Portable Drawing Door Table

May 12, 2008

Now that the really hard physical work is over, we’re having fun arranging areas of the newly renovated offices and gallery.

Here’s a drawing desk I built using an old black door and some dusty sawhorses I found in the warehouse. I like that the hinges are still attached (except when I busted my ankle on one as I was moving the door into the room). The door knob is still attached to the other side, which makes is easy to carry around.

Last week while I was recuperating from the painting marathon, I decided to do a to-do-list drawing or collage (more on that tomorrow) each day along with the silly rule that I couldn’t open my laptop until it was done.

We know how well that worked — I’m way behind on emails and blog posts. That silly rule is hereby tossed out the window, and this week I’ll try to remedy my email backlog.

Filed Under drawings, studio | 2 Comments

And Now for Something Completely Different

May 11, 2008

At our old house, we had a fish pond with lots of beautiful koi fish with names like Casper, Skeletor, Wabi, Goldilocks, and the Sharkey Brothers. One day a fish appeared, it wasn’t a koi so we suspected that someone who had tired of their aquarium had graced our pond during the night with this contribution.

We named the fish Nessie, because it only appeared close to the surface infrequently, maybe once a month, like the mysterious Loch Ness Monster. When Nessie did appear, she would swim sideways. Someone told me this might be due to a problem with her air-bladder — something I guess fish have to help them move through water?

Anyway, sometimes I think artists are a little like Nessie. They disappear sometimes for a long time, and then when they do appear, they swim sideways.

I guess I’ve been on the bottom of the pond, probably for longer than ever since I started this blog about three years ago. Now I’ll try to get you caught up, and to start off, we’re doing something completely different….

white paint. Those of you who have been to the studio know it was packed full to gills with color. Now it’s going all white. As in White.

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Boutique Hotel for Pets and other SF Adventures

April 26, 2008

I love staying at boutique hotels with flavor. This one is pet-friendly, and sorry that we couldn’t bring the pooch, when I saw this doggie-size vintage truck bed. It took traveling halfway across the country for me to realize my dog has been so deprived of art furniture, but this will have to be remedied upon the return home!

A quick stop at Japan town turned long, as usual, with lots of perusing of pockets of interest at one of our favorite stores, Soko Hardware. With pockets and bags weighed down from speciality Japanese tools and dishes, we toured the rest of the district, happily it looks much revived and alive compared to last visit.

Fancy cakes were tempting, maybe more for drawing than eating, but in the end, selected a Geisha Float by a Fake Waterful.

The day wrapped up with a fancy-pants dinner at the SFMOMA. Here’s a shot from looking up from the lobby, which is where the dinner was held. That colorful spot is “One Way Color Tunnel” by Olafur Eliasson on the fifth floor that is beautiful purple-blue-pink going one direction, and gray on the return. Mystery how it works, but I was a real chicken about walking on the grid five floors over space so didn’t take too long to consider it.

Filed Under journeys | 5 Comments

Mosiacs at Dallas International Terminal D

April 25, 2008

Never had much chance in Dallas to look at at art, but a three-hour layover gave me plenty of time to study a big collection of what they tell me is eight million dollars of public art installed at the International Terminal D.

I especially enjoyed a series of mosaics in the floor. These are photos of Jane Helslander’s “Floating in Space: A Waltz.” What is it about mosaics that are so intriquing? Is it the way the tiny fragments fit together to make a bigger image?

Here are some more photos on Flickr.

Filed Under journeys, other artists | 3 Comments

Studio Makeover Continues

April 20, 2008

Here’s the retro red lamp I found at a flea market yesterday. As the new bamboo floor goes in, I’m getting more and more excited about the possibilties of the new aesthetic that we can play around with in our front offices.

My office is finished! because the floor guy was a real sweetheart and agreed to work all weekend to try to finish up.

Now what to do with the walls? As you can see, the bottom of the walls have been patched after damage from the flood, but the color is the old style. We were thinking white walls, but that may be too bland. Also the doors have to be replaced.

In case you don’t remember, this was the old floor before the floor machine crunched it up into little bits. Pretty active, that’s why the intense wall colors.

I’m loving this new floor and have been walking around in my socks and sitting in the empty rooms. The floor and the glue used to put it down are green — a sustainable strand bamboo from Canada called “Synergy.”

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Why I Love Spring: by Guest Blogger Mochi

April 18, 2008

grass — springy, boingy green grass
fuzzy balls flying through the air
worms and bugs, but especially worms
crazy birds and baby squirrels
good smelling wind in the trees
warm sun on the patio
late evenings in the yard with light in the sky
late night walks in the dark
my new pink polka-dot collar
but especially flying fuzzy balls
when they don’t hit the cars in the next door parking lot

Filed Under mochi | 3 Comments

Studio Article in Cloth Paper Scissors

April 13, 2008

I can’t believe April is already half over, and I haven’t yet told you about this article. Last December Patricia Bolton asked me to submit some information about my studio for a special edition of the magazine Cloth Paper Scissors.

Having a lot photos for this blog and just general shutter-bugitis, I sent some in with a brief written tour.

So here’s the result. You can pick up a copy at bookstores, or order online here. There’s lots of fabulous studios featured, I’m loving Jane Davila’s studio and of course, Sara Lechner’s — had to crack up at her story of buying 75 sets of shelves. And I thought I was crazy!

Also lots of great organizational tips for studios. Seems ironic that the article would come out just as we’re trying to finish up renovating the front of what CPS calls the “art factory,” but never fear — the part in the magazine remains true to the photos, so you’ll be seeing the real deal.

Meanwhile I’m sooo excited, can hardly wait until tomorrow when they will start installing the new bamboo floor in the front offices. Hope the finished product is worth all the agony of moving out again and the dust and noise.

