Balzer Designs

Australia, Here I Come!

You guys!  I'm so super duper extremely excited to share that at long last I am coming to Australia to teach!  It has long been a goal of mine to spend a week on every single continent in the world.  Over the years I've ticked off North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.  Now I will finally get to add Australia to the list of been there, done that!  Wheeeee!  (Just need to figure out how to get to Antarctica to complete the list....hmmmmm.)

My friend Nat and I will be teaching a class together.  You can watch this video all about it:

• April 1-3, 2016: The Scrapbook Store in North Perth, Western Australia
• April 8-10, 2016: Artified in Wantirna (Victoria) - very near Melbourne
• April 15-17, 2016: location TBA (near Sydney - still working out the details)

After that I'm on my own for two workshops at Jane Davenport's lovely studio in Byron Bay.

I will be teaching two very different two-day workshops, both with very limited seating:

• April 23-24, 2016: Stamp Camp (sign up will be available in October)
• April 30-May 1, 2016: Go Big or Go Home (sign up will be available in October)

What you'll learn in my classes at Jane's place is vastly different from what you'll learn in my classes with Nathalie.  I wanted to make sure that people could take all the classes and get something fresh each time.  After all, who knows if I'll ever make it back to Australia?  So, I wanted to give you the most choices possible! 

Other upcoming classes, for those of you not in Australia:

• September 12, 2015: Gelli & Deli at The Ink Pad in NYC
• September 13, 2015: Hand Lettered at The Ink Pad in NYC
• September 18, 2015: ScanNCut Class at Sew On Sew Forth in Buffalo, NY (just $89 and includes lunch)

I hope to see you in class!

Scrapbook Soup: Black & White Project Life Cards

Hey there!  Today I thought I'd share a project I filmed for Scrapbook Soup TV.  You can catch the show on PBS or online at the Scrapbook Soup website.  As you know, I love drawing patterns, so this was super duper fun to do!  Watch the video below:

Here are the cards from the video:

And a Project Life spread using them:

I hope you'll try making some of your own!  Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journal Every Day: Abstract Page Video

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here.  All of the previous posts can be found archived here.  There is a flickr group for sharing right here.  Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day!  No need to finish anything or even like it.  If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post.  Thanks!

Lately I've been pushing myself towards creating more abstract art.  So, I've been pursuing that line of thought through play in my art journal.  The other day I decided to turn on the video camera and record the journey of a page from start to finish.  I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride!

And here's the page from the video:

The white pen I used is the white Sharpie.  The two stencils are brand new Balzer Designs stencils called "Triangle Sunburst" and "Square Scrolls."  

Here is this week's linky list:

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinned: Art I Love

Today I thought I'd share some images of art that I love that I've recently pinned on Pinterest.  I hope you'll love the pieces too! 

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In some ways it's such a simple painting of a face and yet there's emotion and personality in it, which I really respond to.

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This is another face that seems simple and perhaps even badly drawn, but I love the personality of the figure and the personal style of the artist. 

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Can pillows be art?  I've always loved kilim rugs (I have two small ones in my home) and these pillows made from kilim rugs are something I'd love to own.

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I love and appreciate all handwork and this beautiful embroidery from India is no exception.  Look at all of that color!

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I love an art journal spread dripping with color and filled with pattern, don't you?  The use of black and white is particularly inspiring!

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I love the drawing!  And I would also love to own those rings if they were real.  So cool!

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I am fascinated by hand drawn maps.  I've tried a few of my own, but they never turn out as cool as this one. 

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You know that I love painted circles -- it's a motif I use over and over in my journals and my other artwork.  These happy colorful circles make me smile!

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I love the mix of, what I assume is a found photo, and a pencil sketch.  Plus that turquoise really makes the whole composition sing!

 

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 This totally reminds me of Basquiat, whom I love.  It's by an artist named Matt Sesow, who has long been a favorite of mine.  He makes colorful, aggressive, primitive, arresting paintings.  Take some time to cruise his website.  It's a good time.

I think there are some consistent things that attract me to art: color (lots of it and super bright), faces, primitive style, and a kind of wonky-ness.  Do you see any other similarities amongst the art I've shared today?

Thanks for stopping by! 

Mola In Progress: August 2015

You may remember that about a month ago I posted about my current obsession with molas.  Well, I gathered together the supplies to make one of my own!  I've only just started and I can tell you two things: (a) it's harder than I thought it would be, and (b) It's a perfect travel art project.

To begin, I sketched out my basic image:

If I had known how difficult points were, I wouldn't have had so many in my design.  Oy.  But let no one ever say that I'm not ambitious!  I always enjoy tackling a difficult project.

I worked on the mola on my recent trip to Nashville and I have it with me now on my current trip to Boston.

My progress is slow, but steady with lots of mistakes along the way.  But I really believe that you only learn from mistakes, so that's the good news.  I'm learning a lot.  Seriously A LOT.  And I'm enjoying myself along the way.  

Here's what's in my travel mola kit:

My favorite innovation is the magnet in the lid of the green container, which is perfect for holding pins and needles in an unstable environment like a train or airplane.

I have provided links below for almost everything (the pouch is not the exact same one and the tin is something I've had kicking around for years):

 

Gingher Embroidery Scissors General Fabric Pencils Pencil Sharpeners Aurifil Thread - Light Grey Thimble Pads portable folding Ott Lite Kona Fat Quarters Black Fabric Dressmaker Pins Magnet Sheet with Adhesive Richard Hemming Needles Dick & Jane Zipper Pouch

InLinkz.com

 

If you'd like to check in on the progress of my mola, follow me on instagram.

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. Yes, you can take pins and needles on an airplane in the U.S.  And scissors with a blade length less than 4" are a-okay as well!  :)