The Pulse: Medium Well 3

Welcome to the third edition of The Pulse: an artist survey. This collaborative project aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. For links to the sites of the participating artists, please click here.


Today's question: If you could work in one medium or format that you haven't yet tried, tell us what it would be and why. The following is the third of four posts to answer this question.


Lisa Hoffman I’d get up on a scaffolding and paint the broad side of a barn. I love seeing Big, Brave work from other artists. Maybe I’ve worked in a smallish format for too long. I just wanna go Big, Bigger, Biggest.

Harry Bell Although I've been interested in it for years, I've never used collage as a complete medium. One of my early heroes was Max Ernst who always maintained that he never knew what he was going to produce when he started to work. I'd love to learn to really embrace that uncertainty. But if I had to choose something more radical, then it would be electronic music, mashups, ambient, sound collage, that kind of thing.

Mary Buek I have tried just about everything at least once. I would like to learn more about jewelry making utilizing random found objects. I would also love to learn about print-making. Two things that fascinate me, but I don't think I would ever really try, are pottery (love the sensuousness of that clay and shaping with the wheel) and working with glass.

Jen Bradford Did a little printmaking in school, and would love to get a small press at some point and get back to intaglio, woodblock, monotypes - processes that don't require me to set up chemical baths which make me nervous. Unfortunately I am one of those people who thinks everything is liable to explode or catch fire at any moment, so I have tended to do faux-processes, like using wax medium versus real encaustic. It would probably be great if I did a residency somewhere and used their equipment, so I could just relax about that angle and experiment.

not mass produced plastic encrusted with diamonds

Gwen Buchanan Probably printmaking, or glass fusing.. Life isn't long enough.. I want to try them all.. I find all art forms and methods relate to each other.. and the way they interpret in each field inspires me.

Fran Meneley I would like to try my hand at abstract painting. I’d like to take a chance and work bigger and this is something I have never tried. It scares me a little. It’s so unknown. I want to always challenge myself and see where I can go in finding my own voice.

Sarah Fishburn Gosh, it's difficult to narrow down. Plus, I've actually worked a little in many mediums. Okay, fine. Not sure what this is called, but I like the idea of embedding photographic images and my collage/paintings in altered acrylic. . . is there a name for that? Can someone please show me how to do it???

Gillian McMurry I have tried every medium and format that I want to - so far. Over time new ones come to the fore and I try the ones I want. I never deny myself the desire to try new arts and crafts. Due to circumstances I have been denied or, in some cases, denied myself a variety of things but my art is one place I will not compromise. It does not hurt anyone (except for myself when I am let loose with a heat gun - I accidentally burned myself again this week) nor interfere with anyone else. It's all mine!

Roxanne Stout If I could learn about and work in another medium in would be encaustic painting. The layering sounds and looks amazing and somehow mysterious to me. I would also love to learn how to put my rusty pieces of metal into my art more often and in different ways. I have done some of this, but want to do more.

Sarah Whitmire I’ve worked in beeswax quite a lot but someday I’d love to invest in a professional Encaustic set and try my hand at that.

Cynthia Gaub For many years I have wanted to create art in the medium of Stained Glass. My glass window collage series was aiming to have the transparency and feeling of stained glass. Many of the pieces look wonderful with light shinning behind them. I like the compartmentalized look of stained glass and have even tried to translate that idea into fabric.

Deryn Mentock I've dabbled in a lot of different mediums; stained glass, pottery, painting, sewing...lots of others. One thing I'd like to try that I've never even dabbled in is lampwork bead making. I love glass work and the colors in lampwork beads are gorgeous. The process, using the torch and glass rods, just looks like fun!

Vivian Bonder I would love to work with silver, the banging of the hammer and shaping of the metal simply appeal to me.

Lelainia Lloyd I would love to become more adept at painting, or at least at incorporating paint into my work. I've dabbled around the edges of it, taken a few classes, but I know I have tons more to learn. Working with paint makes me feel free and happy. I love moving it around on the on canvass, mixing the colours and playing with the layers. I can completely lose track of time when I am experimenting with paint.

