So EXCITED I Can Hardly Stand it!

I was AMAZED this morning to receive an email from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam asking me if I would be willing to be a part of an exhibit for their permanent collection. 

My first thought was that this some kind of weird but intriguing spam.

Well, it was not spam! I guess The Van Gogh Museum conducted worldwide image searches and stumbled upon my photo (above) that I had posted on my personal blog in October 2012. The museum has formally asked my permission to use the image as a video still as part of a display. 

Be still my beating heart!! 

"Yes," I immediately responded, "and please give me the date of the opening because I want to attend!"  To say the least I am thrilled and honored to even somehow be connected one of the most important and beloved artist in the world, even in such a small way. 

(The following is the blog post that the museum found)

I dressed up as Vincent Van Gogh for Halloween, just for my studio teaching days.

Most of the kids (not all!) diverted their eyes and seemed wary of me. Most thought I was a Hobo or creepy guy. Lot's of the grown-ups could guess, especially when I had paint brushes in my hand.

If you are interested in Vincent, you've GOT to read Van Gogh, The Life. It's the newest most thorough research on Vincent, his family, and his death. It's 860 pages, and written by the dynamic team of Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who also wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning Jackson Pollock. It's a hard read, mostly because Vincent, from a very early age, had an extremely painful life. Physically it's challenging because the book is so big and heavy on your abdomen that you can only read so much in bed.

So Much Life!

I'm so proud and delighted with the results of this latest project! We "built" these Bones to Blossom multi-media assemblages layer-by-layer and the results are vibrant and complex. 

We started with the B&W images of Leonardo Di Caprio, Nelson Mandela, Toni Morrison, Ashley Judd, Jane Goodall, and a girl named Josie. Each artist transformed each portrait in completely unique way.

We studied the anatomy of the human skull, used acrylic paint & permanent markers to create the skeleton mask. The next step was to create a dynamic dimension in the background. We imagined that the figure lived somewhere between the living world and the after world! That dimension was created using acrylic paints applied in multiple layers with the use of cool stencils. The final step was to create a crown using collage. Wonderful papers, botanicals, jewels & flowers combined to contrast the idea of life and death. We coated the entire piece with Mod Podge then added a little *bling* using jewels and fake flowers.

 Look more closely by clicking on an image and enjoy the beauty, color and textures!

Please join me for a StudioTime multi-media workshop - Using collage, paint, paper, photos, glitter and adornments you will create a layered and beautiful Dia de los Muertos Altar

Two dates to choose from-

Saturday, October 18th 12:30-5:30

or Saturday, October 25th 12:30-5:30

$85.00 Studio fee 
All materials and refreshments included.

Spaces are limited so save a spot now by emailing treeshinz@sbcglobal.net, using the PayPal buttons to your right, or calling (510)522-3494. 

I LOVE Fairy Village!

I have a week off between workshops and what do I do? Play with my own little world! I love to build houses, vehicles, furniture, etc! Even more fun is creating small Fairy creatures. Fairy babies, men, women and children. I'll load up a few photos then I'm back to building my own little world!

StudioTime Celebration!

This week is the last week of the semester and we'll celebrate by seeing the amazing art work from this year at Spritzer's Cafe, Saturday May 31st! I hope to see you all there!

Feels LIke Summer

Please join me for some small Summer retreats. I've got a few spots still open!

StudioTime Summer 2014

Small groups. Wonderfully creative. Limited spaces.

Bring a lunch and a beverage. All materials, snacks and baking are included.

Moxie the Doxie-Create your very own puppy (stuffy) to love!Using hand and supervised machine sewing, embroidery and simple pattern cutting, each artist will create a wonderful stuffy plus a few custom pet accessories to keep each pet happy and stylish. June 11, 12, 13
Wed & Th 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. & Fri 10:00-5:00
$240.00 ages 4+

Wire, Wood, Solder and Paint-Alexander Calder Abstract SculptureUsing Calder as our inspiration we will work in wood, wire, solder, paint, etc. to create a kinetic wall or free-standing sculpture. Manual and supervised power tools will be used after reviewing Calder’s work and doing simple sketching and design planning.

June 30, July 1, 2, 3 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. $320.00 ages 7+

The Art of the Portrait-Capturing the Spirit

We’ll explore classic portraiture to magical realism using all the materials and techniques I love, acrylic, tempera, oil, sketching, shading, blocking, layering and brush techniques.July 7, 8, 9, 10 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
$320.00 ages 7+

Fairy Village-If you can dream it you can do it! Really!This highly requested workshop focuses on building skills: foundation, framing, roofing and siding of a scale-model structure made from all natural materials. Each artist will build a structure and accessory pieces to furnish their abodes. Loosely based on the 1“=1’ scale. Hot glue gun used. July 14, 15, 16, 17
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. (Except Thursday 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.)
$320.00 ages 7+

Fairy Village-If you can dream it, you can do it! Really!

See the Fairy Village description above.

July 28, 29th 30, 31 9:00-4:00 p.m.

$320.00 ages 7+

Please email for more information or to sign-up!

     

A Messanger

This week we're working in our Altered Books on a project that I am calling A Messenger. We painted two pages in our books a beautiful sky blue and softly painted realistic Cumulus clouds. (Thank you Saturnina!) We then did a study of a small branch and a bird, focusing on highlights and shadows, again trying to capture realism. Each table had a cage of live canaries from our aviary so that we could really study their charms!

Lark posing for a close-up. (Photo by Jacob)

 Welcome to the studio Isabel!

 Lauren working on her stick

  Ellie's finished piece

The sun helped dry our pieces

 Izzi using her dry brush technique to create an almost transparent cloud!

Jacobs finished work!

Anissa's stick and bird studies! So lovely...

We then cut out the separate pieces and assembled them to create a actual size bird on a small perch. We used hemp twine glued directly on the painting to give the illusion of a swing!

The birds chirped and sang quite loudly while we worked!

Jonah (above) chose to paint a Toucan! Wow, he captured it!

Malika's bird study (above). It shows wonderful proportion and delicacy!

Saturnina loved all the canaries and chose the Red Factor canaries to paint!

 A few assembled works, above.

Frances chose to paint Alma, a hen that is Red Factor with black spots. I love the way it turned out!

Abe adding shadows on his bird.

There are a few spots open in the Wednesday & Thursday afternoon classes. Call Patrice at 510.522.3494 for more information or to sign up!

Back in the studio!

It was a wonderful first week of 2014 in the studio! While the rest of the country was suffering with the cold, many of the kids came dressed in shorts, dresses and short sleeves! In sympathy we created our own "Winter Worlds" with this amazing snow globe project. Using colored pencils and techniques to show distance, perspective, shadows and reflections, we created perfectly quiet little "Winter Worlds!" Here are a few samples.

The warmest welcome to Shay, Desi, Farah, Jacob, Veronica, and Maricela.