- On this episode of "Making," we gather with artists as they learn to grow together, get our beaks wet with a watercolor artist who's happy to share, and tip our hat to a craftsperson whose creations will go to your head.

That's all next here on "Making."

This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(pleasant mid-tempo music) Hello and welcome to "Making," the show dedicated to makers on the artistry of their craft.

I'm your host, Matt Burchett.

Thank you so much for joining us.

This week we begin here at the Best of Missouri Hands Annual Conference.

This statewide organization is dedicated to the development and recognition of Missouri's artists and artisans.

(bright music) - [Muenks] Best of Missouri Hands is a statewide organization of artists of all different walks of life.

We are a nonprofit organization that was established in the 1980s, and we support all the artists and artisans across the state with professional development opportunities, exhibit chances.

We share on social media and we support the life and art of all of our members.

- The value of the Best Missouri Hands, I believe the core thing is the networking with the other artists and having that family of folks that you can, you know, ask questions of.

When I first started, my background is in animal science.

I had nothing, knew nothing about the arts and stuff, so I was lucky early on in my career that I was doing a little bitty art show, and I saw another artist and she had this banner, and it said, "Jury Best Missouri Hands Artist."

And I was like, hmm.

That looks pretty cool.

This looks important.

And so in having a conversation with her, I found out about this group, and it has been, as a artist, life-changing for me.

- [Muenks] Our conference always starts off Friday night.

We offer a really fun activity called the Friday Night Frolics, and this gives all of our members and conference attendees a chance to mingle and sit down and have some fun and make some artwork.

So we had six different artists that had different activities set up last night, from needle felting to embroidery to pounding on metal to make lucky charms, alcohol ink paintings, collage.

And it's a great opportunity to start off the conference in a relaxed environment, to network, talk and make some art together with other artists that we don't really see.

You know, we're spread out across the whole state.

So being able to sit down and make some collage cards or do embroidery with a friend that you've only known online is a really fun way to start off the conference.

- [Carr] When you get artists together like this, I think it's great because, you know, it just kind of gets your creative juices flowing.

You get inspired and you're like, oh, I need to pick up my camera and get out there and take some shots.

It's just a good feeling.

It kind of recharges you.

- [Monzyk] Artists, wherever they are, share everything.

Doing shows, you know, you meet artists at the show.

The talk right away goes to processes.

It's wonderful for learning new things and how to gain exposure, if that's what you're looking for.

- [Muenks] As artists, most of us are working alone in our studios, and Best of Missouri Hands gives us an opportunity to connect with other artists that are going through same experiences with selling art at art shows or getting websites set up or taking photos of our artwork to jury in.

So having that connection in Best of Missouri Hands, dealing with other people that are going through the same struggles, the same challenges, and sharing the victories and the celebrations when we exceed in, whether an exhibit or an art show.

and the sense of community with Best of Missouri Hands has been huge, and that was for me when I went art full-time to join that community and really be part of celebrating the art of Missouri.

- As far as our group goes, we've got like over 400, I think, jury artists and our categories are basically broke down to like, you know, glass, ceramic, wood, metal, 2D, 3D, mixed media 2D, mixed media 3D, your traditional crafts, which would be like your soap makers, rug makers, things like that.

Digital.

It's really neat to just see the variety of talent and skill that these folks have.

I mean, I'm always just blown away at what people are able to create.

We share, like if they have a social media page, I encourage all the artists, you know, if you're wanting to sell work and stuff, you know, make a business page on Facebook, do an Instagram and stuff.

I can easily then take their work and share it onto our main page, which we have like over 4,000 followers and stuff.

So, you know, it just kind of, if they take advantage of it, you never know where it might go.

- [Helton] A lot of times they'll take my posts and turn 'em into stories.

I'm not really savvy on the social media thing.

So it's really helpful for someone like me.

I mean, it takes me two hours to make a story.

I don't even know what I'm doing.

So, to have someone else to do it, that's wonderful.

That's helpful to me.

- So I'd recommend any artist in Missouri to check out our website.

It's bestofmissourihands.org.

Lots of information about membership, what the process is to go through to become a general member, and then go into jury status.

There are artist pages, so all jury members actually get an artist page that they can populate with images of their work, contact information, any kind of links, videos, awards.

So everything we do generates interest and excitement about Best of Missouri Hands.

And I highly recommend going to the website and finding out more.

(mid-tempo music) - The earliest art I remember is I really loved the look of watercolor.

I just always loved it.

