Tell Me What You See

This is from a marbling session a couple of days ago. I hate the actual paper itself--it is a bear to work with--and was just messing around in the tank in order to use up the few pieces I had left. As is usually the case, a few days after I made this, I found it more appealing than when I first pulled it off the tank. And now I can't take my eyes off it. The circles in the middle fade in and out depending on the light. I walk with it from room to room just to watch it transform before my eyes.

One of the greatest pleasures I derive from being a marbling artist is hearing what people "see" in my pieces. It is better (and more telling probably) than the standard Rorschach test. It is for this very reason I rarely title my pieces...I don't want to influence/infect what is going on in the mind of the viewer.

So, dear Readers, if you have a moment, please humor me by letting me know what you see in this piece (or what feelings/emotions it conjures up).

I promise not to judge (but I can't rule out a raised eyebrow!).

Back in the Saddle

I'm in the studio today and am I ever glad to be back in it. It's a perfectly horrible day to marble--high temps, no humidity, and breezy--but you know what, I don't care. I just needed to get back to my slimy carragheenan, paint splatters, bamboo-skewer stylus, and Paynes Gray. After having the studio up and marbling every day for just over a month, I had to tear it down a few weeks ago because I was going to be gone for a significant amount of time on this trip and then this trip.

I was sort of shocked by how sad I was when I tore down my studio. I mean, a genuine loss-sadness seeped into my heart. Even on my trip to the beautiful central coast of California with my hubby, doing what I love to do up there with the person I love the most, I kept saying to Emmett, "I miss my studio." And I truly did. Nearly as much as my cat.

Earlier this year, when I was brainstorming about marbling projects, I promised myself I'd keep the studio set up for one solid month and marble every day. This is a departure from the way I usually marble where I set up the studio and marble three or four days straight, morning to evening, cranking out 50 or more sheets a day in my big tank, until both my bath and I are completely spent. Then I take a two-month break before setting it up and doing it all over again. I had been doing it this way for the past three years. Why? Because my general feeling was that there is so much prep and tear-down work involved in marbling that it is the most efficient way to do it. I also believed that once I get on a creative roll, I shouldn't interrupt it. You never know when the Marbling Muse will tire of you so you might as well use her up while she's there.

I had a very specific goal in mind when I decided to marble every day for a month: to nail down 50 or so traditional patterns so I could execute them perfectly at a moment's notice. I also wanted to become better at troubleshooting, which is a constant in the studio since there are so many variables in marbling. At the time, marbling every day seemed like an exhaustive idea, especially considering my typical studio experience described above, but a necessary one in order for me to up my level of play in the art form. So I just told myself I was going to have to suck it up, be brave, and go for it.

The reality was I didn't have to suck it up or be brave. Instead, something magical happened...and rather organically (paradox intended). Instead of getting into the studio first thing in the morning and staying until the sun set, I only spent a few hours a day in it. And they were not consecutive hours. They were spread throughout the day. I may have popped in there in the morning, done a few sheets to see how the bath and paints were reacting, and then covered the tank and left the studio to do life stuff like grocery shop or pay bills. Then I'd go back in there and spend an hour or two executing an idea before heading out to go for my daily walk or catching up on emails. Then before it was time to start making dinner, I'd hit the studio again, take a look at what I'd done in there for the day, and marble some more...sometimes tweaking an idea, sometimes just practicing a pattern.

The result was that I was much more relaxed. And definitely more creative. I was more willing to take risks and I was very okay with mistakes. I went into the studio every day fresh and clear minded. I may have produced FEWER papers overall (compared to my marathon marbling sessions) but what I did produce was MORE interesting. Even more fascinating to me was that when I was physically away from the studio, I was still mentally there, always thinking about my next move. It wasn't an obsessive thinking--it was more intuitive, but not distracting...they way your heart is always working in the background without you knowing it until you go for your run or hike or swim.

