Jerry Fenter

Making Monotypes with Pastels and Metallic Crayons

Instructor Jerry Fenter

Saturday and Sunday February 27^th and 28^th 2010

The Dalles Art Center

541-296-4759

Learn to make wonderful one of a kind prints using crayons and pastels by coming to a 2 day workshop at The Dalles Art Center.  The workshop will be limited to eight people and the cost is $80 for the workshop, with a one time $10 supply charge.  Jerry will bring paper for printing, crayons and some pastels.  (However, if you have any old pastel sets, crayons, etc. around your house please bring them to share with others.) 

We will be printing on a copper sheet, heated with an iron, so dress for mess.  Bring some drawing paper to sketch ideas, pencils and a roll of paper towels.  You must come both days.  This is a crazy process!  Fun too!  SIGN UP AND PAY BEFORE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24^TH AT THE ART CENTER OR USE A CREDIT CARD BY PHONE.  THE TOTAL IS $90.00.  

THIS PROCESS IS TOTALLY FUN! 

This is going to be an exciting week.  The Olympics, Valentines Day, a three day weekend and I’m going to finally get back in the studio and do some work.  I’m hoping to get a full class for Making Monotypes.  This is such a fun process, crazy, wild and it takes absolutely no experience in art.  I’ve put three small pieces I did using this process on this post.  They were all done especially  for a past Day of the Dead show I did with my artist friend Sandy Visse so they have a Mexican feel.  You can create abstracts, landscapes, portraits and anything else you have hidden deep in your creative brain.  So sign up ASAP.  It’s going to be a fun event. 

I was so sorry to read that Laura Russo died last week.  This is a huge loss to the Portland arts community and to all of her friends and customers.  She has supported the arts in the Portland area for many many years and she will be missed.  The gallery will continue in good hands. 

Don’t forget to send out your Valentines.  Happy Valentines Day.

I am now a member of the Creativity Coaching Association. I’m accepted, and when I get the time, will fill out my forms to be listed as a Creative Coach on their website. I had a good conversation with Beverly Down who is the President and CEO of the association. While talking to her I realized how much we had in common. It was uncanny. I feel like I’ve finally found my tribe. At least I know it’s another tribe to add to my existing ones. (Painters, Artists, Instructors, Counselors, Mothers, Mexico Lovers, Students, Fans of Mad Men, etc.) As we all get older our tribes seem to multiply as the years go by. But I’m excited and proud of myself for becoming a member. I hope to get more clients through the connection and also learn more about this strange new community of creativity coaches. The ideas never stop.

Yes, to those who are asking, I am giving a workshop this weekend at The Dalles Art Center. We will be learning watercolor skills while painting fruits of all types and hearts (because love and Valentines are in the air). I know this sounds a little crazy but it is going to be fun. We’ll be working and playing from 11:00 to 4:00 both Saturday and Sunday, January 23rd and 24th. We’ll go crazy with color and insane with insight. Lots of famous stars from my class will be there. I think it will be a great way to spend a weekend.

Also, I’ve just finished my two pieces for The Red Show at Columbia Arts Center in Hood River. The images are small, 10” x 14”, but will be framed. They are juicy, fruit watercolors based on some of my favorite poetry and embellished with a little collage.

This first piece is titled from a poem written by Sylvia Plath called Metaphors.

Metaphors

By Sylvia Plath

I’m a riddle in nine syllables,

An elephant, a ponderous house,

A melon strolling on two tendrils.

O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!

This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising.

Money’s new-minted in this fat purse.

 I’m a means, a stage, a cow in calf.

I’ve eaten a bag of green apples,

 Boarded the train there’s no getting off.

The second piece is titled from William Carlos Williams’ poem This is Just to Say.

This is Just to Say

By William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

 the plums

 that were in

 the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

forgive me

they were delicious

 so sweet

and so cold

Poems can really inspire the writer and the painter in me. I would love it if some of you could send some of your favorite poetry to me and I’ll print some poems here for all of us to enjoy. It tells a lot about a person if they share with you their favorite poetry, books, music or visual arts. Feel free to send some of your own poems if you’re not too shy. I have at least one excellent poet that reads this blog (Victor).