So never really thought I would take it up, but once I did, I was hooked, and nobody really told me I had talent, but I did love art.

I think the most advanced thing I did was take a drawing class in high school, but always did the crafty things with my mom and cross-stitch and ceramics, and I did like to draw.

I mean, people from high school, they'll say, "I remember you drawing in class," just, you know, doodling.

But it wasn't until my kids were grown and you know, I was married to Mike later in life, and we were down in St. Charles at the Mosaics Art Festival that comes every September, I believe it's September, October, and just enjoying the art.

We walked into a booth of a watercolor artist.

Jean McMullen is the artist.

So I started taking classes with her in the fall of 2009.

And I took classes with her for several years.

When I started taking watercolor lessons, I had never done any other kind of painting, besides painting ceramics, but no oil, no acrylic, nothing like that.

So I start taking lessons and the first day they tell me that this is the most difficult medium to master.

And I'm like, okay.

So I don't know any better, I don't know.

I do do have students that come from an oil background, and I see the challenges now, but I started with watercolor.

I love the fact that there's mystery to it, that you don't always know what's gonna happen.

But of course, with practice, you know, and you learn how much water to how much pigment on the brush, you can work dry on dry, like just a regular paintbrush on dry paper, and you can work wet on wet.

So there's lots of these fancy little ways you can do watercolor.

I like to use the glazing technique.

It's where you put a thin layer of watercolor and you let that dry completely before you do the next layer.

And it just, whatever the colors underneath will glow through.

And again, it does take time to dry.

So it may take me weeks.

I don't use hair dryers.

I don't like to use a hair dryer.

The main reason is watercolor does its magic when it's wet.

So if you leave it alone, it may do things like, a lot of people say they don't like those little blossoms that happen or this and that, but part of that's the charm of watercolor.

So I'm just gonna use some of these purples- My Next Level class, I limit it to eight students because I prefer small classes.

I want them to get their money's worth.

I don't charge much, but it's a time to get together and to paint together.

I actually have a couple students who are quite advanced, and most of my students have had quite a bit of experience.

I don't have any beginners, 'cause I don't really wanna teach beginners, but so they're at different levels.

They're working on different subjects, different types of things, and it's fun to, you know, go from one person to the next and just to help them.

They may be at the stage where they're very good painters, but they need help with composition, or they need help with maybe color or value.

Those kind of, all those design elements that are so important that can just make your painting go from good to great.

Another reason why my Next Level classes are successful is because the artists are able to learn from each other as well.

In fact, I learn from my students too.

Artists are very solitary.

So there's a lot to learn and just from working yourself.

I mean, just working with the paint and the pigment, I mean, that's the main way of learning watercolor.

But then when you get with another artist who's been learning their solitary ways and their solitary ways, and then you get ideas from other people like, oh, I never thought of doing it that way.

And encouragement as far as having a fresh eye to look at your work, to give you a critique, to critique each other's work, that kind of thing.

So it is great to have other artists who you you can consult with.

So I highly recommend that for anyone who's, you know, wanting to start out painting, you know, get in a group, get in a local watercolor society, something like that where you can rub shoulders and learn from other artists.

I'm fortunate to not have to sell my work to make a living.

So I love to paint.

I don't know that I'd call it a hobby because it's really part of me now.

I can't really go a day without thinking about it or doing it.

So I would recommend for anyone who's serious about watercolor and they're starting out and maybe they don't have a big studio to work in.

Find a little corner of your home where you can keep it out and come to it anytime you want to, maybe even if it's five minutes.

Sometimes, if I have a busy day, I might just come in here and walk around and look at my paintings, look at the works in progress, maybe even write down a few notes like, "Oh, I wanna do this on this painting or that."

And I think the thinking part of it is a big part of the creation part.

For me, it is.

The more I think, the better my painting's gonna turn out and the more I just try to rush through it.

I'm just not one of those artists that can just paint a beautiful portrait from start to finish.

And there are artists like that out there.

I'm just not one of them.

I don't consider it a job either, because I paint what I want.

As you can see, I'm painting a lot of portraits.

People generally aren't gonna buy portraits if they don't know the person.

They might.

I mean, I've had some success there, but a lot of times they're not.

And I'm doing it 'cause I love it.

(pleasant music) - My name is Rose Monzyk, and I'm a milliner, and I make ladies millinery, which is a fancy name for ladies hats.

I think I enjoy making hats because I've always loved fabric.

I started sewing when I was about seven, making doll clothes.

