Anya is a sweet friend of my neighbors. She spent a few hours with me a couple mornings during the summer to learn how to make paper. We had a great time together! Here are some photos from the session. She loved making paper! (Isn’t she just adorable?! And she’s just as sweet, too.)
I had the pleasure of teaching a 14 year old girl named Anandi how to make natural-looking hand-recycled paper a couple weeks ago. She was so sweet and full of creative ideas. Anandi also used a template of Mississippi that I made in graduate school to make Mississippi-shaped paper. Of course we had to mix color pigments together to find the right mix of Mississippi State University MAROON! We had a lot of fun!
Below are photos of the paper she made:
Hi everyone,
I haven’t posted any updates in too long. I intend to change that this summer.
I have great news! I am teaching papermaking workshops for kids and teens ages 7–14 in Starkville, MS this summer. Class size is limited, so pre-register soon to be sure to snag a seat! Each workshop is a 3-day event from 9:00 am–noon, costing each student $100. All materials will be supplied.
Students are encouraged to wear “paint clothes” as these activities can be a little messy! Parents and guardians are also welcome to attend, but are not required.
To give you an idea of what to expect, here’s a video featuring my little buddy Shivank making his first sheet of hand-recycled paper under my instruction.
The next workshop is an event for kids and teens that love Christmas so much, that they would enjoy creating tree ornaments in July! I taught this workshop over 2 years ago while in graduate school and it was a big hit. Visit the old blog post to see those kids at work: https://brittanyspencer.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/kids-paper-pulp-ornaments-workshop-photos/.
I will also have copies of my self-published children’s book A Girl Finds a Flower featuring my hand-recycled paper illustrations for sale at the workshops for $20. They are also for sale online at Lulu.com and Amazon.com.
I hope you can join me to create fun, exciting art! Please contact me to pre-register at brittany.liz.spencer@gmail.com.
Sometimes in conversation with new people, when I tell them I am a graphic designer they ask me to clarify what that entails. I have even had graphic design students enter my intro course fumbling to define “What is graphic design?” on the first day of class. I was one of those students years ago, because I felt graphic design was such a vast field that couldn’t be defined in one sentence. I have shown this video to each of my intro classes, because it really sums up what graphic designers are capable of in terms of design and output in 6.5 minutes:
With school gearing back up, I would like to share some local projects I have done. My younger twin brothers just finished high school, so my skills have been of use to them the past few years.
For example, I added a contemporary spin to their sports ads for the annual football program with my original photography:
As a horizontal ad, it was interesting to watch the crowd to see who turned their books sideways.
BOOM. Double trouble!
I can design an ad that makes your child stand out from the other pages!
I also can design senior graduation invitations, with my original photography:
(front)
(back)
Senior yearbook pages:
The plan is for their pages to end up on the same spread, as if they are sitting back-to-back.
I can even design classroom posters for school teachers with their favorite quotes:
Now is a great time to contact me for your back-to-school design needs! If you are unsure if I can try something, give me a shout out. I just may surprise you!
Take advantage of a good deal from Lulu.com! Order my book A Girl Finds a Flower from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/BrittanySpencer by February 21st and receive free mail shipping or 50% ground shipping. Be sure to enter code KINDNESS14.
I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to lead a kids’ papermaking workshop through the North Central Louisiana Arts Council last month. It was such a success thanks to Matt, Jacob, and Jaime’s help. We all had a blast! My friend Jaime was kind to make photos of the action. (By the way, check out her awesome work: jaimejphotography.com/) Check back soon for a video!
In my blog post Workshop Coming Soon, I made an announcement about a papermaking workshop I was leading for children to make Christmas ornaments. Time has flown by, and I’m excited that the workshop is tomorrow!
Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk a little about the workshop and the paper-making process on KEDM radio in Monroe, LA in promotion for the event. If you would like to listen, go to http://www.kedm.org/audio/making-paper-making-ornaments-12-13-13. I will post photos and videos of the big day soon after!
I want this blog to not only feature and document the work I’m making in grad school, but also keep a record of what inspires me. I stumbled upon some TED Talks that I look forward to watching that will inform me in the topics that interest me such as creativity, the childlike spirit, and happiness.
The one I watched tonight and thoroughly enjoyed was Tim Brown: Tales of creativity and play.
At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play — with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn’t).
Are you looking to buy a Christmas gift for a child or someone in need of encouragement? Consider adding my self-authored, self-illustrated, and self-published book A Girl Finds a Flower to their literary collection. I put a lot of heart into this book, and hope it will inspire and lift people’s spirits.
Find more images on my portfolio website under the “MFA Art” section at www.brittanyspencer.com, or view its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AGirlFindsAFlower.
It is currently available for sale in paperback and eBook PDF form at Lulu.com and Amazon.com.
My friend Matt Ramsaur (www.ramsaurfilms.com) is a talented videographer and photographer, so I hired him to do a short film of me in my studio. I demonstrate a bit of my hand-recycled papermaking process, discuss why I enjoy papermaking, and what inspires my work. Even Bailee makes her appearance throughout the film! I will have this embedded into my portfolio website’s home page soon. Enjoy!
Brittany Spencer // Papermaking & Graphic Design 