most supplies included. Call 210-643-2128 or email susiemonday@gmail.com
Susie has taught creative process and art techniques to adults and children for more than 30 years. Her art is in numerous private and public collections around the world.

NEW AT EL CIELO
FROM SCRIBBLE TO SYMBOL; PERSONAL MARK-MAKING
SEPTEMBER 25-27
(optional Friday night potluck & critique session)
In this workshop, start with simple sketches and doodles and end the weekend with an arsenal of new surface design tricks and tools.   Explore doodles and scribbles as sources of  uniques and personal imagery that will give your art quilts, wearable art, or mixed media work personal depth and layers of meaning. take a favorite symbol -- for example a heart, star, spiral, circle -- and by taking it (and yourself) through a series of creative generative exercises, you’ll make something new and different to incorporate into your design, composition and surface design. Tools and techniques explored include paper lamination on fabric, large scale “mark-making” rollers and monoprinting.

OCTOBER
Find Susie at the Houston International Quilt Festival, See www.quilts.com
NEW: A CREATIVE STUDY:  PETROGLYPHS, POTTERY & PREHISTORY
NOVEMBER 6-8 (optional Friday night potluck and critique session)
Many artists have found inspiration in prehistoric and archetypal imagery from caves, cliffs and ancient ceramics. This is the first of a series of “creative study” workshops that will illuminate how you as an artist can take inspiration from the images and imagination of the past, while transforming the images into something uniquely your own. This workshop models a time-proven creative study process (based on that developed at Learning About Learning Educational Foundation and the Paul Baker Theatre)  that can be adapted to many inspirational sources. We’ll go from collection through synthesis to creating, and explore textile and mixed media techniques that relate to the aesthetic and philosophical qualities and intent of the earliest art-makers. Explore some simple natural dyes; use handmade brushes as tools, make pigmented paints with ashes, earth, rust and minerals.

NEW: MEMOIR, MEMORY and MEMORIAL
DECEMBER 4-6
(optional Friday night potluck and critique session) Continue the season of Dias de los Muertos by creating a memorial altar to a person, to a personally potent memory (or past life of your own), even to a summer vacation! Learn to transfer photos onto a number of interesting surfaces including plastic, metal and fiber; add words, names and text with resist crayons; microwave dye custom fabrics, and embellish your textile and mixed media altar with all manner of beads, trinkets and meaning-full treasures. (Additional $10 fee for wooden altar frame.)

ARTIST JOURNEY/ARTIST JOURNAL
JANUARY 8-10
(optional Fri. night potluck & critique session)
This annual workshop has become a tradition at El Cielo Studio. Spend the weekend in creative activities (All new this year!) that help you set the stage for a 2010 filled with productivity, imagination, focus and artistic goals. Using some new exercises gleaned from sources around the globe, we’ll banish procrastination, make an annual love letter, and find ways to remind us of what really matters in our artistic lives. Meanwhile, you’ll work with mixed media and surface design techniques to start your artist’s journal for the year.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY ABOUT SUSIE’S CLASSES & WORKSHOPS:
“It was just what I needed right now. I have been in a creative slump, questioning what I do and how I do it. The exercises we did this weekend were freeing on the one hand, but will also help me focus.”

“This workshop was a fabulous, uplifting, nurturing environment to create in. The journaling was particularly helpful, I would definitely recommend it to a friend.”

“This weekend was totally awesome! I am humbled by Susie’s talents, her teaching abilities and her hospitality. I will come back as often as possible.”

susiemonday@gmail.com
www.susiemonday.com

210-643-2128
3532 Timbercreek Road
Pipe Creek, TX 78063
Read Susie’s blog at http://susiemonday.squarespace.com
You’ll find a downloadable pdf version of this flyer on a front page link on Susie ‘s blog.

IBOL on site in Iraq

I'm in. Are you?

Iraqi Bundles of Love is a short-duration project, set to last about six weeks, originally intended to surge fabric and sewing (and knitting!) materials into the area around which I live in Iraq.  It is timed to coincide with both Ramadan, and the departure of my units from Iraq. If you’re reading this, well — it’s kind of grown. It’s going to help a little bit more of northern Iraq than just the area around where I live.

