Pioneering Women: Outlaw Visual Journaling $140

Juliana Coles

Saddle up Pardners, and prepare yourself for the ride of a lifetime.  Using the Westward Journey of Pioneering Women as a theme we will expand the process of creating a mixed media book of self expression or Extreme Visual Journal.  By combining journal writing exercises with art making assignments in an altered Book of the Wild West, we will explore our Life’s Journey by deciphering and embellishing the dusty and well traveled trail of our experience.  Themes, such as the Wild West, Pioneer Spirit, the Frontier, Outlaws and Bandits, are great tools to help us focus inward by creating an outward distraction of Historical reference.  You’ll have so much fun you won’t even realize it’s all about self dialogue, inner work, personal expression, and symbolism.  Uncover your Wild West Spirit and Woman of True Grit as we learn to layer pages of text with mixed media and Frontier Days ephemera.  Join my band of Outlaws where Expression and process are stressed as opposed to technique.  Go West, Young Woman, and find the Spirit of yourself.  For all levels/ no prior experience necessary.  (Homework and Suggested materials following)

“Most Wanted” Posse requirements:
 -All outlaws are directed to round up a Western Themed Book to Alter.  (any size or thickness  preferably with cool western images to work with!) You can find great books at great prices at thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, used book sales and my personal favorite - the public library sales.
-All outlaws must research a real or imaginary Western character- man or woman - to serve as an alter ego or alias for one of our assignments.  (Mine is Kit St. James - the legendary lawman,  Calamity Jule and Juliana Benevidez)
-All outlaws must hereby start collecting all things western such as ephemera.  ( I have tons of books I  bought at my local public library sale, always cut out western images from magazines, and I even have a few sets of Wild Western Rubber Stamp Letters- I’m addicted to the Western theme and you will be too!)
-All Outlaws will bring a “Mystery Bag.”  A plastic grocery bag will do (nothing is too small).  Some suggestions are collage items, an old paintbrush that is all glued together, that orange paint you hate, stickers from when you were 14, artist tools and supplies you no longer use or never liked, torn up pieces of your artwork that didn’t work out (no recognizable artwork, please) books to cut up, magazines, sticks, markers, 2 inch chewed up pencils, you get the picture-sort of a grab bag.  We will be using these mystery bags as part of a mixed media warm up assignment.  What, and how much to bring, is up to you.  Don’t worry about trying to include nice things- we’re looking more for garbage items.  We all ready have our own nice supplies-we want your cast offs to really make us think!
-it’s perfectly respectable to dress up  for the workshop - costumes are fun and help get us in the Spirit! -I’ll be there in Cowgirl hat, fringed gloves, gun belt, and boots!

Supply List:
Mixed Media Tool Kit: Your Book to Alter ( or two or three !) and your favorite mixed media supplies,
Western Collage items ( bring copies of things that are precious to you)
1-2 magazines or old glossy photos.
Bring your favorite glue (I love big UHU glue sticks- at least 3)
scissors
some brushes for your paints
a rag or two,
and a jar for water
acrylic paint- any brand, any color in at least two colors, one light one & one dark
at least two brush markers in different colors- black would be good
All mail artists should have a set of rubber stamp letters and numbers-Search for circus style rubber stamp letters!
And I highly recommend Staz On stamp pads because we work so quickly
A graphite pencil- regular old number two is fine, but if you can get to an art store get an ebony pencil, or a 6B, or a graphite stick (not charcoal) just make sure that you have some wet items and some dry items.

Please email Sheriff Juliana Coles with any questions or concerns: meandpete@msn.com Website: www.meandpete.com