On the first day of ArtFest I had fun playing with PMC (very new to me) in Catherine Witherell's class. Man, there is so much to learn about PMC! Seeing Catherine's finished pieces gave me a such an appreciation for the art form and her talent and vision. I spent the entire day with only the above charms to show for it, but had fun even though I was s.l.o.w. Catherine is a blast, I sure do love a girl with a fun sense of humor like hers! Here Amy caught me on my knees working on one of my pieces over in better light.
The other class that I had the pleasure of taking was Theo Ellsworth's. Theo is so soft spoken and so funny. A very sweet artist. I loved this class because I love to doodle already, but it opened up a more playful side of my imagination. We were given various assignments in which we doodled (sometimes blindly) all over our page, then we had to go in and find things within our doodles, and outline the shapes.
It's hard to explain why this was so freeing to me, but if you told me to draw a robot, or a funny dog, or a monster doll just from my imagination onto paper, it'd be so much harder for me than finding the funny shapes within my doodles.
After each exercise we would spend lots of time with pen and markers finding things in our doodles and coloring them in. Everyone had completely different pieces of course. Some people found shapes, some found people, some found letters...each person saw very differently, which made it all the more interesting.If you go over to Theo's blog you'll see samples of other classwork, and even a funny picture of we students wearing the masks he made us.
For me it was just the exercise in playfulness that I needed to unlock something fun in my own doodles. Grateful to both Theo and Catherine for sharing their time and talents! And as always, grateful to Teesha, Tracy, and the whole Moore gang that put the amazing event that is artfest together.
Ok, our family is off for a few days to tour a few colleges with (and for) our daughter. Be back this weekend. Definitely going to get the kids doing some doodling exercises- Theo style -on the journey! Bye for now..xo.


Your PMC charms are absolutely delightful...so are the doodles!
Posted by: Tami B. | April 08, 2009 at 10:53 PM
Well Pam, your pieces really turned out nicely for someone who just started working with this medium. I am impressed. You should have seen my first pieces, uh... maybe not now that I think of it.
Thanks for mentioning me on your wonderful blog. That is the nicest thing! It was really a treat having you in class and I learned something from the way you made your oval piece there.
Also, I agree about Theo's class. I took it last year and I loved every minute!
Catherine
Posted by: Catherine Witherell | April 09, 2009 at 01:34 AM
I'm so jealous as I sit in my office and see all that you and Amy do! I wish I could spend even an hour in my art room!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring me!
Denise
Posted by: Denise | April 09, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Thanks again, Pam! Your class was so fun and inspiring. You're a great teacher!
Mindy
Posted by: Mindy Carpenter | April 09, 2009 at 12:08 PM
oh fun...I want to take this CLASS! What type of paper is the substrate? I tried this little exercise while watching tv last night and will blog about it soon....so FUN. I cannot draw, either, but I managed a peacock and a flamingo that I am dang proud of! (no pun intended) Thanks for sharing, as always.
Posted by: susan gilman | April 10, 2009 at 04:42 AM
WHat wonderful pieces. I so admire your work. Would love to take your classes.
Linda Cain
Posted by: Linda Cain | May 15, 2009 at 09:41 AM