ah - back to school time

oh yes. we have started. in fact today students gave presentations of their work. i always like this part. i try to think of artists that i think they should look at. my brain fires furiously and i check spelling of artist's names on my iphone. you know i'm grateful for the gadget but really i think my memory has become worse because i know i can always look something up. we are now so uber hooked in. i also blame mommyhood. brain zapping state that it is ! but i do now have eyes in the back of my head, so it's kind of a trade off.

anyway - i digress. [what else is new]. i made the above binders for my gradebook and sketchbook because i'm always hunting for a pen/pencil. i used to have this handy cover i made for my gradebook, but it got filthy dirty and had to go.

the pen/pocket binder thing is not my idea at all. saw it at renegade with super spiffy versions by cleverhands . but i didn't buy one, and by the time i thought of wanting one it was too late to order. so i made a down and dirty not as clever version. so far. so good.

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a bunny in progress. there are SO MANY babies entering the world shortly. i don't know which one of these soon to be babes this is for, but regardless. it's getting made. and i think i'll be making more cutie creatures.

i got the idea of laying out my deconstructed bunny from a former professor of mine gail wight . she did a series of deconstructed toys that i have always loved. she was one of the best things that happened to me in graduate school.

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and some candy as eye candy. straight from japan. too pretty to eat. just amazing. like sculpture.

i say this every time i get sick, but really... really .... really. don't take being healthy for granted. and don't take your healthy kid for granted either. nough said.

til next time.

20 in 2011 and a pencil kit and a sandwich

i made 2 new glass ball toxin atomic ball sculptures for a show

20/2011 at Richard Levy Gallery

opens aug. 19 up thru oct. 1, 2011 with a closing reception on 10::01::11 [i wish i could go - i'm sort of missing the expansive desert sky]

a celebration of the gallery's 20th year !

above is formaldehyde, 2011, crochet doilies on glass, 2.75 x 7.5 x 7.75 inches.

and below is chloroform m 2011, crochet doilies on glass, 3.5 x 8.5 x 8.75 inches.



and detail:


if you had told me 10 years ago that i would be making sculptures - and ones that are so delicate and breakable i would have said NO WAY. ha. funny how that works.

i wanted these to be more recognizable chemicals. do people still have to dissect some animal in biology while the room reeks of formaldehyde? i had to do a baby pig in AP bio which was really not very pleasant. we all know about the katrina trailers and their formaldehyde sick inducing carpet, etc..... and chloroform... such an "old fashioned" feeling toxin, no? [i can't help but picture some evil kidnapper using it to knock out a victorian lady....]

anyway. congrats to the levy gallery for being around for so long !

while i was gluing these together i kept thinking how great it would be to make really really big versions. but then i would need a glass blowing friend. or a glass blower who wants to work in trade because there's no way i could pay to have so many large scale round glass balls manufactured. wouldn't that make a cool "lobby" sculpture? perfect for some pharmaceutical company....

i digress.



i got this cool build your own pencil from staedtler. and this relates to the levy gallery because richard levy is the one who pointed me to the blog where i was able to email steadtelr and "win" this prize. pencil talk . which really is a fascinating blog. if you at all like pencils/office supplies i recommend a visit.

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i thought i'd show you my lunch. because i was making my sandwich [i think this is my favorite summertime sandwich - if only our tomatoes would RIPEN i could use garden tomatoes -- it's been SO cold here -- and it would be an even better sandwich, but again i digress] and i looked down and i realized i laid the tomatoes out in a pattern. not on purpose. it's just how my brain works. like how i match my clothes in color schemes down to my socks and rings. it's how my brain works. embrace your inner quirks....

i posted on poppytalk again - hannelore baron. a long time fave....

happy weekend !

assorted randomness

collective conscious.

i bought this book for my upcoming color theory class [trying to find something for the students to read besides straight color theory]:


it's all about pink [how could i not buy it] !

and thumbing thru it i spied this photo:



and i stopped.



my photo.

it made me think about how if i hadn't been to venice i wouldn't have recognized that pink light. but i had. and i did. and so the world becomes that much smaller.

