Cubes & pattern designs prevail

Cafe Yumm, 18th St., Eugene, OR

IMG_8519    IMG_8520 Jan showed up at our meeting with two new folding cube creations – cows and aliens! She’s really on a roll with these clever details!

IMG_8522Barbara Shirk smiles her thanks at the gift the group gave her for all her work in helping us learn how to do folding cubes.

IMG_8524       IMG_8525Penelope & Barb Sh. get right down to sketching, while Barb A. and Jan discuss art opportunities in the area (Club Mud Ceramics Holiday Sale Nov. 21-Dec 18 at Maude Kerns, for one!).

IMG_8530Penelope is still looking for designs & patterns (thanks to the online course from Jane LaFazio) – she sees them everywhere!

IMG_8527Jane defies herself in being able to sketch some ideas from her memory of items from her kitchen…perhaps they’ll show up in her “grid” assignment from Jane LaFazio’s class.

IMG_8528 IMG_8529Barb Shirk not only sees patterns, she also pays attention to negative space.

IMG_8531Meanwhile, Jan is busy sticking new labels on wooden cubes to get ready for her next folding cube design. Told you she was hooked.

Figuring it out

5th St. Market, Eugene, OR

1 - Jan's block     2 - BarbSh,JanJan brought her completed folding block creation, much to our delight. Barb Shirk and Jan enjoy each other’s constructions.

3 - Ken et alHere, give me that thing! Ken & Erik join in on the hinged block fun.

4 - designNow that we’ve been successful in hinging the blocks together so that they will fold open into new patterns, Barb Shirk, Barb Aten, Erik, & Jan start contemplating designs to go on them.

7 - BarbA      8 - ErikBarb Aten refers to a Zentangle book for inspiration, while Erik begins a Greek key pattern on his blocks.

5 - Barbs      6 - BarbsBarb Sommers brought some sample sketches to ask our resident expert how she might use them on her folding blocks. Let’s see….

9 - Jane    revised rocks-salal Meanwhile, Jane was trying to figure out how to get her stacked rocks to look like they were sitting on the salal leaves, referring back at a previous sketch and photos of the rocks and the leaves. Ta dah!

No Blockheads Here!

Barbara Shirk’s house, Eugene, OR

It was an auspicious beginning at Barbara’s house this Tuesday morning…

1-treats      2-gang-craft roomWe were greeted with warm mini-croissants and chocolate shortbread, as well as a tour of Barb’s craft room & charming home. Above are: Ardas Calhoun, Barbara Aten, Tricia Clark-McDowell, Penelope Youngfeather, Jan Brown, & hostess Barbara Shirk.

4-BarbSh-explains      3-samplesThen Barb introduced us to the folding cubes, samples in basket.

5-preparation     6-folding blocksIn the corner was the supply layout, as well as written instructions with illustrations (once  a superb teacher, always a superb teacher!)

table group    table-cuttingBarb Aten, Jan, Ardas Calhoun, and Tricia got right down to it…take six little wooden cubes (used as math manipulative in elementary school), then cut white sticker labels to fit across two…

BarbSh-Erik    Erik-whewBarb demonstrates for Erik how the cubes go together so that they will open up – this is tricky & complicated! He gives a sigh of relief when his complete folding blocks work right. Yay!

Tricia-cutting      Tricia-trimming     Tricia-designTricia cuts carefully, trims the excess after applied to the blocks so that they open up, and then applies a design which will change as the blocks open and fold in a different direction.

Penelope-1     Penelope-savePenelope delights in getting the first set of blocks stickers together. Later she photographed a sample design to inspire her at home.

BarbA-stickers       BarbA-decorate Barb A gets the next block section turned just right for the next sticker application, and gets down to doing designs on her blocks.

Jane-BarbSo         BarbSo-designJane and Barb Sommers work on their block collection. Barb refers to one of the samples for design ideas. They had to be seen to be believed at how one design would morph into another!

We had a great time, and we were all successful at getting our folding cubes put together. This definitely got our brains working in a different direction, thanks to Barb Shirk. Now, back to sketching.