Two new art instruction DVDs

These two videos were filmed in August, a month or so before the new collage book was released. I felt like I was under a lot of pressure, but they both were fun to put together. My past experience with ANTV two years ago was a little crazy. They shot two videos in one day and, as a result, one was very short. The hired crew quit at 6 p.m. and that was that. I was so tired I almost got lost driving home from Cincinnati.

This experience was altogether different. Jennifer Lepore Brune coordinated the production and an assortment of helpers popped in to swap out my materials and fetch clean water for me. Both of my editors, Stefanie Laufersweiler and Holly Davis pitched in, as well. Everything went so well. The camera guys, Phil and Ric, were fun to work with over the two days of the shoot. They were good at getting multiple close-ups and zooming in on the hands-on shots.

You can read more on my Web site about both DVDs. Creative Art Class has 100 minutes of instruction.
Collage Art Techniques is 75 minutes long. Both are packed with information and demos.

For online previews, search the titles or "Nita Leland" at ArtistsNetwork.tv

Free Collage Demo

Here is the first step in my creation of "Quintana Roo" collage, which appears in New Creative Collage Techniques on page 144. The step-by-step process (only available online) is in pdf format. Open it in Adobe Reader (download free at adobe.com) and print for easy reference. This mixed-media collage contains several techniques in the book, including an ink- and paint-textured background with overlays of brayer and crystalline papers.

Hithergreen Center has a new look.

Friends visit in the recently updated reception area. Hithergreen members Fran Doster and Dwight Glover donated funds to purchase the new coffee bar; Washington Township installed the water line and electrical connections. The Dayton Foundation, the Leland Foundation, Ruetschle Architecture and Design, and Aydelotte Equipment provided grants and services to make this project possible, along with updated chairs and tables throughout the center. An original abstract collage by the late Virginia Lee Williams of Centerville, Ohio, adds to the sleek and modern look of the area. Hithergreen is a friendly, busy place with recreational and fitness activities, in addition to art classes and more. Members can save $10 off the 2012 membership fee by joining next week before the center closes for the holidays. Stop by Monday, Dec. 19 through Thursday, Dec. 22 to see what Hithergreen is all about or check out Hithergreen's Web Site.

Some photos from my book signing

Books & Co., Dec. 8, 2011 We had a nice crowd of nearly 50 people for my demo and book signing of New Creative Collage Techniques. I enjoyed sharing some of collage techniques in my demo.

American Chronicle on New Creative Collage Techniques

American Chronicle | Leland takes another giant leap for ´Artkind´

Thursday, December 8, 7 p.m. at Books & Co.

Art-to-Art Palette features my book signing! I'm going to demo an Egyptian theme collage and I hope to see you there. Thanks to AAP publisher Ben Rayman for this article.

Book signing coming up soon

I'm working on a collage demo for this event. Come on by at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 at Books & Co. in the Greene Towne Center, 4453 Walnut St., Dayton, Ohio, 45440--just off I-675 at Indian Ripple Road. Location maps

Thanks and Kudos

I'd like to thank these artists, whose work appears in New Creative Collage Techniques: Annis Allen, Donna Baspaly, Karen Becker Benedetti, Gretchen Bierbaum, Dodie Bluck, Chispa Bluntzer, Gerald Brommer, Pat Clark, Jane Cook, Marilyn Coppel, Patricia Cox, Leslie Crespin, Bing Davis, Jean Deemer, Pat Dews, Frances Dezzany, Carolyn Dubiel, Brian L. Dunning, Sharon Eley, Maya Farber, Thelma Frame, Ann Hartley, Rosie Huart, Betty Kiesel, Bob Kilvert, Debby Krejsa, Mary Langston, Marta Light, Katherine Chang Liu, Phyllis Lloyd, Cheryl McClure, Cody Miller, Shirley Eley Nachtrieb, Stephanie Nadolski, Alexander Nepote, Richard Newman, Rochelle Newman, Lynn Lynn Lawson Pajunen, Tomoko Parry, Robert Paschal, Joanne Peltz, Roy Ray, Jeny Reynolds, Merle Rosen, Susan Pickering Rothamel, Arthur Secunda, Delta Skinner, David L. Smith, Aki Sogabe, Marilyn Stocker, Sharon Stolzenberger, Elaine Szelestey, Jonathan Talbot, Peter Tytla, Jan Upp, Virginia Lee Williams, Jeanette Wolff, Edwin Wordell, Pam Brooks Hamilton.
Several have passed away since Creative Collage Techniques was published in 1994, but their work is still representative of good collage techniques and design. I'm so grateful for the generosity of all these artists in contributing their work so others might learn from it.

