Making Space to Share Art

About a year and a half ago,

I took my girls to a 

paint-your-own-pottery

get together

at the newly built Red Owl Hall
at Red Owl, South Dakota several miles off SD Highway 34
along the gravel Red Owl Road.
Little did I know,
that day with my girls
would begin beautiful new connections
of sharing art.

That day,

I met Hester Prouty

who quickly became

a kindred spirit,

sharing my love

for

making art,

making space for others to create in community,

and

turning creative projects into opportunities. 

Right away, Hester began sharing ideas with me

and she introduced me to Kerry Burns in Philip, South Dakota.

Kerry had recently opened a coffee shop called ginny's

in a Victorian house painted deep green with purple trim

and transformed inside

with whimsy and charm and happiness.

Ginny's Coffee House {aka Bad River Coffee Company}

is located on Pine Street near the Bad River in Philip.

Kerry and her daughters have hosted several of my art classes

and a fun pop-up artsy event.

This year I will be there with my turquoise tent on August 11.

Hester recently jumped all-in

and set up space to share what she loves

with the Black Hills community

at Prouty Pottery

in "The Gap" in Rapid City at the old Landstrom's building

at 405 Canal Street.

Her space is wide open with room to breathe,

high ceilings, brick walls, and industrial chic decor,

and a welcoming, inspiring atmosphere.

Check out this piece from Black Hills Fox:

Art Beat Prouty Pottery

Hester and Joe are generous with their hands always helping me carry

my heavy and extensive amount of art supplies

and are generous with sharing connections.

At Prouty Pottery,

not only can you paint your own pottery,

Hester opens up space for other artists to share classes,

she has pottery wheel classes,

clay classes,

specialty pottery painting classes,

and she sells her handmade mugs, bowls and pottery pieces.

The space is loaded with possibilities coming to life.

Goodness comes from artistic entrepreneurs sharing friends and space and ideas.

I am so grateful for the connections I am making through Hester and Kerry,

and the space they both have given me

to share my heart

with others

seeking space for creativity.

I see hearts soften, 

eyes open, 

possibility unfold, 

ideas and confidence awaken,

challenges overcome, 

and memories made.

When you travel through Philip,

be sure and stop at ginny's for some Bad River Coffee.

My next class at Prouty Pottery: 

Your Word,

a simple mixed media basics class

is Wednesday, July 25.

You can find all the details and reserve your spot here:

White Owl Wings Your Word Mixed Media Class

My next Big Bold Wildflower class will be at my home at Shaw Ranch on August 3.

Details and registration here:

Big Bold Wildflower Class

Art and Photography Workshop: Wildflowers and Winging It

Oh. My. Heart!

My favorite part of summer

is this.

Prairie Wildflowers.

Give me a pasture of wildflowers and my camera

and you will find a happy Jodi.

Since the prairie wildflowers have exploded here on the ranch,

we have a short window of opportunity

 to take some breathtaking photos in the evenings! 

I am opening up a spontaneous art & photo workshop

 in my White Owl Wings studio at my home by appointment from 

3:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the dates of July 5-8 and 11-15. 

Choose which day you would like to come for yourself and up to two more friends. 

Register here: www.whiteowlwings.com

Here's what I have planned:

* Make your own "Winging It" Art piece

 on a round slice of birch wood 

with papers, butterfly diagrams and wire wings 

from 3:00-6:00. 

*Break

* An evening of wildflower "photography safari"

on the prairie through sunset. 

We will take the side-by-side 4-wheeler 

to some of my favorite spots for photos on the ranch.

*Limited to 3 people at a time. 

*Bring a couple friends for a very personal small group art/photo time. 

*Message or call me to reserve your date.

Register at www.whiteowlwings.com
*$60 per person. Bring your own camera. All art supplies provided.

***

So here's a few things I have learned about these wildflower favorites

from my book: Grassland Plants of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains

by James R. Johnson and Gary E. Larson.

The top photo above of the yellow flower is a Prairie Coneflower.

*"Dakota and Lakota made a tea to cure aches of the stomach, head, or side;

Dakota also made a leaf tea beverage."

