a bit of color and hope

it is DREARY and cold and raining here today. there's actually a tornado warning? huh?

i have to admit that i've been feeling a bit out of sorts these days.

with all the stuff going on in the world - japan [thankfully all of our friends and family have been accounted for, but the nuclear issue on top of the immense devastation is just so completely horrific]- oh right there's the mess in libya, and really has hati recovered? i think i'll just stop making this list now -- i've been finding it hard to "be normal". let alone think about the fact that i'm flying to another country next week....



on the other hand - life goes on. dots get painted, classes get taught....

posts about make believe collections get written....

it is impressive how many people are trying to do what they can for japan. here's a short list of things i've seen that i like:

:: corter leather's for japan bracelet

:: diem chau is raffling a crayon family

:: pika books is donating proceeds from the sale of Chotto Omoshiroi

:: sen is offering flowers in the bay area

:: abby is offering a photo print

camilla and i are offering a collaborative collage, and i'm offering a bed/kite drawing in the handmade for japan auction that starts next thurs....

in my attempt to be "normal" i'm going to try and go to lisa congdon's book signing at the curiosity shoppe .

empty studio : time to start over

my studio feels very empty [and clean. i swept and even mopped the floors today ! yay !] empty walls are inspiring and also kind of scary.



everything - except for one piece that i'm still crocheting doilies for - got packed up and dropped off at fed ex this morning.

i feel both a huge sense of relief - and a huge sense of trepidation.

i still don't feel like i'm going to be there. there are still too many other things to do. grade, work on a proposal, TAXES [ugh]



packing is like a giant puzzle. and i'm a bit worried about the glass ball sculptures. they are wrapped - floating in boxes that are lined w/ foam - but you just never know. i mean it just takes one brute fed-ex guy to toss your box aside or put something really heavy on top to ruin it for everyone. everything passed the shake test [i shake things to make sure you don't hear anything rattling around]. oh art gods please protect my goods as they make passage to milan... pretty pretty please ! i do think, though, that my mom - the MASTER of all packers - would be proud of how i fit everything together.



i was peeling and prepping vinyl wall stickers till the very last minute this morning.... i'm going to do a GIANT version of the above - it's phenyldichloroarsine - a chemical nerve agent developed by the german's in world war I. there are a lot of chemical warfare agents in this show. yup. and the deforestation work is going to be shown too.

title of the show? Fleeting Beauty.... from the curatorial statement {Marinella Paderni is the curator} :
What has become of the image of beauty in contemporary artistic expression? Once the prerogative of art, today beauty is no longer a sublime ideal but has become a social constraint or need. With the cult of the image, its symbolic value has shifted to the fields of marketing, economy and fashion, leaving a new task to art: the denial of beauty, turning it into an aesthetic and spectacular phenomenon that we have to seek in places where we do not usually look — in the inner recesses of the human mind, in memory or in the reality that apparently removes, distorts or corrupts it. Under the ashes of the romantic ideal and utopia, beauty — formerly lost — has only changed its future... the American artist intervenes in our perception of reality by deconstructing it thanks to the invention of ‘beautiful’ images of elements that are, however, threatening (viruses, toxins, arms, disappearing trees) and are represented with childlike forms and settings...

hopefully i can live up to that !

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have you seen Sally Shim's [of SHIM + SONS ] new venture ?

my friend : artist + curator : Timothy Buckwalter is about to open part two of a series of shows. [i'm going to be in part 3] here comes the darkness . it's a great concept and a cool show [with work by my pal kate bingam burt amongst others.

ok. off to start to tackle other things on my to-do list [more like to-do pile]

despite

what you may have heard [or not seen] i'm still here. and semi-functioning. there has been a trifecta of illness to hit the house. 1.me, 2. little, 3. dada. i have to say that in comparison to the 12 times we were sick last winter this winter is so much better. but being sick is basically for the birds. no wait - i wouldn't wish it on birds. why is it that you really only appreciate being well when you are sick. i think when i finally do feel better [because it's already been a week] i'm going to wake up every morning and wiggle my toes and say to myself - at the very least you are not INSERT FAVORITE SYMPTOM HERE [snot filled/nauseous/sore-throated/hacking up lung]

and can i just get all mommyville and say that NOTHING breaks your heart more than a kid slumped on your chest all fevered and sad and barely audibly tearfully whimpering mama as she coughs.



oh ! and i'm completely anxious about getting all my work boxed and shipped of to italy by next week. i seriously have no concept that i'm GOING TO ITALY [where i've never been] because i'm too wrapped up in making sure that the uber fragile work that i'm making [see above - those are glass spheres] is packaged and boxed safely enough to get there. but wait - i'm going to ITALY !! [although i wonder how much i'll actually see since i'm going to be installing a bulk of the time - but who cares. i'm going - there will be old buildings, and a different language being spoken, and a show, and food to eat, and hopefully a day trip to venice and and and]

i just wanted to pop in to say hello. i miss everyone/everything.... i did manage to post on poppytalk - another piece i want for my collection

bye for now.