Woven Neck Tie Chair Workshop with Diane and the Callithump!

If you have ever stopped by Artascope and checked out our fabulous gallery full of artistic treasures made by our very own teachers and stewards, then you would surely remember Diane's fabulous series of Woven Neck Tie Chairs. Diane was savvy to find a class on saving your old wicker/caned chairs by replacing the thrush with old neck ties. Diane has mastered the art of weaving patterns and colors into exquisite works of art. Here are some pictures of Diane's students and their own Silk Tie Chairs from her impromptu workshop held earlier this month. The class was created when one of Diane's patrons purchased a chair and asked to be taught the process. Her daughter and a few of our stewards/local artists joined in for a Sunday afternoon of sewing, weaving and silk tie fun!












So make sure to take a stroll through our gallery to see one of Diane's new chair creations. Don't forget to bring a few quarters with you for our new Callithump! Vending Machine recently acquired by Artascope. Curious? Diane's daughter and son in law are taking their Vending Machine Art on the road. A Callithump! is a magazine that is sold out of toy capsule vending machines. Each capsule contains an "article," which might be a poem, a series of photographs, a small sculpture... really anything that they can create multiples of that fits inside a capsule! Never know what you'll end up with. Check out their website at http://www.callithump.org/.

Artascope Steward News- Ann Liller & Libby Barrett

Ann Liller has made quite a name for herself at Artascope as our PMC guru. That's Ann posing with fellow artist, Dan Clark, last Saturday during their art opening at SASS-Second Saturday Art Stroll. Their PMC and metalsmithing work will be up at the Artascope Gallery through the end of the month.

Ann's been working with PMC for quite a while now and her innovation and desire to deepen her knowledge has recently led her to become PMC certified with Tim McCreight, a true leader in the world of PMC.

Thought you might enjoy hearing first hand from her experience, so here's Ann: "I have just come from the 3 day PMC certification class with Tim McCreight and all I can say is WOW. I have never worked so hard for three days in my life or learned so much. Out of 15 students, only 4 were from Maine and they came from as far as CA. There wasn't an extra minute to spare built into the program, we had to check our creativity at the door and we even ate our lunch at our desks! Rio runs a great program and Tim is just the best instructor that I have had in a long time. He debunked a lot of PMC myths, taught me new ways to do things, gave me a whole new perspective on the medium. This next ArtEscape weekend group is in for a real treat because I am still on a PMC-Tim McCreight high and I have some great new ideas."

Ann will be heading the PMC Art Escape Weekend starting tomorrow May 16th-18th. It's a full weekend of amazing fun. You start on Friday at 6-9pm. You will be in studio all day Saturday and 1/2 day Sunday. It's going to be an absolute blast. We are all extremely proud of Ann's accomplishments and just in time for her birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Ann!!

In some other exciting Stewarding news at Artascope Studios, one of our newest Stewards, Libby Barrett informed me about her floorcloths and artist's books are being shown in the Stable Galleryin Damariscotta May-October. The season opening is this Friday, May 16th from 5-7. Sounds like it's going to be an exciting weekend for both our artists! You can check out more about Libby Barrett's work at her website http://www.libbybarrett.net/. We are excited to welcome her on board at Artascope Studios. Here are a few examples of her beautiful work. You will find a link for her website along with many other current and past stewards and teachers from Artascope under links we love.

Metalsmithing Studio- Soldered Ring and PMC Pendant

Our Metalsmithing Studio is one of the most used spaces at Artascope Studios. We host a plethora of metalsmithing, PMC, beading, wire wrapping and sea glass jewelry classes in our fantastic studio. Equipped with drilling centers, acetylene solder stations, a jewelry kiln, tumbler and a wall stacked with hammers, filling, cutting and beading tools , this place has become the hub of jewelry creation in South Portland.

Recently, Gayle, our stained glass expert, switch gears and taught a fantastic Solder Ring Class. This was a great introduction to metalsmithing and they were thrilled with their results after just 4 hours of work. Sisters, Julie and Diane were excited to make their own rings. Leslie had such a great time and she can't wait to practice her new skills, so she joined Artascope Studios as a Member to have access to the studios. Kelly was able to refresh her skills from a class last summer and even set a dichroic stone that her sister has made. Very successful class indeed!

