April 23rd, 2010

Here’s Michael de Meng talking about everyone’s projects from the Island of Demented Toys workshop.

Last weekend we hosted a workshop by one of our favorite teachers, Montana based assemblage artist Michael de Meng. de Meng’s teaching style truly embarks a fearless sense of “you can make anything work, as long as you play around with it enough” sentiment that makes you feel empowered and inspired. He backs it up with his tried and true, trial and error know how that comes from years of experimenting with what works and what doesn’t, guiding & positively encouraging students to make any kind of creation they can dream up.

While observing his class last weekend, I picked up on something that really hit home with me. Seeing how easy it was for him to cut metal with the Dremel (a multi-functional power tool here at the studio) and seeing the endless possibilities of assembling together found objects you would never think go together are ALL possible with imagination, gumption, and de Meng know-how.

We also had the pleasure of hosting a book signing for Michael’s latest book “Dusty Diablos” as well as displaying an exhibit of his artwork. Michael spoke on his experiences from the book, like visiting Island of the Dolls in Mexico and bringing his students to a peculiar shop of religious icongraphy where for instance, you could find 20 replacement heads of Lady Guadalupe. Since we love raffles here at the U.C.C, we had one that night giving away a signed copy of his book, a monthly membership, and a needle felt kit, if you weren’t there you missed out!

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