The Gryphon's Feather Studio

Art & Soul Radio!!

The lovely Lesley Riley interviewed me for Art & Soul Radio, and my episode airs today, Monday, June 6 at 7 pm! 

LK Ludwig - Organized for Success!

 

Lesley and I have known each other for a number of years, via email, list serves, and teaching at various venues, but we've never really had the time to talk at length.  It was great fun to talk with Lesley.  I have long admired her work, and have heard excellent things about her Artist Success coaching work, 

The mainstay of my interview was the way I keep all the balls in the air- how I stay organized, how I find (make) time for art, balancing being the mother of three littles...

My new classes are also posted for Art & Soul Virginia 2012- which will be held in Virginia Beach!! Check 'em out!

 

 

 

I began this blog in May of 2004.  Amazingly, this blog has just had it's seventh anniversary.  I'm simply astonished by both how quickly these seven years  have passed, and how greatly my life has changed in those seven years!  To say that I am grateful for the direction my life has gone is a gross understatement. There really aren't words to express that level of gratitude.  My life has become happier, and fuller.  There are a million little stories of hope, triumph, and failure in the past seven years that have shaped where I am right now.   Thank you all for being here with me!

 

And, hoorah!  I'm on Art & Soul Radio today!!

 

The lovely Lesley Riley interviewed me for Art & Soul Radio, and my episode airs today, Monday, June 6 at 7 pm! 

LK Ludwig - Organized for Success!

 

Lesley and I have known each other for a number of years, via email, list serves, and teaching at various venues, but we've never really had the time to talk at length.  It was great fun to talk with Lesley.  I have long admired her work, and have heard excellent things about her Artist Success coaching work, 

The mainstay of my interview was the way I keep all the balls in the air- how I stay organized, how I find (make) time for art, balancing being the mother of three littles...

My new classes are also posted for Art & Soul Virginia 2012- which will be held in Virginia Beach!! Check 'em out!

 

 

 

 

 

Creative MOJO

I was interviewed by the adorable Mark Lipinski for his Creative Mojo podcast! Turns out we have some common ground- Catholic school and Mark grew up in Ambridge, PA - about a forty minute drive from here, and literally one town over from where Joe and I had our first house.  Ambridge is where the Tom Cruise vehicle, All the Right Moves was filmed. Okay, enough trivia!!

It aired live on December 22, but being the marketing genius I am, I failed to post this due to brain damage caused by an excess of puppy-chaos.

You can follow the link above, to listen to the show which also includes the luminously beautiful, talented, and truly lovely, Carla Sonheim!

You can download the show on iTunes for free, allowing you to listen to it on your computer or apple device later.

Artist's Cafe

(First, just an FYI-I am hard at work on finishing the book I am writing.  Knowing I'd be sorta absent, I stored a few posts for the blog.)

 

Kelsi Maree Borland had contacted me to let me know a piece I had written for the November/December 2008 issue of Somerset Studio, The Poetic Eye I was being reprinted in Artist's Cafe: Best of Somerset Studio Art & Design.  I received my contributor's copy of this lush, 14 page semi-annual magazine, and to my surprise, my work was featured in not one, but two articles! 

I was paging through the magazine when I found The Artist's Profile piece that Ricë Freeman Zachary wrote for Somerset Studio in 2003!  I was confused at first, thinking, "This isn't what Kelsi contacted me about...  What happened?" Puzzled, I flipped a couple more pages and found the Poetic Eye I piece.  TWO articles!  How fabulous!!  I should have noticed the cover text, perhaps!  I definitely am grateful to Kelsi and to Christen for choosing my work!  Thanks!!

 

Here's a look at some images from The Poetic Eye I article.

And here is a glimpse of the Artist's Portfolio piece that Ricë wrote way back when! (thank you so much, Ricë!)

 

I have to tell you that when I read this article, I was amazed at how much my life has changed in the seven plus years that have passed since Ricë interviewed me by telephone. 

