Jerry Fenter

I’m back and I’m feeling great. The class in Mexico was amazing. I had a class of strong, independent and creative women who worked hard, played hard and experienced the magical realism of Latin America first hand. We experienced

“an irrational geography where you can be born with a star on your forehead, a sign of the marvelous;”  Isabel Allende’s Of Love and Shadows

Magical realism has it’s origin in the remembrance of childhood. Wonder and imagination runs wild. Mexico is a place where time can seem bent.

 “Why shouldn’t time slow down and stop occasionally, or even go into reverse?”  Isabel Allende’s Eva Luna

 Melaque was a beautiful setting for a wonderful class. I had an exceptional group of students who weren’t afraid to dive into the Mexican culture with everything they had. We each will remember it differently. One of the high points of the class was sharing our work and passing on the communal crown after a wild week of work and play.

We played and worked without boundaries like the children we are inside. We realized the need for stories in our lives. Each experience was a story. We created our own personal myths and shared some common myths that developed during the week. All around us was magic. It surprised some of us and others accepted it without question.

“ The things you’d least expect speak. There they are: speaking.  Bones, thorns. Pebbles, lianas. Little bushes and budding leaves. The scorpion….the butterfly with rainbow wings. The hummingbird….One and all have something to tell….I learned the story of some of the animals from them.”  Vargas Llosa The Storyteller

 The classroom became a sacred space.

“Books, quiet during the day, opened by night so their characters could come out and wander through the rooms and live their adventures.” Isabel Allende Eva Luna

We saw things we wouldn’t have seen without being aware of the sweet culture of Mexico.

“He knocked on every door up and down the coast, sweltering in the hot breath of the siesta, feverish in the humidity, stopping from time to time to give assistance to the iguanas whose feet were stuck in the melted asphalt.”   Isabel Allende Eva Luna

 We painted and wrote stories about the experiences we had.

 “All day they hauled mangoes, until there were none left on the trees and the house was filled to the roof-top….In the days that followed, the sun beat down on the house, converting it into an enormous saucepan in which the mangoes slowly simmered; the building…grew soggy and weak, and burst open and rotted, impregnating the town for years with the odor of marmalade.”  Isabel Allende Eva Luna

 The class seemed too short. It was over in a blink of an eye. I was lucky enough to stay for an extra week, traveling into the mountains with Nancy and Richard Lennie. Thanks to them for a wonderful time. And a special thanks to my students, Mary, Vonda, Judy, Cherie and Signe. I’ll soon have the dates for next year’s class. Again, I can’t wait.

 “Oh, Mexico, it sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low.”  James Taylor Mexico

Adios.

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.

Merry Christmas!  Oops it’s a little early, huh?  I hear everyone complaining about Christmas decorations before Halloween is even over.  But…I’m having a watercolor class at The Dalles Art Center on October seventeenth and October eighteenth  and our project will be to make the most creative, beautiful, thoughtful and amazing Christmas cards possible.  While creating our masterpieces we will be honing our watercolor skills and learning washes and other tricks of the trade.  The classes will run from 11:00am to 4:00pm both days.  The cost is $40 per day. 

Supplies are the same as my supply handout…available at the Art Center.  But in addition to just the regular supplies I have a few ideas for extras.  Bella’s Beads in Hood River will have sets of blank watercolor paper cards on hand for you if you want.  You don’t need to have these, we can make our own cards from good watercolor paper, but they are nicely done and we’d be supporting a local business.  Here are some other ideas.

• Christmas photographs
• stickers appropriate for your theme
• photographs appropriate for your theme
• colored pencils and sharpies for extras
• sparkly things…check out Fred Meyer and Bella’s Beads and the scrapbooking store…also Staples
• magazines with Christmas images or theme images
• Anything else that will make your project shine
• scissors
• glue or glue sticks

 There you have it.  If you have questions please call The Dalles Art Center at 541-296-4759.

So Happy Halloween and it’s never too early to get ready for Christmas.   Another post coming up soon.  Topic…vacation and painting at Cannon Beach!  I had a great time during the last week and would like to share some of the moments with you.  Wow, the Dark Side show at the Attic Gallery is coming up December third.  Start thinking about some dark costumes to wear to the opening.  More later on that too!