*"Cheyenne prepared a solution for relieving the effects of rattlesnake bite and poison ivy."

*"The dark red phase is known as "Mexican Hat" {which you can see below}.

This photo above is a Purple Coneflower, or Echinacea, or Black Samson.

A few interesting things:

*indicator of healthy range; safe for grazing

*when chewed, the root numbs the mouth.

*"root widely used by Plains Indians to treat the following:

snakebite,

stings,

toothache,

coughs,

sore mouth and gums,

neck pain,

rheumatism,

arthritis,

mumps and measles,

and more."

*"The plant was their most important plains herbal medicine."

Here is the Mexican Hat version of the Prairie Coneflower,

a rare find.

I'd love to have you join me

for my Winging It Art and Photography Workshop.

Register Here:  www.whiteowlwings.com

Consider Birds Sneak Peek and Supply List

 Consider Birds:

Trading Anxiety for Peace of Mind

an online class

by

Jodene Shaw

based on Matthew 6:26

"Look to the birds of the air..."

beginning May 16, 2016

 Register at

www.whiteowlwings.com

Early registration just $38 through April 20.
Regular registration: $55

Hey friends!

Today I am showing just a sneak peak of a few

projects from Consider Birds

along with a little prayer for the class

and a suggested supply list.

First, just a peek.

I don't want to give away all of the surprises...

Just a note:

the easiest way to get

close photographs of birds

is to feed them in your yard.

I have videos about this

and some fun bird food projects.

But if you want to get started attracting them now,

get some black sunflower seed and start feeding.

****

My Prayer for this class is inspired by this:

My Grandma Marj took me under her wing when I was a little girl.

She taught me the names of the birds and to appreciate the uniqueness of each one.

Each bird was a treasure.

She taught me to build a bird life list.

I will share this with you and you can begin yours if you haven't yet.

Here is my video reading of the prayer:

Lord,

Thank YOU for bringing

Consider Birds together in my mind.

For the legacy of Grandma Marj.

May this journey begin 

to unravel the threads 

that have been tied tightly in knots

of anxiousness, worry and endless striving

that always felt "not quite enough"

in my life, some family members,

and all those who interact with this material.

May the knots

loosen,

untangle,

and

unleash

each of us

in freedom

and

the abundant life

and

unforced rhythms of grace

that You offer.

May a legacy of grace fly forward

on wings

of

gratitude,

value,

and

and

love.

This is my prayer for Consider Birds

and the lives it touches...

Amen, Jesus.

I am just excited for you to experience 

the material I have prepared for you.

This has been growing in my heart since I was a little girl.

I had no idea what a beautiful thing God would do with it all...

including the pain of my migraines

which made me pay attention

and dig deep.

My video message to you about supplies:

Following are photos and a list of suggested supplies for Consider Birds.

Some supplies have links for ordering.

*2x4 or 2x6 inch board cut into squares or rectangles

*Birch round (Michael's)

*Stretched canvas 5x7 inch or preferred size

*old weathered pieces of wood

Paper:  scrapbook papers, old books/dictionaries you can tear up, vintage papers, wallpaper books

You will need a computer to watch videos and a printer to print PDFs of vintage bird images and poetry that I will share with you.

I use a vintage typewriter for text in my art, but you can download a vintage typewriter font for your computer and print from there.

*Gesso:  white, black and clear

*Mod Podge matte or Liquitex Matte Medium

*Golden Crackle Paste and/or Molding Paste

*Optional: Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish

*Sponge brushes

*Stiff bristled brushes

*Black tacks/nails

*Plastic palette knives or just a plastic knife

*old gift cards

*Acrylic Paint:  heavy bodied, academic level, and/or craft paint

Colors I will use:  

Raw umber, yellow ochre, payne's gray, any shade of turquoise, reds, unbleached titanium, white

Suggestion:  Use a 40% off one item coupon at Michael's and get a starter set of Golden or Liquitex heavy bodied acrylic paints. You can mix and make your own colors from a basic set.

