I have been an art and design teacher for most of my life. I was fortunate to create and develop ideas for a project-based, and experiential learning, in a course called Visual Thinking: art+innovation. At its core, it was about boosting people’s creative confidence and undoing any damage from negative messages received about their lack of artistic ability.
Creating Art Furniture a new education and mentoring program which I’m developing as a non-profit program. Once I’ve established funding, I will be offering free courses to anyone interested in learning more about Studio Furniture (which typically means, one-of-a-kind pieces created by artists in their studio).
A few months after these courses begin, I will be offering access to a mentoring program to people who have a passionate commitment to this form of art-making.
The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
– Oscar Wilde
My booth at the2019 MakerFaire Building a Mahogany Door with the help of my former studio assistant.Sun Drawings made with Cyanotype Paper during a free workshop.Visual Thinking students creating photo collages.LearnVisualThinking.com my course blog.3d Printed Cookie CuttersVisThink students enjoy cookies made with custom 3d printed cutters.Downtown LA Graffiti Mural tour. All the guides are artists and many have been making graffiti paintings for decades.A DTLA Graffiti Mural.Members of my Creative Growth SoCal MeetUp attending an opening at Edward Cella Gallery. Shakespeare by the Sea performance; A CG SoCal MeetUp.A video I made about the Schinler House in West Hollywood, one of my all time favorite buildings.The Cheech Museum in Riverside, CA. A giant lenticular mural.An online course I’m creating focused on artists like James Turrell who push the boundaries of what art may be.A course in creative transformation.Myths that can impede creative confidence.Abstract India Ink paintings, a project I’ve taught for almost 40 years.Loosening up, making a mess with ink paintings.A tour I’ve led of the murals in the town of 29 Palms.Creative Growth in the Desert MeetUp a casual stroll through a neighborhood full of mid century modern homes.Attending a free outdoor drive in concert. “Mon Petit Mojave” took action one month into the pandemic.Living pods developed at A-Z West, artist Andrea Zittel’s project in Joshua Tree, CA. A Creative Growth SoCal MeetUp in which we saw the installations of my most important MENTOR, artist Alexis Smith.A conversation with artist, Larry Bell, which took place at Hauser + Wirth Gallery in the LA Arts District. (A Creative Growth SoCal MeetUp).SG SoCal t-shirts.Laser etched water bottles. Logo for the new MeetUp group I started in 2021.CG SoCal goes to a booth created by artists, Don Guthrie and Cherry Wood.Both of Assemblage works and paintings at CraftedLA in San Pedro, CA.My most important MENTOR in online teaching is Michelle Pacansky-Brock. I have learned so much from her over the past 14 years.A Visual Thinking course project. Instead of only reading theories about creativity, students interviewed a creative person, asking 4 classic questions.CG SoCal MeetUp attends a dance performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art.Family and friends attend an ink painting workshop at my studio. Experimenting with the SEEING-DRAWING process at my studio.Friends booth at the LA Maker Faire: kids and adults get to write their own poem on vintage typewriters. My MakerFaire booth. So much fun helping kids make colorful ink painting which were turned into mini lanterns.Creative Growth in the Desert attends an art fair in Palm Springs.Cheech Marin with the De La Torre brothers who had a large installation at ‘The Cheech’ when it opened in June 2022.Visual Thinking student learn to paint and stencil with colored inks. One painting is turned into a lantern.The lantern making kit with rice paper, colored inks, and puck light and a frame for the painting.SUN DRAWING project made with Cyanotype paper.
What is Studio Furniture? video and course
Element #1: the history and concepts of artist-made furniture. Part 1 & Part 2.
Element #2: Visual Skills, Principles of Composition.
Element #3: Conception & self-expression.
Element #4: Materials.
Element #5: Structure Part 1 followed by Structure Part 2.
Element #6: Before there were museums, the prelude was a cabinet, called a “Wunderkammer,” that wealthy people would use to stow, and show, objects that only the rich and powerful could possess.
Field Trip: Sam Maloof Studio and Residence in Claremont
Virtual Visit: The Community Woodshop in Glendale
Huntington Libary: Greene & Greene Furniture, and furniture at the Gamble House in Pasadena.
Long Distance: Anderson Ranch, Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian, Milan Furniture Fair, SOFA Chicago
