making it ______ [fill in the blank]

sydney cohen and i met years ago - taught together one summer at CCA in their youth studio program. she is one of those special people that is super generous - and dedicated to her practice - and FUNNY. i value this to no end. as what happens in life we sort of drifted apart and i hadn't spoken to her in eons. since she and i are teaching the same course at this fall - just different sections - we've been chatting a bit about how to develop the course - and she's been helping me make sure i don't make a complete ass out of myself - showing me the ropes [being my buddy at meetings, making sure i have combos for locks and know where stuff is].



we had breakfast a couple of weeks ago to compare notes -- oohing and ahhing over one another's book choices.... and she said something that really struck me. i was saying that i didn't think there was an over-arcing theme to my syllabus... but she disagreed. she said that she thought i was making them look for color and lovliness in their everyday. and then she said - you know - you are just one of those make it lovely people. you make everything lovely - your house, your clothes, your food, your art.... i don't know if i completely agree since i don't always feel like i have the time to make everything as lovely as i would want to - but i was flattered.



[caption: don't you looooovvvveee the sides of her work?] and so i asked - well what "club" are you in? she immediately responded - make it messy. i started thinking - what about this art "club" idea. what club would you fit in? [more than one is OK]. and of course we need T-shirts.




last week we had a breakfast




where she made some LOVELY food. and we chatted a bit about how our classes were going. and then she let me up into her studio. oh how i miss painting the way that she paints. layered. messy [but ultimately also controlled]. that whole build up of a surface with paint where sometimes you don't know where you are going and then you end up there. my work doesn't cater to that really. i'm much more planned and methodical. but i love PROCESS. i really do and sydney's studio/work screams that.



rooted in ideas of architecture [building your own world], and patterning, and colors and how they work with one another. and making space. of course, though, i have to throw in that there is a completely feminine [in the best way] aspect to these. it's like they are pieced together like a quilt. aside : we also chatted about embracing or rejecting the feminine aspects of our work and how there is still this strange stigma with the idea.



it's so exciting to see SO MUCH in progress. haphazard. strewn about. in the MIDST of being made.




if i could have i would have slipped the above blue smile painting under my shirt. so good. of course i'm a the hugest fan of negative space - and that color turquoise is pretty perfect. one of the BEST things, though, about our visit [besides leaving totally inspired] was at some point we were joking about the make it _____ clubs - and somehow we were joking that i also like to f*#k sh^t up. so now my t-shirt will say - making it lovely on the front and f*#king sh^t up on the back. HA ! and that in essence is what i adore about her. too funny.

ok sydney. you just need a real website so that everyone can check out your work....