BlueFrogArts

Color Boost for Winter Spirits

Vikki Morain, weaver and fused glass designer, is currently the featured artist at The Blue Frog. 

Winter blahs turning you blue?  There is a color cure for winter’s white and your dose is waiting for you at The Blue Frog.  

Vikki Morain,  Lamoni’s own weaver and fused glass designer, is the featured artist for February and March.  You are invited to view the display of unique fiber and glass art pieces in the Green Gallery of the Blue Frog which is open Wednesdays through Saturdays on Main Streetin Lamoni.

There are creations as small as fused glass magnets to as large as a full sized blanket.  Other colorful items include wall hangings, scarves, fused plates, photo holders, purses, capes, felted soaps and mug rug coasters. In addition there are colorful key rings, glass jewelry and light/fan pulls.

Stop in to change your cabin fever blues to rainbow brights. 

(Warning: the colors are so bright you may want to wear shades!)

  

Fiber Day at the Frog a Success!

 

What fun!

Vikki Morain, weaver, and spinner-wannabe, invited area spinners, weavers, knitters and curious observers to participate in the first Spin-In at The Blue Frog.  Apparently, people were more than ready to break away from cabin fever in Lamoni.  More than twenty visitors stopped into the Blue Frog to spin, learn to spin, have experienced spinners urge antique wheels into working order, knit, share patterns, chat with other fiber enthusiasts and generally just have a good day together.  Lamoni residents came to be supportive and feed their wondfully curious minds.  Great to have you all there!

Spinners Anna Knapp (Lamoni), Linda Graves (Osceola), Mary Parks (Pleasantville) and Sue Olson Jamison, MO) shared their expertise and were enthusiastic and patient teachers.  Thank you so much!

If you missed out, don't worry.  The consensus was that there should be a repeat performance so watch this space for another invitation in 6 weeks or so. 

Oops! Name Spelling Correction

Let me correct my mistake.  In an article below I spelled Rebecca's last name right once and wrong once.  So here it is right:

Our talented artist is Rebecca Abarr. My apologies.

Come Spin a Yarn at the Blue Frog

Really, no tall tale here.

 

 

There will be spinners and spinning wheels at The Blue Frog on Thursday, January 14 from 11:00 am-3:00pm.  Come watch a demonstration of spinning by area spinners.  You can even give it a try if you'd like to.  This is not a formal class but just an opportunity to watch and talk with people who have mastered an ancient/modern skill.

  Don't let work hours keep you away.  Even if you can come only during your lunch break, feel free to pack a lunch or bring take-out from one of our local restaurants and come to The Blue Frog.  Consider it a brown-bag lunch opportunity to learn about another art form.  

There will also be knitters and weavers, so if you have a project you are working on and would like some company while you knit, you are welcome to join the fun for a few minutes or a few hours.

Registration Open for Winter Classes at Blue Frog Arts

Jan 5 12 and 19     1-3 pm      Color and Texture in the "Key of Cool"

        Watercolor class with Beth Knotts

Jan 17      2-4:30 pm            Let It Snow -- Fused Glass Jewelry

        Create snowflake and stacked glass fused jewelry with Vikki Morain, instructor

Jan 28 and Feb 4  6:30-8 pm            Beginning Knitting

        Winter is a great time to learn to knit---with Priscilla Eppinger

Feb 27   10-3 and Feb 28   2-5ish pm     Bring Your Cocoa and Weave Mug Rugs

        Basics of weaving from winding a warp and dressing a loom to weaving a finished set of mug rug coasters with weaving instructor, Vikki Morain  (Actually, I'll bring the cocoa for you!)

^{Mar 4 and 11  7-8:30 pm}                    Simple Knitted Shrug

        A great project for the novice knitter!  Priscilla Eppinger, instructor

Mar 7  2-4:30pm               Escape the Winter Slump--Fusing and Slumping Glass

        Make a beautiful glass dish while exploring warm glass techniques of contour fuse, full fuse and slumping.  Instructor: Vikki Morain

Mar 23 and 30                  Color Three Ways!

        Intermediate knitting: intarsia, fair isle, mosaic...with Priscilla Eppinger

For more details and to register, contact:

Blue Frog Arts   119 E Main       Lamoni  IA      641 784 6827       Open Wed-Sat 10-5

Holiday Sparkle from the Blue Frog

Lamoni and surrounding areas sparkled just a bit brighter this year thanks to glittery glass ornaments created by a group of creative students who gathered at Blue Frog Arts to learn about the fun of creating with fused glass.

   

Let me tell you a little story about the young girl in the center of the picture.  Lily Meline and her dad, Randy, came into Blue Frog Arts not long ago searching for just the right birthday present for her mom, Linda.  They found it, but IT wasn't a thing...it was an experience...a mother/daughter shared class at The Blue Frog.   What a great idea, Lily!  And what a great time everyone had learning about how glass changes from solid to liquid in a kiln and then back to solid again in a new form that had been created by the new glass artists. The expressions in the picture above capture the fun and creativity of a great group of students from Lamoni, Sun Valley Lake at Ellston, Decatur and Des Moines.  

This inaugural fused glass class was taught by Vikki Morain, Blue Frog Artist and Co-op member.  The next fused glass class will be offered January 17, 2010. we'll be learning how to fuse dichroic glass to make jewelry----- looks like more sparkle ahead in the new year.  Of course, YOU are invited to join in the fun and learning and creating by registering at Blue Frog Arts, open Wednesdays through Saturdays on Main Street in Lamoni, Iowa.  641 784 6827 
 

Featured Blue Frog Artist of the Month----December

Deborah Etcheson has lived in Iowa almost all of her life.  She grew up on a farm near Mason City, Iowa and graduated from high school there.  She has been creating artwork almost as long as she can remember.

