Cay Denise

After completing Find Your Joy (FYJ) in December 2025, I signed up for Momentum, a follow-on to FYJ that lasts six months.  It is intended as a springboard for students to identify and navigate our own creative path (clarifying our preferences, likes, etc.); areas of interest/focus for doing our work; practicing a system for exploring new ideas, benching ways of working that don't work or yield successful results, or have worn out their welcome; and, working through blocks, negative thinking, and the things we may have repressed that can surface during the creative process. So far, students have had exercises to draw our chosen subject, explore constraints, and to simply play.  My chosen subject was tree bark (initially Redwood), but the Redwood bark is too dense, layered and fibrous to draw easily.  So, I drew the rings of a Redwood tree stump that includes the bark edging.   The image (above left) was created  by doing a blind contour in white pen first (blind...

For the fun of it, I took a black Sharpie (chisel tip) and filled an 8"x8" piece of mixed media paper with random shapes over the entire page.  Then, the shapes were colored in using a variety of markers with no limit to the colors used. The Sharpie outlines bled through to the back side of the mixed media paper.  So, those shapes were also filled in but this time with a limited palette--5 colors only. It's so interesting to see the results.  Just for the fun of it -- here are some questions.   Which one looks busier?   Which looks quieter?   Which looks more organized?  Which draws you in or repels you?   Is there an emotion(s) that comes up for you when you look at either one of these or both?   How does your eye travel around each piece (where it enters, the path it moves along, and where it exits), if it does?   Is there a particular shape you love?   Is there a particular color you love?   Do you think the limited palette ...

After finishing a great book, The Soul of an Octopus, I created this zine with things I want to remember from it.  Due to a couple pages glued together, the photos are a walk-through of the pages from front to back. One of the images was created as part of a comic-making art diary and another was done for fun in a painting class.  This zine only capture tidbits of the book's 'deep dive' into the life and behavior of octopuses in captivity as well as those less visible to man in the wild.  They are elusive creatures who are so much more than smart and clever. I highly recommend reading the book!  It is such an impressive piece of narrative non-fiction and well-researched.  Thank you, Susan W., for suggesting it. 

From British magazines, I find interesting and sometimes classical imagery.  These are the sources I like to use for collages.  The images I cut out can include drawings, costumes, buildings, patterns, colors and text -- but I only harvest things that appeal to me.  There is seldom a plan or idea in mind at this point of the process.   The collage below came from clipped Tatler magazine images.  It looks a bit like a theatrical stage set with a somewhat off-beat message.  The main problem putting this piece together was bubbling of the magazine paper--though not too noticeable in the photo.  It seems the problem may have been the adhesive...matte medium.  It caused the collage pieces to immediately stick to the page and they became difficult to move and to smooth out.  Next time, I'll return to using glue sticks.   I've heard the suggestion of dipping magazine pieces in water to remove any coating on the paper before using them.  Ha...

Since the beginning of President Trump's second term, I started creating zines for every two-month period to reflect the articles, analyses, photos, and videos, etc. about issues arising with the new administration. So far, I've completed six zines (through December) for this year.  These are photos of the last two. As you can see, they look pretty busy and chaotic.  Each one has the primary topics of the respective period added with labels.  Can you guess how many there are across all six?  Here is the list of more than 85 of them selected for inclusion: Mayoral coercion;  Government payment systems;  Ukraine; USAID;  SSA; Tariffs; Immigrants; Musk, DOGE, Data Capture, Data Impacts; Pardons; NATO; Project 2025; GAZA; Protests; Lock-outs; The Gulf of What?; Prices; Nuclear Stockpile; Bird Flu; Quid pro quo; Measles; FAA; Cartel family sanctuary; Purging history; ICE Raids; Corruption; FEMA/Disaster Unprepare...

