Wabi Sabi and Another Workshop

 STILLNESS, 10"x10" collage by Donna Watson

A NEW WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT:   BORO/WABI SABI:  The Japanese Spirit of Collage.

A 2 day course March 2-3 2015.  At the Sheraton Airport Hotel in Portland OR.   For more information about the workshop, supply list and how to register go to Art and Soul Retreat

www.artandsoulretreat.com  

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic... an appreciation of the beauty of things imperfect, incomplete and impermanent - rustic, earthy, simple, subdued, textured and organic.  It shows how the passage of time affects everything.  Boro embodies the Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi - tattered rags used to describe patched clothing.  Instead of fabric we will learn how to hand paint Japanese washi papers.  On the second day, artists will learn simple compositions and design elements and principles based on the Zen tenets of balance and harmony.  Artists will recreate this "boro" effect by placing their own hand painted papers quilt like onto their own supports (paper, board, canvas) to create their own collages.

TO BREATHE,  8"x8" collage by Donna Watson

"I had a discussion with a great master in Japan, and we were talking about the various people who are working to translate the Zen books into English, and he said,  "That is a waste of time.  If you really understand Zen, you can use any book.  You could use the Bible.  You could use Alice in Wonderland.  You could use the dictionary, because the sound of the rain needs no translation."

--- Alan Watts, Whiskey River

TO WHISPER,  8"x8" collage by Donna Watson

"Wabi Sabi is a broken earthenware cup in contrast to a Ming vase, a branch of autumn leaves in contrast to a dozen roses, a lined and bent old woman in contrast to a model, a mature love as opposed to an infatuation, a bare wall in contrast to a wall hung with beautiful paintings.

As Leonard Koren says:  the closer things get to non-existence, the more exquisite and evocative they become.

--- Crispin Sartwell,  Six Names of Beauty

A New Year and a Workshop

Collage by Donna Watson

UP COMING WORKSHOP:  Wabi Sabi and the Spirit of Collage

Location:  Matzke Fine Art Gallery and Sculpture Park, Camano Island WA

When:  February 7-8, 2015,  9-4pm

Cost:  $290 for the 2 days, includes lunch

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic.  This Japanese aesthetic is a beauty of things imperfect, incomplete and impermanent... rustic, earthy, simple, textured, and organic.  We will use hand painted washi or Japanese papers to create wabi sabi collages.  On the first day I will demonstrate how to hand paint these papers and everyone will create their papers.  On the second day, artists will then learn simple compositions and design elements based on Zen tenets like balance and harmony.  Everyone will then use their own hand painted papers to create whatever type of collages they want.  Matzke Fine Art Gallery is a spacious open space surrounded by a beautiful sculpture park.  Camano Island has beautiful beaches to explore.

For more information on how to register, location, lodging, etc.  contact Karla Matzke:  at 360-387-2759 or email her at:  matzke@camano.net.  Also, check out her website:  www.matzkefineart.com 

"may my mind come alive today

to the invisible geography

that invites me to new frontiers, 

to break the dead shell of yesterdays,

to risk being disturbed and changed."

John O-Donohue, from 'a morning offering'

hand painted papers by Donna Watson

So a new year is here.  What is it about the concept of a "new year"?  Some of us set new goals, some of us set the same goals we had a year ago, some of us look back at the year that has passed and rejoice in the accomplishments, the new friends, the new learnings, the goals met.  Some of us look back and think "Where did the year go?"  How fast did it pass?  What did I really accomplish?  What will I do now?  What makes Dec. 31st different from Jan. 1st?

"Our purpose in life isn't to arrive at a destination where we find inspiration, just as the purpose of dancing isn't to end up at a particular spot on the floor.  The purpose of dancing -- and of life --

is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where we are when the music ends."

-- Wayne Dyer

hand painted papers by Donna Watson

"Don't think about what can happen in a month.  Don't think about what can happen in a year.  Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what you can to get closer to where you want to be."

--- Eric Thomas

hand painted papers by Donna Watson

"It is in the thousands of days of trying, failing, sitting, thinking, resisting, dreaming, raveling, unraveling that we are at our most engaged, alert and alive."

-- Dani Shapiro

hand painted papers by Donna Watson

"The timelessness in you is aware of life's timelessness and knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream."

-- Kahlil Gibran

"When you put your hand in the flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come."

-- Leonardo da Vinci

And here is my favorite Quote that I think I use every January of my new year:

"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing your world.  You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself.  Make New Mistakes.  Make mistakes nobody's ever made before.  Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect,  whatever it is:  art, life, or love, or work or family life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, DO IT.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever."

--- Neil Gaimen

Life Threads

Detail from the collage COMPLETION by Donna Watson

NOTE:  4 Day workshop, May 20-23.  At Coupeville, on Beautiful Whidbey WA.

PERSONAL EXPRESSION:  A Design Approach.  This workshop is open to all mediums and all styles of painting, including collage.  For more information and to register go to the website:

www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org.    

some letters I have received from art buddies in 2012

"At the center of your being

you have the answer;

you know who you are and 

you know what you want."

--- Lao Tzu

some tags I have received from art buddies in 2012

"In the end, only three things matter;

how much you loved, how

gently you lived, and how gracefully

you let go of things

not meant for you."

--- Buddhist saying

image by Donna Watson

image by Donna Watson

The hands know, 

the materials too, 

quite apart from your imaginings,

less or more than your intentions - 

following the pattern that emerges,

the story as it tells.  -- Jane Whitely

image by Donna Watson

image by Donna Watson

You see, I want a lot.

Perhaps I want everything:

the darkness that comes with every infinite fall

and the shivering blaze of every step up.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

image by Donna Watson, fabrics, fibers, waiting for inspiration

recent purchases from Habu - website found here  

 

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening 

That is translated through you into action,

And because there is only one of you in all time,

This expression is unique.

--- Martha Graham