FIRST RESIDENTIAL SCULPTURE CLASS

FIRST RESIDENTIAL SCULPTURE CLASS

Students begin difficult "Goddess" sculpture

Artist and blogger, Judy Wise, made the statement in one of her posts, “Falling in love with students, encouraging them and encouraging myself to take whatever path beckons…” I agree with her completely. If it is possible to fall in love with a class of students, it happened here at Woodloft. I said from the beginning that I just knew very special women would gather here for my first Residential sculpture class. Sure enough, I was blessed to have four fun loving, metaphysically minded and talented students.

Excitement was in the air as I was getting ready for these special women. I do mean excitement. What they didn’t know was that just 3 weeks before the class, my swimming pool decided to give up the ghost. It collapsed with age. That meant I had to find contractors to rebuild my pool and the decking surrounding it. I knew it could be done and I knew it would be done but there were some tense moments. There was just no way I was going to bring my guests here without my swimming pool up and running!

Joe Light delivers sunflowers

Joe Light, whom I jokingly call, Mr. Flower Power, delivered gorgeous sunflowers for the guests to enjoy. Joe can be seen selling his flowers on the Roanoke City Market every Saturday.

Truffles from Chocolate Paper

I purchased chocolate truffle candy from Chocolate Paper, also found on the City Market

Granola breakfast in mason jars and fancy labels

Blogger, Sheree, from Raven Moon Magic sent me lovely stickers that she created and I decided to add them to the granola jars I stored in my refrigerator for breakfasts. Somewhere I read about how fun it would be to place granola with fruit and yogurt, into these jars.

I also quilted face totes to hold each students supplies.

Quilted "face" totes

Finally, the time had arrived. The first student to arrive was Trish who is shown below enjoying appetizers and a margarita.

Trish is greeted by a margarita upon arrival

Each student was given a welcoming caftan to wear for our evening activities, which included drumming with Rudy Saunders. We were amazed at his ability to drum for hours.

Beth adorned in caftan

Laura,of Art From Trails End wears caftan and Goddess Ceremonial Necklace

Rudy shares drumming and stories

On another night, we watched Practical Magic and signed PritiLisa's “Book of Shadows” before beginning our drumming ceremony.

Lisa's "Book of Shadows" placed on top of African drum

Close-up reads "Harm None"

We chanted as we drummed to "Ancient Mother" by Robert Gass, which was recommended by Julie from When the Spirit Moves Me.

Glorious food was served throughout the week by our chef, Stratton St. Clair, including homemade pizzas and I created the desserts to accompany the meals.

Stratton and Diane, a member of our Little Supper Club, prepared homemade pizzas

Diane works on getting pizzas ready for party

Shrimp for alfredo

My Le Gateau Sans Rival dessert

Chicken with forty cloves of garlic being prepared

No one said sculpting is easy and the first two days of the class had the students hopping. I guess I should have mentioned in my brochure that I’m a bit hyper and I definitely crack the whip.

Laura works on bas-relief

Beth works on her "selke" doll

Leslie works on her Goddess sculpture

Trish beginning Goddess sculpture

Beth with sculpture

Laura prepares clay for sculpture

It was not all work though. Ella, my water aerobic’s instructor made an appearance and taught a water class one afternoon.

Ella gives class a real work out.

Quiche luncheon served

Also, Patrick Beale arrived to give massages two nights. Beth was fortunate enough to have a 2 hour massage-it was the luck of the draw.

Patrick and Beth

Food lectures and techniques were given by the chef each lunchtime, including teaching how to make the components of his wonderful lasagna.

Stratton prepares his homemade lasagne noodles

Stratton demonstrates how to make homemade vanilla

Here we are at Roanoke's famous "Star" overlooking the valley

We traveled along the Blue Ridge Parkway with a stop at our Roanoke Star for a view of the valley. Our destination was to have lunch at a quaint vineyard and restaurant called Chateau Morrisette.

