Gallery and Studio News

Opening weekend, workshops, work in progress

Hello dear friends and curious readers,

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since I returned to KC from my travels “back home” at the end of March. Before leaving, I completely tore down and put away my end of the studio so my host could teach her popular encaustic wax painting workshops. I only partially reset my space when I returned, knowing I’d be tearing it all down and resetting it again for my own workshop, Art and Assemblage, happening at the end of this week.

I did start piecing together another collage assemblage. This is in a very (very) rough layout stage, but I can visualize where it is going. Sometimes I have to sit with these things before they really open me to the next step, so we shall see . . .

I have to admit, the disruption seemed to also disrupt my creative flow in the studio, where I had so many projects I couldn’t wait to get back to. It’s been difficult to get back into my own rhythm. At least it was, until I taught Not So Neutral, the first collage focused workshop in my new Collage, Community Connection series, this past Wednesday. Suddenly the wheels are turning again. Collage has a way of doing that for me. To sit with a pile of scraps and container of glue and piece together a work of art, is to bring order out of chaos.

I’ve received so many messages from students who said the class was exactly what the needed. I am really looking forward to the next one in the series—Pattern Play. It’s all online, it’s super affordable, and the supplies are minimal: bring something to glue, something to glue with, and something to glue on.
Find out more at this link.

Speaking of rough layout stage, something between the patterns in these scraps seemed connected when I saw them laying in a pile, so I moved them around a bit and snapped this picture. I didn’t see the path in that middle element clearly until I looked at it on the screen. I love the interplay between these random elements.

I’m shifting my energy towards resetting for my upcoming on location workshop, pulling out all the stuff I’ve been saving and contemplating the best way to organize—how to lay out the work stations and set up student tables, which order to present the demos, and how to manage a class with so many possibilities.

That is the way it is with so many of the workshops I teach. I’m not fond of project based classes where everyone creates the same thing in the same order. I offer a smorgasbord of options, with lots of guidance through the process to help everyone decide which they’d like to focus on. Whenever I teach an assemblage class, the energy in the studio is crazy exhilarating fun. Everyone is moving around the space, interacting, laughing, discovering, creating.

There’s plenty of room for an additional worktable, so two more seats are available if you’re the type to make plans last minute. The supply list is manageable for a class like this. Slide in with some old art and your own collected, salvaged, and found materials, or show up with nothing at all if you want to. Go here for all the details and registration info.

In other news, this is opening weekend at Cappaert Contemporary Gallery, where I am newly represented. Here’s a little video peek at the space where you can catch a glimpse of two of my pieces:

If you’re traveling to Door County or live in the vicinity, be sure to stop in. It is a fabulous gallery owned by the uber talented artist, Ginnie Cappaert. You can also visit the website at this link.

And here’s a little something that gave me a chuckle. Crystal Marie, Deeper—my blog, from wence you are receiving this newsletter, is ranked #98 Rising in Art & Illustration on Substack. I have no idea what this means or how they measure these things, but I imagine it’s supposed to motivate me to write more. Someday, I promise, I’ll get back to that.

That’s it for now. With gratitude to you all,
Crystal Marie