I haven't been able to contact the 7 artists whose names are underlined, so if you know anything about them, please email me at nita@nitaleland.com. Thanks.

Updating Web Site and Blog

I've been at it for hours, but I have only myself to blame. When my Web editing program was discontinued I let it slide, then I got a new computer and it got even worse. I've been using a bare bones text editing program that wasn't much help, but I discovered it has an inexpensive "pro" version--EditPadPro. Much better--a far cry from Dream Weaver, but costs under $50. I'm just a cut-and-paster, anyway, not a Web designer. It can drive you nuts, though. I never had a problem with upper and lower case letters in my previous program and most of the blocks I ran into were caused by that. Be aware! And if you find errors on my Web and Blog sites, please let me know. I tried to check everything before I went live with the pages, but my eyes are crossed by now and I'm sure I missed something. Oh, yeah, it was a beautiful day and I got out this morning before I fell into computer hell.

Ohio Collage Society show at the Cannery tonight

I'm excited about visiting this show, which I judged for awards to be given at 7 p.m. tonight (Nov. 4) during the First Friday art walk. I'll be signing copies of my new book, New Creative Collage Techniques, and I hope to meet some of the artists in the show. Jerry Edwards of the Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors will be demonstrating portrait painting and the gallery is filled with fine work by many area artists. Christy Jennewein, gallery manager, will be hosting the event.

Exploring Watercolor 3-Way Challenge

Here is some of the work from a recent series on painting a subject three different ways: realistic, stylistic, and abstract. They caught on right away--even the beginners "got it." That's what I love about this class. They're willing to try just about anything I ask them to do.

This activity is in The New Creative Artist on page 167.

Girl Scouts learn about art

On Wednesday I was invited to accompany my granddaughter's Girl Scout troop to visit an art exhibit by Professor Hal Shunk at Wilmington (OH) College. Shunk's colorful, gestural encaustics and oil pastels filled the Harcum Art Gallery space, along with fellow faculty member Terry Inlow's large format digital photographs.

Shunk welcomed the girls, then suggested they look at all his paintings and think about what they liked best. When the group settled on benches for his talk, he explained the encaustic process and how he had come up with the quirky titles for his works. The artist is as good a teacher as he is an artist; he held their attention and several asked questions about his work.

I first met Hal more than 20 years ago when I asked him to contribute art to The Creative Artist. I haven't seen him since then, but my daughter met him at her church and learned of our connection. He invited the Girl Scouts to join another group that had scheduled a gallery visit. I appreciated this opportunity to see his colorful work and I'm sure the visit to the gallery was a great experience for the girls.

The faculty show runs through October 21. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and by appointment. The gallery is in the Boyd Cultural Arts Center at the corner of Withrow Circle and College Street on the Wilmington College campus. For more information, email hal_shunk@wilmington.edu .