Deb received a Bachelor's Degree in Art and Education from Macalester College in St Paul, MN.  She had a few art related jobs in those early years, but she has devoted most of her professional life to being a teacher.  She is a devoted wife, mom and "Grammy" enjoying life with husband Gary, children Emily, Eric, Jared, Jennifer and grandchildren Ashlyn and Katelyn.  And, of course, part of the family is her beloved dog, Nova.

Deb's artwork reflects her love for the simplicity

 and grandeur   of the natural world.

 

 

Her favorite media are paints, oil pastels, wildcrafting and Chinese and Japanese brush painting. 

 

 

Many of her pieces include her favorite place, the open horizons of the prairie.

Here are a few samples of her work, but to really capture the feel of them you  are invited to visit Bue Frog Arts  in Lamoni where Deb's art is displayed in the Green Gallery during December, 2009.

 

Deb is one of the co-op members of Blue Frog Arts.  Her talents and her willing participation in The Blue Frog are a benefit to all as we strive to bring art to the community and the community to the arts.  Come in and see Deb's talents on display!

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

                                                

 

 
 
 
 
  

Beth Knotts--- Another Great Showing!

Our Blue Frog award winning artist, Elizabeth Knotts has done it again.  Her colorful, dynamic watercolor, Four Horses,  was one of only 79 entries accepted to be displayed in the "Iowa Exhibited" 24th Annual Show which was recently held at the Heritage Art Gallery in Des Moines, IA.  Nearly 50 artists entered  280 items.   We are very proud that she is one of the talented, multi-award winning members of Blue Frog Arts whose artwork was selected for the show.  "Iowa Exhibted" is a juried show.

 

 

Beth lives here in Lamoni and she teaches art classes here at The Blue Frog.  Beth has been a teacher and lecturer in Iowa, Oklahoma and Missouri, and has exhibited widely in the Midwest.  She served as a teacher of Native American crafts, assisting with camps on reservations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona, Alberta and Ontario

The  Blue Frog will be publishing the Fall/Winter class scedule soon.  Watch this website and sign up for a class with Beth or any one of our other terrific teachers.  Put a polish on your skills or come to learn something new.  Educational and FUN!

Congratulations, Beth!

Beth Knotts & Deb Skinner Visit Shiprock, NM

Blue Frog artist, Beth Knotts, is shown at left sketching Shiprock Monument in Shiprock, New Mexico.  Beth's daughter and Blue Frog Founder, Debbi Skinner took Beth to visit Shiprock on a day trip from her home in the Farmington, NM area.

"I really liked the interesting shapes and forms of the plant life around the monument.  I loved the way the road wound its way up to the monument.  There was great contrast between the dark shadows and sunlit areas leading up to the monument, and between the jagged rocks and the curved globular forms of the plant life.

I was pleased with the results of the outing.  From the on-site pencil sketch, I was able to do several watercolor studies later, when I returned to Debbi's house."

About Shiprock
The Shiprock land form, located in Northwestern New Mexico, is the remnant of an explosive volcanic eruption that occurred around 30 million years ago. The main part of the landform is 600 meters high, and 500 meters in diameter. Shiprock, known as Tse Bitai, or "the winged rock" in Navajo, is a volcanic neck, or the central feeder pipe of larger volcanic landform which has since eroded away. The neck is composed of fractured volcanic rock, or breccia, crosscut by many thin veins of lava. Ship Rock is composed of an unusual, highly potassic magma composition called a "minette", thought to form by very small degrees of melting of the earth's mantle. Shiprock was probably 750 to 1,000 meters below the land surface at the time it was formed, and has since gained its prominent form due to erosion of surrounding rocks. (taken from United States Geological Society (USGS) website)."

More Adventures Coming Soon...
Check in again soon, as Debbi and Beth are planning to visit Choke Cherry Canyon in Farmington, and the Painted Desert and Sedona in Arizona next week!

Organic Funeral Gourds for Pets by Jan Meng

Friends and animal lovers:

Many of us have struggled for ways to acknowledge and recognize the significance of our beloved pets at the time of their passing.  I received the following e-mail from Hungry Holler, the Oklahoma studio of Blue Frog artists, Jan and Marc Meng, last week and thought this was a fascinating and moving art form.    What a beautiful answer. 

"Check out the Fall 2007 issue of Modern Dog Magazine, page 68 for a blurb 
ab"out Jan's funeral gourds for pets. Modern Dog is on sale at Petco and 
other pet stores.

Peace to you. Hug that pet! Jan"

Pictured at right is Gussy's Funeral Gourd.  The smaller image of
Gussy on the right is of her playing with a sock. She often tried 
to wear the socks over her head!  A personal note from Gussy's 
veterinarian is written on one side of the gourd. For a beautiful 
photo gallery and more detailed description of Jan's "Organic 
Personalized Eternal Gourd Urns" for the ashes of beloved pets, 
click on the blue words at the top of this paragraph.

Jan is best known at the Blue Frog for her bird house gourds and 
her luminary gourds that add a celestial glow to a room. If you would like to hear Jan 
talk about gourds and her perspective on working with them go to the gorgeous 
 Hungry Holler website Then, in the bottom right hand corner click on the "Jan's Video" 
button.  Jan is articulate and AWESOME!  She is truly a fascinating woman.

Jan in her garden, and her faithful friend, Molly, hanging out in her gourd studio.

http://hungryholler.com/ 
Hungry Holler Art Center
1589 State Highway 20
Eucha, OK 74342
918 253-4554