Birdboy et al............

This weekend I took a workshop in Avon Lake with Michael deMeng.......It was FABULOUS! The people were FANTASTIC, the Instructor was AMAZING, and the artwork was DIVERSE. I can't say enough about Ginny and John from Small Studios who hosted the two day event. They are wonderful people! Now on to some specifics. ....

The workshop -Island Of Demented toys.......The first day covered the deconstruction and reassemblage of toys. All kinds! Demos included using a dremel, sanding, and how to assemble the pieces using Aves apoxie clay. Great stuff.....not cheap, but excellent. I worked with it some but mainly I used Pearl paperclay. For my classroom and budget, it is cost prohibitive, but without a doubt the better option. It was harder and dried much faster than the paperclay. We also had demo's over Golden Acrylic paints and their uses. Gorgeous, vibrant, colors..fantastic combinations with colors called jelly brains, barnacle blue and gothish black. Day two continued with more demos over the paints and finished with a class critique. DeMeng discussed every single piece that was created. Giving a full review and suggestions for each artist and their work.

I enjoyed his workshop more than any other I have gone to recently and look forward to attending more from DeMeng and from Small Studios in the future! I came away with a lot to use in in my classroom and in my studio.  I highly suggest that if the chance arises, you should go to one and take me  with you:) Now on to the pics! Be warned they are not finished and a little creepy, and as I often tell my students, A little creepy can be a good thing! I think that with this workshop, the summer crow series is going to go in a slightly different direction......