We’re going for a complete change of aesthetic — more like a gallery feel, so it will be fun to have something different and better for photographing art than the old orange-black floor (it has been Halloween 24-7 for eight years — enough already!)

Filed Under media, studio | 12 Comments

What did I say at the Lux?

April 9, 2008

Can’t remember really. Something about how I used to draw and do digital art, but missed the joy and funkiness of the handcrafted object, and so began to combine my drawing with making quilts. Also, how I was inspired by the mis-matched patterns of old-time patchwork quilts, and tried to preserve that kind of spontaneity and humor in my own work.

And since I was standing in front of this quilt, (thanks for this photo Robert Duncan:) I used it to explain how I enjoy putting memories of objects and people I love into my work. For instance, on long road trips I often eat those little white powdered donuts you buy at the gas station. So when I made this quilt, I was thinking about how the aliens had been on a really long road trip to get to Earth, and gave them some white donuts and Tang for the trip.

Photo of the opening by Lisa Call who gave a good talk (read her funny version of her road trip with sharks) about her own work Fencing In or Keeping Out and since she was curator for the show, about the other artists — Deidre Adams, Joanie San Chirico, and Jeanne Williamson. The Lux is a great art center with 20 year history, and the show looked great. Here’s a photo gallery of the whole show on Flickr.

Filed Under exhibitions, other artists, quilts | 6 Comments

International Quilt Study Center and Museum

April 8, 2008

While in Lincoln, I was able to sneak over to the new International Quilt Center and Museum very early in the morning before the sun rose, because I had heard the new sculpture in front of the building was beautifully lit.

The sculpture by Linda Fleming is called “Reverie” (daydream) is wonderful to walk around and through — lots of different viewpoints and even some matching fantasy chairs inside the structure.

The museum itself is another work of art designed by architects Robert R.M. Stern of New York. The wall of glass front facade wraps about interior gathering spaces, exhibition rooms, and will house the world’s largest collection of quilts. Currently and through the summer exhibits include: Quilts In Common from the museum’s collection and Nancy Crow: Cloth, Culture, and Context which traces the development of Nancy Crow as a studio artist.

Lisa and I also got a chance to see another beautiful exhibit of quilts by Michael James in Lincoln’s historic Haymarket District. You can see a slideshow of James’ “The Life in a Day” series of quilts based on abstracted photographic imagery on the Modern Arts Midwest gallery website here.

Filed Under other artists, quilts, sculpture | 6 Comments

How to Choose a New Floor

April 2, 2008

It’s been busy lately at the studio, trying to get our renovating done for a big May 1 deadline. Yesterday Mochi dropped her bone to vote for the new studio floor. Looks like she votes for the darker color.

Wait a minute! In another room, she changes her vote. How come dogs get more than one vote in the great flooring debate? ….hmm, muddy paws, shedding hair, and scratchy toenails. Oh yeah, real life is not a democracy.

Filed Under mochi, studio | 12 Comments

Distinctive Directions postcards

March 24, 2008

Postcards are going out for our Distinctive Directions show that opens at the Lux Center for the Arts on April 4. The cards look sharp — lucky we have Deidre Adams in our group to design them!

The DD show and Lisa Call’s solo show at the Lux open one week after the grand opening of the International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, so if you wait until April, you can see Nancy Crow’s show and Quilts in Common at the IQSC and our shows at the Lux. A double dip trip!

Filed Under exhibitions, media | 5 Comments

Back in the Groove

March 21, 2008

Nice monitor huh? Got for my birthday, and it plugs into my laptop to give me two screens for drawing and looking at reference material.

Drawing for quilts is different than just drawing, because I have to remember that eventually it will be used as a pattern, and that I have be able to construct everything that I draw.

Thanks Grace Matthews for this post which quotes Faith Ringgold, “Underestimation is a psychological tactic for artists. When you employ this tactic you convince yourself that the upcoming project is not really so big or so bad, that it will not take much time and that in fact it’s a piece of cake. This method of trickery helps you to tackle the biggest of projects and makes the project less daunting and more manageable.” This is a great idea and has helped me getting started tackling some projects I’ve been worried about.

But most important, little friends and good music help oil the creative machine. Right now I’m listening to Lemon Jelly.

Filed Under Inspiration, drawings, studio, technology | 7 Comments

Twitter

March 20, 2008

Lisa asked me why I signed up for Twitter, did I see any value in it? Not really, I’m just intrigued by the idea of disembodied quotes floating around in cyberspace. It’s like a mini-blog, but there’s no commitment and no images, you can just pop in and out whenever you feel like it.

I also like the idea that tweets must be less than 140 characters, kind of like haiku of the internet. I often get inspired, sometimes even visual flashes from unusual word combinations, in poetry, in written words translated from other languages, and in my own emails that I try to make inventive. So Twitter kind of forces inventive ways of writing because of the limited character count.

And I like the interface, and there’s different tools you can get to manage it. Anyone else out there on Twitter? Almost forgot, here I am on Twitter.

Filed Under technology | 3 Comments

The Art Cart and Drawing a Blank

March 18, 2008

Arrgh, going nutso here. I haven’t gotten any good drawing done for quilts since my drawing room was exploded last year. Last December I loaded up this cart with drawing and painting supplies so I could wheel it into whichever room I wanted, but still can’t get settled anywhere. I feel like an unwanted candy striper at the hospital.

Still trying to find a quiet spot to work, I moved some of my stuff back into my old office even though the floors are still not finished and the bare concrete is cold and hard on my legs. You can see a bit of my new glasses. I was getting a lot of bizzarre reflections inside them, took them back to the shop and had the edges sanded off. Now I have a whole new view!

Filed Under studio | 6 Comments