Sampling of Early Art Night Out Classes

Sampling of Early September ANO Classes
SO how did you spend your Labor Day? I am sure it seems like eons ago, even though it's only been a few weeks. Libby Barrett spent the morning of Labor Day Libby spent teaching and learning with an Artascope student Lisa, who really has been wanting to do some book binding. Together they worked hard in our paper studio to deconstruct the ins and outs of making books, in order to figure out how to put it all back together again. It was a successful venture and both Libby and Lisa enjoyed their time and learned a lot about this craft. Not a bad way to bring in the September month.

Lavish Scarf with Diane
Diane Brakeley taught the Lavish Fibers Scarf class last week. Students learned to design and combine fibers onto a soluble Mokuba Free Lace which is then stitched together with colorful threads in our sewing room. The scarves are carefully washed to dissolve the Free Lace backing to leave you with unique, exotic designs. Paula is modeling her beautiful scarf for us! Valerie, another Artascope patron was a part of this class and a very active student during the summer months. We love it when our students are inspired to come back time and time again.

You maybe wondering what exactly is Mokuba? It's a water soluble products suitable for your sewing needs and it is quite unique. Typical water soluble products have 1-2 layers of plastic, slippery layers. Mokuba Free Lace is thicker than most, so it's less likely to tear and fold on you as you work with it- particularly at the stitching phase. It is the highest quality of water soluble being sold, plus is very easy to work with.
Painted Floor Cloth
Libby Barrett was back on the scene with her 2 week Art Night Out Class, The Painted Floor Cloth. The first night is spent planning out designs, sketching and figuring out the right paint combinations. The underpainting or background will be applied to allow a solid week for it to dry. The follow up week, students will lay down their final designs. Always a great class. Whenever you walk by the painting studio, there is always a little laughter and lots of creative energy bouncing around the room. Always a fun place to stop and check out the progress. There's lots more where these classes came from...are you game? http://www.artnightout.com/sept2008.htm

Artascope 3rd Anniversary and The End of the Summer Sale Follow Up

Happy Birthday Artascope!
We celebrated our 3rd birthday with a very successful End of Summer Sale last weekend. The weather was perfect....if not a little too hot for some looking for a cool Autumn day. The fog rolled in late in the afternoon to announce the end of the sale. No one was disappointed with the great goods we had to offer and there weren't too many shoppers left without an item or two from all our gifted artists.

A neighbor of mine commented that it was nice to have a little excitement in South Portland and the we created quite a traffic buzz. People kept pulling up and taking a peek at what we were up to. It was nice to see the community so alive! We created lots of new contacts from people near and far that were always curious about us, but had never stopped in to check us out. Stewards were available to tour the crowds around the studio and gallery. We couldn't ask for anything more.

Suzanne presented Catherine with the sweetest chocolate cake for their shared 3rd year anniversary. These two hot shots are the reason Artascope runs so smoothly. Catherine was smart to gobble up Suzanne when she had the chance. They are a great team and the proof is in the pudding...or the cake in this case. I've included a shot of a few of our Artascope Stewards past and present surrounding Catherine and the luscious cake. Be sure there was much sampling occurring after the photos.

So check out some of the action from the day's event. Excitement is already building for our 34rd annual holiday show....can you believe it's just around the corner? Get ready to shop for sure!

Artascope Steward Spotlight-Diane Brakeley

Diane Brakeley
On Sept. 20, Diane Brakeley, our very talented Artascope Steward and Teacher, will be selling her artwork at the Maine Genealogical Society’s 2008 Annual Conference. This conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel in South Portland, Maine. Vendors will be open from 8am to 4pm. Most booths will be advertising genealogical groups, selling historical books, or offering photo refinishing.

So how does Diane fit into this fascinating group? She makes found object jewelry, using items that have a history and a genealogy of their own! Not to mention that Diane is a genealogy enthusiast herself.

Her favorite items right now are her bracelets made from vintage cuff links or lapel pins. Your male ancestors might have left behind boxes of these items. If you can’t throw these away and they are just sit in a box, maybe you would like to talk to Diane about making them into something memorable for you to wear. She can refashion them into really unusual bracelets. She can make you a necklace from your grandmother’s silverware (or someone else’s) or weave the seat of your favorite ladderback chair with your grandfather's ties! Check out her typewriter key jewelry made from typewriters from the 20s-40s, too.

Diane's booth at the Genealogy conference is called “Presents with a Past” if you find yourself wondering through next weekend. Diane's business name is Della Mano Designs. Dellamano is her maiden name, which is Italian and means “of the hand”. Rather appropriate for what she does! Check out some of her newest work at our Artascope Gallery. Diane will be back teaching at Artascope on Monday September 22nd, 6-9pm, with her Mail Art Class. Take collaging to a new level and chat with Diane about her genealogy weekend...should be fun. Find out more about Diane's upcoming classes by following our link. http://www.artnightout.com/sept2008.htm