It was a beautiful day and we opted to have lunch on the large stone patio with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a bit windy but we didn’t expect the gust that came out of nowhere to lift our red table umbrella completely out of the center of the table. Somehow, when I saw the umbrella swoop up, up and up, I found myself reaching out for the umbrella with my left hand (it pays to be ambidextrous) I was pulled upward with the umbrella (my arm that is) to the point where I looked as though I might swoop over the table and out into the vast mountain range below! Somehow I stopped the umbrella. When the management heard of what happened, they offered all of us a bottle of wine, compliments of the restaurant. We laughed for a long time afterward about the possibility of me flying among the clouds, red umbrella overhead and songs of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” were heard being sung from my car all the way home from the vineyard.

Famous red umbrella

We toured the controversial Taubman Museum and had lunch at the Hotel Roanoke. The Taubman is a fantastic piece of architecture that many in our area felt was too modern to be placed amid the old historic buildings downtown. I personally love it.

Museum picture with H and C coffee and mountain as a backdrop

We were all pretty tired by the time Lisa Plummer arrived at the studio to give a class in SoulCollage. She was rather glad we were relaxed because she said in choosing the pictures we were to gather for our collages, we would be more inclined to be working in our subconscious minds rather then methodically building a collage. As it turned out, we pieced together some incredible artwork, that when read, brought much insight to each of the group.

Lisa Plummer, SoulCollage teacher

The class worked diligently all week and produced an amazing array of finished sculptures including tall standing Goddesses, bas-reliefs and soul dolls.

Laura's finished Goddess

Beth's Celtic Bas-relief journal

Beth's Selke Goddess

Laura's perky bas-relief journal

Laura with all three finished sculptures

Trish and yours truly displaying her finished sculptures

Here Beth and I show off finished work

As you might have guessed, I will be giving the class again next summer with a few twists. I am thinking of having someone model for us as we sculpt. I may also be having a class in glass face mosaics. If you are interested in having me send you brochures on the upcoming classes for next summer, please e-mail me and I’ll send you information as soon as I put it all together with dates and activities. I will also be posting information on my Residential Classes found on the top right hand side of my blog.

I’m posting lots more pictures of the class below for those of you who are interested in seeing all the details.

Thanks for your patience in this very long post. Sorry I haven’t been around to visiting my favorite posts but as you can tell, I’ve been very, very busy. I am hoping to get around to see everyone this week and catch up!

SPELLBOUND

SPELLBOUND

Spellbound painting-without light

Here is another painting I will be exhibiting at MoJo’s Café on August 4-Sept 4th. I used the Renaissance Oil method for this one and added my own collage work. I also added encaustic wax to the background along with a cold processed wax.

Original painting

When I took the painting outside to photograph, the light just poured across her face in a fashion that had me wishing I would have painted it that way. I may go back and add that light. What do you think? Do you like it with or without the light? I appreciate your input. It’s not too late for me to go back and paint in the light and this is not a bad idea for future paintings because this way, I will have the light already there in the picture and can decide if I like it or not. It might be a bit difficult to duplicate.

Full painting with light from sun streaking across

She is 12x24x 1 ½ “ and is on a heavy birch canvas. I have priced her at $245 and she will be available after the show. If you would like me to hold her for you, just e-mail me and we can go from there. I take all credit cards and Paypal.

Close-up

EARTH MOTHER

EARTH MOTHER

"Earth Mother" Original painting

What would the earth look like if it were reborn? I think Earth Mother would give her bountiful mountains, cool streams, raging oceans, cold ice peaks and clear, fresh air. I recently read this quote by Joanna Macy. “The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world. It is that we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world and ourselves and each other.” It was refreshing reading something positive about our environment.

I created Earth Mother after I wrote the story of her. I tried to convey movement and rebirth, regeneration and mystery. Below is the poem I wrote for her.

Earth Mother

There existed..

A mystical, lonely, dimensionless region in the universe.

Void of life… it waited.

Eons passed.

Black holes continued expanding and contracting in an endless universal dance.

Silence.

Earth Mother appeared.

The history of what she must endure was revealed to her. Centuries of war, famine, abuse, and still a need prevailed.

A plan emerged to sanctify the abyss.

She drew together the winds, the seas, the sun baked muds of universes past and most importantly, the stones, who were at one time humans.

