View looking out from main entrance to Red Deer College

I got home from Red Deer, Alberta, yesterday evening and Judy and I immediately went to the Bahn Thai, our favorite Thai restaurant on Queen Anne. Going out to dinner when I get home from a teaching gig is a ritual we’ve observed for many years, and something we look forward to. Sipping wine (Judy) and Thai beer (Michael) on the outdoor deck as we shared Tom Kah soup with chicken and a scrumptious salmon dish was a perfect re-entry into Seattle.

When I arrived in Calgary last Saturday, author Sharon Wildwind was waiting at the airport. We first met Sharon online several years ago when she ordered our book ‘Creative Correspondence’, and we’ve been in touch ever since. Sharon, who lives in Calgary, offered to drive me from the airport to Red Deer College, about 80 miles away! I gratefully accepted, and got to meet this talented artist in person.

My week-long workshop, titled ‘The Book as Sculpture’, was part of SERIES ‘08 SUMMER SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, running May through August at Red Deer College. Each week, a new set of instructors arrives for week long-classes. This year, from July 7-11, 9 instructors taught workshops in clay, welding, painting, mixed-media, drawing, photography and paper and book arts. Highlights included an instructor art exhibit all week long and a student show in the library with an amazing assortment of class projects produced during the week.

Instructors and class titles for week July 7-11:

1. Kathy Triplett • Handbuilding Sculptural Wall Tiles
2. Jacqueline Sullivan • Marks and Metals
3. Ross Bradley • Open Studio - The Figure
4. Ken Flett • Bricolage
5. Isabelle Hunt-Johnson • The Versatility of Watercolour
6. Dwight Arthur • The Art of Photography
7. Sam Johnson • Introduction to Welding for Atists
8. John Cooper and Kathleen Pemberton • Colour Theory
9. Bev Tosh • Figure Painting Workshop

Barbara, Marie, Jacquelyn, Celia & Sheila (l-r) gather around projects created in my class The BOOK AS SCULPTURE. Barbara and and Celia (Edmonton, Alberta) are mother and daughter, Marie (Edmonton, Alberta), Jacquelyn (Medicine Hat, Alberta), and Sheila (Sydney, Australia) are sisters

This was a wonderful experience, a great week and I feel like I’ve been given the gift of countless ideas and possible variations to take home. THANK YOU!

Barbara Johnston

Students, Instructors and the public view student work on display in the Red Deer College library

Calligrapher, Artist and Instructor Jacqueline Sullivan stands near a small sampling of the work created by the students in her MARKS AND METALS workshop

Visitors gather around the tiles created in Kathy Triplett’s workshop HANDBUILDING SCULPTURAL WALL TILES