it made me think about why and how we are drawn to certain things. those pink lights in the plaza at venice totally tickled my fancy. made me look up. made me wish i had a pink lamp on our street at home. i wondered why pink? nothing else in the square is really pink. lots of white and gray and golds and mosaics- some off red on the tops of one section of one of the buildings. but those lamps. they are so PINK. frilly pink.

and then i wondered how many hundreds of other people might have this same photo in their archive somewhere. their version of the pink lamps of venice. and how we do all live in a collective conscious in some way.

and how we form groups and bonds to amplify this. just look at all the groups on flicker that have something to do with pink . what does this mean? i won't even try to go there. [can you tell, though, that i'm gearing up to go back to school? my mind is turning academic on me]

if you want another smart book on color and it's implications in our western art world - try chromophobia :















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i made this !
had to show you the cute little pout !
i miss crocheting utilitarian things !
pattern from lion brand - the princess cardi [you may have to sign in to get the link to work?

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in a fit i redesigned the blog.
simpler
with pops of color
wanted more white space
even if chromophobia is making me wary of white space.
even if chromophobia is making me think about color as a drug and a fall from grace.
maybe i should rebel and make the entire background shocking purple.
nah.

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meet millie. our newest family member. needed a home. from the san francisco animal control shelter .

she's a pup. VERY sweet. and playful.
little runs around saying : millie's hyper ! i'm hyper !
so true.
forgot what young dog energy feels like.
it's good. and a lot of work. but mostly good.
i'm sure i'll inundate you with photos as weeks progress.

wow. i didn't think i had anything to share in a blog post. but i guess i did. too much for one post in fact. why i really should try and just post now and again. sigh. like everything else - line up for the juggle dear blog. line up.

galaga and cashmere and documenting do go together

i haven't done much cross stitch, but when i am 8 bit asked me to be a part of their art show [which is all about 80's pixelated videogameness] i had to give it a whirl.





so when i was a kid my parents were part of a bowling league. every friday night we'd head to the lanes. i'd get to eat a hamburger and french fries made by this portly grumpy old man [who ended up being a good pal] and play video games while the adults bowled.





i was given a very limited allowance to blow on games. so i had to choose my games wisely. centipede was sometimes played. pinball a lot. pac man - and then ms. pac man were definite obsessions [and then later tapper - does anyone remember that game? where you SERVE BEER??? sigh.] - but galaga - galaga was constant. an every weeker.

turns out hubby is a pro at galaga [we found a tabletop version at a mall in japan which he played for quite some time] - so in a way i like to think that galaga is "our" game.

i do love the graphics.
and so i made galaga cross-stitches for the show. all the main characters - and what turned out to be my favorite - the SKY... a beautiful pixelated sky.....

the show opens august 11 from 7-11 pm at
i am 8 bit
- 2147 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026 -
100 artists - 4500 square feet [so mine will be lost in all the video game madness, but that's ok].
i can't wait to see pics.... 





erin [perhaps one of the sweetest bloganistas out there] of design for mankind fame will be on this coast shortly.

she's giving a workshop at teahouse studios. she asked if i might make something to give to her students in gift baggies. so MODify/d [or rather me and my partner candice who helped sew all the pin backs on these] whipped up these cashmere felt scrap flower pins.

but really this brings up this whole other idea. i've been styling A LOT of photos lately. for a project i'm working on that i'll soon talk about. and i really kind of like it. the professional photographer that i'm working with thought i should consider doing it as a job - for other people. really? could i do that???? hmm. it sort of intrigues me. i know i don't really need another hat to wear, but i wouldn't object if the universe sent me a styling gig. i really wouldn't.




i have more to share, but for now will end with this:



i am honored to be back on habit this month with some incredibly talented and creative women. this blog moves me so much. so much that i've tried to keep up the habit on my own. which has really been an incredible way for me to try try try to stay in touch with photography. something that has definitely slipped by the wayside a bit. and i love this short sentence that acts as a diary. a peek. a day-by-day [or not so daily] peek.

until next time