Besides differences between my personal and family life then and now- which are nothing short of immense and miraculous, I was struck by the fact that I shot FILM then, for gosh sakes!  Film!  The journals below span a four year time frame.  The photos you see in the journals are a mix of 120 film (medium format- Hasselblad & Holga), 35mm film, Polaroid-(600, Spectra, SX-70).  I manipulated the images various ways- solvent transfers of photocopies using acetone and xylene, cyanotypes using negatives created on transparencies,  Polaroid transfers or emulsion lifts using 35mm color slides, Polaroid pack film and a DayLab! Every new method I'd try was a fun and exciting exepriment!  I had forgotten!

And, even with ALL the changes my life has undergone in the past seven years, one thing remains the same- my studio space is still in the kitchen! Clearly, something about that works for me!

Crescendoh

You probably know already that Jenny Doh's new venture, Crescendoh.com has gone live.  Jenny is a visionary with incredible talent and a solid, fierce determination to see her ideas through to reality.  Having left her position as Editor-in-Chief for Somerset Studio, she has turned her focus to combining her creative passion with her passion for compassion.  If you aren't following her blog, you should be!

Jenny has taken on an amazing job. More than just providing images, techniques, and conversations with interesting artists, Crescendoh offers motivational inspiration- the kind that touches you when things are rough- the kind of inspiration where people tell you how they got through, held on, overcame, or found a way to help. The realness, the truth, of the stories that are shared and will be shared by the Guest Curators and Readers will remind you that livng an authentic life is both painful and joyful, and worth every second.  You'll find encouragement and compassion as the stories unfold over the coming months. Jenny believes that compassion can be shared as 100% of the sales from her Art Saves merchandise, and a percentage of other sales, are donated to charity.

I am very honored to be included in the first round of her Readers Share concept.  In Readers Share, Jenny curates personal stories from artists that tell the world about the power and process of making art- about how Art Saves.  The stories being shared are intimate, honest, revealing and very human.

 I tell my story:

"I could tell you about how art ... has filled my life with love and friendship and made dreams that I have only whispered in the dark to the stars come true. But, the beginning of my becoming who I was meant to be is the important part to share. It is never too late to begin, and once found, the art that is inside pours out regardless — it cannot be taken away."

Please also read the powerful stories of René Groom and Carol Weiler.

Head back to Crescendoh each month to continue to be inspired- the kind of inspiration that motivates you to honor your artist spirit, to trust your true self when the going gets tough and things seem out of reach and impossible.  Powerful stuff that.  

And, of course, Jenny and her team have included inspiration in the form of techniques and ideas for art making- the Guest Curators will be sharing beautiful and interesting images and tidbits of their own work, along with links to introduce you to the work of other talented artists. 

 

Art Doll Quarterly

   

Today, I received my comp copy of the upcoming issue of Art Doll Quarterly.  Those cheerful folk on the cover are my work.  ( I cried when I saw them; I was so tickled.)  I'll be teaching classes related to my figural pieces at two venues this year- Art & Soul Asilomar (held in one of the most beautiful venue locales) in May and Valley Ridge Art Studio (located in the lovely rolling green pastures of Wisconsin) in September.  Come and sculpt some stories of your own.  More examples can be found here.

  The newet issue of Somerset Studio has an article I wrote around one of my art journals that combines self portraiture and treasured bits of writing- poetry, quotes, whatnot. (pp 62-65)  I love the way they photographed my journal.

There are more images of this particular journal, called The Poetic Eye I, located in a photo album here on my blog.

I am teaching this as a class for Artfest 2009, but that class is full. I have a handful of seats available in my Artfest Friday class which is also a journal workshop, and just a couple in my Saturday class. I have submitted my Poetic Eye I class to another venue later in 2009; if it is accepted, I'll add that info to my workshops list.  If the idea of working with image and poetry intrigues you, I do have seats available in a somewhat similar class at Art & Soul Nova Scotia, called The Poetic Moment. The two-day format of this class allows it to be more in depth and rich with techniques.  There isn't a focus specifically on self-portraiture, but instead on those photographs you have taken that touch you, poke you, make you say "a-ha" or "hmmm." We'll combine that work with favorite poems, writings, quotes, and make luscious pages in our journals. in Nova Scotia. very cool.