And when I was about nine or 10, Mom started letting me use the sewing machine.

The very first one was a doll hat, and I had a piece of felt that Mom gave me from something, and I shaped it over a little fruit bowl, and it fit my doll just perfectly.

I find the time of the cloche in the 1920s and '30s very interesting.

And then the hats that were made during the '40s.

I mean, I love all of those.

And you can see my work kind of lends itself in that direction.

The felt hats are probably the most of what I do.

That's probably where my biggest following is.

And I love the feel of the felt and working with it.

And I work a lot with sinamay, which is a natural straw fiber made from the abaca plant.

I also do what are known to be fascinators, which are basically either on a headband or on a little tiny cap that just kind of sits at the side of the head and is more freeform.

And I use a lot of fabric.

The different parts of a hat would basically be a crown, which is the part that fits on the top of the head, and then a brim, which could be anything from a little tiny brim that just kind of goes at an angle to, I have some this big, so it can be anything in between.

So, when I use fabric, I'm using what we call Buckram in between the layers of fabric, because the fabric would be real soft.

And so the Buckram gives it the body.

And so I'm making a sandwich.

That just needs to be wet.

The water will activate the sizing in the Buckram, and adhere them together as they dry.

And I always use two or three layers and stretch each one, one at a time, over the block, and pin it down so that as it dries that it doesn't pull up and start to wrinkle.

And I also have what we call blocking cord that goes around it and also helps hold everything together until it's dry.

In the case of the wool felt, I first would dampen it a little bit, and then I would put the sizing in it and put it back in a plastic bag till I'm ready to actually use it.

And then I'd hang it over the top of my steamer.

So the steam goes up inside of it, and when it gets real soft and pliable, then it's ready for me to stretch over the block.

So when I'm blocking it, there's excess fabric hanging over.

And then when it's dry, then I trim the excess off, and then it starts to look like a hat.

The next step would be I need to make a crown for each of them.

So if it's wool felt, sometimes I block crown and brim all in one.

Sometimes if I want a different color brim from crown, then I'll block them individually.

The sinamay is, I always block crown and brim separately.

Then I have two pieces, a crown and a brim.

And at this point the brim is flat on top, so you can't fit your head in there.

So I cut a hole in it, which I have guides to go by for what head size I want to use.

And I don't cut it all the way out.

I leave a little edge inside.

I put little clips into that to go up to that head size, and those clips, that gets folded up like a tab.

And then those little brim tabs get stitched into the crown.

So when it comes to decorating the hat, sometimes I see the hat finished in my head before I start and I know exactly what's going on that hat.

Sometimes when I get the brim and crown together, then I start getting a feel for what it should be embellished with.

I tend to make quite a few of my embellishments, like I would make felt leaves or flowers.

I make little petals cut out of the felt and join them together.

When I'm using sinamay, then generally I tend to think of those as being more like Kentucky Derby hats.

So I use little more embellishments on that and would tend to use something that has more poof to it, that's bigger, makes more of a statement.

Hats are really making a comeback, and it's just a joy to see.

And I have good clients that send pictures of themselves, you know, dressed up for church with one of my hats on.

And I love that, because since I feel like the ideas have come from God, I'm happy that they go to church.

(laughs) I always say, God puts 'em in there and I pull 'em out.

It's just like something comes out of my brain.

I don't know where it came from.

You know, it's just there.

- [Helton] What I like to do with these little five by sevens, they make nice greeting cards.

- So we're back here in the studio and I'm sitting with Jan, and she's got us set up with a cool project here.

I've got a very colorful piece of paper here, and it looks like you've got a tracing started for me.

So, what are we starting with here?

- [Helton] Okay, so today we're gonna paint a goldfinch.

- Okay.

- One thing that beginners always ask is, you know, they'll paint a bird or let's say they're painting a bird.

They paint the bird and then they have all this white paper.

And then they say, "Well, what should I do with my background?"

So what I like to do with classes where I'm working with beginners is we do this fun little underpainting, it's called an underpainting.

And what I do is I'll take a blank sheet.

We're doing five by sevens, and we'll just get it wet without water, and then we'll just pick a few colors, play with it, and then I actually take a piece of saran wrap, and that's what makes these cool textures.

And so, and we also think about when we do it, you don't want the whole thing to be red, blue, and green because we know we're gonna paint a bird.

So I always like to leave a lighter area.

Are you ready?

- Let's get going.

- I like to start with the dark.