The emptiness was filled. A new beginning…Once again,

The earth was born…

~Cheryl Dolby~

Close-up

She looks rather surreal in the evening light

Earth Mother will be part of a collection I am presenting as guest artist for MoJo Café for the month of August. If you are interested in purchasing her, she is priced at $235.00 She is 18x24x2” and will be available after the show on Sept 15th. Let me know and I’ll hold her for you with a sold sign attached. Just e-mail me for more details. Thanks so much.

THE ARTIST AND THE CHEF

THE ARTIST AND THE CHEF

Typical lunch: Curried Fire Roasted Soup with Grilled Tomato and Pesto Sandwiches

With a little less than a month to go, preparations are well under way for my Residential Sculpture School. Excitement and activity abounds here at Woodloft, the name I have given my home. (I believe that you should name anything you love.)

The hardest part for me is cleaning my studio! I'm almost finished

Another view of the studio

My friend, Stratton Wayne St. Clair, will provide us with lovely meals for the 7 day class. Each week he comes over and familiarizes himself with my kitchen. This week, he came up with another of his great ideas. We planned for him to give a small cooking class by showing students how he makes his spectacular, one of a kind, lasagna, each day at lunch. We have now decided to label his teaching time,“Lunchtime with the Chef.” He will teach the students some of his flavor tricks each day as well. Listed below are examples of what we will learn besides making the lasagna. For those of you who want to be here vicariously, and those of you who like to read cookbooks, as I do, I have posted the menu for the class.

Stratton prepares ingredient shopping list

Lunchtime lessons:

How to make your own vanilla.
Peach vinegar
Blueberry vinegar
Homemade ricotta cheese
Smoked sea salts

Lunches:

Muffuletta

Curried Fire Roasted Tomato Soup w Grilled Tomato and Pesto Sandwiches

Linguine with a Sicilian Pistachio and Almond Pesto with salad and bread

Quiche four ways: Canadian Bacon and Swiss... Brocolli and Cheddar... Crabmeat and
Shrimp with Chives... Grilled Vegetables and Herbs with salad

Garlicy and Lemony Broiled Shrimp Scampi with Spicy Spinach and Tomatoes plus a coarse country bread.

2 Lunches at the vineyard and market

For Dinner we are having:

Medallions of Fillet Migion with Lobster Tails in a Newburg Sauce with pan seared Asparagus finished with fresh squeezed orange juice and Asiago Cheese and Roasted New Red Potatoes

Pizza Four Ways: Pizza Neapolitiano (Fresh tomato slices, Basil leaves and Fresh Mozzarella)... Wild Mushroom Pizza... Pepperoni Pizza... Pizza of pan seared grape tomatoes... cheese... olives and shredded Arugula

Chicken with Tomato Onion Gravy with Basmati rice... Tomato, Cucumber and Yogurt salad... Garlic Na Nan and Mint Chutney

Fresh Tuna Steaks Adriadic style with a salsa of olives, capers, tomatoes and basil... White Beans tossed with Garlic, Rosemary and Extra Virgin Olive oil and a salad of Tart Greens with Parmesan and Proscuitto and a warm balsamic dressing

Pulled Pork Bar-b-que (with Chicken for those who don't eat pork) with a homemade tomato Bar-b-que sauce... cole slaw... collard greens and corn on the cob

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic with French Bread and a salad of Mixed Greens, Smoked Salmon, Parmesan Cheese and Black Olives

Lasagna with homemade spinach noodles... homemade Ricotta Cheese... and Heirloom tomato and sausage sauce with a mixed green salad and bread.

W. Stratton

In the meantime, I have been getting Woodloft ready for the class, all the while sampling Stratton's delicious offerings. (Poor me)

Picnic table overlooking pool

Upper deck overlooking the pool

Front deck

Herbs ready for the picking. The chocolate mint is for mint tea, one of the students favorites

Pool and Tiki bar-there will be a big surprise here-I HOPE!!!

