Cross-training in the Arts!

Kiln-Fused Glass Garden Sculpture

 PART 1

So..... I'm Cross-training......                                                                                              huh????

Cross-training is athletic training in sports other than the athlete's usual sport. The goal is to improve overall performance. It takes advantage of the particular effectiveness of one training method to negate the shortcomings of another. In business, companies will often cross train employees so that they gain an understanding of other parts of the business.

Lately I have been cross-training as well, but not in the usual way. No exercise machines or athletic regimens here in the art studio. Well I do participate in an exercise program three times per week and since it is dance-based, I am combining arts and athletics. So maybe that's how I've come to refer to my other forays into various media as cross-training.

So how does a painter cross-train? 

So how does a painter cross-train? Usually by working in other media to help enhance their skills. In all visual art forms we work with composition, color, value, line, form, shape, repetition, rhythm and emphasis. And sometimes when we work in the same media all the time we get a bit stale and need to spice things up. 

When I was teaching children's classes I worked in various media (paint, clay, wire sculpture, construction paper, crayons) and I found that whatever I was teaching to the children always influenced my personal artwork. And I was more experimental and willing to try new things because I was working with so many different types of art when I worked with young students.

Now that I'm not working with children I need to do a little something different every now and then to keep my ideas fresh. So I've been working with glass, which I love. Many years ago I created several stained glass pieces and loved the luminous quality of the light passing through colored and textured glass.

A little over a year ago I had an opportunity to learn kiln-fused glass techniques at the Eye Studio. I loved the way I was able to experiment with composition in such a tactile manner, moving glass pieces around until I was satisfied with the result. 

I made several functional pieces (bowls, trays, plates etc) and just a couple of decorative wall pieces. This is my first garden sculpture, and in this piece I have returned to a familiar subject for me: Land, Sky, Water. Many of my functional pieces are themed around a series I call "The Land Between the Waters".

I haven't broken away too much from the 2-dimensional format in this piece, but perhaps the next will be a little more 3-dimensional.

GLASS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY I CROSS-TRAIN

Stayed tuned for Cross-training Part 2.

Related Post: 

http://joanapplebaumart.blogspot.com/2016/12/renewing-love-affair.html

Renewing a Love Affair

Well, I'll bet I got your attention with that title!!!!

Over the last few months I've been renewing my love affair with glass. Several years ago I fell in love with stained glass and did quite a few pieces like small lamps and window hangings. My most ambitious pieces were two sidelight windows for my front door. But after I stopped taking classes I stoped working with glass, mainly due to issues of space and I wasn't keen on using lead solder in the house. I could have used unleaded solder, but it doesn't flow as well. So I put glass aside and went back to painting.

Last winter I decided to take a class in Kiln Fused Glass at Ilene Layow's Eye Studio. I renewed my love affair with glass (oh the colors, the luminosity, the subtle ripple effects!!!) and I have been taking classes on and off since then. For some reason I really love cutting and breaking glass! And okay it's another way of working with color, light, form and design: some of the things I am most concerned with in my paintings.

Pictured above are a few of the most recent pieces, all done with the intention of giving them away as gifts (it is that time of the year). The red, green white candy dish is a contemporary take on Christmas, the four blue and yellow combinations with red sprinkles (frit) are dessert plates, to be used at any time of the year, but they would be nice for Chanukah as well. And the yellow and red dish is an "any time of the year dish".

Here are a few close-ups.

The Land Between the Waters

I've also been working on and off with a series which I call the Land Between the Waters. My life, especially in the summer is all about spending time at camp on Grass Lake and over on The St. Lawrence River where I teach art classes and show my work. So the series began with that idea of me being on the land between the waters. The series blossomed into several pieces where the land, either green or brown glass, winds its way through undulating blue patterns. Some pieces I have kept, some given away.

The first piece in the series--going with a beachy look.

The piece above belongs to my son Michael and his wife, who also live in the land between the waters in the Pacific Northwest.

Green and blue combinations are the colors of the lake: blue in the distance and green in the bay as the green trees reflect their color into the water.

Today I created a piece where the water runs through two pieces of land, just another variation on a theme. If it comes out good, I'll post it.

And for old time's sake here is one of the sidelights in stained glass that I mentioned at the beginning of the post.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Ilene Layow's Eye Studio where I take my Kiln Fused Glass classes is moving in the next few weeks. When the Studio moves into the new and much larger space I will be teaching Watercolor Classes. I'll keep you posted!

Here's the link for the Eye Studio.

https://www.iteacharts.com