Happy Fall Equinox! The Night Studio is in full swing as we wind up summer and head into October. Molly, my friend and the co-founder of Rock Paper Store, and I are working on another collaboration. This time it is a three-part series of workshops we call Rock Raven. You can see more about Rock Paper in general and our workshops on the Rock Paper website. It's a great sheet for paper sculpture.
You know me, I love Ravens! And sugar skulls are so cool—with the Day of the Dead coming up, it seemed a timely topic. Hmmm, we needed a third subject. Molly loves flowers so she requested I teach a flower workshop, too. The three subjects work really well together (see below) and yet you can do each workshop as a stand-alone if you prefer. I even made a stop-motion Short Spooky Movie out of the parts...but more about that later.
Above are a few of the ways I've put the parts together. I've arranged them around a photo my sister took of me (my hair was so short!) with a raven at Bryce Canyon. We traveled to Utah 10 years ago on an epic sister trip. That is where I fell in love with ravens, I think!
Molly and I really wanted this to be more than just a fun project with an October vibe. We also wanted to teach you skills you could take away to add to your own art practice. So, each Rock Paper class focuses on different skills.
Paper Flowers: Two sculpture techniques: 3-dimensional flowers (marigolds) and bas-relief flowers (calla lilies). These are not your typical paper flowers. They're even waterproof!
I'm teaching this class LIVE on Zoom October 10, 7pm -9pm EDT*
Hurry, because Molly tells me October 2 is the cut-off for the flower workshop in order to get your kits in time.
You can still order after that, but you might not have your supplies for the live Zoom.
Painting Sugar Skulls: The kit for this class even includes the paint and brushes. We will discuss different ways to apply the paint, and how Rock Paper behaves with water media.
I'm teaching this class LIVE on Zoom October 18, 7pm -9pm EDT*
Rock Raven: My most often requested class...learn how to create feather details, layering for extra "fluff", plus the shaping of the body (These techniques work for other birds, too).
I'm teaching this class LIVE on Zoom October 26, 7pm -9pm EDT*
*Don't worry if you can't attend the live workshops, the Rock Paper kit comes with access to the recording of the Zoom workshop, so you can watch it later.
Each class has its own kit with the supplies you will need including the Rock Paper. If you've never worked with this mineral-based sheet, now's a great time to try it out with me on Zoom. You can order the kits for any of these workshops (there's a discount if you order all three) directly from the papermaker...RockPaper.Store/rockraven
Molly did a great job selecting the perfect colors and weights for these projects. Everything you need to make the project is in the kit except the scissors. I've made templates for everything, so you don't even need drawing skills. These classes are a good jumping-off point, and once you know my handy tips and tricks you can branch out from there.
I often make paper sculptures to frame in a shadowbox to put on a wall. But, Rock Paper is so versatile, there are tons of ways to display your paper sculptures. Rock Paper is waterproof, you can even put it outdoors! Above are some display ideas I played around with at my house. I can't wait to see what ideas everyone else comes up with!
We hope you will join us on Zoom and try out some new materials and techniques. This is the second year Molly and I have done this collaboration. Some of you might have attended the Rock Paper Leaf workshop we did last November. (We're excited to have some repeat students from last year already signed up!)
Rock Paper Store is a woman-owned small business in Cincinnati, Ohio. Molly takes great care of her customers!
I am a full-time artist in Jamestown, NY. You can find links to my socials, etc. here.
Thanks for reading all this—I don't communicate through blogs very often, but felt this topic was one I wanted to expand on because I am so passionate about it! Next week is the full moon and I update you on some exciting international news, so watch your inbox for Snippets. Snippets drops on each full moon to my VIP list. If you're not already on that list, say "YES" to Snippets here.
Now for that stop-motion clip I promised...I love playing the the parts of the paper sculptures before I glue them down. As soon as I finished working on this series, I knew I had to do a stop-motion video. I use a phone app called Stop Motion Studio. It's really fun, so I thought I would add it here so you can see it. (Click full screen, it's under 30 seconds.)
Thanks, everyone for all your interest and support of the arts (and for your kind words about my artwork and workshops)!
Cheers, Wendy
P.S. To watch me describe The Rock Raven Workshop series in a short video, tap here.
P.P.S. Remember, please order kits by October 2 to get in time for the first workshop!
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