For the last two days I’ve listened to my class as they worked on learning how to do watercolor. I wrote down some of what I heard. Thanks so much  to everyone who took the class. The photos are from the Sunday class  because I forgot my camera on Saturday. The dialogue is from both days. It reminds me of an avant garde play. Thanks, Del Corbett, my high school drama coach, for predicting my life and how it’s turned out… way before it happened.  You were a great teacher!

 Background Music (Dance Me to the End of Love) by Leonard Cohen

“Oh boy!” “We made a list of ten obsessions.” If I was Hellboy I wouldn’t have to work or worry anymore.” “I talked to my husband last night and we had so many take away moments together.” “It’s eleven thirty. Oh my God, music.” “My daughter and I went to the fair and rode all the rides and went to the rodeo. We were there for hours and hours. When I asked her what was her favorite thing about the day…she said ‘When your phone quit working!’” “That’s the spider room!”

 Background Music (Penny Royal Tea) by Nirvana

“We love daddy longlegs.” “I like daddy longlegs.” “We don’t even have a TV.” “Well, there’s your problem.” “The people on Air America love to sell products.”

 Background Music (Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys) by Willie Nelson.

“After fifty I felt like it was too late to do anything important with my art.” “That’s awesome!” “Make yourself happy’” “I jumped ship from the phone company.” “Emily Carr” “It’s a wonderful book.” “Best book I ever read.” “He followed this painting back through the centuries.” “In the painting there was one little tiny obscure face.” “Love’s the only engine of survival.” “The forest lovers.” “Totem Poles.” “Mexico.” “Thank you so much.” “I’m drawing me ten years ago.” “Don’t try and be too fussy.” “What did I want?” “Red, red, red.” “Cadmium red?” “I have a friend that used to shave her eyebrows and now she has none.” “OK, yeah, I can do that.” “Do you like Jackson Brown?” “He was at the Maryhill Winery.” “You can take a regular lawn chair there and have a perfect view.”

 Background Music (On the Road Again) by Willie Nelson

 “I enjoyed this. It’s the perfect costume with Jerry’s painting in the background.” “I didn’t know Jerry when I bought it.” “What did you use for your sky yesterday?” “Indigo.” “A lot of his students were adjudicated.” “If it’s not locked it must be booby trapped.” “It’s the planning that takes the time.”

 LUNCH on SUNDAY (pause)       

“Should I make my kitty more orange?” “Just a touch of orange…people’s eyes will fill in the rest.” “Should I paint the spider’s head or hat first?”

 Background Music (There is a Town in North Ontario) by K.D. Lang

“It takes so little to make him happy.” “I’ll save it for her and bring it next time.”

 LONG PAUSE AND LONG QUIET PERIOD Background Music (I Love the Best in You) by K.D. Lang

 “I’m gonna put my husband’s picture in here.” “I was going to cut out her face and paint the costume.” “Why did my Payne’s Grey turn blue?” “How can I make it more black?” “The spider will dry later, right?” “My two would unroll the toilet paper and I’d find it when I got home.” “Shredded the shower curtain.” “After my books all dry can I go in with permanent marker and put titles on them?” “I can’t wait to see the titles on the books.” “Some of them are real titles and some I’ll make up.”

 TITLES FROM VONDA’S BOOKS

 How to Raise Chickens and Piss off Your Neighbors

Training Your Cat to Fetch Game birds

 Trashy Romance Novel

 Mexico!     

So You Think You Can Paint

Finance for Retirees

“I love Tonka trucks.”

Background Music (You Were Always On My Mind) by Willie Nelson

“The eyes are kind of a disturbing white.” “I’m waiting for my butt to dry.” “Was it a yellow or a blue? I can’t remember.” “Will it be overkill if I put hair on the spider? I hope it doesn’t stain the brush.”

Background Music (You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings) by Willie Nelson

My next classes at The Dalles Art Center and Avant Guard Theatre Group will be October sixteenth and seventeenth. We will be creating some excellent Christmas Cards!