Hedgehog in the garden

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art, botanical art, drawing, flowers, gardening, herbal medicine, pottery, raku, Val Webb

image (c)2009 val webb

I love to draw (and carve) my favorite plant, purple coneflower. It grows easily from seed when the soil temperature is above 70 degrees — which is most of the year, where I garden.  This whimsical medicinal loves compost, moderately moist soil and lots of sunshine. The native people of the prairie states used it more than any other healing plant, using mainly the root to treat a litany of ills from snakebite to venereal disease. I’m sure it was a primary ingredient in my Tennessee great-granny’s annual “tonic” — the springtime infusion she used every year to purify her blood. She learned to cultivate, harvest and compound medicinal plants early in the last century, when summer was dreaded as a season of increase in disease — and deaths — among infants and young children. Families fled the cities during those months, and country people like my Granny Griff fortified themselves with a concoction of botanicals valued for its immune-boosting effect.

So where’s the hedgehog in all this? Well…

Fall Studio Classes & Workshops

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art, botanical art, creativity, drawing, pottery, raku, studio classes, Val Webb, workshops

Here are the fall classes and workshops I will be offering in my own studio. All levels of art experience are welcome here – every class is taught in an atmosphere of relaxation, encouragement and discovery.  To reserve a place or ask a question, you may call me anytime at 251-510-9615 or email studio@valwebb.com.

 

MONDAY NIGHT RAKU CLASS

Mondays 6:30-8:30pm,  8 weeks,  starts 8/24/09

Learn to create handmade relief (carved) tile in the traditions of the Art Nouveau masters. Use slab construction to make raku cylinders and boxes. Fall in love with the magical firing process that combines earth, air, fire and water to dramatically transform your artwork.  All tools, clay, glazes and firing included.       $120

 

DRAWING THE NATURAL WORLD

Thursdays  6:30-8:30pm,  8 weeks, starts 8/27/09

Sharpen your powers of observation and see plants and animals in a whole new way. Learn to use pencil, ink and watercolor to bring your nature drawings vividly to life. Explore scientific illustration techniques – absolutely no previous drawing experience necessary.  We will have at least one field drawing day at a location to be decided by the class.  Bring a sketchbook – everything else is provided.     $120

 

WORKSHOP: CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATION

Saturday, Sept. 19 from 1:30-5:30pm

This afternoon workshop covers page layout and book design, how to write query letters and put together a submission package, current publishing trends, copyright, how to use images to move a story forward, build an
illustration portfolio, negotiate an illustration contract and more.  Includes refreshments and a folder full of take-home resource material.    $45

 

FALL RAKU RETREAT

Two Saturdays: Oct. 3 and Oct. 10,  10am-5pm both days

Handbuild, carve, glaze and fire… two full days of slab-built raku pottery and handmade tile, from inspiration to completion.  While you work, a gourmet meal will be professionally prepared for you using fresh ingredients from our organic garden. Indulge your creative spirit (and your appetite)!  Couples, friends or family who register together will receive a reduced rate.       $120

Botanical box

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art, botanical art, creativity, drawing, flowers, gardening, illustration, journal, pottery, raku, sketchbook, Val Webb

This week, Asiatic lilies sketched in April found their way onto a slab-built raku clay box.  It will be fun to see how these big, bold blooms translate into raku pottery. Here’s the sketchbook page, drawn while sitting in the Perfect Man’s lovely cut-flower patch:

Student tiles from the Raku Retreat

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art, creativity, pottery, raku, Val Webb, workshop

On the last day of the Raku Retreat, we fired the students’ tiles. Here are a few:

I love hosting Raku Retreats. They take place three times a year, in the little cottage that houses my clay studio. Students spend two consecutive Saturdays here, eating meals from our rambling organic garden and learning to make carved raku tiles. They go home with several finished pieces, lots of fresh ideas, and an assortment of herbs and seedlings from the garden.