So I'll mix up this little puddle.

- Okay.

- For us.

And get a little bit of water in there.

This is gonna be our black.

So we don't want it to be too watery.

I mix ultramarine blue, and I do use professional watercolors.

So these have nice strong pigment.

And I'm basically just kind of reconstituting this without too much water.

I'm trying to make a black, so I'm adding Quinacridone Burnt Orange to it, and you can see I've got kind of a brownish black, so I need a little more blue.

And these are nice brushes because we'll be able to do big strokes and then tiny, tiny detail.

You might want to work it around a little bit more, yeah.

Might even need more blue in there.

- Try not to smudge the line.

- That's okay, once you've got the shape established, you might pick up a little more color and drop it in there.

It's already wet, so it should just spread nicely.

Just drop it in, so it's nice and dark.

The next again we're gonna do is go to the black crown.

And I'm just going to, on this one, I'm just gonna take the side of my brush.

See, I can get bigger areas that way.

And so I'm basically just doing kind of irregular edges and I'm just gonna fill that in.

I just like to do all the darks at once, so I'm just gonna go right into his wing.

Be careful to reserve the light area.

- Because we can't paint a white.

If I fill it in, it's pretty well colored unless we take drastic measures after the fact.

- Yes.

I guess I'm a purist, and so I don't like to use masking.

Well, I'll use masking fluid if I need it, and masking fluid is something that we could have put on in advance and sort of protected those light areas.

- [Burchett] Is that something that just, it resists the paint where you can wipe it off?

Or is it something you peel off?

- Yes, it comes off, it's kinda like rubber cement almost.

It comes right up.

But yes, at the end of it, you can either use white paint, which, that's where I'm a purist.

I try not to use it if I don't need to.

I'd rather save the white of the paper, and in this case, you know, it's gonna have a pretty blue cast under it because of this underpainting.

I like that to show through.

I feel like it makes it more interesting, just a little.

You're doing a great job.

- I appreciate you saying so.

- And you're saving your lights and everything great.

So I'm making kind of a peachy color, and when I put this on the beak, can you see where it's darker?

So basically I'm gonna put those dark areas on there.

I'm not gonna fill in the whole beak.

I'm just going to get that color on there.

Okay.

You wanna go ahead and do that?

I'll let it set for a minute because I don't want it to all disappear when I put the yellow with it.

Okay, so before that dries, I'm going to take this yellow, and do you see how I'm brushing it off on the edge?

I don't want it to be too wet.

It'll just push all that orange away.

I'm not gonna worry about highlights and all that.

I'm just gonna paint around that orange and let it blend into this yellow.

And just to make it look, you know, really real, I'm gonna take a little bit of this blue and put it at the edges, just let it bleed in a little bit.

See how it just kind of mutes.

One of the hardest things with watercolor is learning how to control how much water versus paint.

So, if your brush is dry, you can literally touch that and it'll suck it up like a straw, the extra water.

- [Burchett] So there's a lot of green like undertones and things like that in the photo itself.

Now, we're not painting much green at all.

We've done oranges and blues and yellows and a little bit of red.

But what's influencing the color choices that we're putting on our paper?

- Right.

Well, in the photo, he's among a lot of greenery, and so he has that reflected color on him.

The reason I'm choosing to use the blues and the purples is because that's what we have in our background.

- Is this a photo that you took yourself?

- Yes, it is.

I actually grew the sunflowers outside my window on purpose so that I could stalk the goldfinches.

(both laugh) So normally the way I work is, I don't just sit.

I don't usually paint start to finish.

I mean, this is a small bird.

Even what we did today, I probably would've stopped, let it dry, come back before, you know, that's how these things happen.

and they're really impossible to prevent unless you let it dry completely.

- Well, 'cause you just got the two wet surfaces.

- Sure.

- Yeah.

- They want to talk to each other.

- Exactly.

But I think you did a great job for your first one.

- Well, I had a good teacher, so I appreciate you being patient with me.

and showing me the ropes a little bit.

Thank you so much for sitting down with us and sharing your wonderful studio with us, and this has been a good day.

- [Helton] Thank you very much.

- I appreciate it.

I'd like to thank everyone here at Best of Missouri Hands and all of our other makers for sharing their time with us.

Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for this week.

But we hope all of our makers have inspired you to unlock your creative spirit.

We thank you all for watching.

We hope you'll join us here next time to see what we'll be making.

More information is available on social media or online at kmos.org.

This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(pleasant mid-tempo music)