December 9, 2011

craft fair!

I struggle a bit with making stuff( contributing to consumerism or just making more stuff in a world that already has too much stuff) but the truth of it is I REALLY LIKE making stuff. I don't do a lot of craft fairs because it's not really worth it for me. I don't charge a lot because I want people to own my stuff. I know times are tight. I end up making enough to support my habit which is really okay with me. Anyway, I'm participating in a local craft fair this weekend at the Howland in Beacon. If you're in town tomorrow,swing by! 
Here's  a sample of some stuff I'll be selling that uses that felt I was working with in the last post..






 And, oh, in case you didn't notice, I got my hair cut! I'll go for super short in the spring but I figured I'd play a bit now while I still had some length. Kendra cut it, ( Radhair by kendra. She's on facebook) and then blew it straight. For me straight hair is playing dress up. I can't help flipping it about because curly hair doesn't really flip. Little J said it was so soft that he wanted to sleep on it like a pillow. I'm not showering for a few days just to play more so you might not wanna get to close to me...





November 30, 2011

leftovers

I did a job recently that used flash bulbs. It was shot high speed and then the film( or digital information) will be played back so that the flash seems to last a long time. I was mostly interested in the bulbs. These are pictures of them after they were spent.






 I'm always looking at the beauty in our trash( have you seen Wasteland?) The lovely Sarah, from zero to go, has hooked up with a company that is interested in getting rid of some of it's excess materials to artists and crafters to see what they could come up with. Here's some industrial felt that I've been playing with

 some little zipper pouches!

 a tote
 and a backpack

 and some coasters!


November 14, 2011

Dia 2011

This past weekend was community free day at DIA:Beacon. j has been talking about going again and even though I wanted to go to Occupy Poughkeepsie I figured I should take advantage of him wanting to go to a museum. We had a really great time. It's taken me long time to come around to contemporary, conceptual art. I have a deep appreciation for it now and wanted to share some of what I've come to love with j. He was off and exploring pretty quickly.Each Dan Flavin piece became either a rocket ship or a gun. We had a long discussion about color with Imi Knoebel's work. The museum has couches all over the place because you need to sit down every now and then. We stopped and sat on a comfy couch in front of a piece by Lawerence Weiner. I had never had the patience to figure it out before but now,resting, we started a conversation about it and finally I was able to get it.  Seeing it through the lens of a 5 year old was really something worth experiencing.One of my favorite pieces is by Gerhard Richter. It's huge panels of smoky mirrored glass hung on the walls at slightly off angles. I've sat on the couches there before delighted by all the reflections in them. We started to talk about it and after seeing out reflection in the glass, j said " it's like we are the art". I will never go to a museum without him again!
And of course, the Richard Serra pieces. j ran through each of them, exhausted and elated at the same time. 




 



 You're not really supposed to take photos at the museum but I can't resist. Here's j keeping an eye out for the guards.



I feel like, slowly, the well is getting restocked.

November 12, 2011

I was not supposed to be gone for this long!
Here's a brief summary of the last few months....
wet august, 
busy September( lots of art making)
invasion of stink bugs( see photos below)
ridiculously busy October( and not in the good way- one too many music videos and general unpleasant work that would have destroyed me had I not been surrounded by mostly good people)
no power for 4 and a half days due to the freakishly early snow storm
Halloween
horrible stomach flu that me and J got Halloween night( not fun puking in a freezing house with no electricity, no water and no heat)
Wisconsin for work( my once a year opportunity to sleep in a hotel room. HEAVEN!)

Now, all the good stuff that came out of this?
I've realized that I really can't go this long without being creative. It makes me really unhappy if I do
I think that once you start down the path of self-awareness, you can't ever pretend you don't know about it. I've started to picture my life like a video game made up of levels that you need to continually solve and move on from. Each level arms you with more tools to help you face the next challenge  and just when you think you might be done fighting the demons, along comes a smarter, trickier one to try and psych you out. 
Life, for me, really is a work in progress.
I'm going to try not to go so long again without posting. It feels so much better when I can check in here. 
Hope everyone is good!

And I'm now taking suggestions short haircut  ideas- feeling lime I need to shake up the outside a bit!








September 26, 2011

Done.

 The weather was great, a nice flow of people  all weekend and a chance to sit and talk with some new people about art. And truck city was a huge success! I'm already looking forward to next year. Today is grey and it seems the weather reflects the let down after all the build up. It's still so new for me to except that this is who I am. A person that lives a creative life. I'm now in that place where there's no turning back. Not that I would want to just the unease of remembering a long period of my life where I felt so stuck. Kind of painful to revisit but I think those memories are the things that keep me moving forward.
I was talking to someone over the weekend about how the creative movement really started for me after my son was born. I started painting with the idea that I was making stuff to hang in his room.  Kind of taking the back door into art because to walk boldly into it was just too scary! I'm finding myself  loving the back doors.


I really fell in love with the whole truck thing.  

Kids in the truck!


The lounge area. I wanted people to feel relaxed, comfortable.
cookies and lemonade

 some new pieces I made