Balzer Designs

Book Club: How to Paint Abstracts

In case you missed yesterday's live Book Club presentation all about the book, How to Paint Abstracts, here is the replay video. My Mom texted me after watching the livestream and said, "Each book club is like a free mini-class. Good value." Thanks, Mom! Here are a few things I made inspired by the book: As I mentioned in the livestream, I've just chosen the 2022 dates for Design Boot Camp -- both level 1 and level 2. You can check both out HERE. In November - in preparation for #CarveDecember - we will be discussing the book I wrote,... Read more →

Book Club: Watercolor is for Everyone

Last night I hosted September's Book Club, all about Kateri Ewing's book, "Watercolor is for Everyone." You can watch the replay below: The supplies I used: Arches Watercolor Paper QoR Watercolors Mijello Palette Sakura CAC Watercolors Rembrandt Special Effects Watercolors Size 8 Paintbrush Here are some of the pieces that I made while working through the exercises in this book: The next Book Club is on October 13 at 2pm EST. We will be discussing Pocket Art Guides: How to Paint Abstracts. Book Club is FREE and open to all, regardless of whether or not you've read the book. Book... Read more →

Book Club: Matisse on Art

I'll give away the end before I even begin: I didn't finish the book. *gasp* But we still had a great conversation about Matisse on Art during yesterday's Book Club. It's a fascinating read and one that I know I'm going to finish and then keep coming back to again and again. Check it out for yourself in this replay video: I have had a long love affair with Matisse. In 2011 I visited the Art Institute of Chicago and wrote about Matisse: "Matisse always reminds me that it takes so few lines to communicate." My feelings haven't changed. One... Read more →

Book Club: Printing by Hand

In case you missed the live version yesterday, here's the replay of Book Club: It's a very pretty book with lots of good information and perfect for beginners. It's a great overview of stamping, stenciling, and screen printing. Think of it as a taster or sampler to whet your appetite for diving deeper. Here are two of the samples I shared during the video: Both of these are fabric. The first one is screen printed and the second is stenciled. And here is some screen printing on top of painted deli paper: I use water-based screen printing inks and I... Read more →

June Book Club Replay

I surprised myself with how much I learned by reading and doing the exercises in Gerald Brommer's book, Collage Techniques. It felt a little bit dry and academic at first (and it is), but once I started trying out the exercises (which didn't look that interesting to me at first), I really got into it. Here's a replay of June's Book Club meeting all about this fine book: Here are a few of the things I made based on the book & shared during the Book Club meeting: I experimented with materials, adhesion methods, styles, and much more. It really... Read more →

Two Replays: May Book Club & Social Media Panel

Grab a cup of coffee (and maybe a mindless art project). Today I'm sharing two replays of recent live events. First up is May's Book Club, which was hosted on Facebook Live: This month's book was Maria Shell's book, Improv Patchwork. In the Book Club video, we talk a lot about value and I share several tools for ascertaining value, such as a gray scale value tool and red & green value tools. If you watch the video replay on my Facebook page, you can read the comments in real time as they were posted during the live event. Press... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: May 2020 into June 2020

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. You can find new Art Journal Every Day posts here on the blog... Read more →

Library Book Book Reviews: February 2021

I thought that I would resurrect an old blog feature: Book Club...but with a twist! If you listen to the podcast then you know that I love our local library. And I love requesting books from different library branches all over the state of Massachusetts and being able to pick them up at my local library. For free. A public library truly is an amazing thing! One of the main ways that I use my library is to figure out whether or not a book is buy-worthy. Over the years I've bought a ton of books online -- based on... Read more →

Books, Books, Books!

I think we're always learning, but some periods are more active than others. I happen to be in an active learning period at the moment. So far in 2015, I've been a student in three art classes, with another one scheduled for this weekend. I've also been buying art/craft books like a crazy person. Here's my most recent haul: I haven't managed to really work through any of them yet, but here's a run down of what I bought: Jean-Michel Basquiat by Dieter Buchhart, Glenn O'Brien, and Jean-Louis Prat After standing in MoMA and staring at this mixed media collage... Read more →

Crafty Book Wish List

What's on your crafty book wish list? Here are three books that I've been eyeing: Did you know that Louis Armstrong was a collage artist? I first read about this book on The Ink Pad's blog. And now Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong is in on my wish list! Here's a bit about the book from Amazon: Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong is a biography in the form of an art book. It tells the story of Armstrong's life through his writings, scrapbooks, and artworks, many of which have never been published... Read more →