The holidays are over and it’s time to take some risks in the New Year. Try some new things but stay safe.

I’ve been working with my creativity coaching clients and have gotten onto the subject of things you love, producing art and being selfish. Producing art can mean many things. It can mean being a painter, sculptor, writer, gardener, comedian, hairdresser, designer, movie maker, actor, architect or chef. The list could go on and on. We all wish we were more creative (I hear this every day from almost everyone I come across). We wish we could produce a product that will make us proud and in the best of situations might even make us financially happy. Creatives are lucky people. They have plans and the drive and stamina to take the things they love, the experiences they’ve had, the interesting people they’ve met and the craziness of life, mix them all up in their brains and produce a product, a work of art, a book, a song, a poem, a meal, a joke that is good enough to be shared with the world. Creatives are brave. They may be afraid to show their work to others but they find ways to overcome fear and put it right out there. They know that what happens then, the public response, is beyond their control. Creatives must learn to give up control and love that unexpected, no limit, unrestrained free flowing flight without becoming terrified or blocked. Some think artists are born that way. I think artists are born with the ability to imagine creative things and the selfishness to keep themselves on a creative path. Being selfish in our society is considered a bad thing. But if a creative type is blocked by others from pursuing their dreams, or easily disappointed if barricades to their chosen direction appear, they will give up, give in and will not see their ideas come to fruition. Creatives must be selfish. They must love themselves, their talent, the ecstatic feeling they get when something beautiful and unexpected happens in a project they are working on, and really love the time they are actually creating a product in their studio or place of work. There is no more fulfilling feeling than relaxing after a productive, successful and creative day. To be an artist is to love YOURSELF first. Even with all of your faults, interesting adverse situations, good and bad surprises, shitty or good parents, crazy or wizard kids, bad marriages or good marriages, you have to somehow make LOVING YOURSELF right at the top of your list. Does this shock you? If you are a creative the work comes first along with the time it takes to make the work. If you have an ideal partner or good close friends they will honor and support your need for producing work. Creatives need to be both compulsive (about their work) and flexible to make way for unplanned surprises, adversity, tragedy and unexpected sudden changes in life. It’s these surprises and experiences that make for great and interesting work. If everything were perfect it would not be a creative world. I love to hear that “we live in interesting times”. I’m glad we do. As artists we should never feel alone. Most creatives have had difficult lives. Read about Alice Neel, Robert Rauschenberg or any other artists you admire. For meaning to shine in creative product you must have the experiences that cause you to want to express your hidden feelings. It makes us interesting. Artists are a brooding type but they love community. Talk to other artists. Read about artists. You’ll soon see that most have had to be self centered to be successful. Guard your creative time. If you need help with this hire a creativity coach. I’m available. Check out the Coaching part of this website.    

 “I assumed that everything would lead to complete failure, but I decided that didn’t matter—that would be my life. –Jasper Johns 1930-

Movie to watch: Adam Sandler in “Funny People”

I’ve been reading lots of lists of New Years Resolutions and would like to share my own strange list of suggested resolutions for artists, writers and all those outrageous creative types who walk daily on the rough path towards creative meaning.  Take them or leave them but I’ve tried all of them at one time or another and found them invigorating and inspiring. They will really get those juices flowing. Trust me. These are in no specific order. 

1. Take some of your supposedly awful ideas…long rejected…and transform them into a miracle piece. Rework it. (Terrible ideas…don’t you just love those?) Do this at least twice this year.    

2. Set aside a whole day: No plans, no responsibilities. Start driving, biking or walking. Go in unexpected and random directions. Document your day with photos, sketches and odd memorabilia. Do this at least once a month. Warning: This may bring lots of new ideas into your brain. Welcome them, write them down, sketch them, remember them and maybe even sing them.

