Portland Art and Soul Workshops

Workshop Details

Juliana Coles 9-4:30 Wednesday	332 - The Lost Love Letters Of Montmartre: A Mail Art Portfolio	[back to quicklinks] $ 130
Mon petits, welcome to the spectacular stage of the Montmartre red light district of Paris 1895. Step back in time to an era of decadence, rich color, erotic images of Can Can girls, shadowy bordellos and revolutionary art-making to create a unique portfolio of imaginary lost love letters made from old record album covers. Bring to life the flamboyant style of poster art, perfected in the works of Montmartre artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, by learning to combine text with expressive imagery to recreate an exotic, yet frail, phantom past of lost love letters. Using the Extreme Journaling methods of Juliana, instigate a conversation with the eccentric artist and even be inspired by him to draw! Look and you shall find the lost love letters of a bygone era tied up in a faded, tattered ribbon. Through these letters, we'll return to an era when artists were a radical and experimental community living on the edge. The portfolio of five intriguing lost letters will be created on old record album covers, randomly cut, and put back together to give them a forlorn, lost look - as if they'd been in the gutter all these years or discovered in an old musty trunk in the attic of a Parisian apartment. As we put these letters back together, we get the sense of mending broken hearts. It’s all about love and a celebration of life. Please bring: Your favorite supplies or your mixed media tool kit. (If you are uncertain- please email me at meandpete@msn.com ) Collage: Start collecting images of Can Can girls, 1890’s Paris, cafe life, club/night life, exotic erotic images- circus images will work well here too! Half the excitement of artwork is the collecting and research! Here are some suggestions: Bring copies (of things that are precious) of old photographs, old postage, faux postage, postal rubber stamps (postage, cancellations, even travel visa stamps work great for fake postage!) address labels/stickers, rubber stamp letters, old handwritten letters, anything related to letter writing such as old sheet music, old book pages or book pages in French, poetry, cards/postcards, mail art, postage, etc. as well as souvenirs! You may want small pieces of fabric, some festive trim, ribbon, or fringe to add to the overall exotic effect including gold or gilded items! For Portfolio: You will need four record album covers. Look for something with an interesting or romantic background--these are easy to find at junk/thrift/antique stores as well as used book stores and library sales. You probably have a bunch yourself! But try your parents or grandparents--classical and opera records have some beautiful covers! You will also need an old looking ribbon or strip of fabric, leather, or trim (collect one, make one or find a ribbon and tea or coffee stain it to age it) to tie up this precious bundle of lost love letters. Beads, milagro or charm type items to hang from the ribbon will add to the beauty. Remember, this bundle or portfolio is old, tattered, and just recently discovered. Online registration for the Portland event is now closed. Late sign-ups will be taken at the Art & Soul office at the Portland event, depending upon availability. Please check in with us there if you wish to inquire about a class. Thank you!