I didn't expect any of that to happen during my little month-long experiment. But it did and it has changed the way I view my studio. It's not a place I HAVE to go to. It's a place I GET TO go to. And I want that feeling every day--so I will make it happen. My studio is back up and it will stay that way for the foreseeable future...or at least until I'm "forced" to take it down again for another long vacation.

I couldn't be happier at this moment: paint stains on my fingers, ideas swirling in my head, even a little carragheenan in my hair (note to self: put your hair up when in the studio). Well, if the temps were cooler and the humidity higher I could be...but for now it's all good. Really, really good.

South Pasadena Arts Crawl: July 14 [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: The South Pas Arts Crawl date has changed to Saturday, July 14]

I'm thrilled to announce I will be participating in the South Pasadena Arts Crawl on Saturday, July 14 from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. And I'm even more thrilled that I'll once again be doing a marbling demonstration at Book 'em Mysteries, who graciously hosted me last time! I just love the energy owner's Mary and Barry continue to foster at their marvelous bookstore and I look forward to spending the evening fulfilling my goal of "bringing marbling to the masses." In addition to doing a demo, I will have papers, framed artwork, cards, and more for sale.

South Pasadena Arts Crawl Saturday, July 14 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Marbling Demonstration Book 'em Mysteries Bookstore 1118 Mission Street, South Pasadena

The Actual Report: Girls' Getaway Orcas Island

Here's how our Girls' Getaways work: every year, each one of us pitches a destination to the group, we vote on which one we like best, and whoever pitched the winning destination is in charge of planning. It doesn't mean that that person has to do everything for the trip. She can assign tasks to the rest of us if she so chooses to. But generally, this person is default decision maker and overall coordinator.

Orcas Island (OI) was my destination pitch so I was at the helm from the very beginning. I've wanted to do OI (and the San Juans in general) since my first introduction to the Pacific Northwest years ago. Between numerous visits to Seattle and a couple of week-long trips to the Olympic Peninsula (plus a handful of trips to Vancouver and Vancouver Island), I fell in love with everything about the area: GREENS like you've never seen before, water everywhere, mountains, wonderful people, and creative foodies. When Emmett was looking at grad schools, the University of Washington was one of the places he was accepted at (to?) and I pushed HARD for him to go there. It's not that I wanted to live in Seattle specifically, but that I wanted to have access to the Pacific Northwest in general. UDub was my ticket. Obviously, he decided that UCSB was a better place for him...and I am not even the slightest bit disappointed we ended up in California (if it's not clear in my blog posts how much I love living here then let me set the record straight now: I LOVE CALIFORNIA!!!). But when I do think about how close I got to living in the Pacific Northwest, I can't help but sigh a little bit.

I sketched out a pretty active vacation on OI for the girls and me. Despite it being a small island, there was a lot I wanted to cover...both on land and on water. There was whale watching, kayaking, hiking, dancing while prepping for dinner, art galleries and villages to explore, happy hour on our rented vacation home's deck overlooking Fishing Bay, bird watching, tidepooling, morning coffee and breakfast time together...all in four days.

While our Girls' Getaway destinations vary drastically (from East and West coast to the South, from country settings to cityscapes), there are a few constants:

1) We always meet at least one VERY interesting, VERY fun person who totally GETS the concept of Girls' Getaway and GETS us.

2) We always manage to find a dog friend.

3) We always end up on the water.

And 4) we always stumble upon a labyrinth...and dutifully walk it!

Orcas Island was our sixth trip together over the past five years!!! I am so happy that the four of us have made the time and financial commitment to do this annually. And even though I travel A LOT every year, the Girls' Getaway is the one trip I look most forward to. They are that much fun.

Before leaving OI, we came up with a rather long list of options for Girls' Getaway 2013. I don't know where we'll end up next...but I do know regardless of weather, coffee pot debacles, escapes from botanical gardens, the number of margaritas consumed, diverted and delayed flights, and no-snore-zone sleeping arrangements, it will be another grand experience. Girls' Getaways always are.

