ART HAS NO BARRIERS

I have been away from blogging for awhile while I tried to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, lol.  I have done a lot of soul searching about my art and my teaching abilities.  I love sharing my talent with others and helping them discover their inner artist. One day the light bulb went on in my brain and I decided to write a grant proposal to teach art to students with disabilities. I applied for the "Artist in the Community" grant through the Art Council of Greater Lansing. In October I was awarded the grant to help students with disabilities to find their voice through art. This project is very close to my heart! If you have read my previous posts you know I had a grandson with severe disabilities that died in 2013 at the age of 6 1/2.  

I have a community partner in the Lansing Art Gallery downtown Lansing, MI.  I will hold 4 classes there this spring to kick off the program.  Thanks to the grant and supporters these classes with be offered free of charge.  Gelli Arts, Stencil Girl stencils and Deco Arts have generously given me enough supplies for all of the classes. Because of this act of generosity the students will be able to take some products home to continue experimenting with what they learned with me.

In the classes we will be making mono prints using Gelli Arts printing plates.  No previous experience is necessary and everyone I have taught this technique to has enjoyed it.

CREATIVE CREATURE ENCOUNTER COME TO A CLOSE..........................

As you probably can tell by the long silence from me on this blog, I have been very busy with my grant project.  My Creative Creature Encounter has officially come to a very successful end. Over the summer, I had over 300 children and some adults paint with me at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Michigan.  I had all the supplies available for the kids to sit down and paint with me, and we painted tigers, ducks, butterflies and giraffes.  Everyone that participated went home with a painting. This was all made possible through a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Lansing and thanks to them, I was able to supply paint, brushes and canvases for everyone to paint with.

I met a lot of awesome kids and great painters during my project.  It amazes me what great paintings the kids did with just a little direction from me.  I hope I inspired at least a few young people to follow their creative spirit.

During the times I was not at the zoo painting I was in my home studio painting 10 of the animals that reside at Potter Park Zoo.  I also managed to fit in time to paint an exhibit for the Golden Lion Tamarins that the zoo acquired. Now they have a new home with a mural of the rain forest canopy as their back drop. My daughter Katie and I worked on it together  and I think it looks pretty good for our first attempt at a mural. 

Potter Park Zoo is a lovely park with great staff who are very friendly and helpful. They made me feel at home and welcomed me into their family (human, that is). They have a very wide variety of animals for all to see.

My Creative Creature Encounter project ended with an exhibition of my 10 paintings in their Safari Room.  On September 15th there was a free reception open to the public. We had a great turn out. The paintings continued to be on display until October 5th.

As a result of the grant from the ACGL I will have an outdoor billboard with the Lion on it somewhere along the highway! The Arts Council has partnered with Adams Outdoor Advertising to produce billboards for artist member grantees of the Arts Council. I am very honored and excited about this and as soon as I know where it will be I will let everyone know of it's whereabouts!

What I learned from this project:

Kids are great, creative, energetic and inspiring (but I really already knew that!)
This project enabled me to share my passion for art with others.

I was challenged and I stepped up to the challenge.

I was able to hone my craft over the 6 months of the project.

Painting wildlife is still my favorite subject to paint.
Don't stand too close to the Mandrill's cage as they have very long arms! lol

Most important lesson of all: 
I would like to acknowledge and thank my family and friends for believing in and supporting me!

GETTING BACK INTO MY STUDIO

It has been awhile since last I wrote.   I have been trying to get back into the studio and work on my paintings as much as possible.  Last spring I was in a car accident and did serious damage to my right shoulder.  The recovery is a very long and slow process but thank God it was my right shoulder  because I am left handed.  With all the pain, meds and surgery, the summer was a bust for getting any paintings done.  Having said that I am now on a mission to get caught up on my paintings.  I have decided to concentrate on painting animals and nature. 

I just finished these two paintings of a tiger cub and lion that live at our local zoo.  Painting fur is always a challenge.  I was a hairdresser in another life so sometimes I feel I get a little carried away with their Do's, lol.  I used a "0" Script Liner for the longer hairs and a 10/0 Spotter brush for the short hairs.  With animals I find you have to not only pay attention to the direction of the hair growth but the texture of the hair as well.

When I originally switched over to Acrylic Painting from Porcelain Art I struggled with keeping the paints moist.  Porcelain paints are mixed with oil and stay wet until fired in the kiln.  At the beginning I used a Stay-Wet Pallet.  I no longer use this for two reasons:  1) Too big and cumbersome  2) Mold started growing after about a week.  I have tried various pallet systems including a sheet of glass but the one I like best is an inexpensive one from the craft store called "Peel-Off Pallet".  It is a flat rectangle with a dividing line across the top for paint and then a large flat area which is divided in half for mixing and blending colors.  When the paints eventually dry on it they can be peeled off.  I cover it with Glad Press and Seal when I have to step away from the studio for awhile.  I also keep a water bottle with a fine misting nozzle close by.  While I am working on a painting I mist my paints every 10 to 15 minutes.  This keeps them moist and prevents a skin from forming on top.

I have also decided to use Liquitex Paints exclusively.  I like their colors, tube shape (caps are easier to handle if you have arthritis as I do) and the body of their paints.  I have only used their glazing medium and flow agents so I am not an expert on their mediums.  I don't get much time to experiment so I usually just get right to painting when I get time in the studio.

In the last couple of months I have been getting set up to teach in my studio. I held my first acrylic class here last month and hope to have more after the first of the year.  Message me at: cltonning@gmail.com if you are interested in classes or if you just have questions about painting. You can see more of my work at my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/C.L.Tonning.Artist?ref=hl

New studio

I am in the process,with a lot of help from my Son-in-law Scott, of remolding an adjacent garage into my art studio. This will be my first studio outside of my home even though it is just 50 feet or so away. I hope to be teaching art classes by this summer. We are basically starting with the shell of a garage and building it from floor to ceiling, I'm learning a new trade in the process. lol In the past my studio has always been in my basement along with the kilns. I will have a kiln room, storage room and studio with a separate work space for Scott to work on his toys. That is the least I could do for all the work he is putting into my studio. I will not only be teaching porcelain art but painting and drawing classes too. You can check out some of my art work at http://catherinetonning.com or my Facebook page at Catherine Tonning-Popowich - Porcelain Artist