Empty Spools - Sue Benner "Abstraction" class 03-11-17

It is taking more time than I thought it would take, but here are some pictures from the Sue Benner workshop at Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar, CA.  More tomorrow.

Del, the Hulk, with Sue Benner  03-08-17

The inspiration at top left and the five abstractions.

The two on the left are from the window in back of the sofa.  The monochromatic is from the chair inn the front left corner and, of course, the one on lower right is from the pillows on the sofa.

 

Realistic abstraction.

Color change abstraction.

Cushions on sofa.

Abstraction of window behind sofa.

 

First, Sue had us all stand in a circle, each with five pieces of fabric cut six inches square.  We then swapped one fabric with the people on each side.  I missed the part about "different" fabrics and had made all mine the same, resulting in only having three fabrics to work with instead of five.   The brown and the grey were the exchanged fabrics. 

 

For our first assignment Sue gave each student an image from a magazine.  No choices, just take what she gives you and abstract it using the five fabrics we exchanged.  Sort of like throwing someone in the pool and saying sink or swim.  We all swam, with differing degrees of success.  In my piece the penguins became five spikes. 

Elaine Pappas-Puckett brought the image at top left from home and used it to do the next assignment which was to abstract that image in five different ways.  She was particularly attracted to the curved, diagonal line in her inspiration picture.

For her first assignment Elaine interpreted the image on the left.  I can't tell what it is.

Karynn Dittmar's first assignment is at the top.  The second down is an abstraction of a field of wild flowers at Anza Borrego, taken some years ago.

Karynn's tree photo at top resulted in two abstracts in fabric.

Barb Virtue based her five abstracts on the photo at top left, taken in Canada.

Barb's first assignment evolved from the picture of a tornado on the right. 

 

More pictures tomorrow. 

 

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Contining driving home 03-10-17

Last night Blogger wouldn't let me post pictures.  So, I will try again.  Hope to post class pictures tomorrow night. 

This is on the inland side of Hwy 152 which goes along the side of San Luis Reservoir located between Hwy 101 and I-5.  This is the first time for a number of years that I have seen water in this extension of the reservoir.

Going around the top end of the reservoir, the lowest spot in the distance is the dam.

Same as above a little further along.

Looking west across the reservoir.  And, yes, the color is pretty accurate.

On the inland side of the highway are the rolling hills, now a bright Irish green.

Further south on I-5 just south of the Stockdale Highway, on both side of the road, are flooded fields.  Some years in the distant past I would see flotillas of ducks and once a dozen or so white pelicans floating here.  Only a few ducks this time.  

 

Looking to the west the water stretches out in the fields.

Trees that have taken hold in the last five years stand in the water.

 

As a contrast, here is San Luis Reservoir in a drier year.

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Drive home San Juan Bautista to Placentia 03-09-17

It was a long day and though I took a nap when I got home I am still wiped out.  Age, I guess.  The drive wasn't bad until I got to Pasadena on the 210 Fwy.  Then it was creep, creep, creep.  During non drive time it takes about thirty minutes, today it took an hour and 45 minutes and I arrived home at 4:45pm, making it seven hours and 45 minutes on the road.  So tiring.  But earlier in the day it was an easy and pleasant day - sunshine and not too hot outside.  Stopped for gas and also to return a phone call.  The law in California now is that you cannot hold your cell phone in your hand whilst driving.  You need to buy a gizmo that attaches to the dashboard to hold your phone and I haven't done that yet.  Can't imagine where I will put the gizmo as the dash is pretty well filled already.

 

Empty Spools - Day Five 03-07-17

I think I may be getting too old for this sort of event.  I was too tired to post last night and tonight I am even more exhausted.  Tomorrow is only half a day, but we need to pack up during that time - both our sleeping rooms and classrooms.  I went to the classroom after the evening program tonight and packed up almost everything, but only did two hauling trips to the car.  Whew.  Maybe some of the younger ladies will help me tomorrow. 

 

There is some wonderful work in the class, but all I will show you tonight is part of my work.  I seemed to have failed to take pictures of the other two exercises.  Guess I will show them later. 

This is the image I chose to work with.

The first 8X10 pieced is a realistic abstraction.

Then we were to do four others with different abstractions.  I chose several places in the picture to focus on.  These are both from the same area of the original image.  Can you locate the area?

 

I am going to bed now - and it isn't even midnight.  Hopefully I will have more pictures for you tomorrow evening - with the permission of the artists. 

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Empty Spools Day Three 03-05-17

I was so busy trying to catch up in class that I didn't take a single picture today.  I have three seatmates in an arrangement of four tables in the NW corner of Scripps classroom - one is a speed queen and the other three - Susan, Mea, Del - are all snails.  I am the furthest behind and spent the entire afternoon cutting and fusing the fabrics I have selected for my palette.  I've learned over the past 26 years that I have been coming in Empty Spools that I will not have the right fabrics no matter how much thought I give to the selection.  So, I just pull a bunch of fabrics in different colors and textures and hope something will work.  I may get by with not needing to buy any fabric this trip.  Sometimes I am a dreamer!  But I also brought a box of scraps and a box of miscellaneous silks, rayons, sheers, glitzies, and clothing construction scraps collected over the past forty (or longer) years and I don't intend taking them home again.  I did find in that big box a few pieces I can use for accents.  My tablemates are very willing to share what they brought, so there is a great variety of fabric available to me. 

 

Dinner tonight at Il Vecchio a super Italian restaurant in Pacific Grove.  I love the Carbonara, which they make from scratch - perfect al dente.  I am not enjoying the food this year in the Asilomar dining all.  I understand they have a new executive chef, that may be the problem.   Cardboard fish, rubbery compressed turkey, ersatz turkey pot pie - even the desserts are less than expected. 

 

Rain a couple times this morning and the wind was blowing all day.  It is cold tonight, 42F at 11:30pm.  Prediction of 59F tomorrow with partially cloudy skies.

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