Open Studios This Weekend

It's that time again: Open Studios at the Inscape building. 

I, along with dozens of other artists, have spent a frantic two weeks framing and hanging, shooting and matting, cleaning and tossing, and if you make it out on Sunday, don't be surprised to see one or more of us propped in a corner snoring. There's always a lot of prep involved in open studios, but they present a unique opportunity to visit artists on their  own turf. 

Of course, it's slightly spiffier-than-usual turf with an atypical quantity of cheese trays, but you know what I mean. Come on out. 

Art, Art, and More Art

Sorry so long no post! I've been working in mixed media again; it took a while after the Big Move to resupply my stockpile of random things, but now my hoard is fully loaded and I'm mixing media like mad. This new series is making me very happy, oh yes indeed.

Here's a preliminary shot of one 3D piece, "Go Now While You Still Can." It has internal motors that turn various bits, a couple of lighted windows, and it's powered by an Arduino Due.

(Thanks to most awesome Husband for helping with the programming despite my infamous impatience and ridiculous perfectionism.)

I'll get a video soon, too.

 The piece to the right is called "Come On Down." I'll be showing it, as well as "Go Now" and others during Inscape Seattle's Open House on June 14. I'll post more info soon, but here's a Facebook link meantime.

In other news, I've been taking a watercolor class with local favorite Jennifer Carrasco. Watercolor has always intimidated me, I'll admit; it requires a bit more delicacy than I can usually muster. Or at least that's what I thought...so far, so good, though. I'm having big fun, thanks to Jennifer and the rest of the gang at C&P Coffee.

Upcoming Workshops

I'll be leading two new poetry workshops for adults this fall at the Inscape Arts building in Seattle. Check these out...you can register through the Brown Paper Tickets links below or through me at laura@laurawaltonallen.com

Poetry & Art: Ekphrastic Beginnings

 November 15, 1 - 4 p.m.
Inscape Arts, Seattle
$45 per person

"All art is sensual, and poetry particularly so," said William Carlos Williams. In ekphrastic poetry, writers turn their senses toward the work of other artists (think Keats' "Ode to a Grecian Urn" or Anne Carson's Hopper-inspired poems.) In this three-hour workshop, we'll encounter the work of poets inspired by physical artworks, and explore some of our own responses to the artists of Seattle's Inscape studios.

Make It Strange: Art Techniques for the Poet

November 22, 1 - 4 p.m.
$45 per person

"Art makes the familiar strange so that it can be freshly perceived. To do this it presents its material in unexpected, even outlandish ways: the shock of the new." Victor Shklovsky

Want to write like a Cubist? Layer meanings like collage? In this short afternoon writing workshop, we'll experiment with techniques usually associated with the visual arts, such as collage, assemblage, and abstraction. Held at one of Seattle's most vibrant arts communities, Inscape Arts, this workshop is sure to freshen your perspective. (P.S.- Prose writers are welcome, too!)

"Make It Strange: Art Techniques for the Poet" is led by artist, writer, and instructor Laura W. Allen. She has taught for the Writer's Garret of Dallas and McLennan Community College, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications and journals such as Bathtub Gin, S/tick, Strange Horizons, and Tinderbox. She is also a working visual artist, concentrating mainly on assemblage and mixed media.