Leslie Marsh I would love to learn more about working with encaustics. The layered, multi-textured surfaces that so many capture are very appealing to me.
Paul Sears I'd love to learn more about painting or drawing. I've really never had the hand/eye coordination. Even my penmanship is bad!

Patty Szymkowicz Painting with oils or watercolors is something I have wanted to try. As I am a seat of the pants artist, with no formal training, I guess I would be curious what I might tap into….

Kelly Parker I would like to work on very large canvases (at least 30” by 40” or larger) to create oil paintings that are bright colorful landscapes that would envelope the viewer and make them feel as though they were standing in that particular landscape.

Maralena Howard Encaustic is very interesting. I really like the rich coated way the finished pieces look. Right now I do some faux encaustics with acrylics rather than the wax… but I so admire the actual art of encaustic.

Lisa Dalke Probably building something large from wood...why?...I think it would feel good in my hands & arms

Kate Strickland A format or medium that I haven’t tried yet? Technically this is cheating, because I did try it once in art school briefly, but something that I’ve been yearning to do lately is raising and planishing metal. In my limited experience with silver one of the things I love doing is hammering it (the other is melting it with a torch!). I find this to be very satisfying and somewhat therapeutic. And, considering that everything I make seems to end up as a nest or some kind of a vessel, learning how to do bowl shapes in metal makes sense to me.

Jen Worden I'd love to be able to weld. I want to create large pieces - garden pieces - that can withstand the elements with some of the large rusty detritus from our farm's old junk piles. Some day...

Sue Pieper Fabric! Even though my mother does professional seamstress work, & my paternal grandmother made her living as a seamstress, the genes from both sides seemed to skip right past me! I love everything about fabric & fiber arts, but still I'm "fabric impaired" and how to use it totally eludes me. Maybe in my next life----

The Pulse: Medium Well 2

Welcome to the third edition of The Pulse: an artist survey. This collaborative project aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. For links to the sites of the participating artists, please click here.


Today's question: If you could work in one medium or format that you haven't yet tried, tell us what it would be and why. The following is the second of four posts to answer this question.


Shona Cole Print making. Why? hmmmm….. ‘cause is looks cool and graphic-y. A close relation is carving my own stamps…. I have done it and need to do more.

Ingrid Dijkers It would probably be film/video. I took a few classes in college and have always been fascinated by it.

Kristy Cristopherson Precious metal clay. I have wanted to try it for ages, and have the kit to do so, but just need to take the plunge :)

Marissa O'Brien I've tried pottery, but only briefly in a one day class. I'd like to take a class someday and learn how to throw pottery on a wheel. The art of throwing pottery on a wheel looks so appealing to me

Teesha Moore Sculpture! I would absolutely LOVE to create sculptures around my yard but don't have a clue how to start doing that. I have so many ideas for them though. I want to bring my images I create on paper to 3-d life. I would also LOVE to work with an architect to design a really cool house/studio/cabin. I want to do the dreaming part of it and have them do the nuts and bolts of figuring out how to make it.

Barbara Kleinhans Old-style photography, like photo gravure or toy cameras, where there is a certain level of unpredictability to the results.

Cory Celaya I don’t believe there is a medium that I have not tried...the one that calls to me is works in fiber and mixed media. I would like to create large mixed media wall hangings. My grandmother taught me to sew. My mother taught me how to create with whatever was on hand. I would love to get back to that.

Nina Bagley canvas. i want to learn how to paint.

Stephanie Hilvitz Steel…..I have designed a couple of pieces in steel and would like to have the knowledge and tools to do this work myself.

Chris Miser I would make fabric collages and books. I don’t sew (yet), but I love the textures and warmth of fabrics. It appeals to me that a two-dimensional object on a wall or lying on a table can have warmth and touchability. It can be a delight when that happens. It’s like looking at something from the other side.

