Saturday, September 25, 2010

Class Review: Bottled Spirits

On Saturday, Sept. 25, I took a class called "Bottled Spirits" with Connie Andrews at C.Andrews Studio in Half Moon Bay.  We started with clean bottles and then altered them to appear as if they were bottles washed ashore, encrusted by time with amazing texture.  Inside each bottle, we placed a spirit that we imagined had been captured in the bottle.  Can you guess which of the bottles above is mine?  How about which one was made by my amazing 12 year old daughter Clara?  Before I tell you, here's my class review. And don't forget that you can always click on any picture to enlarge it and better see the details.
The class was wonderful!  I left the class not only with a wonderful bottled muse but also a newfound confidence in painting altered objects and assemblage.  This has always been the hardest part of altered art for me, and Connie's technique really helped me to "get" it.  The secret was starting with a single base color and then the introduction of a metallic layer before adding a variety of colors.  Another challenge in assemblage and altered art classes can be the question of the proper adhesive.  Connie has solved that problem through her brilliant, innovative use of diamond glaze.  This class was really fun - the process of decorating/embedding things into the bottle and painting both made me really happy.  In addition, the members of the class were all wonderful artists and the chance to spend an enjoyable, stress-free day with my adolescent daughter made it all the better! I know Connie is offering this class a few more times, and I highly recommend it if you are in the San Francisco bay area.  You can find her class schedule at her blog, Connie's Dream.
Now for the reveal.  This is a close up of my bottle:
And this is the one made by Clara:
It really looks like a moody pre-teen spirit to me! LOL! Here's close ups of the other class participants' bottles.  In order of appearance, Maureen, Connie and Cindy (who is apparently a member ot Team Edward, but I like her anyway).
So, do tell, did you guess correctly?

14 comments:

Margi said...

what an awesome class and even more awesome results! Very kewl Rinda!

Margi said...

P.S. your Bottled Spirits is my blog write up for today! Love your work!

scrappyjacky said...

Totally amazing,Rinda.

debs14 said...

Oh my goodness, these are amazing! How do you get the faces onto the bottle? Or are they prints inside the bottle? These are just so beautiful. And what patience in all that layering to get the right textures and colours.

Tammy Lee Bradley said...

Fantastic!!! What a great idea. xo

Tam

laurie said...

these are beautiful. and haunting. I love all the little details. and, no, i did not guess correctly. :-)

Sian said...

Fabulous! I've never seen anything quite like them before (tho I just know you will take what you learned and make some more lovely things to show us) - made me think about Pirates of the Caribbean again, too.

Anonymous said...

They are fabulous! I've never seen anything like them.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Fabulous! So creative!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

When the first picture showed on my screen I said outloud, "Whoa! Cool!!!" These are beautiful, Rinda. So different and awesome.

Ayana Posadas said...

These are SO creative!
Very unique and pretty!

melissamyth said...

those are so cute :)

Irene said...

I have several bottles that need altering. Now I need the confidence to get started.

humel said...

Oh wow, I love these!! I did guess Clara's, but wasn't certain which was yours :-) They're all so fab though!