Quote of the Week

"This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan on it.
When I'm outside the saying of it
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all."

~Rumi
Who Says Words With My Mouth?

Process Shot

Like most artists, my dining room table is rarely used for dining.

500th Post!!!!

This is my 500th post!!!

It's very nearly finals week; just one more day of classes and my head is definitely not where it should be. It's already moved on to my next non-school project. I've been wanting to make another quilt for a while now. (I made one when I was in high school) There's something very satisfying in piecing together fabric. I'm going to keep it simple, just squares. Here are some inspiration shots I found on flickr.

Bonus Quote of the Week

A bonus quote for you, because sometimes I need reminding:

"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things; also that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."

~Anne Lamott
Grace (Eventually)

Process Shot of the Week

I know it's been a pretty paper/print heavy week in my world, but sometimes life is like that. Today I got almost all the printing done for my book. I printed all of my signatures and I have one more plate to print for an accordion piece. It went better than I was expecting. My goal for the day was two quotes, maybe three, and I wound up getting six, plus my title page printed. For this project I tore down about ten sheets of paper, for I don't even know how many 4x12 pieces, but I printed on them all! A bunch went to proofing.

I even managed to get in some enameling this evening!

Happy weekend!

Need to Want Less

Absolutely loving this by Need to Want Less.

Found via Doug Wilson.

Quote of the Week

"The more I work, the more I see things differently, that is, everything gains in grandeur everyday, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful. The closer I come, the grander it is, the more remote it is."

~Giacometti

Letter Press Adventure

I got my polymer plates for my book arts final and tonight during class we set up to print. I forgot how time consuming the set up and proofing are. Plus, the press started acting a little goofy. But we figured it out and I did some prints. They're not perfect and I'm not super happy with them, but they'll do. I still have 6 more quotes, the title page and a supplement piece. And that's just the printing!!! I still have to collage 14 pages, make the covers and the case! Yikes!
Anyways, here are some pics of me and graphic design faculty, Craig Malmrose, working the press. My instructor Lisa Beth and her friend Terry were also on hand to help out.

Post Card Print Exchange

I participated in my first ever print exchange this semester. It was sponsored by the University Print Society at Iowa State, and was a postcard print exchange, meaning that all the prints had to be post card size and sent separately through the mail. The theme was "X", and you could use any method of printing. 352 people from 10 countries participated. The idea of a print exchange is to send in an edition of prints (this one asked for 13), and then the sponsors keep one for their collection, and send the rest out to other people participating in the exchange, from who you receive prints.

I got my prints in the mail this morning, and was confused for a minute as to what was going on. I kind of forgot about being in this exchange. But once I figured it out, I was very excited. Twelve prints were chosen at random from all the participants and sent to me. As you can see there are many styles, techniques and interpretations of the theme "X". My friend Laura Wood participated too, and I can't wait to see what she got!

Sunday Sewing

It's spring and I've been the mood to spiff up my apartment. Last weekend I did some much needed spring cleaning, although looking at things now, you probably can't tell. (Seriously, how do my floors get so dirty in a week?) I'd like to do some redecorating, but making my apartment exactly how I want it isn't really an option, since I can't afford replace all my furniture. But I've been thinking about what kinds of things I could make to brighten up the place, specifically things I could sew.

I decided to start with the throw pillows, and made this over-sized pillowcase today. Again, it's maybe not exactly what I wanted, but I'm trying to stick to my novice sewing skills. I'm going to try to get another one of these done today, and then maybe something for the smaller pillows. I'd also like to make a bright patchwork throw to cover most of my couch, since it's dark, and I'm kind of tired of looking at it. But I might have to wait until summer to tackle that. I might rearrange my furniture, too.

Sketch to Product

So, I always kind of though that the idea of artists coming up with ideas on bar napkins was a bit of a romantic myth, but I was out with some friends last night and got to talking to one friend in particular, who wanted a pair of my mica earrings. Several napkins later we came us with this design:

Then, after some frustration, despair and problem solving I made these earrings this afternoon. I'm pretty satisfied with them and pretty pleased with the solution I came up with after I realized that my original plan wouldn't work. My friend loved them and totally rocked them at the MFA opening/party tonight! She's already commissioned a second pair!

BBC2 Mastercrafts

I didn't have anything to blog about for almost a week, and now I feel like I have tons to talk about! When it rains it pours I guess!