So, yesterday was a day of glazing in the cottage, firing on the raku patio and mold-making under the trees.  We took a midday break for a scrumptious lunch prepared and served by the Perfect Man (black bean soup with fresh green tomato salsa … just-harvested garden potatoes in dill … grilled chicken wraps … and then … bananas foster… mmm). A flaming dessert seemed like the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon of raku.

I can hardly wait until next time.

Too hot to garden, so…

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art, creativity, drawing, flowers, gardening, pottery

 

…I worked on a relief carving of a purple coneflower instead.

Kitty in the garden

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art, cats, creativity, gardening, pottery, raku

The carved tile we’ll use in tonight’s pottery class moldmaking demo  was inspired by a sweet little homeless cat who has taken up residence in our tool shed. We first saw her yesterday, curled up on a shelf next to the pruning shears. She’s a pretty little calico, very young and very skinny. She was shy at first, but a continuous supply of food and water has brought out her sociable side.

Any suggestions for a gardening-related name?

Swim, bike, run … raku!

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art, creativity, pottery, raku

Just like our garden, some studio work is seasonal. Annual commissions return each year at their appointed dates, as predictably as hardy perennials. Every spring, for the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of designing and producing the race trophies for the Grandman Triathlon. In a feat of physical ability that makes me tired just to THINK about, 400+ athletes from across the nation come to coastal Alabama to swim 1/3 mile in Mobile Bay, bike 16.4 miles and run more than 3 miles — all in 85-degree weather with 90 percent humidity.  Whew. The race benefits Mobile Baykeeper, a watchdog organization working to keep our region’s watershed healthy and viable.

Each raku tile trophy starts with a sketch. Here’s the one for this year:

It’s a little challenging to come up with a new design each year. The ideal art features the triathlon events and includes a reference to the Mobile Bay coastal ecology. The first year, the trophy ended up as a whimsical Art Deco homage to fleet-footed Mercury, with a bicycle wheel and water:

The following year, the design evolved into a heron — but the bike wheel lingered:

In 2007, the tile design headed off in a simpler direction — a relief carving of a pelican in flight. This is my favorite of all the trophy tiles, so far:

Last year, art students at Spring Hill College designed a logo for the event. Naturally, the 2008 race trophy was based on that…

…which brings us up to this year’s trophy again.  Ideas for 2010, anyone?

Summer art classes at my studio

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art, art classes, creativity, drawing, nature drawing, pottery, raku

Here are the classes and workshops I will be offering this summer.  All levels of art experience are welcome here – every class is taught in an atmosphere of relaxation, encouragement and discovery.  Classes taught at my studio are limited to eight people or less. To reserve a place or ask a question, you may call me anytime at 251-510-9615 or email studio@valwebb.com.

  

RAKU: HANDBUILT POTTERY & HANDMADE TILE    Mondays  6:30-8:30pm, 8 weeks,  starts 6/15/09

Learn to create handmade relief (carved) tile in the traditions of the Art Nouveau masters. Use slab construction to make raku cylinders and boxes. Fall in love with the magical firing process that combines earth, air, fire and water to dramatically transform your artwork.  All tools, clay, glazes and firing included.    $120      

 

DRAWING THE NATURAL WORLD             Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm, 8 weeks, starts 6/18/09

See plants and animals in a whole new way. Learn to use pencil, ink and watercolor to bring your nature drawings vividly to life. Explore scientific illustration techniques – absolutely no previous drawing experience necessary.  We will have at least one field drawing day at a location to be announced.  Bring a sketchbook – everything else is provided.       $120

DRAWING WITH INK & WATERCOLOR        Saturdays 9am to noon,   4 weeks, starts 7/11/09

Combine pen-and-ink techniques with colorful watercolor washes to create richly detailed drawings with a spontaneous touch.  Includes a lesson on color mixing… and one on making your own bamboo ink pen! There is a very small supply list (under $20) for this class.      $95