"52" + a new home

so - this blog has a new home. after 5 years hosting it on an outside server blogger no will no longer support FTP. so i migrated the blog here : lisasolomon-musings.blogspot.com . the upside? you can now "follow" me if you are so inclined. and i can monkey with a new template if i ever put my mind to it. the downside? thousands of comments lost. gone. woosh. they exist on the old blog - which i'm keeping up for posterity's sake - and i have copies of all the comments - but it does kind of suck to have them missing here. oh well. technology. it's never perfect.


above is an image of one of the works i recently sent off.

i'm in a show across the pond - hello England ! :)

it's curated by calm air all ice - which is the lovely claire [with whom i share a thing for planes] and the ever wonderful camilla .

"52" [it's a show of 52 of their favorite artists - like a deck of cards !]
at
room 212 gallery
Gloucester Road
Bristol

opens march 31 with a special preview opening 6-8 pm

gallery open:
12-4pm Wed- Fri and from 12-5.30pm on Saturday April 2



i admit - i'm a little obsessed with 3 at the moment. i can't help it. these were started way back when, but only recently finalized and finished. they were actually started in my old studio.... ah memories.

they are small - 4x6 in size.... i was testing some ideas out. those ideas have kind of fallen by the wayside, but who knows. maybe they'll make a resurgence.

anyway -- i'm sure there will be great photos of the show, but if anyone lives in bristol and can make it... well... i'm jealous. i wish i could skip over there. be sure and check out calm air all ice for a full list of artists. and interviews from many of us.

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it's my last week on habit . above is an out-take. to blur or not to blur? i've been playing more with my camera - using more of the manual settings. trying different f-stops. different ISO's. blurring, not blurring..... it's been really great. thank you habit. i think i might have to keep up the idea of habit - a photo - a day - 30 words or less... i'll just do it on flickr . i used to do that more often, but with the little photo taking has definitely lost placement on the priority list. but perhaps that needs to change.....

we're supposed to have more rain this week. today there are big puffy white clouds. so pretty.

spring has sprung

i apologize for my lack of a post last week....we are having some pretty glorious weather round here. makes up for the 7th round of sickness that we've been dealing with. to say that this winter has been brutal in the sick department would be an understatement. it might be safe to say that i have intimately known almost every virus that has floated around this winter. i'm happy it's spring because i'm hopeful that it means the end to the cold season. i'm not holding my breath because if a spring cold comes around chances are we'll get it, but it's nice to be hopeful.



with all this great weather the little is frantically using her favorite word - out. she says it double time. out out. and with a canadian accent. [not sure why but it's true]. basically from the minute she wakes up until the end of her day she'll go to any exit or window and emphatically request out out - out out. it's really cute - except for when you have to tell her - i'm sorry we just came in from out out - or no - we have to stay in in now. what a pathetic and sad face she sometimes makes. occasionally she'll even whimper "out out" "out out". if she could figure out a way to stay outside all the time i think she would.



last week i had the immense pleasure and treat to spend the afternoon with martha of uniform natural . she came out to my studio and we sat and chatted. my parents were here and so our visit was peppered with interruptions from the little, but mostly we were able to discuss art and process and making in a really lovely way. martha is incredibly astute and sincere in her observations and questions and responses [as if you had any doubt about that]. i could feel my body and mind viscerally responding - reverting to familiar territory - thinking more academically and speaking about one's intentions and ways of making in a meaningful and purposeful way.

highlights from our talk: the differences between architecture and art [some of them anyway - revolving around the idea that architects must be more concerned aware of public safety and more concerned about "client satisfaction"] ann hamilton , tara donovan , my desire to visit the walker , and how architects have an incredible ability to accurately access situations/people, and how they are so aesthetically put together [best clothes and glasses. always].

i am so grateful to the internet for providing the means for this to happen.

and so - i have to get cracking. i have a statement to concoct, a website to update, artwork to tackle, dishes to wash, a studio visit to prepare for.... i'm still hoping to write a spring manifesto . happy tuesday!

a WINNER ** and a habit

the random.org number generator picked 44. which turns out to be this is yellow .

please contact me and i'll get your doily shipped out to you!

i just want to say how LOVELY it was to read the enthusiasm about this project. and how great it was to see and "meet" some new to this blog peeps. and i wish i had enough doilies to give to everyone because i loved the thoughts on where everyone would put them. i think i'm going to work on making a limited edition set of small vinyl doilies so hopefully anyone who wants them can have them. doilies all over the world in all sorts of places is a daydream i'd love to make a reality. it's a matter of production - where, how much, etc. but i am starting to research. if anyone has any ideas/thoughts/leads on this, i'd love to hear them.



i've been working on a new idea in the studio. here's a first sketch of said idea. well actually it's the backside of said sketch. i always love the backside of embroidery. so much that sometimes i show it as the front. in this case that probably wouldn't make sense, but out of habit i always turn something over when i'm done working on it to see what it looks like. almost every time i like it just as much or MORE than the front.

i don't know if it's the surprise, if it's just that there's so much evidence of process, if it's the random mess...

the problem with this idea of mine is that one piece will most likely not stand alone. and i'm not sure what kind of fabric to use. this idea stems from my desire to actually do something SUPREMELY minimal with thread - simple. clean - but with a hidden meaning/agenda if you choose to look for it. i just don't know if it's going to translate yet.

on that note. i should try and sketch out another one. maybe on another fabric just to try it out....

have a great weekend !

my sol lewitt moment + a give-a-way

so.... i didn't really want to talk about this beforehand because i had NO IDEA how it was going to turn out. i got to have a sol lewitt experience. when i was asked to be in depth of surface at san francisco state the gallery director asked me to have a visionary moment outside of the building.

he said : we have a vinyl cutting machine. you make doilies. we'd love to make vinyl doilies and stick them all over the entrance doors. we have tons of students who can work on this. game?

heart racing as i had wanted to do this for years - in fact i researched getting vinyl doilies but couldn't afford to get them cut... i quickly said yes.



so several emails and an map i generated in illustrator later.... voila. they did it. and not only did they do it - they did it ALL over the building.



including the bathroom [that's me in the ladies room up top]. god i love enthusiastic students. so much. i feel blessed. i want to do this again and again in a big way. how to fund it? find the buildings to do it to? i don't know. but i want it. i could get used to being sol ... giving directions .... having it come together .... mmm hmmmm



and the other piece? i added wall drawings and crochet and felt bits around it ....
[sorry it's just not as exciting as the vinyl, huh?]

here are all the install shots [this is a pictobrowser image viewer - so it might not show up in a feedreader?]

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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and the give-a-way? well - they gave me some extra doilies. so comment here with where you'd want to put one if you had one and i'll pick a winner next thursday :: 3/11.