I was reading the latest issue of Selvedge and came across a small blurb on BBC2's series "Mastercrafts". It's a 6 part prime time television series that "showcases some of Britain's leading master craftsmen and women and explains the techniques at the heart of their trades."

I got real excited when I read this, thinking that it was a British version of "Craft in America". After looking at their web page though, I get the impression that this series is more functionally oriented than artistically. The episodes are Blacksmithing, Thatching, Textile Design, Stone Masonry, Stained Glass, and Wood Design. I can't view the actual program for some reason, but they seem very technique heavy. Still, it looks interesting and I would like to watch these if I can figure out how.

Blog Love: Dear Ada

Love, love, love these ceramics by Samantha Robinson, found via Dear Ada. In fact, I love nearly everything on Dear Ada. It's by far my favorite blog. Even though there's such a variety of art and aesthetic styles, most often very different from my own work I find myself loving nearly everything she posts.

Check it out if you haven't already!

View from A Wednesday

Progress Report

Fossil Rich Dirt from Piratefest

Here's a few of the things I've been up to over the past few days. As you can see, it's pretty book centric in more ways than one:

- photo plates ordered from Boxcar (I think I got my files right)
- power point about halfway done (still trying to figure out what direction to go with it, I don't want to talk forever, but I have a lot I could say)
- halfway through 2nd book for readings class (For the Time Being, by Anne Dillard)
- halfway through reading another book
- 23 wall brooches (so far)
- 2 coptic stitch books and 4 simple 2 hole books (just for fun and procrastination)
- chain for the case for my final book
- some salt experiments and a repair (Salt Vessel came back damaged)
- started gauche painting for a wet media mono type (for my end pages for my final book)
- fossil hunting a Piratefest (found a whole mess of shark teeth, some nice, two shark vertebrae, some tiny gastropods and a nice porpoise tooth, among other things. Thinking about making a piece with the bones I've found . . .)
- baked two loaves of Honey Whole Wheat Bread (delicious and nutritious!)
- Spring Cleaning!!! (ok, so I didn't vacuum, but you should see my microwave!)

Quote of the Week

"never underestimate the science of punching."

~via my Twitter feed

Book Arts Update

So, it's not the maquette for my final project that I was be-moaning the other night, but here's some other book arts goodness. My Japanese stab bindings from a couple months ago and my Ethiopian Coptic Stitch book with wooden covers. We just learned how to do the end bands last class. We also learned how to make these nifty centipedes/caterpillars.

I finally did get my final project figured out, after two days of just plowing through it. I'll blog some pics soon. I'm also very excited because there's some letterpress printing in my future. . .

I can't believe this is what I go to school for!

Quote of the Week

"The details make life holy. If you want a little happiness in life don't forget to look at the little things. It's a poet's work to see the incidental, pluck it, place an appropriate silence around both sides and see the profound in what passes for a passing moment. It is an artist's job to as much discover art as create it. Prayer is a way of making the common profound by pausing, tying knots around a moment, turning our life into a string of pearls."

~Noah Ben Shea

Stuck Update

Well, I'm still stuck on my book idea, but I made some of these and was able to breathe a little.

Stuck!

It's 85 degrees in my apartment and I can't focus on anything! I'm too stubborn and cheap to turn on the air, so I'm dealing with it the best I can. Which is not well. I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything! I can't focus enough to sew anything, and I don't feel like drawing.

Also, I have a maquette due for my book arts final tomorrow, and I am stuck, stuck, stuck!!! I've batted a few ideas around, but nothing is sitting right. If I think about any idea for more than a minute, I get over it. I was going to use a bunch of Rumi quotes, but now I'm thinking that I might scrap that too, and go an entirely different direction. Problem is, I don't know what that direction is!

I brought some stuff to make those (for lack of a better term) brooches I mentioned in a previous post and dumped out on my floor to see if I can make something, anything happen.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!!

Quote of the Week

"Everything begs with the silent rocks for you to be flung out like light."

~ Rumi Light Over the Plains

Thesis!!!

So my form is filled out and signed by my committee. All I need to do it turn it in to the grad coordinator!

Here's the little blub:

Lithic Fragments: Sand, Stone and Spirituality

This work is an investigation of how the act of making connects us to a deeper sense of ourselves through the use of geologic forms, which connect us to a time and place.


I wanted to write so much more, but I guess that's what the paper is for!