PMC is one of our hot classes right now. PMC, Precious Metal Clay, is fantastic product that combines artistry, clay and silver into one amazing jewelry experience. The creators of PMC found a way to combine tiny silver fragments with a binder to create a porcelain clay-like substance that can be molded, carved and formed into the most amazing pieces. Once dried and fired in a jewelry kiln, your final product is a pure silver unique creation. Check out the results of Deb's PMC pendant class. Students came in with their own ideas and in some cases, objects to mold in plastic in order to make a PMC replica. The detail and designs are very personal and the possibilities are endless. Although the pictures look like students are working in clay, once their pendants were complete bone dry and fired, their final products were 99.9% pure silver jewelry.

May 10th Second Saturday Art Stroll- Artist Spotlight Ann Liller & Dan Clark

Artascope Studios is celebrating Mother's Day with a special FREE event for our community. Join us on May 10th for the Second Saturday Art Stroll. Celebrate Mother's Day with Paper Flower Making Demo from 6:30 to 8pm. It's a chance to learn how to create a paper bouquet! Bring the kids! Bring your friends! Take Mom out! Or take the kids and leave Mom at home so you can shop for her special gift! We have a wonderful gallery full of unique handmade items that would be a perfect Mother's Day present. The Gallery @ Artascope Studios is OPEN daily from 9am-7pm. May's featured artist is a double jewelry feature with innovative, beautiful PMC (precious metal clay) pieces from Ann Liller and metalsmith creations from Dan Clark.

Sea Glass Extravaganza!!!

Sea Glass Private Parties & Lessons
To say that our Sea Glass Jewelry classes are popular would be an understatement. Our close proximity to the ocean and all of our fantastic beaches is sure to stir the imagination with visions of what to do with all the sea glass treasures you find while walking along the shoreline. That's where we come in! We have been offering some fantastic Art Night Out jewelry classes and private parties and lessons for sea glass. Here a few picks from Lynne's successful Sea Glass Pendant private party. Lynne is quite the Sea Glass jewelry expert and showed off her talents by teaching a private session back to back with a private party for another Artascope Studio teacher, Nicole, and some of her co-workers. Check out the fantastic wire working and embellishments on the pendants. The hand dyed silk ties add a unique colorful touch. See the students in action as they work on their pieces and show off their finished creations.
Art Night Out Sea Glass Jewelry Classes
Our Sea Glass guru Lynne was back in studio working with students on wrapped sea glass earrings. Lots of fresh new faces at the studio which we always love to see! Lynne helped students pick out their sea glass gems and decorative beads to begin the project. The students learn to work with the silver wire as they find ways to wrap their treasures together. Lots of teamwork and troubleshooting happens so that the students achieves the desired effect. What a fun way to learn a little about yourself, meet some new friends and go home with one fabulous pair of custom earrings.

Diane kept the Sea Glass theme with her Drilled Sea Glass Bracelet. You know the class is popular when your students are coming up from Portsmouth NH! Students learned how to drill the glass, shells and other treasures using diamond drill bits in a water bath...how exotic! The class was a huge hit and each bracelet reflected the personality of the artist. Now this is a charm bracelet class to remember. Any of our Sea Glass jewelry creations would be the perfect piece for a night on the town or a stroll on the beach.

If you have missed out on all these classes and would love to join the Sea Glass groupies, think about joining Lynne on Saturday May 24th from 2-6pm for the Sea Glass Wrapped Bracelet. Sure to be a hit!

Mosaic Garden Stone and Hammered Metal Jewelry Review

It was a busy night at Artascope Studios for two popular Art Night Out classes- Mosaic Garden Stone and Hammered Metal Jewelry- filling our 2 first floor studios with lots of sounds of clanking metals, snapping glass and conversations between students.

Check out some of the beautiful mosaic designs the students created for their garden stones. You could just hear the excitement about getting out into the gardens to display their new creations. A great way to welcome in spring.

Laurie helped her students lay out the design to make sure they have the right color combinations and bit and pieces for a desired effect. Safely glasses are a must for students breaking up glass mosaics to make their needed shapes. The final design in applied to contact paper and laid in the bottom of a stepping stone making container.....round plastic containers make perfect stepping stone molds. The concrete in poured over and the students come back in a day or two to pick up their final piece.

