Wednesday, June 17, 2009

June 20th Coffe3s

June 20th Coffe3S

(coffee and cake)

Drop in between 11-3!

Come help us celebrate Anne Taylor's birthday!

Summer Online Classes

Here are some of the workshops planned for the Spring/Summer session at Creative Creative Chick Studios online. Sign ups are on my website.

Felt Pins

Lizard-srsorrell

2 Lessons/Open Enrollment

$24.00US

June through August 30th (date has been extended)

Make cute little felt pins for you and your friends. Easy to put together and no sewing experience involve. ;) I have made this class an open enrollement class..so pop in any time!!

www.creativechick.com

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"Monoprinting"

example of Frottage print

6 Lessons/6 weeks

$60.00

July 7-August 11

www.creativechick.com

The Monoprinting workshop will have the students explore the different techniques in monoprinting on fiber. A variety of fabrics will be used to create new textures, designs, and examples for future fiber art. The workshop consist of 6 lessons and the 6th lesson will have the student pick from the different images he/she has created through out the workshop to use in a final project. The class discussions, critiques and brainstorming will be used to further the creative process. The workshop is a methods workshop and is meant to inspire the student to think "outside the box". (If you want to buy a pattern to use for your final project that is okay. I know that Joggles has some cool patterns and you can use your new designed fabric for pattern projects. Some people are pattern people and the purpose of this lesson is to go beyond just using commercial fabrics in your fiber art.)

Lesson 1- Developing Images and Ideas, Collecting Materials,

Sun Printing

Lesson 2-Frottage Printing

Lesson 3-Mono Printing on Glass or Plexiglas

Lesson 4-Freezer Paper Prints, Fusible Prints

Lesson 5-Gelatin Prints

Lesson 6-Shaving Cream Prints/ String Prints

www.creativechick.com

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Creative Embroidery-Organic Design

6 Lessons for 6 Weeks

Cost 60.00 US

July 15th- August 12

www.creativechick.com

This workshop will show the students how to learn to think in threads. The experience will be a way to search for new way of working in embroidery and mixed media. Organic designs will be the focus of the workshop with a twist. The lessons will also have other mediums included to give the students a more personal interest in each of their embroidery studies. Each lesson will be a small study in new ways of creative expression. Simple stitches will be used, so no formal training in embroidery is needed. Students will need a sense of adventure and a visual sense, attuning the eye to form, color, tone and texture. There is a requirement that students have access to a digital camera or 35mm camera. (A digital camera is the best, that way you can delete and manipulate photos in the lessons)

Lesson 1-Stitch Exploration

Lesson 2-Seeds and Pods

Lesson 3-Looking down and around outside

Lesson 4-Under a Microscope

Lesson 5- Earth

Lesson 6- Universe

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Fiber Collage-Art Quilting

Caroline's Old Woman

6 Lessons/6 Weeks

$60.00 US

All Levels, designed for the beginner

www.creativechick.com

Fabric Collage workshop is developed from the tradition of quilting and adding the creativity of art.

Taking scraps of fabric, appliqué, threads, beads and embellishments to open up a whole new world of possibilities for self-expression. Fabric collage can lend itself to be abstract, naive, complex or childlike. Designs can come from popular culture, sayings, songs, or stories.

This workshop is for all levels, and no sewing machine is required. Fabrics can be used clothing or bought from a store. Needle and thread are used like drawing tools to add details and color to a piece of fabric. Beads and embellishments make the piece glimmer and three-dimensional. There is no right or wrong way to do it, be experimental and make it as complex or easy as you wish. Think of it as a miniature quilt that has had “glamour" make over!!! The funkier...the better! You don't need any sewing skills; this is about expressing yourself with cloth!!!

Lesson 1: Overview of Materials, Quilt sandwich

Lesson 2: Design and Appliqué

Lesson 3: Drawing with Thread

Lesson 4: Beading (part 1) Simple

Lesson 5: Beading (part 2) Complex

Lesson 6: Embellishments

Sunday, May 17, 2009

What to expect from a workshop with me. :)

What to expect from one of my workshops (on location and online)

1. Sign up for my workshop with an open mind.

A workshop is a place to try new techniques and ideas. If you approach the workshop by doing what you’ve always done, the way you’ve always done it, you defeat the purpose of the new experience, saturated in creativity.