BURNING BOWLS

CEREMONIAL BURNING BOWLS

Ceremonial Burning Bowls

Unity Church has a special ceremony each New Year’s Eve. A large bowl is placed at the altar and each member of the church is asked to write down problems or vices they wish to annihilate from their lives.. It could be a wish to quit smoking or drinking. It might be a desire to loose weight or to quit any of a number of addictions. Each person places their list into the bowl and at midnight, the bowl is lit. Everyone watches as the fire burns away all the troubles.

Burning Bowl number 1 "Bronwyn" Approx 6" w x 6" d x 9" h $58.00

Sold. Thank you Dorothy and Cherie!

Years ago, I decided to make small, individual burning bowls. They were a big hit but since they take quite a bit of time to create, I haven’t made them for a long time. Prompted by one of my customers, I decided to give them a go again. So. Here they are. Hope you like them.

Close-up of glass bottom

I created them with stoneware clay. I cut and placed stained glass in the bowl area and then fired in my kiln. After the firing, I embellished them with all sorts of mystical and mysterious looking objects.

Burning Bowl number 2 "Maeve" Approx. 9" w x 9"d x 10" h $86.00

I never know what will emerge from my kiln when I open the door. One time, one of the faces fell flat down and was forever immortalized in glass. Another time, the glass did not melt properly and was sticking up here and there. I never know, even though I do everything exactly the same for each firing. There are technical reasons for it I’m sure, like maybe the temperature of one of the rings in the kiln wasn’t hot enough or maybe the glass was too dense or perhaps the clay not dried enough. Who knows. That is part of the reason I don’t make them too often. This particular batch turned out great and all 4 are for sale. You’ll notice that I made one large one for those of us who seem to have an abundance of problems they’d like to see gone from their life!

Full view of Maeve

Burning Bowl number 3 "Azar" 5" w x 6" d x 11" h $54.00

Burning Bowl number 4 "Brighid" 5" w x 5" d x 9" h $54.00

I've decided to give my students a choice of making either a planter or a burning bowl during the sculpture class I will be giving in August. By the way, there is one more space left!

All are for sale. Please e-mail me for any questions or to purchase. I take all major credit cards and Paypal. Thank you!

THE LACE READER

THE LACE READER

The Lace Reader 16”x20”

Every once in awhile I will read a book that stays with me long after I read the last page. The Lace Reader, by Brunonia Barry, was just such a book. I was so impressed with the women of Ipswich that I felt a need to tell their story through a collaged painting.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

“The Lace Reader must stare at the piece of lace until the pattern blurs and the face of the Seeker disappears completely behind the veil. When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen. In this moment an image will begin to form.in the space between what is real and what is only imagined.”

close-up

“Each reader must choose a piece of lace. It is hers for life. It might be a pattern handed down through the generations or a piece chosen by the Reader for it’s beauty and familiarity. Many Readers prefer the handmade laces, particularly those of old Ipswich or the laces made today by the women of Yellow Dog Island.”

After a few false starts, it became clear to me which direction I wanted to take with the collage. I wanted her to be mysterious and to have the look of a seer, for surely these women of Ipswich are clairvoyant. Even though the story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, a place steeped in witch lore, my woman looks like she might have emerged from Casablanca, Kashmir, Istanbul, Madagascar or Ethiopia.

In the garden

My regular readers will probably notice the change in palette I have used on this collage. Lately, I’ve been using oils for most of my paintings and collages but I was so impressed with the results of a few blogger friends out there who took Jane DesRosier’s class, that I wanted to give her subtle palette a try. I very much enjoyed the lessons. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in shaking up their own artwork a bit. I hesitated signing up for several weeks because I know that often times when you take a class, you tend to pick up the style of the teacher and I like my work to be clearly mine. Jane is generous in her teaching and encourages her students to give her method a go. I tried to put my own spin on Jane’s teachings and hope that future collages will reflect even more change and growth.

“There is lace in every living thing: the bare branches of winter, the patterns of clouds , the surface of water as it ripples in the breeze….Even a wild dog’s matted fur shows a lacy pattern if you look at it closely enough.”

Lace Reader can be purchased directly from me. Just e-mail me for details or through my ebay listing. Price: $325.00 Thank you so much.

I like the way she looks with an orange background.

