There are a gazillion color picker sites out there that allow you to manipulate the amounts of RGB (Red, Green and Blue) light to find the color you want. You can even play with color in Word.  Just make a text box and fill it with a custom color. Be sure to print the pages […]

The Nature of Mark Making: Instinctive Doodling on Polymer Clay Tuesday, August 19, 2014 One Day Pre-Retreat Workshop Dublin, Ohio Cost: $85 (includes all materials & handouts) Workshop Description When I first started playing with the ColorWash technique, I sometimes ended up with large areas of color that felt much too bare. What did I […]

How would you describe color to an 11 year old ? That is this year’s Flame Challenge from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stoney Brook University on Long Island’s north shore. This is the third year for the contest dedicated to explaining complex science to 5th graders. Alda challenges scientists to prepare […]

The best description I can think of for the team USA outfits? A mashup of a 4th of July picnic and an ugly Christmas sweater party.  But kudos to Ralph Lauren for at least sticking to his Made in USA pledge. The wool came from the Imperial Stock Ranch here in Shaniko, Oregon, was spun […]

The Olympics start today and this was the google doodle on the homepage. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to change it.  I wondered what it would look like in RGB+CMY colors so I changed the red to magenta, the orange to tomato red, and the yellow to a lemon yellow. I kept the […]

In August I will be heading home to Delaware, Ohio to celebrate my mom, dad and brother’s birthdays AND then stay in Ohio to teach a pre-retreat workshop at this years’ International Polymer Clay Retreat. This will be my first time attending the IPCA Retreat. I know its going to be a great opportunity to get together […]

Registration opens today for the EuroSynergy conference in Malta in May of 2014. This is the fourth Synergy conference and the first time that the International Polymer Clay Association (IPCA) is hosting the conference outside of the US. For me, the heart of the Synergy conferences is the chance to meet and talk face-to-face with many […]

Before I picked up polymer I was a dyer.  I no longer use fiber in my work but I still have a hot spot in my heart for the gorgeous colors of natural dyes. I love Kathy Hattori’s website and online store, Botanical Colors, headquartered in Seattle. Its one of the best sources for traditional […]

I am excited and honored to be teaching a pre-conference workshop at the EuroSynergy Conference in April of 2014.  Details at VIA Artistica! 

My local, independently owned, art supply store, Muse Art and Design, is sponsoring a fundraiser this Wednesday evening to provide art materials for the nonprofit organization, Schoolhouse Supplies. “Schoolhouse Supplies is an award-winning nonprofit that supports public education in Portland by giving students and teachers free classroom supplies. We operate Oregon’s only volunteer-run Free Store […]

This weekend I was in Tucson teaching two one day workshops billed as beginner and intermediate variations of the Watercolor technique. At the beginning of the day on Saturday, I confessed to my students that every workshop I teach is really an excuse to explore color and that these two workshops are specifically designed to […]

Velvet Da Vinci’s newest show, Monochrome Noir, features contemporary art jewelry that contrasts black with color.  With work by 22 artists from the US, Estonia and The Netherlands, the collection showcases a full spectrum of styles. I would love to attend the artists’ reception tonight in LA, but I’ll have to make do with picking […]

Many plants depend on birds to disperse their seeds by eating their fruit. Colors that contrast with the plant’s foliage signal birds that the fruit is ready for plucking and nature does the rest.  Some fruits are bright red, some are white, some are multicolored. As long as the ripe fruit contrasts with the foliage […]

I will be teaching two fun one day workshops in Tucson, Arizona at the end of January,  just before the start of the Gem and Mineral Show. The workshops, combining color studies and the Watercolor technique, are $75 each – both for $125  – plus a $20 per student per day fee to cover the […]

On this shortest day of the year 2012, I celebrate the return of the light, and reflect on the interconnections that tie us all together. Its deeply comforting in these dark days to know that many of my treasured Christmas traditions are rewoven rites from the Roman Saturnalia, the Northern European Yule, and the Celtic […]