Art Dates

While Maria and I have been regularly talking about our art practices for a year and a half, we just recently started meeting up for art dates. On our first, I went to her house and brought my Gelli printing plates, and we printed fabric and paper for quilts and collages. This past week, Maria came to my house, and we did papier mache. It was a sunny, comfortable day to sit outside, sculpt our armatures, and then layer a few rounds of goopy paper on top. It was interesting to note how differently we worked, even though there are more than a few similarities to our usual ways of working in collage and fiber. Maria brought a length of chicken wire. She wanted to make a lamp, like the ones that were always showing up in her drawings. I wanted to make some ornaments that were like my collages, only 3-D. I had cardboard, paper, and foil on hand. I made an apple, a carrot, a beet, and a bunch of grapes. Maria made her lamp. All of my ornaments were small. Maria's lamp was not. She seemed surprised by this until I pointed out that she came with chicken wire. "You're not going to make something small out of chicken wire," I said to her jokingly. It was a really fun day of working together. The combination of perfect weather, great companionship, and a meditative activity made for a beautiful day.

I finished up my ornaments, and they're in my shop if you'd like to hear more about them. You can visit Maria's blog to hear her take on our day, and see her lamp all papier mached!