SD Card Disaster With a Deadline

Have you ever inadvertently formatted an SD card in-camera, erasing an entire day's images of art demonstrations that can't be replicated before the deadline falls? Last Friday I finished shooting demos and artwork for my new collage and creativity DVDs. I planned to edit and resize images on Saturday, ship on Sunday so they would arrive on my Tuesday deadline. Except for a few shots I took before I went to bed Friday night, everything was gone from my SD card. I was in shock. After a while I realized that I'd formatted the card, thinking that I'd saved my files on my hard drive--but I hadn't. Somehow, when I thought I was saving the files they were actually being written back to the SD card instead of the hard drive. I blame i-Tunes. I think the program reset the Auto-play on my drives. Well, I'd heard it might be possible to retrieve the files, but it would take an expert to do it. I didn't have time to make phone calls or bother my son-an-law, so I googled the Web. In short order, I found Stellar Phoenix.The neat feature of this program is that it first checks your SD card for files and shows you what is available for retrieval. Then, if you find what you need is still there, for $39 you can download the program and retrieve your files with it. I recovered 171 files and went straight to work on my editing. I noticed that there are a lot of free programs that claim to do this, but I didn't see anything that shows you the files before you commit to the retrieval. I hope this helps someone--and if you know of other resources for this service, please share a comment.  p.s. I met my deadline.

Painting the Essence of France

Check out this exciting travel workshop for 2012. Rosie and Trish have led two previous trips to Tuscany and Greece. Attend their presentation on Wed., Sept. 21 at 6-8 p.m. at the Town & Country Fine Art Center in Kettering.

Photos of Exploring Watercolor exhibition 2011

Here are some photos I took yesterday of

my class's spring watercolor exhibition at Hithergreen Center.

Enjoy!

Exploring Watercolor Spring Show 2011

Please visit our show. Hithergreen hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with extended hours to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. This is a wonderful exhibition of artists' work at all skill levels, from intermediate to professional. I'll post photos next week.

A Day with Grammy

Jenna spent the night with us on Monday, and on Tuesday her first day of summer vacation as a third grader entailed a visit to my digital photography show and a fine juried exhibition of the Western Ohio Watercolor Society (WOWS)at the Town & Country Fine Art Center in Kettering. She loves to look at art and point out what she likes--she has a discerning eye. In her suitcase she had packed a picture she drew over the weekend--a big, juicy apple and a bunch of bananas, life-size and in color. I was astonished. An artist at the gallery recognized her from the watercolor I included in The New Creative Artist>. She's used to that. We ran a few errands, then picked up a kit from JoAnn Fabrics so I could begin teaching her to sew. She made a monkey and named him "Banana-Split."

Photography Show Invitation

Art-to-Art Palette Journal

Haven't been blogging and Web site-ing (new verb) much. Thought I'd catch up on Ben Rayman's Art-to-Art Journal. I enjoy reading the artist profiles--kind of a Facebook of the Midwest.

Photoshop Elements class ended last week, so I have recovered one day. I'll miss the class, but I'm glad to have the time back. I learned so much.



My digital photography show is extended to June 19 and I finally got the PR sent out today. I need a manager! (Or a keeper, more like.) I'm taking tomorrow off so I'll be raring to go on Monday on a couple of other projects.

Art is Alive at Clinton-Massie Schools

On Saturday afternoon we went to an all-school art exhibition at our granddaughter's school in Clinton County, Ohio. Art teacher Dan McKay had set up a show that appeared to have at least one piece from every child in the school, ranging from pottery to painting, at all grade levels. The 2-D artwork was hung individually and covered the walls of the gymnasium and the auditeria. Paintings, drawings and collages were propped on chairs and easels throughout both rooms and 3-D projects were arranged on large, round tables. Our granddaughter's class had made clay turtles, their backs textured and painted. The show took a great deal of work to arrange and looked fantastic. (One of our grandson's favorites was a giant sculpture of a bag of Tostitos!)

I was astonished at the variety and quality of the work. Most of the work was project oriented, as with the turtles, abstractions, portraits, and a snow scene-collage, for example, but many showed delightful originality within the themes. The pictures were fairly large and very colorful. Many of the young artists have excellent observation and skills with a variety of mediums, including charcoal, pastel, oil pastel, collage, and acrylics.

Any artist will tell you what a thrill it is to see your work on display for others to enjoy. Kudos to Mr. McKay for making this happen for the students at Clinton-Massie. I hope the parents and community continue to support the school's art program and help to provide supplies for these budding artists.

