recycling at its best!

I had the pleasure of teaching two workshops in New York City last weekend.  Hosted by The Ink Pad, and the terrific Anna and Barbara, we met at the fabulous community center, and spread out our piles of collected cardboard then made some really cool relief sculptures and journals.  Sadly, I didn't get any "under construction" photos of Sunday, but I witnessed some really awesome pages.  It's so fun to work on projects in a real-life class as the group environment is so inspiring – you get to see the discoveries each individual makes because they are at-work, and in-the-moment, where the magic happens.  We all get motivated and encouraged as we progress through the process, each of us in our own way.

First up, What A Relief.  The title is two-fold, we were building dimensional corrugated sculptures, with deliberate cuts, peeling, and piercing to create relief with shadow and texture….but it was likely a relief to only have to bring a minimal collection of supplies.  A knife, cutting mat, pencil, glue….that is all you need to churn out some really cool stuff.  After the pieces were nearly completed, we placed them under glass.  Nothing is more validating than to see your efforts elevated with a frame.  Well done girls!!

Next was DeComposition Journal.  I've taught variations of this class before – one of my favorites, as each artist takes on their own specific direction.  Because of the location, we were able to do some fun stuff that I usually only do at home – not easy to replicate in a classroom.  We poured scented wax into the corrugated grooves – with the assistance of a candle, we burned edges of pages – thanks to access to a sink, and we stepped outside to do some super fun spray painting with stencils.  Swoon!  Thanks for joining me – I can't tell you how much fun it was to see all of you crank out such great stuff.  

I've got more ideas of how to use this non-precious and plentiful supply.  Stay tuned for more cardboard art classes next year!

Up next:  the grand finale to A Year of Cardboard,  with my column for Somerset Studio.