2. Keep a journal.

I think it is a good idea to keep a journal whenever you are taking a workshop to jot down notes. This will help you relive your workshop experience later on, when you need inspiration or a reminder of what you learned

3. Have a camera on hand and take photos.

Record your work in progress and if you are on location, your fellow students and their work and any demos your instructor may do. Sometimes it’s the little things that you miss that make a difference, and photographs don’t miss much. Take photos of things you come upon in life to use for future workshops and ideas

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4. Ask questions.

There’s no such thing as a silly question at a workshop. No questions. . . no answers.

5. Avoid the cookie cutter syndrome.

Don't try and do everything exactly like I do it. Choose your own colors and images. Make it personal and use what I show you as a jumping off point.

An instructor should meet you ”where you are” in terms of your art knowledge. This is not to say a beginner or someone looking for guidance in buying supplies or trying a new technique should not take instructor’s suggestions—but you’ve all seen classes of ‘cookie cutter’ students where you can pick out the instructor by looking at the work the class has done, and that’s what you want to avoid.I don't like working from a pattern. I will not be giving you an image and you have to produce that image.

6. Network—and be a sponge.

Rarely will you have the opportunity to be in a creatively charged atmosphere where you can eat, sleep and breathe art. Take the time to learn from AND get to know your fellow students. . . some of the most enduring friendships begin in a workshop. If you are taking an online class, make your fellow students friends on Face Book, Flicker, Twitter, Stumble Upon, etc. This way you can exchange ideas after the class in over.

7. Experiment with all types of art supplies.

I use certain fabric paints, but they work for me. Try different paints, threads, beads, etc. Go with the "What If? question.

8. Give yourself time to catch on.

If you’ve never attended a fiber art workshop before or you are new to fiber art, it may be a little overwhelming. Cut yourself some slack when things don’t go perfectly right from the start.

9. Don’t necessarily expect finished you piece at the end of the workshop.

If your goal is to come away with finished pieces, then you’re going to miss out on a lot of other stuff. It’s always tempting, of course, but you’ll learn much more if you focus on accomplishing individual techniques instead.

I want you to have a wonderful learning experience from my workshops, don't get frustrated when you don't finish something by the end of the week. This goes for my on location workshops and online workshops. I want you to open yourself up to new experiences and go with the flow. There are other workshops out there that teach this method of "here is the project and you will have one at the end of the class" and that is great. I want to go a step above that and help you tap into your creative mind.

10. Don't take a workshop with me and expect for me to pour my all my art knowledge to you.

It has taken me over 20 years to get where I am and there is no way I can put all of that knowledge and life experience into a capsule for you to swallow. I will answer all of your questions and help you any way I can, but I had a student make the comment that she had to drag information out of me. Which is really funny, since I can't shut up when I am teaching.

When I am teaching a workshop I have a class outline and teach to that class outline. If there is something else that interests you, I am more than willing to help. :) But there is no way I can teach you everything I know, so don't expect me too. That is like me taking a cooking class and wanting a chef to teach me every cooking style in one week! When I take a workshop with a teacher I am taking that class to learn from that person, but also to get to know that teacher on a personal level. That gives me insight on how they produce their artwork and that is what drew me to their work and workshop in the first place. If they are teaching different methods on dyeing fabric, I don't expect them to also teach me block printing on fabric too...that is a different class.

I hope this helps you find your way through one of my workshops and deciding if it is for you or not. I don't want anyone to sign up for one of my classes and not get what they expected.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

New Slide Show of Susan's artwork

Friday, February 13, 2009

Coffe3S

Come Hang out with Anne and I at the studio every 3rd Saturday of the month-hence the name Coffe3S. (Coffee every 3rd Saturday) We thought it would be a great idea to sit around and chat about art. There will be coffee and great conversation, so if you don't have any thing to do..drop by between 11-3ish. We will be doing our thing and would enjoy the company.

Up coming Coffe3S will be

June 20th
July 18th
August 15th
Sept. 19th
October 17th
November 21st
Dec. 19th

Monday, January 5, 2009

What is Happening at Creative Chick's Studio

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Upcoming Workshops

Here are some of the workshops planned for the Spring session at Creative Creative Chick Studios online. Sign ups are on my website.

Felt Pins

The Karma Fairy-srsorrell

2 Lessons/Open enrollment

$24.00US

April 15th -July 1st

Make cute little felt pins for you and your friends. Easy to put together and no sewing experience involve. ;)

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"Doodle Designs"

6 Lessons/6 weeks

$60.00

April 15-May 19

Have you ever wondered what you could do with that doodle on the napkin or notepad? A doodle can be a way to awaken your sense of creativity and self-discovery. This type of drawing is born of intuition and is a great tool for connecting with your inner voice. I believe a doodle can spark a series of artworks when you are stumped for ideas. This type of “play” is important to everyone who wants to grow creatively. I use doodles as the basis of a lot of my own artwork and it has helped me to expand my artistic voice.

