Diana Trout's blog

Teaching Art, again

Lessened

Continuing from here, let's talk some more about teaching. Saturday's class at The Ink Pad was a great success from my point of view. After each class, it's good to do a thorough review of the class you taught. 

What went well? What could you do better next time? I try very hard to be organized throughout the class. My table winds up a complete mess and when I do a demo, though I try my best to keep things organized, they go astray. I need a system other than my students helping me look for things. I've given that some thought today and next class I will have a series of empty boxes or trays with the list of items needed in the bottom of that box. That way I can neatly set up my demo. Whew. 

I will make a note of that in my "Packing for Classes" file. It may seem like geeking out to you, but for me every single second I waste is a second for teaching and making.

Encouraging dialogue at the end of each class is a skill that I've been developing. It's difficult because of those horrendous art school critiques we suffered through. What were they trying to do to us? 

This is going much better for me now. I'm able to encourage intellectual dialogue using the vocabulary that we've established in the class. So kudos on that one. As each student shows her work and talks about the different technique and theories (which they like best) other students are remembering and it solidifies the day.

I still love him

Packing and Unpacking: Ugh. I stink at that and since my husband was with me (he's been involved in organizing  corporate exhibits for some years now) my weakness was abundantly clear.

But I'll think about that tomorrow. Maybe. Happy Monday all. 

In Between-ers

In the space between running an errand that took me to Manayunk and preparing for my class tomorrow at The Ink Pad, I found a 30 minute space for a cappucino and Philadelphia Stories. Resting my back because, naturally, this is a good week to have my back acting up. 

The spaces between. Between putting together class kits, crocheting more white vessels to be dipped in dye. Between thinking, writing, researching, sketching, the odd bit of sewing and the sitting on ice pack. Negative space is a positive thing. The thought of happy students making art on Saturday pushes me on. And the man who is dropping everything to chauffeur me and my big bag to NYC because the train is out of the question right now. And I do love the train but am counting (again) my blessings.

Good weekend everyone. I'll see some of you tomorrow where real live hugs can be exchanged. 

Beyond the Background, Exploring Composition

The Grid

We all compose objects on a daily basis. The small act of setting a table or putting flowers in a vase. The larger efforts: where is your sofa and chair? Where do you put it? The supplies on your desk are probably composed in some way that is pleasing. 

Once we pull ourselves up to the blank page, all thoughts of composition go right out the window. 

Centered

I've been thinking alot about composition over the last year which led me to brush up on the old art school concepts and look with sharp eyes at the "bones" of 2D art. Inevitably, that led to a desire to share it with YOU. And so it goes.

I'll be teaching a brand new class at The Ink Pad in NYC, on September 28 called Beyond the Background. Through games and fun exercises we'll explore composition with new eyes. I'm excited about this class because it will definitely help with that white page syndrome and I get to share all sorts of great information with you folks. 

Click on the sidebar image to find out more about the class. 

Waiting For February

Because it is 97,000,000 degress F here which is 450,000,000 C. I will take February anytime. So I can't think very well. It was 95 F in the studio this morning with the AC. I was only up there for an hour when the sweat began to run into my eyeballs and sting.

Iced coffee, ice cubes, fans, misters, double doses of deoderant and I still stink. But here is something: a before and not-exactly-after-but-more-in-the-middle

Stamp & Stencil on Fabric

and the almost finished bit. This class is up on Little Bird, NYC, scheduled for Nov 23. you can see more here and I'll get to a full post on this class and Beyond the Background at The Ink Pad, here, next week. 

The (Almost) Finished Bit

Some of the stitching was done while waiting with Aunt Betty at Will's Eye Hospital's ER on Monday. She went in for what we thought was a broken blood vessel with a ton of bleeding and wound up having surgery and spending the night. She is fine now. Everything you've heard about Will's Eye (if you're in Philly) is true. The docs and nurses are way beyond the best, and extremely kind and patient.

I'm off to stick my head in the freezer.

Dirty Footprints 2013

The teachers for 21 Secrets are being announced today! You can go on over to Connie's blog, here, to get the full rundown. There are some exciting changes in store this year! I'm so thrilled to be a part of Connie's vision. Registration opens January 1, class opens April 1.

One of the reasons that I'm honored to be a part of this program is that it is affordable, accessible instruction and inspiration. These are the same words in my business plan. The underlying structure of my business. Great passion for sharing and teaching lies under every business decision I make. 

I really, firmly believe (now) that if you are passionate about something, you should take that path. The difficult part is scraping together your confidence and overcoming your fears.

Yes, that IS the tricky bit. Yesterday morning, I had a bit of a confidence crisis. I have 2-3 pieces of artwork due at the end of the month. There are guidelines on format, size and shape. I had a moment of "I really CAN'T work like this." (Critic disguised as Diva). Well, yes I can. Yes. I am.

Check out Connie's blogpost here announcing the Teachers of 21 Secrets. xo Diana

Art on the iPad

Spending a lot of time over the past week sitting in a comfy chair and lying in bed. ugh. I thank you for your emails and comments. They've cheered me up a lot! Still kind of out of it but I've been researching apps and softwares for my binding classes and found one!* But first ...  over the past few months, I discovered a couple of apps that you might like. The FREE Paper app from FiftyThree. 

Inside Paper, there is a collection of moleskine-style notebooks, a pen and 9 colors. Kinda chintzy on the colors. For $6.99 you can purchase the paintbrush, pencil, marker and spraypaint tools. 

I bought myself a Bamboo stylus for about $15. I can't draw or write with my fingers! You can get a stylus at Target, Walmart, Best Buys, etc. I hear the foam tips are not worth buying. You want the rubber tip stylus. 

I used the watercolor, marker, pencil and pen for these two sketches. The colors may be limited but you can layer them which is pretty cool. 

I'm not the queen of apps, but I do like this one along with Wreck This App from Keri Smith. You can read about that one here on Keri's blog. Fun stuff. ut hope

*Back to Doceri. I'm really excited about this. It is an interactive white board which essentially makes drawings into animations for presentation. What this means to you and me is that I can make drawings of bookbindings, anotate and upload them and then you guys can see them. There are so many different learning styles.  This gives me one more tool to teach a binding! YIPPITY! You can find out what kind of a learner you are here. I hope to have something up soon-ish for you to see how it works.