This post is about a recent article from Colossal, an online art and visual culture magazine.  In its December 6, 2025 newsletter, there was a short article highlighting a new video from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum.  That video includes multiple V&A curators unboxing a collection of 19th-century objects common in Victorian mourning traditions that include garments, ephemera and photos.  These were part of elaborate rituals and rites that people once practiced to honor the dead.  I'm aware this may seem a strange time of year to speak of death--at least in a way.  But this video is really interesting.   The question raised by the old practices no longer observed is how do we, as a culture, process grief and loss now?  Colossal writes that "our contemporary culture of grief and loss has turned inward and is something managed privately rather than shared with a community."  Does that ring true from your experience?  Is there a t...

In my early junior college days, I was part of musical theater productions in the pit orchestras.  The productions were not done in a theater but at various sites related to the story.  For example, Oklahoma! was done on a farm, and 1776 was done in one of the State of Michigan government chambers.  It was remarkably fun to do because the real-life setting made each story more memorable. That said, this post is about scaling on-site productions up to an unimaginable level.  Today, I read an article in the September (2025) issue of Tatler about a new musical titled 'Anne Boleyn: The Musical'.  The origin of this musical was the brainchild of Princess Eliane de Merode and her brother, Prince Simon, of Belgium.  In the early 2000s, they came up with an idea of creating a theater company in Belgium and would call it Historalia.  The company, now the second largest in that country, stages immersive muscials based on historical figures at stately homes. Prin...

The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco posted this very interesting video interview with artist and engineer, Miguel Arzabe, earlier this year.  What is intriguing is his use of the inspiration he notes -- to create woven paintings that are actually two of his own abstract paintings woven together.   Here is that interview: To see more of Miguel's work, this is the link to his website: https://www.miguelarzabe.net/ What do you think of his work?

Louise Fletcher's 13-week art/painting course is about to conclude.  It has been a great class!   As part of our final week's assignments, we share photos of the course work we've done.  This is a collage of my efforts.  Woohoo!

  This book presents a completely different facet of Leonardo da Vinci's work.  As a polymath and genius in mathematics and engineering (as well as other disciplines), da Vinci was fascinated with knots!   Have you seen his Mona Lisa?  If you did, did you see the ornamentation (embroidery-like pattern) on the bodice of her dress?  In reality, that section is only 1" x 4" of the painting.  But he spent years (almost a decade) plus many sketchbook pages developing the knot pattern now known as the Mona Lisa Knot.  For the actual painting, da Vinci may have spent a year painting just that area.   Based on the book, a place that would have been impressive to see in da Vinci's time -- was the Sala delle Asse: The Room of Knots at the Sforza Castle in Milan.  He painted a floor to ceiling design in a circular ballroom of the north-eastern tower with thousands of mulberry leaves, hundreds of branches intertwining with a single gold cord meandering t...

Have you had the experience of going into a used bookstore that you've never been to before and finding something that peaks your interest--eventually delighting you?  Isn't it downright fun when that happens? Finding this book was from one such chance happening.  It's an easy read that contains lots of sketches and art by Jim Henson.  The sketches would be his first steps toward the creation of what would become the broad assemblage of Muppet characters.  The book summarizes Henson's life and provides a timeline of how he got into puppetry, television, and business.  Then there are the personal qualities:  his values, imagination, sense of humor, plus the opportunities that presented themselves and that birthed what so many of us have enjoyed over the decades.  This is beside the brilliant team that helped him realize his vision. I found this book had just the right amount of information without becoming boring or being a slog to read through, and I e...

Earlier this month, I took an introductory workshop in fused glass.  Participants made small ornaments...the easiest for beginners was a bird.  We began by learning how to handle glass, what tools are involved in the craft, how to cut and grind glass, and finally - how to decorate it.   To ease us in to cutting the glass, which is difficult to do, we had a practice sheet.  First, students cut glass strips followed by a variety of shapes.  Circles, are quite challenging.  They take a number of curved cuts to complete.   Fused glass differs from stained glass in that fused glass is the layering of glass to create designs that is kiln-fired.  Stained glass, on the other hand, is made of glass cut into shapes and put together in a frame held together with solder.  The most notable stained glass are the works in church/cathedral windows -- some of which have been in existence for hundreds of years.   That said, I came away with a far greater ...