In this workshop, students will be using doodle drawings as a basis for embroidery and fiber art pieces. We will take doodle drawings that been inspired by “prompts” to see how you interpret ideas into drawings and expand them into abstract works of art. A variety of art materials will be used to help discover your inner child. No drawing experience is needed, just a sense of fun.
Open to all levels.

Lesson 1 Doodling
Lesson 2 Paper Collage Doodle
Lesson 3 Stamp Doodle
Lesson 4 Fabric Collage Doodle
Lesson 5 Embroidery Doodle
Lesson 6 Fabric Paint Doodle

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The Nature of Embroidery-Fertile Earth

Nature has been used for thousands of years in all art forms. It has been portrayed in all aspects of fiber art and has played a large role in all cultures around the world. Textile crafts such as weaving, lace, knitting, crochet, embroidery, quilting and rug making utilize details from our “Mother Earth”. I believe that every artist can be helped to find different ways of designing by looking at nature in more perceptive ways. We can all look at the same subject matter and it will always be unique to that person. With the following lessons, I hope to inspire students to take a fresh look at the world around them. Also, by taking the theme of Nature and exploring its different facets and design possibilities, you can develop a very personal and creative approach to these embroideries. We will also collect things for an idea box and use an art journal to paste images, draw sketches and ideas for our work and future projects. Working on one lesson over a period of time can produce a multitude of ideas, which can be developed further. While one idea can lead to another, sometimes the end result resembles nothing like the starting point. Plus, in our lessons we will experiment with background fabrics to be an integral part of the designs.

In this workshop, we will use a variety of techniques to create embroideries that will involve drawing, painting, collage, photography, and printing. I will touch on design, pattern, and texture, but you don’t need to know how to draw.

This will be a hand sewing class and a sewing machine is optional.

All levels are welcome and all you need is a sense of creative fun and wanting to learn.

6 Lessons for 6 Weeks
Cost 60.00 US
May 26th-June 30th

Lesson 1-Vegatables/Fruits
Lesson 2-Flowers
Lesson 3-Weeds/Fugus Lesson 4-Leaves/Trees/Scrubs
Lesson 5- Shells/Rocks/Stones
Lesson 6- Landscapes (nature at a distance)

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Creative Chick Studios Blog

This year I hope to focus on my blogging more this year. I really am a terrible writer, thank that is why I like Twitter so much..try and get a thought across in 140 characters. But I have decided to open my blog up to other artists and creative types who want to tell the world about who they are and what they do. Yes, it is a form of promoting and marketing yourself, but I know there are a lot of fasinating people out there and I want to share them to my readers. It can be a previous post on your own personal site and I am open to suggestions. Please pass this along to your friends and have me shoot me an email at sorrell@creativehick.com.

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If you haven't signed up for the Creative Embroidery Ring

Please come and join us if you do cool and creative embroidery!!

Remember to sign up the Creative Chick Yahoo group for any announcements that don't make the newsletter.

Please use the group to keep in touch with other classmates, ask questions about a certain class, add a link to your website, post your work in a file for others to see!!

And if you haven't joined the Fiber Art/Mixed Media Ning Group, we are now over 1000+ strong! We have members from all over the world and they are posting some awesome artwork! Pass it on to your artsy friends!!!

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Facebook

I have been using Facebook and have met up with a lot of old friends and met some new ones too.It is cool to hook up with other fiber artists and seeing what they are doing. I think it is an excellent networking too! If you join up, send me a friend request to Susan Robin Sorrell!!

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Friday, December 19, 2008

Flickr Groups for Susan's online classes

Flickr Groups

I have started flickr.com groups for each of my classes.(To join Flickr.com is free!) If you want to display your work for others to see, please follow these links to each group. I will be adding more groups for the other classes I will be teaching in the future. Also, if you are interested in taking one of my classes, you can view student work on these web pages.

Fiber Collage Workshop

http://flickr.com/groups/fibercollage

Personal Symbols Workshop

http://flickr.com/groups/personalsymbols

Monoprinting Workshop

http://www.flickr.com/groups/monoprinting-creativechickstudios