Kathy McCreedy Think it would be really good for me to learn to draw better. I don't really enjoy drawing, but I know it is an essential skill to have as an artist. It would be advantageous for me to practice drawing as a calligrapher, too... anything to improve that hand-eye coordination!

Debbie Overton I have always wanted to try watercolor. I love how the colors blend and flow so softly yet the detail can be very complex.

grrl+dog Total digital, because it would be a real challenge. Art is sensuous, You get messy, you get into it; sticky, wet, and lush. Digital art would be the opposite of that. Dry and ordered. Not saying I could DO it....hahahahahah

Lynne Hoppe Wow, that's hard..... maybe clay, mostly because it's so earthy and organic, but I don't see myself moving on anytime soon...

Nancy Baumiller Photoshop! It is very intriguing and I am sure it could add many other elements to my work! Also, I have worked in fabric but would like to expand on that medium!

Kelsey O'Mullane I’ve noticed a huge surge in popularity of using fabric in mixed media. Sometimes I wish that I wasn’t all “fabricked” out from all those years of costume making, as I do love the warmth and textural quality that fabric can bring to artwork. Maybe in the future I might be able to bring myself to sit down at my sewing machine for art’s sake rather than just hemming my son’s jeans! I’d also like to draw/paint so I can portray the images that I see in my own head.

Gina Petterson Digital. I would love to learn the fundamentals of drawing still life, animals and fantasy type images within a software program.

Sarah "Flo" Harris Definitely fabric. I drool over Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine every other month - and deeply admire the work of artists like Beryl Taylor who use fabric extensively in their work. But I can't work a sewing machine, my hand sewing is a mess, and every time I pick up a piece of fabric it laughs at me. No, really, it does. I can hear it.

Debbie Mihalik Photography, specifically macro photography. I really
enjoy working with digital collage and would love to include my own images in these works.

Linda Woods Metal sculptures.Welding is cool and I love the Flashdance soundtrack!

Gail Pierce I used to think that I wanted to work with clay. I was jealous of the students in the clay studio at Monterey Peninsula College where I studied photography. That desire died after working with polymer clay and discovering that it wasn’t a medium I enjoyed. Being that clay and polymer are semi-close relatives I have a feeling that taking up pottery would be too stressful. I would like to do more with digital photography; everything in its time.

The Pulse: Medium Well 1

Welcome to the third edition of The Pulse: an artist survey. This collaborative project aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. For links to the sites of the participating artists, please click here.


Today's question: If you could work in one medium or format that you haven't yet tried, tell us what it would be and why. The following is the first of four posts to answer this question.


Suzan Buckner Encaustics--Beeswax--I think that the finish you get when using encaustics are just so heavenly, and soft. I keep meaning to give it a try, but haven't yet.

Andrew Borloz I have not tried creating zines. I hope to start designing and producing them for sale this winter. I don’t make money from writing posts for my blog, but with zines, I hope I will – I have so much to share, and so many stories to tell.

Judy Wise Film. I'd love to compose and direct fantasy stories with ravishing heroines and sensitive men who are brave and wonderful and who save the world from greed and over-population. lol. Now that would be quite a story.

Elizabeth Bunsen I would love to work in printmaking - because I love paper and its capabilities and the graphic possibilities of the press - and even further - paper making and printing combined - mmmmmmmmmmm....

Traci Huskamp Oil painting. I am formally trained as a watercolorist, but I have always had the desire to explore the lush world of oils. I have pondered returning to the local university to take a couple of classes, but have yet to make it a priority.

David Castle Someday I’d love to try metal sculpture – big, industrial, welded pieces that one might see in Gotham City. I have some big, dark, chunky shapes in my head that can only go so far with watercolors and paper…

Leighanna Light I've never really worked with jewelry much & I've been playing with that a bit. And now that I've learned how to sew a button on to a shirt, I've decided that I want to become a fashion designer!

Kelly Kilmer Ooh, tough question. I've tried various mediums and am still in love with acrylic paints and paper. I'd love to possibly explore fabric more-combining fabric and paper, but sewing machines scare me (chalk it up to a bad experience when I was young and took a class on how to sew Cabbage Patch Doll clothes...yup.). I love the work of Lenore Tawney-her fabric installations were amazing. I'd love to have the space to explore more large scale paper arts/mixed media work, but that will have to wait for now.