I recently visited our local quilt museum to see the juried entries in Quilt National 2025.  It usually is a impressive array of quilts and fiber art.  I was surprised, however, with how much more neutral the palette of colors used in this year's exhibited quilts contrasted with what I've seen in prior years' entries and winners.  These are still lovely pieces in their own right from Susan Else's quilted sculpture to simulated bark on the forest floor to a burning geodesic dome.  That said, it was more of the narratives accompanying the art quilts that gave depth to the meaning of the imagery.   Every juried entry in to Quilt National is a winner regardless of a ribbon.  They are spectacularly well-executed, thoughtful in their approach to the subject of their work, and use fabrics and decoration in  unusual ways.   This is a sampling of my favorite art quilts/fiber art in the Quilt National 2025 exhibition.  "Forest Floor, Tree Bark Frangmen...

The link below is to a poignant New York Times opinion piece by David Brooks published in January 2024.  It is every bit as current in 2025 as it was last year.  In this piece, he advocates for educating oneself in culture (reading books, viewing art, making or listening to music, etc. -- especially of the greats in their fields).  He remarks that it is in knowing the culture of our times and being informed by those of the past that we become enlarged human beings -- embracing a level of understanding we may not know otherwise. "How Art Creates Us"

Finished piece (with painting adjustments, isolation layers, and varnish): Final "Rabbit Hole under the Tree of Cups" This is a first large-to-me canvas painting that I've completed in Louise Fletcher's course.  It is 24" x 30" and was started as a course assignment -- an open painting.   The open painting is a place for experimentation and play.  Mine has gone through quite an evolution since the first rubber brush line was made.  After many days of adding drips, writing, and paint to the canvas bit by bit, it changed.   At one point, I turned the strange-looking canvas upside-down.  With more painting, it changed so much more until a tree shape arrived - the hint being an upside-down funnel that would became the trunk.  At that point, there were two spirals on the bottom, one on each side of that trunk.  One has been painted over.  The remaining one has peek-a-book layers and looks like a portal to an 'other' place.  Hence, its serendi...

Through August 31st (2025), we've lived through 224 days of the second Donald J. Trump Presidency.  Upon his inauguration, I began a zine series representing the news articles/issues for roughly two-month periods of time.  PoliZine #1 covered Inauguration Day through February 28, and PoliZine #2 covered March 1 through April 30.   This post contains photos of PoliZine #3 (May 1-June 30) and PoliZine #4 (July 1-August 31).  Both are digital collages of many shared Facebook posts from those time periods about political stories prominent in the news cycle during the respective periods.   These PoliZines feel like hosting containers for information dumps I've needed to make for my own unburdening.  None of them are pretty, and they have no order.  But isn't that what we -- who are citizens of the U.S. -- have been living through since January 20th?  Looking at it this way, they seem quite fitting. How are you artfully expressing your reactions, positi...

With this batch, I have 73 successful wheel-thrown pots and bowls...wow!  That is aside from the nearly 40 fails.  So over four months of classes and practice, I've thrown over 110 vessels.  Florian Gadsby would be proud...as I've completed my first 100 throws that he advises getting done as soon as one can!  I owe some of my learning to him and his videos (on YouTube), and the rest to the instructors, staff and students at BHC (the place I've done my work at since June).  Thank you to all my teachers -- meaning all of you in one way or another!

It has been almost a year since I picked up a paint brush to do any creative visual work.  That said, I'm so glad I signed up for this course.  It has prodded me to 'do' rather than to 'think about doing'.   The first four weeks have passed...and seem to have flown by.  The primary focus of this period has been on mindset of the artist--which has been eye-opening and exceptional!  I'm really liking the revamped course that Louise Fletcher has rolled out this year.  Her video presentations, instructions and demos are so much more thoughtful, clear and authentic than the last time I took FYJ.  What I'm also liking is that Louise and her coaching staff are referring to the assignments as making studies--not finished paintings.  That, in itself, takes a lot of the pressure off students in terms of completing work and encouraging play and exploration. So far, I've done most of the assignments in an abstract manner sprinkled with a bit of realism. ...