Art, an endangered species in many school systems, is alive and well in Clinton County.

Printer Test Strip

Here's the printer test strip I made to compare different printer and program settings. Numbering from left to right:
1. No Color Management (ICM setting) This one is over-saturated and too dark. Doesn't look like her. Oddly, several people liked this one best.
2. Photoshop Elements control (Adobe RGB Gamma 2.2) This has a much better skin tone, my favorite.
3. Printer Control (Adobe Vivid) This is pretty, but has a slight bluish cast.
4. Printer Control (Auto Enhance) This is slightly darker than #2, but acceptable.
5. Monitor adjusted to match #4. Too washed out.

PSEs color management tools were helpful, but I had to do a lot of cross-referencing to understand the terminology. Little by little it's beginning to sink in.

Digital Photo Printing for Amateurs

I've learned so much from the Photoshop Elements class I'm taking at Hithergreen, but it bugs me that I have to work so darn hard to get good prints. I've been studying books and online and now I know enough to be dangerous, but still struggling with consistency. I shared what I've learned yesterday with the Digital Photography Forum at the Center. Here's a chart I made. The prints are 10.5 x 8. The top row shows what happens when you use cheap paper and the wrong print setting--you waste a lot of ink that soaks into the paper. The middle row shows printer control on better paper. I oversaturated the one on the right to see what would happen. Eeek! On the bottom row I used Photoshop Elements color controls on Office Depot Laser/injet Presentation Paper and Epson Ultra Premium Luster Paper, my favorites. The last print is the best and shows more detail than any of the others.

Review of Confident Color book

Charley Parker posted an insightful review of my book over the weekend. Here's the link to his Lines and Colors blog. While you're there, mark Charley's blog as a favorite. His commentary on artists of the past and present, including fine artists and designers, as well, are always informative and entertaining.

Lisa Palombo, American Impressionist

Nov 20th & 21st, 10th annual Holiday Open Studio, 55 Mountain Avenue
Caldwell, NJ 07006

Lisa Palombo Web site

Her new book, LISA PALOMBO, American Impressionist
will be available
Hard cover 12"x12" gift book
80 pages, 66 full color paintings
Foreword by Nita Leland
Introduction by Jana Martin
each book is signed by the artist
$120 + shipping

Rosie Huart and Karen Benedetti

Don't miss "Intertwined: Vestige of Visions," a new exhibition by these two Ohio artists. Their varied styles complement each other beautifully in mixed media.

Fifth Exploring Watercolor Class Exhibition at Hithergreen

Here's the link to our latest Exploring Watercolor show, our fifth exhibit at Hithergreen Center in Dayton. I love this show, now running until Dec. 20. If you live in the Miami Valley, be sure to stop at Hithergreen to see it.

Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society

Last week I did a lecture, critique, and mini-workshop for this group of artists.
The subject was....Color. Imagine that. It was fun, and I took my student and friend, Sylvia, with me as my assistant. We had a good crowd of 50-60--mostly women--with 11 staying after lunch for the mini-workshop. Sylvia took some pictures of the event,posted below.

Virginia Lee Williams

A talented artist, loyal friend, and vibrant woman, Virginia died yesterday at 86 following a stroke. Her fellow artists,friends and students will remember her for her genuine interest in other people and her delightful sense of humor. She was a dear friend to many artists and beloved by all. Virginia was an amazing woman and will be sorely missed.

Here is a link to the article in the newspaper:
http://www.legacy.com/dayton/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=144753497

Virginia was a self-taught artist. I first knew of her as a sumi-e painter, but typical of Virginia, she didn't just paint small black-ink images on paper. She painted colorful Oriental designs on large screens, among other things. Our paths crossed occasionally in the 1970s and 1980s in watercolor workshops. I'm not sure of the year, but Virginia went to England with several artist friends and fell in love with Cornwall. There she met artist Roy Ray, who was doing experimental work by layering torn papers, gessoing the surface, and painting with fluid acrylics. She took workshops with Ray and experimented in her own studio, developing a distinctive style of abstract collage painting.