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41 for 41: Point Lobos

41 for 41: Hike Point Lobos State Reserve. CHECK.

More on this later too.

41 for 41: Girls Gone Wild Orcas Island

Check off one more on the 41 for 41 list: girls’ getaway with Nan, Steph, and Heidi. More on the trip soon.

Texture of Invisible

I am absolutely thrilled that one of my pieces, Texture of Invisible, is now in the home of a happy customer, Phil, in Minnesota.

Dear Barb,

Voila! It arrived this morning, just as I was finishing my run. And does it ever look gorgeous above the bed in the main bedroom. Wow. Perfect. We love it.  The colors, the shapes, the sense of the organic, the oceanic and geographic, the biological.  A very evocative piece of work. Something both primal and sophisticated. We just stood and stared at it a long time after hanging it. The structure is fascinating--like some deep image of the human  bloodstream, or, hey, the texture of the invisible! We're going to be parading all of our guests in front of it and saying, "Get a good look at this."

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Looking forward to living with your artwork,

Phil

Texture of Invisible is one of my "early years" pieces and has been a favorite of mine for a long, long time. It's why I had it framed for my first art show last December. So when Phil contacted me about purchasing an existing piece or possibly commissioning one, and we had a discussion about what pieces of mine he was drawn to and why (design, style, colors, etc.), I knew Texture of Invisible had to be one of the dozen or so pieces I showed to him and his partner.

There's a small part of me that is sad to let the piece go. I know it's in a good home with people who appreciate it. And that's sort of the point of me wanting to become an artist--to share my creations. But this piece was extra special, one from a particular studio session that made me decide to "go for it" and take up marbling full time. I have one more piece from that session that I've framed and I've decided to keep it. It's a lovely reminder of the moment when everything changed.

In the mean time, I made this month's new banner out of a section of Texture of Invisible...just so I can hang on to it a little bit longer.

Experience the Tank: Three Hours of Nonstop Fun!

This weekend rocked. I cannot even begin to tell you what a thrill it was to teach my "Experience the Tank" class. The three-hour session is designed to expose people to the joys of marbling by learning a few patterns and then simply having a go at it in the tank. The participants in this weekend's class were wonderful! Beyond wonderful, actually! Annika, Steve, and Lori bravely stepped up to the tank and went for it. The result was beautiful.

I was so impressed by everyone's go-for-it attitude. I didn't hear anyone once complain about doing something "bad" or "wrong" (no such thing in my studio!). No one got frustrated and left feeling like they just couldn't get the marbling thing down. In fact, everyone wants to do it again!

Truth be told, I see myself less as a teacher and more of a "marbling messenger" with the goal of bringing marbling to the masses. I certainly don't expect people to quit their day jobs and become full-time marbling artists after taking my class. But I do hope participants walk away with a huge appreciation for the art form and a boost of confidence in their creativity. In return, I am inspired by what happens in the studio during these sessions. I get to see marbling fresh through the eyes of newbies (as I once was!) and it always sends me down a new path of color and technique explorations.

I will be doing a few more Experience the Tank classes this summer and early fall. If you're interested in taking the class, please email me at Cheers at BarbSkoog dot com and I'll put you on the notification list.

A big thanks to Steve, Annika, and Lori for trusting me to show them the thrill of marbling and for being such creative souls in the studio. And an even bigger thanks to Emmett...for everything behind the scenes and behind the lens (as the official class photographer)!

Experience and Experiment

I'm starting to rearrange my studio for my "Experience the Tank" class I'm teaching this weekend. I'm REALLY excited about it since the class is designed to give people the chance to play in the tank and experience the wonders of marbling without significant time investment. Most marbling classes are at least two full days...a must for anyone even slightly serious about picking up the art form. But sometimes you just want a little taste before diving in and that's what my class is about. Participants will learn how to make four basic patterns and another three or four "fancy" ones in the three-hour class. There will be a variety of paper colors and weights to play with too. And, as always in my studio, getting messy and experimenting will be strongly encouraged. And speaking of experimenting, here are some shots of pieces that came from my time in the studio last week.

