Category: Research
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Ivy-themed tool holder
I had a delightful request for a custom tool holder, and I may have gone a bit overboard. Please enjoy a lot of casual process photos. Project goals: Process: planning I quickly sketched some ivy. The thing that stood out to me was the way ivy climbing up a vertical surface can have a strong…
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Tea directory (part 3)
I made a tea directory (project goals and bookbinding described here) and some stamps with which to track my delicious investigation of those teas, but I was still not done. It had been a while since I bound a book destined to hold such an absurd number of inclusions, and I underestimated how much extra…
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California native plants
It’s close enough to spring in my part of California to assess gardening plans. With some exceptions for dye or food, I have tried to commit more of that energy to researching and plotting for plants native to this area. As a person who doesn’t have a lot of energy or time budgeted for gardening,…
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Tea stamps
These three carved bits of wood are stamps for my tea directory book. I’ll use the two on the left for most pages. Which I use on a page will depend on whether I use a gaiwan or tea strainer for that particular tea. It’s been rather a long time since I last carved anything.…
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Bookmaking: Tea directory 2025 ed.
It is the end of January 2025, and the closest I came to decluttering was to sort my tea. I made a book about it (as one does). Tea directory book goals: What I learned (while making the book): Process notes and results: I found out about the K-118 binding approach through demonstrations by the…
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Question: How does art theory relate to your teaching and practice?
Short answer: Postmodernism I flubbed this question during an important conversation today. It would be deeply inappropriate to reach out to the committee to ask to change my answer, but for my peace of mind I need to voice it somewhere. At least, I think I finally deciphered the question a handful of hours later.…
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Cloth Masks
[Quick note: If you want links to patterns, scroll to the end of this post.] I have access to a sewing machine, and therefore I’ve used my studio space to make nothing but cloth masks since mid-March 2020. (Many thanks to my mom, whose expertise makes this easier and whose company makes it enjoyable.) The…
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The Puzzle Show
This year I’m taking part in The Puzzle Show, which is a fundraiser for the Chico Art Center. The time-sensitive thing to know is that the final auction of these pieces takes place on March 29, 2019 from 5 -8 PM. I purchased an oddly shaped plywood panel to decorate in the manner of…
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End-of-year print, 2018
This year my final artwork was a print to send out to friends and family. As I wrote to one friend: Dear [friend], I hope the upcoming year brings you joy like not quite killing all my plants made me happy in 2018. Each of these prints has been embellished with watercolor in a…
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Panel discussion
I will be taking part in a panel discussion at the Museum of Northern California Art (monca) on Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Other artists on the panel will also include Bobbie Rae Jones and Gini Holmes. Event details
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Art show (May 31-July 15, 2018)
Two of my artworks will be on display as part of a show about “Persistence” at the Museum of Northern California Art. (see the bottom of this post for venue details) Colleen Wampole Hello, my name is feminine rage (whatever it takes) oil on canvas, diptych left: 23.5” h, 16” w; right: 23.5”…
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Sketchbook project 2018
Sometimes I use the Sketchbook Project as an excuse to goof off artistically. This time around I used their theme “No worries” as an excuse to do a set of images that for me work like emergency smile generators. I didn’t want to incorporate a lot of words, so I used QR codes to link…
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Inktober 2017
Personal challenge: do the 2018 Inktober prompts ink only no pencil no whiteout food/eating/cooking theme Results:
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Art at the Chico Art Center
My most recent artwork is currently on display at the Chico Art Center in California until February 2, 2018!
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Book relics
I bound a set of books part of my efforts to support the department in which I taught studio art in 2016. I doubt anyone will be surprised that the traditional gift for graduating studio art majors is a sketchbook. Their art building is undergoing major renovations this year, but I salvaged a number of…
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A quick card
I went quiet this year because my first year of teaching kept me more than a bit busy. With the exception of summer break, it felt like any art time was either on the sly or preparation for a class. Today I returned to my studio to make a popup card. I’m not making a…
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Visual note-taking
It took me rather a long time to notice that art was important to me, so I was that kid in class whose notes are words-only. In art classes I had to change my ways of recording information. There are strong trends, and it has been interesting in my first semester of teaching to figure…
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Lisa Yuskavage: The Brood in St. Louis
“It’s only paint. Nobody’s getting hurt here.” -Lisa Yuskavage, Q&A at Contemporary Art Museum (St. Louis) I took a handful of students to the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. CAM is currently showing a collection of paintings by Lisa Yuskavage. The students got excited about her work, which was helpful because that meant we…
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Dürer at the Crocker
The short version is that you should absolutely go see the special exhibit of German art at the Crocker Art Museum (on display until Feb. 14, 2016). Albrecht Dürer’s prints and drawings are the highlights of the show, but the show as a whole is worthwhile. Look for the magnifying glasses available for viewers’…
Colleen Wampole 