In 1998 I was working on my book, The Creative Artist,and couldn't find abstract collage art to illustrate the chapters on design and abstraction. I'd seen a few of Virginia's pieces, so I called and asked to see her work. I was so taken with it that I used several in the book. After it was published, I spoke to the Tri Art Club one morning and Virginia suggested we collaborate on a collage book. I could hardly believe what I heard--I'd been thinking about that myself and had planned to approach her after my creativity book was launched. We worked for more than two years on
Creative Collage Techniques. Our book has been a bestseller in art instruction, continuing in print for more than 16 years.

I can't begin to describe how much fun we had learning and playing with collage as we developed the book. She encouraged me to join the Society of Layerists and Multi Media (SLMM), which greatly expanded my understanding of the spiritual nature of the medium. Over the next few years we traveled to SLMM gatherings in San Antonio, Texas; Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos, New Mexico; and to various shows in Ohio. Virginia was also a member of the National Collage Society, the Tri Arts Club of Dayton, and the Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors. She also taught workshops throughout the United States.

Virginia closed her art studio several years ago. Her paintings were quite large and the physical effort of moving them and doing the work became difficult. She still had a lot of energy, however, and when she and her husband, Ken, moved into a condo, Virginia served on the condo association board and continued to make new friends there.

Wherever she is now, I know she has already made many new friends and has been warmly greeted by all who knew her in this life.

More fun with Photoshop Elements

During the weeks I wasn't blogging, I was still taking the PSE class at Hithergreen Center. For a while we departed from photo editing and delved into organizing our photos with Photoshop Elements Organizer. What a great program! I took advantage of learning new tricks with the Organizer and getting my 15,000 photos sorted into the folders before I put the link on my new computer. Fantastic! Today we used the Create tab to make albums and slide shows. I'll need to practice--I flunked slide shows. It's complicated trying to keep up on the keyboard, while reading the handouts, watching the onscreen demo, and making sure the people on each side of me are seeing where things are on my screen. Not everyone in the class has a laptop. Anyhow, it was great fun for another rainy day.

Making the sun shine

Today was a gloomy, wet Monday, for sure. That didn't seem to affect my Exploring Watercolor class at Hithergreen Center. Several finished pieces they've been working on--one even got a round of applause at critique. Others did smaller paintings from start to finish during class and did a great job on them. They're doing a lot more painting and taking less time trying to decide what to paint. Also, the lesson on grids two weeks ago has had a good effect. Those who are using them are making better drawings and are now able to enlarge their source pictures instead of tracing them the same size. I'm already getting excited about our exhibit in the fall, and I know they'll be even better by then.

Fresh start, thank goodness

I've been out of circulation for about a month, nothing life threatening. Insanity a possibility, though, coming to terms with the frustration of working on a frustratingly slow 8-year-old computer, deciding on what to buy, setting it up and installing programs. The worst is over, and not all that bad. I'm happy with the new HP (fassssssst)and Windows 7, so far. Seems like much easier access to everything, especially to my files stored on an external 1.5 terabyte hard drive, which my husband calls my Teradactyl. So, what's next?

Too much to tell in one blog. Big news is I'm doing a complete revision of
Creative Collage Techniques. I'm pleased to have my editor, Stefanie Laufersweiler, for our third book together for North Light. We met here in my studio yesterday (she lives near Cincinnati, I'm in Dayton)and went over my plans for the book. When we weren't exchanging photos of kids and grandkids or lamenting the woes of moving house (her) and setting up new computers (me).

But, about the book. Creative Collage Techniques has been in print for more than 16 years and is still a popular book, but I intend to update materials, techniques, and art. Virginia won't be able to work with me, but everything I do will remind me of the good times we had doing the first one. I'll be completely rewriting and adding a lot of new art--plus it will be expanded 16 pages over the original. I'm psyched!

First, though, I have to clean the house. The two of us don't clutter, but I still haven't figured out how to keep dust off the furniture. Had better get to work.