Above: I love this one because it looks like someone shot at it and the white spots are bullet holes that look into the next room. It's wickedly wild.

Above: This is a quad-overmarble. Yep, I overmarbled four times. I wanted to see what kind of texture you could get before (and if) things got muddled. I also wanted to see if there was a significant difference between overmarbling two, three and four times. Turns out there is! I was very conscious of colors and color placement to ensure every layer was recognizable. In the end, I am extremely pleased with this piece. It was work to get it here (lots of planning and thinking things through) but worth it.

Above: I wanted to see if I could get my rings to look like ripples. I first tried doing a Spanish moire to the ring design on the bath but that didn't work out so well. It just looked like crooked, broken rings. So then I did a Spanish moire stone overmable on top of the rings and this is the result. Much better, but still not as impressive as I thought it would be.

A surprise rain descended upon us here in LA last night and an impending rain storm is supposed to hit Wednesday into Thursday, making the conditions for marbling excellent this week. So off to the studio I am...

Studio Update: No Time for an Update

I've been in the studio every day, cranking out some really fun stuff, and haven't had any time to take photos of my progress (let alone post anything). I will leave you with this one though. It's a piece I am particularly proud of and the photo does it no justice. As I spend more and more time in the studio, I can feel the "me" coming out in my work. I am so happy.

41 for 41: Visit Watts Towers

It was better than I expected. I wasn't expecting something bad, but I wasn't expecting SO MUCH.

Simon Rodia was an Italian immigrant who was a construction worker by day. For more than 30 years, between 1921 and 1955, he set to work in the evenings single-handedly building his mosaic wonderland piece by piece using nothing more than his hands and simple tools on land he bought for $900. "I had it in my mind to do something big," he said. When he was 75 years old, he gifted the property to a neighbor he liked and moved to Martinez, Calif. never to return again. The Towers have been described as "a unique monument to the human spirit and the persistence of a singular vision." Truer words could not be spoken.

What drives a person to do something without recognition and without expectation? What compels one to create? Rodia had no formal education let alone an education in the arts or in engineering. His work has survived earthquakes and inspired a community to build an arts center right next door.

Watts Towers is at the top of my "must see in LA" list for any visitor or resident alike. The park surrounding the Towers is beautiful and a perfect place for a picnic. The adjacent Arts Center has three small gallery spaces that are a must see. Take the tour which allows you to go inside this magnificent structure and see the intimate details. You can't help but look at each mosaic piece and wonder why Rodia chose that one and placed it that way and put it in that spot. Everyone associated with the Towers--from the security guard patrolling the grounds to the tour guide (thanks, Howard!!) to the people working in the Arts Center and galleries--is friendly, passionate, and engaging. There is a sense of pride in this place...pride in the community of artists who have come from here (including Charles Mingus), pride in being a place for encouraging and supporting the arts, and pride in self-driven accomplishment. For all of the vile history Watts is attached to, there is no room for pity or excuses here. You can't help but walk away wondering what more you could do with your own life. What would your Watts Towers look like, if you put your mind to it?

For more information: http://www.wattstowers.us/ and http://wattstowers.org/

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Sharing Studio Space

On Wednesday, I got to share my studio space with a delightful person.

Amanda saw me marble at the South Pasadena Arts Crawl last February. When her Brownies troupe asked its members to learn a new skill or hobby and then share it with the group, she asked her mom if she could learn how to marble.

Very. Cool.