The last Find Your Joy (FYJ) course I took with Louise Fletcher was in 2023.  Since that time, her course curriculum and approach have dramatically shifted for the positive.  I'm loving how much more authentic I find her as a human and instructor, and how it has trickled down to her coaching and support teams as well. The Creative Reset was her 10-day taster session this year that took place last month.  I loved it because of the focus on 'mindset' of the artist, whether a beginning or seasoned one.  So, I'm now participating in  FYJ25, and I'm delighted I signed up!   The course is work.  The saying, you get out what you put into something--in this case the class--is so apropos.  Students are encouraged to actively journal about beliefs, self-talk and judgment.  Some of the key points so far include: 1) accepting that failed pieces will occur maybe even more than successful ones; 2) one's art is not our value as human beings; and, 3) make ch...

This is Batch #11 of glazed and fired pieces.   The light one in the back (yellowish) has an inside done with the Mishima technique.  This technique is done before the first kiln firing and involves: painting the area with underglaze;  covering the underglaze with wax (as a resist); carving a design into the area; and, then adding a contrasting underglaze layer to enhance the lines of the carved design.   After all is dry--the last layer has to be removed carefully with a sponge. The final step is covering the area with a layer of clear glaze.   This was a complete experiment because the small bowl was misshapen and would otherwise have been recycled.  I like the technique though it is time intensive and you need the right tools for carving to look consistent.  What I didn't like was the color after the piece was fired.  It went from yellow to a peachy color, even though the photo doesn't read that way.  What I learned is that clear glaze can...

Today, I threw a couple of bowls, but my ability to center was not working.  It could have been partly due to the new-to-me clay I tried using.  In addition, I trimmed three others.  One of those three ended up being very experimental...in that I tried a version of mishima on the interior of the bowl.  Mishima is a technique of painting a leather-hard vessel with an underglaze(s), then waxing the layer, and finally...carving a design in the underglaze/wax surface before the vessel is fired into bisque. I tried it, and we'll see how it comes out.    Below are the five vessels of Batch #8 that I brought home today.  Of them, there are two new things I tried.  The stripy one was done with one base layer plus a second layer of alternating painted stripes of the base color and mulberry.  The other first is where I used a base layer and added two different lip colors of different widths. Lately, I've noticed other potters getting some great results...

The photo shows my newest batch of finished glazed pieces.  I'm still in experimental mode where glazes are concerned. In addition, I'm going to be exploring painting with underglazes.  They allow the painting of designs.  There is also a broader range of spectrum colors with underglazes, though they tend to be more translucent when fired - at least that's my impression.  I have yet to prove myself right, and that day is coming soon. I will have some bowls to share soon.  In creating a few, I've learned that using heavier clay (3 lbs. instead of 2 lbs.) makes a big difference in what you can wheel-throw, and bowls is one of them.    

Louise Fletcher's 'Creative Reset' taster was excellent this year.  She re-worked the entire content, and it was better than ever.  So much so, that I've signed up for her 13-week 'Find Your Joy' course that begins next Monday, September 15th!   I've finished most of the pre-work that she and her team have staged in the online 'hub' where all the course content lives.  One part of that is reviewing all our work and placing photos of the pieces we love in a journal for the class - along with the reason we love those selections.  In doing this, I've seen so much growth in my work because most of my selections were created after the last Find Your Joy that I took.  Stay tuned for sharings along the way...

I haven't painted in some time. So it seemed like the perfect time to sign up for Louise Fletcher's 10-day free taster course titled 'The Creative Reset' that recently started.  She has re-engineered the taster since I took it last, and I'm liking how it is rolling out.  The images below are from our first lesson that were timed studies with additional constraints.  The purpose was not to have finished pieces.  Rather it was to help students identify their preferences and gain clarity about our likes.  This means not choosing to like what others want us to like or think we should, but what we honestly like.     From my six-block painted sheets, I chose one favorite from the first grouping and two favorites from the second grouping.  The step I'm choosing to do is to write down why I like those three in particular.  The reason is because being able to articulate my reasoning will help clarify, strengthen and hone my voice -- not just in art bu...