 3. If  rejections make you crazy (I know this is true of all of us) do this. Write an incredibly cold and generic rejection letter to that irritating gallery owner, book publisher, juried show, reviewer or person that has pissed you off in the past. Explain why you won’t sell any artwork /stories/songs/books to them, no matter how much money or fame they might offer. Make it clear that they are not worthy of your talent. No amount of compensation will change your mind. The price to them will always be too high! Don’t mail it.  Treasure it.   

4. Nourish your childish enthusiasm each day of the year. For instance read a small part of a favorite childhood book, look at your old view master discs, notice smells and tastes that remind you of the good parts of being a child. Buy a hula hoop.  

 5. Give away things, without hesitation, to someone who does need them at the time. You can do this anonymously.                                               

6. Share your talent for free with at least one person per month.

7. Spend a whole day without speaking. Try this once a month. Warn your family and friends.

 8. Look for signs during all of the seasons.

9. Be discerning in who you choose to spend time with. Don’t waste your own precious time with unworthy people.

10. Paint, draw, joke, laugh, write, sing, talk and laugh as much as you can.

11. Write, draw or tape a long personal letter. Send one of these to a special person each month. Enclose a picture, photo or clipping that makes you laugh, cry or ponder.

12. Actively acknowledge the people and animals that you love each and every day.

13. Celebrate your birthday for at least a whole week but always try for the longest celebration you can negotiate.

14. Tired and crabby from over creativity? Curl up in your new Snuggie and watch Law and Order, Criminal Minds or Top Chef to rest your brain and renew your energy. (Other programs on TV can be substituted but they must be mindless and must not make you think). Mad Men is a must see. Artists need to be up to date on the latest cultural happenings, news and weird trends. Artists are the canaries in the mine shaft. That is why it’s important to read and watch as much as you can.  Become familiar with more of the world than your own little space.  Expand your thinking.

15. Find yourself an incredible mentor or creativity coach if you need help on your path.

As I re-read my list I realize it’s a little crazy, sometimes too sentimental and sometimes a little cruel. But I guess so am I. Have a good new year. This list is dedicated to one of the craziest and most influential people I’ve ever known.  He was a loved and respected professor and mentor to me.

Don Berry 1931-2001

Find out more about him at donberry.com and berryworks.

Just a short post to wish all of you Happy Holidays and thank you all for being part of my life this year.  I’m looking forward to next year and keeping my fingers crossed and my prayer flags flying for the whole country.  Hopefully the economy will begin to come back, we’ll start bringing our troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and that all of us will get some form of public and affordable health care.  I am optimistic that this will happen but need all of you to be aware of what needs changing and to be an active part of that change.  We are the force behind this country and we need to get much more creative about our ways of solving problems.  The old politicians in a back room with cigars, pat on the back, closed door type of policy making should be left in the past. (Can you hear me President Obama?) Our elected leaders should answer to us…not to the insurance companies or to the drug companies.  Think of the money we would have to take care of our poor and homeless if we weren’t spending such disgusting amounts on war. The troops would come home, have health care, get jobs and go on with their lives.  I support that.  Ok…my rant is over now on to other things.

Here are Ron and I and Cody in a photo together.  This is a rare occasion.  To get this shot our neighbor and friend Sara Draeger took many many shots, most where one of the three of us was moving.  And it’s true, we haven’t stood still at all this year.  Ron is working on art and driving school bus, I’m working on shows (you can still catch The Darkside Show at the Attic Gallery until January third), teaching at The Dalles Art Center (check out the last post for January class), and teaching a Magical Realism Class in April in Mexico (there is still room in the class for you to sign up).  We are also working around the property getting it ready for  winter.  Ron has done a great job on our new pump house which is now finished until spring. It actually looks better than our cabin.  We should move into it.   We have wood, our animals, and a  giant Costco food supply for survival, although most of the neighbors here think the winter won’t be too hard.  I also will be starting my creativity coaching in January.  Please pass the word on to friends that may feel a need for this type of coaching. I think I’m pretty good at it.  Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. So have as little stress as you can during the rest of the year…life is short.  Spend time with the people you love and don’t waste time on guilt and anger.  In Cody’s words, “Wag more, bark less!” Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.