FILET MIGNON WITH LOBSTER NEWBURG SAUCE

Filet Mignon
with Lobster Newburg Sauce

Filet Mignon with Lobster Newburg Sauce, Asiago Asparagus in Orange Sauce and Roasted Potatoes

Yum! Best word to describe the delicious meal that chef Stratton prepared for my son Charlie and me last night. Stratton is preparing his menu for the all-inclusive sculpture class that I will be having here at my home (Woodloft) in August. The plan is that he comes over every once in awhile and cooks one of the dishes he will be creating for the class so he can familiarize himself with my kitchen and my fancy, yet oh so temperamental, appliances. Tonight, he made Filet Mignon with a delicate Lobster Newburg sauce. He accompanied it with broiled, herbed potatoes and asparagus with an asiago orange sauce.

Charlie enjoys first bite. I think this picture says it all!

The first thing Stratton did when he stepped through the door was to hand me an electric knife sharpener. He said my knives were so dull that he’d have a hard time cutting butter with it. I have to admit, after using those hand held sharpeners, the electric one made a huge difference. My knives are so sharp right now that I just know if I drop one on my toe, the knife will go right through it. I guess many of us are guilty of not keeping sharp knives. I am amazed at how much easier my kitchen chopping is going now that my knives are lethal weapons.

Stratton says that he really doesn’t consider himself a gourmet cook. He just likes to make interesting (and very tasty) food. He says it’s a step up from everyday cooking but not fancy. I sort of disagree with him on that point. It seems to me that everything he cooks is up a notch and is definitely in the gourmet category. Here is the recipe for this wonderful dish. Since Stratton doesn’t write anything down, not even a grocery list, I tried to figure it out as he cooked. I sent him a copy and I was completely wrong! Here is the correct recipe…imagine he actually DID write it down and e-mail it to me!

Stratton Preparing Sauce

Filet Mignon with Lobster Newburg Sauce

Ingredients:

3 lobster tails
3 filet mignon steaks 1 1/2 “ thick
Asiago cheese
Asparagus
New potatoes
2 oranges
Cream Sherry-1/2-1 cup
Cream fraiche
Red wine vinegar
Chives
Oregano
Olive oil
Paprika
3 cloves garlic
S and P

Method:

Pour olive oil in a baking pan. whisk together 1/2 cup oil...1/4 cup red wine vinegar...1+tablespoon brown mustard. Add 3 cloves minced garlic... chives, salt, pepper and fresh oregano (actually any combination of spices work nicely)... quarter the red potatoes and toss in the dressing... bake at 375 cut sides up for 1 hour.

In the meantime:

Season the medallions of meat with a generous portion of salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the oil till hot but not smoking. Sear the meat on both sides until desired tenderness. Remove from pan and set aside... add the 1 cup of Sherry along with the lobster shells and simmer until red... about 10 minutes max. Remove the shells and reduce down to a quarter cup then add the cream fresh and paprika along with the lobster meat. IF the sauce needs to be thickened more have equal portions of butter and flour mixed together and formed into tablespoon sized balls and add 1 at a time to the sauce until it thickens. Remove from heat.

Heat the olive oil in a pan until hot but not smoking. Add the asparagus and sear until bright green. Sprinkle with the cheese and add the orange juice and cover then turn off the heat and allow to steam while you plate up the meal...

Place some of the potatoes on a plate with some of the drizzlings from the pan... place the medallions of meat on it followed by equal portions of the lobster meat and some of the cream sauce... finish by adding the asparagus and serve.

It is a good idea to sauté lobster shells or shrimp shells into sauces for extra seafood flavor.

Filet Mignon

Preparation of Potatoes

Asiago Asparagus with Orange Sauce

As you can imagine, we did choose this as one of the meals for the class.

WELCOME! MANILA ENVELOPES

WELCOME!

MANILA ENVELOPES

Four welcoming envelopes I created for the students

The welcome packets for my upcoming sculpture class in August are finished and ready to mail out to my four special students. Since we will be sculpting lots of faces, I used my sculpted and painted faces as the basis for the manila envelopes. Now for the task of deciding which envelope to send to which student? I think I will use my intuition on this decision.

