Books, books, books...

...how I love them.  I can't bear to see them discarded, even when they're broken and abused.  That's where creating book sculptures come in.

My most recent sculpture is crafted from a book by Harlan Coben called Hold Tight.  It's a terrific novel, one I've read more than once, and when a friend gave me a damaged copy I knew it would need to become a wall sculpture.

'Hang Loose' book sculpture © Win Dinn
from a book called Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

I'd hate to count the hours taken for folding,

cutting

 and curling,

 but you can assume that it was a very large number.

I'm always intrigued by the isolated words that show up in these sculptures,

 wondering about 'his chin'

 and 'eleven-year'.

I think this will hang loose for quite some time on our walls.

Do you have a favourite damaged book?  If you're looking for a sculpture (tabletop or wall), why not email me for some options?

Post playshops...

is a time for unpacking boxes, sorting, storing and getting back to 'normal' - HA!

This week I've been in finishing mode too, with a painting done (another on the Dark Side),

'It's Time II' 6 x 6" mixed media on canvas  © Win Dinn

It's Time detail - create

It's Time - detail

an antique gold chalice,

'Libation' mixed media altered glass © Win Dinn

Libation Detail

Libation inside

 and a copper-toned bottle.

'Message on a Bottle' mixed media altered bottle  © Win Dinn

Message Detail

Message - more detail

Message - bottom detail

Message - a different full view

And with just over four weeks left until Christmas (did I say that out loud - OH NO), I can tell it's time to get in the creativity mode.  Do you make all your gifts?  Do you have a ton yet to do?  How's your holiday season shaping up?  Please let me know in your comments, and feel free to add your website and/or blog to let our readers know too!

Did you know...

...that I love to colour?  I do, and so do many of my friends.  To that end, we held 'A Colourful Party ' at Puffin Design this week, and it was a blast.  With twelve+ in attendance, we went at it to our heart's content.

Loving the unique patterns on this one of Eileen's

Granted it wasn't all colouring - pretty sure the drinks and snacks added to the fun, and who doesn't like to choose a fistful of colour?

Gay, Lisa, Sue & Shelly peruse the choices

I was pleased to have a couple of gents in the group, even if I had to co-opt one of them!

Sue, Shelly, John and Joe, with Bart waaaaay in the back.

Joe and Shelly colouring up a storm while Maureen and Jasmine choose their weapons.

Eileen, Laura, John and Lisa tear into it.

Sue, Jasmine, Lori and Gay are hard at it right from the start

Alison stopped in for a bit of a visit.

Colour pow!

Working with oil pastels.

You could feel and see the love in the air

It was Laura who noticed that many of the colours on the mandala sheets matched the tops the participants were wearing - how fun is that?  I immediately had to look at mine, and sure enough.  I was wearing purple, and colouring in three shades of it.  And check out the shot below - matching everywhere!

Add caption

John, with his infinite patience, was working with very fine-nibbed pens!

I think the addition of the cross-slashed lines in the centre of this one by Laura adds a huge amount of pizazz.

TJ's colour choices are in total harmony with what she's wearing.

Maureen adds a pop of red - on the page and off it.

The evening reminded me of wonderful parties from the past, where friends would gather on a cold winter weekend to soak in a hot tub alternating with a mad frenzy of colouring in the warm and cozy house.  By the end of a weekend, our walls would be covered top to bottom with mandalas in every shade of the rainbow; the energy was palpable.

Why not hold your own colouring party?  There are a ton of colouring books for adults on the market (although I confess to a bit of bias towards the one at the top right of this blog - they're available at Puffin too).  And if you want to get in on the next one at Puffin, email me with your preference of daytime or evening slot, and I'll let you know the details when available.

Tag - You're It! . . .

...was the playshop this week at Puffin Design , and didn't this group ROCK it!?

Using all sorts of tag blanks from white to kraft to Gelli-printed ones, they simply had WAY too much fun.

Gay and Barb tear into it

The mom and daughters trio were a delight, outdoing each other on a constant basis, and 

Jennifer, Carol and Nicole egg each other on

 moving so fast their hands were a blur.

The group generated somewhere between three and six tags each in a three hour session - amazing!

 The studio was a riot of colour and laughter as they stamped,

 stencilled,

 and used every medium in sight (and there were at least 10 of them).

The tags came one after the other, all evening long,

and sometimes three at once!

 You can imagine the angst as they waited for things to dry.

 All in all, I'd say it was the best kind of evening - chaos, colour and beauty -

 everywhere.

If you've got a yen to get your creativity on, Bart has an upcoming Illuminating Workshop on Wednesday,  November 25 (6 - 9 pm).  He's a dynamite teacher (he taught me how to wire a lamp, so he could teach anyone), and you'll go home with a completed piece of beauty too!  Pop into Puffin today and register!

Studio time at Puffin...

...is always more fun when it's shared, and never better than when it's shared with a group.

This week was the Intro to Gelli playshop at Puffin Design, and we had a blast.  With eight ladies printing like they were on fire, the studio was ablaze with colour.

They drew and printed in the paint,

Michelle's stack

and they covered the tables and floor with print after print.

L to R Barb, Myrna, Therese, Anna, Michelle

They deliberated over paint colour, texturing tools, texture templates and stencils, or just tore into it.

L to R Therese, Sue, Michelle & Anna

Here Barb and Myrna had me smiling at their colour coordinated clothing - did they plan that?  I forgot to ask.

Barb and Myrna

Michelle and Sue went at it all evening in their corner,

Michelle & Sue

 as Therese made judicious choices in colour.

L to R Anna, Alison, Kris, Therese

 While I demoed the plastic tape lift to Kris, Therese worked double time with her colour choice.

Win, Kris, Therese - Alison is behind the camera on this one!

 The colour for the print that Myrna is pulling will make a great base for layer two.

Myrna pulls a print

Alison, co-owner at Puffin, got into the act too (she was supposed to be working the gallery floor, but Gelli printing is THAT addictive).

Alison goes to town at my demo station.

We had a ton of fun, and really, isn't that what creativity is all about?  I've a sneaking suspicion that there may be another Gelli-addicted creative or two in town as a result.