*Distress Ink Pad in Vintage Photo and/or other preferred colors

*Others are optional:  Distress Stains, Distress Crackle Paint in Clear Rock Candy (highly suggest), Ranger Alcohol Inks

*Hammer, needle nosed pliers, scissors, sandpaper (100 grit)

*20 gauge wire in your choice of color (found in beading/jewelry section)

*found or collected objects like sticks (sanded), heart shaped stones or stones of a certain color, beads, buttons, safety pins, clothes pins.... just fun objects you might have or find.

Various Rubber Stamps with patterns and perhaps birds.

*In addition to stamps you may want to collect netting, bubble wrap, jar openers and things that you can create patterns and textures with...

*Sculpey Clay, white, 8 oz.

You don't need an 8 lb box!

Recollections Chipboard Kit for creating a bird life list book.

Spiral bound sketchbook for gratitude journal and prayer projects. (See video.)

These are suggested.

You don't have to use the exact supplies I have.

Use what you have.

Watch the videos and decide how you want to do the projects.

You might have supplies that will fit the project.

Remember, you will have access to this for an unlimited time.

Consider it like a cookbook.  You don't have to buy all the ingredients for all of the recipes.

You get to decide which ones to try first. 

Creativity: Planting Seeds

At times I feel like I should pinch myself

when I'm in a room with a group of people

"making stuff".

I love it.

This Saturday

was a fun morning for

my mixed media basics class called

Building Blocks.

I found out later from my friend Susanne

that Saturday was

National Inspire Your Heart With Art Day.

How perfect.

Inspire your heart with art.

That could be my theme.

That is how I want my life to be.

Melody and Addi ~ mom and daughter.

That is what I got to see unfold

on Saturday.

Addi made her own letter "A's" for this one. She is amazing!

One of my favorite parts of the class

is when each one has their papers all laid out

and then 

they select

their

words.

The words they choose

always hits me in a profound way.

And a fun way too...

The words are almost always a key part of what I make

and what I lead

others 

in making

for

themselves.

How FUN is Laurel??

Made by Shara.

Another favorite thing that happens

is when

a precious soul arrives

believing

they are

not

creative.

And maybe it hasn't been something

they have enjoyed or learned

and hasn't come naturally.

Shara's building block.

But.

It's a beautiful thing

when someone

realizes

what they can do.

Created by Alanna.  Way to be brave!

And then, when I get the message that she went to the craft store after taking the class  .  .  ,

well, that just makes me smile from the inside out.

Art block by Jennifer.

Because I believe in the impact

of making something with your own hands.

I believe that it is soul-filling, heart-healing,

and can be the unfolding of prayer, of discovery, 

of acknowledging and processing seasons of life,

communicating, honoring, remembering.

And it's like

little

seeds

of creativity were planted.

Then they start to grow.

A reminder made by Julie.

Beautiful piece created by Jennifer. 

A little cutie made by Jennifer to hang by her doorbell. 

Lots of loveliness made by Julie for her daughter. 

Lisa brought a favorite quote and made this cutie!

Another lovely created by Lisa.

Oh my heart! Love this one made by Melody.

Another one put together so beautiful and rich by Melody.

Precious time spent together. Fills MY heart too!

I have a couple spots left
for you and a child

Here's the details:

Saturday, February 14, 2015

9:00-Noon

at Sturgis Photo and Gifts, Sturgis, SD

"Today you are You,

that is truer than true. 

There is no one alive 

who is Youer than You." 

~ Dr. Suess

Bring one of your favorite young ones and 

celebrate who you are with a touch of artsy fun 

and bit of faith-filled inspiration for your heart.

What a perfect way to spend Valentine's morning together!

Collage, paint & make a meaningful memory 

with one of your favorite kids.

 Learn some basic mixed media techniques 

on a wooden letter monogram of your first initial.

$30 per person. Includes all art supplies.

To register, call Terri Jo at Sturgis Photo & Gifts at 605-347-6570. 

Be sure to let her know the letters you would like. 

Deadline to register: February 11.

Recommended for ages 4 and up.