I used an image of one of my tall standing sculptures and eyes of another one

I loved the picture of the columns so added one of my sculptures and mysterious face

Magazine images, stamps and image of one of my paintings

Labyrinth from my laundryroom plus faces and sculptures

In addition to our sculpture class, I was able to lock in several exciting visiting guests. Lisa Plummer of “Groggy Froggy” fame, has agreed to teach the class her method of Soul Collage. Also, Rudy Sanders, spectacular drummer, will teach a class in drumming with a drumming ceremony to follow. Ella, water aerobic instructor extraordinaire, will give us a water work out one afternoon. I was also lucky enough to have Patrick Beale agree to give each student one of his spectacular Swedish based massages. Patrick has been a masseuse for over 15 years and believe me, you will feel pampered and relaxed after one of his sessions. I have one more opening left in the class so if you have been hesitating, now is the time to check out the details by clicking here

I'm heading for the post office right now. Sure hope the students like them!

LET ME FLY!

LET ME FLY!

Mixed Media Oil Collage

Close-up of "Let Me Fly" Please double click on the pictures for better view

I’ve been in the mood for lots of colorful creations lately. Maybe the spring flowers have brought on this frame of mind or maybe it’s the butterflies that I’m anticipating seeing soon. I purposely plant flowers to attract those wonderful, vibrant creatures, like the buddleia or butterfly bush.

I thought I had a plan in painting my butterfly girl collage, but she seemed to have a mind of her own and took me in a completely different direction. I know that has happened to most of my readers out there in blogland. So..as we used to say way back when, you've got to go with the flow. Actually, she doesn't even look like my work!

Close-up of butterfly hat-left over from the Royal Wedding.

I painted her face using my Renaissance Oil technique and the rest of her body is acrylic and felt. I used pop up butterflies for her hat. For the background, I used a spackle compound followed by deco crackle and stain. It has an interesting texture to it. It feels entirely different to the touch than when I add the crackle to paper. The entire collage is on a 3-dimensional canvas

Close-up of angled frame

For the saying, I found it online but the author was unknown. I couldn’t fit the long saying on her so I changed it a bit and came up with “ How does one become a butterfly? You have to give up being a caterpillar and…fly” So true, don’t you think? Set your goals high and don’t let anyone, anyone talk you out of them. Choose to fly!

Then, just for the fun of it, I made one of my Philosophy Paper Art Dolls to match! She has the correct saying in it’s entirety on her.

Paper Art Doll

Close-up of "Fly" Paper Art Doll

They are both for sale. Although the painting took me a very long time to do, I had so much fun with her that I’m lopping off many of those fun hours. I’d like $125. for her and if you love her…this is a real bargain. She is 12x24.”

“Fly” paper art doll is $38.00 and about 10" high. I take all the credit cards and Paypal and can ship worldwide. E-mail me and we can go from there.

Thanks so much!

GRANDMOTHER TREE WALL SCULPTURE

GRANDMOTHER TREE

WALL SERIES

"Grandmother Tree"

I’m not sure when I first began my “Grandmother Tree” series but it makes sense that I did. I love the trees and have surrounded myself with them for as long as I can remember. I write about them, read about them and view them daily from the tree house I call Woodloft, which is my home.

Here is the story I have written and associated with my series.

“Grandmother Tree”

The trees are alive! She wandered
into the garden early one morning
and she heard them speak to one another..
It was a language spoken on another
frequency..in another vibrational time
frame. They spoke of healing with power
and energy and of the relationship between
energy and matter.

She was drawn to an ancient Chinese
Elm and as she leaned her body next to the
base, somehow she felt immersed
in the tree and felt herself slip into the
tree..was one with the
tree and knew that she was the tree.....

~Cheryl Dolby~

close-up

Outside view

If you would like to read more about this series you can check it out here where I show various other trees that I have created.

My grandmother tree has driftwood from a lake nearby, moss from Woodloft, one of my original clay faces and various other woody type items. Hope you like her. She is 5”x8” and priced at $68.00 You can e-mail me if you are interested in purchasing her. I take all major credit cards or Paypal. I have also listed her on ebay.

Thanks so much!