There's something wonderful about seeing your art form through the eyes of a young girl. Even more wonderful is knowing that a new generation of marblers is on the horizon. There are no formal educational programs, schools, or even curriculum for marbling the way there are for other art forms like dance or writing or painting. That means the burden of ensuring the art form not only continues, but evolves, falls squarely on the shoulders of current marblers. And there are not a lot of us out there. Thankfully, many marblers are generous with their knowledge and are more than happy to share it. I've learned so much from both my marbling teachers in a formal educational setting as well as informal email exchanges with other marblers. Maybe that's another reason I like the art form so much...it feels like a treasured heirloom is being passed from one person to the next.

Before Amanda arrived, I manage to get some marbling time in. Here's a pic of my favorite for the day--another overmarble from my Monday play day. I am really diggin' the rings and what you can do with them.

Another Great Day in the Studio

So, what can I say? I love being in the studio. I marbled 20 sheets on Tuesday and here are a few of the highlights. Remember these pieces from my Monday session?

They were nice and all, and great for practice, but a little boring. So I overmarbled them.

How fun are these? They look much better in person but I hope you can still get a sense of the movement and layers in them. The git-gel in particular is quite funky, mind-messing mesmerizing when you're standing in front of it.

On Tuesday, I also played with colors and design  for one of my commissioned works. The client sent me paint and fabric samples from her newly redesigned first floor and I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about colors that will work well in her scheme. Specifically, I'm creating pieces to go in one room, but that room is the first one you see when you walk in the house, so it sorta sets the "home tone" when people walk in.

No pressure or anything.

She also specifically requested the feather pattern as well as one of my more "modern" pieces. Her interior designer sent me a three different layout ideas for a grouping of 10 framed pieces ranging in size from 4x6 all the way up to 20x25. So with all that in mind, I set to work.

These are just the start of a really fun project so I'm excited to keep working on it.

And now...back to the studio!

Hitting the Studio Hard

I made a promise to myself to work in my studio for one month straight sometime this year. The goal is to master some of the popular traditional patterns so I can do them perfectly even if blindfolded, drunk, and with one hand tied behind my back. Well, it turns out that time is now. I have two commissioned pieces I'm working on, I'm teaching a weekly private lesson for the next five weeks, and I have an Experience the Tank class I'm offering at the end of April. As long as I'm going to be in the studio for those things, I may as well be in the studio, period. So Sunday night I made my size, prepared my paints, pulled my tank and tools out, inventoried paper, and got my studio ready for me. I decided to set up my big tank this time since the last few times I've marbled in my smaller tank. This decision is significant because when one is just "practicing," it makes more economical sense to use the smaller tank. You can get four sheets of paper marbled in a small tank for every one marbled in a big tank. To put it another way, 10 sheets of large paper cost roughly $12. Ten sheets of small paper cost less than $3. And I can crank out 20 large sheets easily in a half day in the studio. So, yeah...setting up the big tank meant I was SERIOUS about my practicing.

But then I got in the studio. And, well...something happened. I had the urge to PLAY not practice.

For a while now, I've had an image in my head that I just needed to execute in the tank. And I felt it needed to be the big tank. So standing in front of it on Monday afternoon I just went for it.

These pieces aren't my most prized works. Nor do I know what I'm going to do with them or how they can be used in other mediums (like making journals or for collage). But not only did I have fun making them, I learned A LOT about placement of paint and the different effects one can create in the tank.

So in a way, I guess you could say I WAS practicing. Just because I didn't master the master patterns, doesn't mean I didn't master anything. Plus, it's only the first day in my month-long marbling marathon. There's plenty of time for tradition. After all, these marbling patterns have been around for centuries. A few more days isn't going to make a difference.

Mine.

This is me on Easter. I love this dress, which I got when I was sailing the British Virgin Islands with my mom on our Adventure Women trip. BUT...while all white is perfect for sailing, it's a bit drab when you're away from the waves. So I spruced it up with one of MY MARBLED SCARVES!!!!

I didn't think I would keep for myself any of the scarves I marbled from my recent class, but this one is now MINE.