Thursday, June 28, 2007

Lura Schwarz Smith Workshop

Last month Lura and her husband Kerby were here on Maui for a team workshop. Kerby taught "Demystifying Digital Photography for Quilters" and Lura taught "Designing Art Quilts." Both classes were fabulous!

In Kerby's class I learned more about my digital camera in two days than I have in the year that I've had it. I feel much more comfortable using Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and more confident in being able to send digital images to shows, exhibits, and for other reasons. Kerby is a patient and informative teacher. He sent us a questionnaire prior to class to gauge our experience and get and idea of what he was in for. I don't have a lot of pictures to post for this class but I learned a lot and will definitely keep using what I've learned into the future.

For Lura's session, I worked on re-creating one of my favorite pictures of Bruce with our old dog, Maile. Here is what I did:

I fell in love with using the Prismacolor pencils (I have a giant (128 pc?) set that I've hardly ever used, now I will use them more often!) and the Tsukinenko inks and Fabrico markers. I learned a LOT in this class and will keep using what I've learned to add more dimension and life to my work. I recently used the prismacolor pencils on my latest "Honu" quilt for the eye and I am so pleased. I will try to post a good shot of it when I've closer to completion.

I have a couple of other projects to finish in the meantime, but I hope to get this finished in time to take to Art Quilt Tahoe in November.

One of the exercises Lura did was have us draw a face. This was a great way to loosen up - she goes at a fast pace and expects you to keep up so you don't overthink what you are doing as you go through each step.

You will take away a lot of tools for your toolbox in this class. If I have one piece of advice, it's this: Break the spell and touch the fabric with your ink!! Once you make the first mark, everything else will come together. In every art class I take (drawing, painting, etc.), the hardest thing is for me to "break the spell." I look at that damn surface forever! But once I touch it, everything starts to flow.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

HI Dianna! Thanks so much for the kind words -- and your project looks just as wonderful as I remember! Send me an image when you finish -- it's going to be GREAT!

Fondly, Lura

allie aller said...

Thanks for the class review...I've always loved Lura's work....I sure would love to take a class from her husband, too!

Shelina said...

These look like great classes. Both your pictures are great!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a very productive class! Looking forward to seeing how this one progresses.

Diane Perin said...

I had Lura when she taught for our guild in Northern California, and I thought she was an excellent teacher. And you did beautiful work! Glad you enjoyed it.