Julie Prichard My friend Roger (no blog) makes the most amazing modern art. We worked together in a previous life and unfortunately, our art paths did not align until we lived in different cities. I would have loved to have been able to watch him create. http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/10943-roger-weik
Valerie Foster Well, I'm not sure on that. I've tried and experimented with a lot of media, some only once or twice. I think I'd like to try working more with metal, and also with fabric. Using all kinds of media in one piece, and making it work, making it cohesive and beautiful, would really please me. My problem is, there are so many things I want to use and try, it's hard for me to focus at times. There are so many options, narrowing it down and making choices is difficult, and sometimes overwhelming.

Megan Barron Encaustic. Those enduring, fresh portraits in the Egyptian wing at the Met continue to affect me.

azirca I love the look of encaustic work, it's dreamlike hazy qualities really appeal to me. I'd love one day to have a go at incorporating my photography with encaustic art.

Max Ackerson I've always wanted to try forging, like making a sword or some armor.

Marie Otero I briefly, once, tried to play with Oil paints and never quite got the hang of it. They worked all backwards compared to Acrylics and took much longer to dry than I could be patient with. I would however, like to learn to paint with them properly one day. There always seems to be a depth and light to oil painting that never seems to be captured exactly so in other paint mediums.

Karen Cole I would love to work with fibers. I love what Ruth Rae does with her sewing machine. The textures and colors of the fabric, yarns and ribbons is just beautiful.

Lisa Call Oil painting. Because it's a messy process. Textiles are dry and don't lend them self well to making a squishy mess. Oil painting is also the gold standard for medium and it would be fun to not be on the fringe working in textiles for a while.

Kathy Wasilewski I have been wanting to learn Photoshop and dabble a little in digital artwork. There are so many techniques and enhancements that are created in Photoshop that could greatly enhance the quality of one's work. Also, it appears that Digital Art is becoming more and more popular and will soon supersede some of the basic formats of collage, or even scrapbooking.

Cynjon Noah Welding. It's something that I've wanted to try my hand at for several years now, but has been put on hold until the house construction is finished. Priorities and all that jazz. There's just something appealing about large metal objects left outside to patina and age as they will...very tactile and visually pleasing to me.

Dina Wakley I'd love to do more canvases...right now I primarily work on paper. I also want to learn more about painting techniques and methods, and I really need a basic drawing class.

Jessica Gonacha Ooohh... that's a hard one. I want to try everything! I think I might choose sculpture with found objects. I'm always so intrigued by work that looks like the pieces were found in junk yards and back alleys. IT seems like it would there would e an element of treasure hunting to make work that way!

Marilyn Gallas I really want to work with fabric. I have done one piece of fabric art - I made a "big sack" from Traci Bautista's book However, I drool when I look at some of the work from fabric artists like Leslie Riley, Traci Bautista, D.J. Pettit and Keely Barham in the various magazines and books. I think the texture of fabric speaks to me. Oh, and I forgot, the beautiful colors and designs of fabric inspire me. Also I can paint my own fabric.

Judy Wilkenfeld Metal – that is, the fine engraving like one would see on Victorian pieces.

Sally Turlington It would either be encaustics because I love the smell of wax as well as the muted look and nostalgic feel of it OR it would be wall hangings or assemblages or some kind of art (besides art jewelry) with metal because using all those heavy duty, REAL tools is so macho or groovy or something impressive -- for a girl! LOL.

Teresa Abajo I adore glass in any form. It’s so beautiful, yet so dangerous to work with. It’s either sharp or hot. ( I think I’ve just explained it’s allure). I had a friend who worked with his dad in his glass business – he had the best scars I’ve ever seen!

Stephanie Mcatee Polaroid transfer. I’ve used short-cut techniques to copy the process, but I still don’t come up with the same end result.