Danny Gregory

I asked my friend and mentor, Danny Gregory, for favor for a project I'm working on and here's what he wrote.

"With pen and brush, Jane LaFazio has been turning the stuff of her life in to a sumptuous, varied work of art Her experimentation and dedication to journaling are a constant revelation and inspiration."

"Illustrated journaling is the a wonderful way to integrate creativity into your life, to record the blessings your receive everyday, and to reveal the world as a richer and more beautiful place."

your pal,
Danny

Gosh, this makes me so very happy! Thank you dear Danny!

(Oh, and don't forget I'm one of the featured artists in Danny's recent book "An Illustrated Life." )

pom and persims

I love fall. Pomegranates and Persimmons are so great to paint. This was another continuous line/direct to ink.

winery tomatoes

I taught 2 people today the winery, another of my one-on-one sketching & watercolor: journal style classes. It was farmers market today, so I bought some heirloom tomatoes to draw and paint.

winery rose

another from the winery today. The rose was difficult because we didn't have the right red and the rose was so deep and brilliant in the sunshine..I probably should have included a leaf or two..but hey, I was talking and teaching...

Quilt Festival Long Beach 2010

Great news! I've been selected to teach two workshops at the International Quilt Festival at Long Beach 2010! I'll be teaching my Quiltlets in the morning and this one Floral Rubber Stamps: Design & Carve your Own in the afternoon. So mark your calendars for Thursday, July 22! Really, I'm very proud and amazed to be chosen to teach at a festival of this caliber! woohoo!

Cyanotype

Cyanotype on paper. This is 8.5 x 13 inches and frankly, I like it!

Art Quilts Exploration Classes

My popular Art Quilts Exploration class is open for registration. Now, I realize the class doesn't start until January 24th, but I wanted you, my loyal blog readers to know first. It's a once a month (4th Sunday of the month, from 12-3) for 6 sessions, and there will be no class in May and July. One must register through Quilters Paradise in Escondido, where the class is held. It's a total bargain at $120, and sorry, no make up classes. Call (760) 738-9677 to register. Not to mention, it's a ton of fun.

This piece is a fused collage called "Etruscan Bird" and we'll be learning this technique in one of the classes.

etruscan bird

Wet-Felting Workshop

This is me, making felt. One does this for about an hour and voila, a fabulous piece of hand made felt. I've planned another wet felting workshop, and this one will be held in Escondido (California) on Saturday, January 9th from 9:30-12:30 and cost $85, which includes plenty of wool roving for a piece about 18x18" piece. Email me if you want to be on the interest list and as we get closer, I'll ask you to commit and pay. (I'm handling registration)

Husb

My dear husb will have his artwork for sale tomorrow at the annual Fundraiser for the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation. The event is Sunday, October 25, from 1:30-4:30 in LaJolla, and costs $50 to attend. Click here for the invitation. He'll have 5 or 6 paintings and sketches for sale.

He asked me to update and print out his 'art' bio for the event, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Don Strom, originally from Seattle, Washington, graduated University of Washington and earned an MBA from San Francisco State University. After a stint in the army, he joined Hewlett-Packard as a member of the personnel department in Palo Alto, California. During his nearly 20-years with Hewlett-Packard, he and his wife, Jane LaFazio, relocated as his career warranted. Don and Jane moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Corvallis, Oregon; Seoul, Korea; Los Angeles; and in 1989, to San Diego, when Don became Site Personnel Manager at Hewlett-Packard in Rancho Bernardo.

June 1992, Don suffered a brain aneurysm in the left side of his brain. He was 46 years old. As a result, Don has aphasia, a language disability. He had to relearn communication, from understanding language, learning the alphabet, and pronunciation, to reading and writing. He battles the symptoms of aphasia daily. After years of perseverance and with continuing therapy, Don has developed a rich and rewarding quality of life. As a Hewlett-Packard executive, he was active in community service, and his family has always valued volunteer work. It was a natural transition from his extremely active management position, to an equally busy life of volunteer activities. Over the years of his disability, he has been active with Palomar Rehab’s "Time to Communicate," Y.E.S.S. (Young Enthusiastic Stroke Survivors), Toastmasters, and San Diego Watercolor Society and the Hewlett-Packard Retirees Club where he was President in 2004. In 1994, became a board member for San Diego Brain Injury Foundation and served for a dozen years (including a term as president and vice president) and continues to run the SDBIF monthly meetings held at Joyce Beers Center in Hillcrest.

Don enjoys sketching and painting on location and works in pen and ink, color pencil and watercolor. He began painting in 2000, and has studied with Helen Shafer Garcia, Jane LaFazio, Walter Brunning, and Norma Soule. His watercolor was selected as the cover art for "Brain Injury Guide for Families" with over 5,000 copies printed in English and Spanish and his painting "Lemons" was featured on notecards for a SDBIF fundraiers. Don has won numerous awards in local art exhibitions for his paintings and drawings

Lillies

This is a 5x5" cyanotype (ah, just my size) and I added stitching to it. I'm going to finish it with a border of some kind.

Another class at the Winery

I taught another one-on-one "Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style" at the winery yesterday. Here's Sherrie with our subject matter.

Another leaf from the Winery

Angel trumpets

Orvieto, Italy 2010 trip

WooHoo! Cooky, Judy, Louise, Maureen and Ruth have signed up for my Bella Italia: Orvieto Sketchbook workshop May 23-29, 2010!! We're going!! There are a few more spaces, so join us! It's going to be fabulous...

Mundo Lindo

I was interviewed yesterday for this article in the North County Times newspaper. You can read the whole article here. And make a donation by mailing it to: California Center to for the Arts, Escondido and sent to the Education Department, Mundo Lindo, California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido, CA 92025.

I'm teaching a kids class this saturday

Self Portraits for kids age 8-12
Bravo School of Art, at NTC in Pt. Loma

Using soft pastel (chalk), create an original self-portrait on colored paper. With gentle instruction on facial proportion and placement of features, children will draw a face and color it in, learning to blend the chalk to their own skin tone. Self-portrait hair color and hair styles are left to their creative judgment!
Fee $23.00
Materials fee $2
Saturday, October 24 11am – 12:30pm
Register here

You can take your kid to the class, have a cuppa coffee, then go to the FALL FESTIVAL & FUN
from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Ingram Plaza at NTC Liberty Station, Point Loma, CA 92106
Bravo School of Art will have a booth and will be offering Mask Making at this event.
A pumpkin patch with pumpkins for sale, a pumpkin carving station, kids crafts, bounce houses, face painters, balloon artists for kids of all ages to enjoy, along with hay rides will be among the many festivities for the day. There will be a costume contest for kids, adults, and your favorite four legged friend.

Balboa Park

they're not all winners...I did this as continuous line, straight to ink, and painted in 25 minutes. Flowers are a heck of a lot easier than architecture!

Queen Annes Lace

Another for my series "Flowers: Realistic to Graphic." I hope to teach this in a workshop, and I'm really having fun with the challenge. I draw the flower from life, then design and hand carve the stamp. The process really appeals to the graphic designer in me.

pom and peppers

I'm trying to draw everyday, directly in ink, a nearly continuous line drawing. I did a couple of practice drawings on cheap paper, then did this one in my Moleskine watercolor journal.

Stargazer Lily Frenzy!

Yesterday I drew these lilies a couple of different times in different arrangements, all directly with pen and very quickly. In this image, I layered two of the drawings (one is on a transparency)