It is intended to be a simple project, requiring little effort and little expenditures from those wishing to participate.  It is based upon my assessment that sewing fanatics and quilters and knitters tend to have stashes that far exceed their actual needs, and that sewing fanatics and quilters and knitters are passionate both about sewing / quilting / knitting, and about sharing with others.

I originally though success for this project was going to be measured in tens. Somewhere along the way, after folks like Sew Momma Sew got involved (see this and this), I began to think about hundreds. Now, thanks to folks like you, I am planning for thousands.

The general premise is this.  I am in Iraq, and I can get mail through the US Postal System.  Willing contributors can send to me a flat-rate box of sewing / quilting supplies, all bundled up.  I’d open the box, pull out the fully-contained bundle, and hand it off (with others) to our counterparts in the Iraqi Security Forces (Army and others) or the local police, for them to distribute.  Some of the bundles will also be delivered by US Soldiers. The stated intent of this operation is to put sewing and quilting and knitting supplies into the hands of two types of recipients:  locals who desperately need such things, and local sewing co-ops and other small businesses who have received grants or loans (typically to purchase sewing machines, rent space, etc).

That is it, in a nutshell.  I owe you more on how this came to be, on ideas, on things to do and things not to do.

See the details on Major Art La Flamme's site (he's married to quilter extradinaire Kristen La Flamme) -- those are his words above.

The general info is here on the what to send page.

How to make a bundle is on this page.

You'll need to leave a comment on Art's site to get the address -- that's to control the timing, since he leaves Iraq in a few weeks, and Ramadan begins as well.

The Celebration Circle silent auction of altars created by local artists goes up today at Bijou Theatre at Crossroads Mall, 4522 Fredericksburg Rd.. "The Sacred Art of Altars; One People, Many Paths" is the sixth annual such fundraiser for Celebration Circle, an organization near to my heart. When we lived in the city, we were weekly circling on Sunday morning with a wonderful spiritual/artistic community. Now I continue to participate as I can, and that includes contributing to this event.

Welcome to the Celebration Circle!

"We are an open, inclusive, inter-faith community with a creative approach to spirituality. We learn from many faith traditions as we celebrate the sacred together through uplifting music, meditation, movement, discussion, art, poetry and laughter."

Silent auction bidding is open all month with the exhibit on display free inside the lobby during theater hours, Sept. 1- Sept. 30. A closing reception and auction closing, with a special screenin gof "Happy-Go-Lucky," Mike Leigh's film will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 6 pm. the closing reception and film costs $15 in advance (see the CC website for details) or $20 at the door that evening.

Here's a link to last year's Sacred Altar exhibit, beautifully photographed by Gary O. Smith. This year's postcard above features several of those altars -- (l to r, top to bottom) Jane Appleby,M.D., Joan Frederick, Sheila Fitzpatrick, Laurie Brainerd, Susie Monday, Edward Sagebiel, Miriam Moor, and Cindy Palmer.

Just a few artists who are participating this year: Pam Ameduri. Bernice Appelin-Williams, Sue Cooke, Alejandra Diaz-Berrios, Lisa Kerpoe, Jai Medina, Zet Baer, Alice Fermin, Martha Prentiss, Regina Sanders, Thom Ricks, Sharon Shelton-Colangelo, Sarah Burke, Laurel Gibson, Martha Grant and many more -- 55 in all.

Speaking of Celebration Circle and like events, our Spiritual Director Rudolf Harst will be among those performing at a special memorial concert on Sept. 11 at the Mennonite Church.

RUBY SINGS RUMI
A 13TH CENTURY SUFI MYSTIC FINDS EXPRESSION
THROUGH CONTEMPORARY SONG  

September 11, 2009, 7:30 p.m. (doors open 7 p.m.)
“An Evening of Remembrance, Transformation and Beauty”at
peaceCenter at the Mennonite Church of San Antonio
1443 S. St. Mary's Street
San Antonio, TX  78210

This evening is a remembrance of the events of 9/11 and acknowledgement of the Obama Administration’s launch of National Day of Service.  Ruby (Erika Luckett and Lisa Ferraro) is the featured artist; they will be joined by Rudolf Harst, singer and Spiritual Director of the Celebration Circle of San Antonio.  This event is co-sponsored by Celebration Circle, peaceCENTER and Urban Campfires.

For information/reservations: (210) 533-6767 or  circle@celebrationcircle.org  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Suggested donation: $15