One cool side note on the Mosaics class was that every student signed up over the web. This is a very exciting new tool for all of our Art Night Out customers. Instead of giving us a ring to sign up for a class, you can sign up on line through PayPal at any time day or night. Under every class description, there is a sign up now button. Sweet! Check out the link.... http://www.artnightout.com/

Hammered Metal Jewelry with Betina was taken to a new level. No one held back in creating one of a kind pieces. Betina toaught everyone techniques to twist, bend and play with the wire into the desired effect. Hammering comes after to add texture and dimension to their items. One student embellished her beautiful blass dragonfly with luscious glass beads. Check out the 3-D sculpture using copper, brass and silver wire. Quite a masterpiece. The money clip is my favorite of the night. What a fun gift to make....always something new brewing in these studios.

Sue Drown Trout- April's Highlighted Artist Hosted Gallery Opening and Batik Demo

Sue Drown Trout, local artist and teacher, is our featured April Artist at Artascope Studios. Her beautiful batik work will be on display and for sale in our gallery through the end of the month. Thursday, April 17th, Sue hosted her opening with a hand-ons demo about the baking process. With examples laid out in the studios to show the step by step process of this wax resist dying process, Sue was able to show party goers and students alike about her art. Sue is preparing for the Late Spring Artist Series on Batiking starting Thursday May 8th. The 6 week session will be held from 10am-1pm. The cost is $150 for the entire session. It's a great way to deepen your batiking knowledge. If you are looking for an evening of Batiking.....how about trying the Hand Dyed Scarf class on Monday, May 12th from 6-9pm. The cost is $45. Makes a wonderful gift for a friend....or maybe you! Some come in and see what Sue has been up to. Artascope Studios Gallery is open from 9am-7pm every day, so stop by.

Experimental Drawing and Wrapped Seaglass Pendant

Experimental Drawing happened at Artascope Studios over the weekend along with another successful Sea glass Wrapped Pendant class. Quite a busy place. Spring has sprung and students are branching out into new media and trying their hand at some of our fun new classes. Lori taught a fantastic class in Experimental Drawing, using a grid system to map out an image to master texture, composition while stretching the imagination with altering block sizes for a unique portrait. I am sure Experimental Drawing will be returning, so check the schedule. If you are looking for some more of our new classes coming up at Artascope Studios, "Woven Necktie Chair" is bound to be a hit on Sunday May4th. The class cost is $80 and the class is filling fast. Diane has been producing some amazing necktie ladder back chairs for our gallery and wants to share her talents with you.

Our jewelry studio was packed with sea glass enthusiasts eager to create their own wrapped pendants for the summer. Students produced some stunning results. Kudos to Lynne for another successful glass. The pearls add a touch of sophistication to this beautiful class example.

If you are looking for a wire wrapping class, come join us for a very special WigJig Earring class this Monday the 21rst with Marcia Wiggins. Learn from the family that invented this wire wrapping invention. Should be a blast. Monday 6-9pm $50. Come check us out!

Private Parties at Artascope Studios- Hammered Metal Jewelry

Private parties are one of Artascope Studios specialities. We are always open to cater to personal events and create a fun environment for all types of events, from birthday parties to team building corporate parties.

We recently threw a fantastic appreciation party for Stegemann and Shuman Orthodontics' entire staff. They filled up 0ur largest studios with sounds of hammering metal mixed in with a little laughter. Betina was able to lead our 17 guests through a fantastic demo using copper and silver wire to create new and exciting jewelry pieces. With Suzanne's assistance and a little of my own, the entire cast of party goers went home with some very fabulous items to show off at work the follow week. What a great way to build bonds and show gratitude for your work family.

We are always open to talk about your upcoming event and we love to help guide you to explore all the class possibilities we have for parties in your future. We can offer parties for kids and adults alike. All we ask if for a time and class preference and 5 plus participants. The possibilities are endless!

Tin Collage People Class Review

What a blast our students had during Sue Hellier's popular "Tin Collage People" class. Everyone had an opportunity to bring in pictures of their loved ones and make fun new metal collage cut outs using photo faces and some creativity. Students altered wedding photos, kid head shots and other favorite images. One student transformed a wedding couple into a pair of funky fish. A few nephews and nieces ended up with some cool new metal digs and riding in a green JD gator machine. Another student turned their son into a "sun". Anything goes! What a way to celebrate your friends and family with a crafty collage project straight from the heart.



If you like collage, why not try out one of our upcoming April collage classes. Maggie will take you through the collage essentials on Thursday April 17th from 6-9. Play with text, paint and paper and find your inner artist! How about trying your hand at the Memorabilia Pocket class with Nicole. A perfect way to collect your memories from a special occasion or trip. We will be meeting on Thursday April 24th from 6-9pm. Join the fun!