A Wedding to Remember

July 1, 2009

Twenty years ago we were married on a cliff called Battleship Rock, the place where Russ proposed to me. It was a hot late June afternoon, and climbing the backside of the cliff in a tux and wedding gown was a challenging affair. It’s also difficult to find a minister who wants to do this sort of thing, but Russ had a friend who also happened to be a gymnastics teacher.

On the cliff we awaited the arrival of assorted family and guest on their poontoon boats, having been given a map and time on the cartoon wedding invitation that we had sent out a few weeks earlier.

Meanwhile, our friends in the Celtic Band played music in the nearby cove, on a handmade raft made of all found materials (an artistic idea, but a little risky considering their delicate instruments.)

Kids who happened to be jumping off the cliff into the water were happy to give us a few moments of quiet for the actual ceremony.

And then, being such a warm day and a little nervous about the whole affair, and just luckily having a blue and borrowed swimsuit on under the wedding dress, we peeled off the wedding garb and leap into what we like to call “a life of art together.”

Then it was back to Big Cedar Lodge, a happy reception, and the best twenty years of my life!

update: The photos in this post may seem a little dull. That’s because all our photo albums got water-soaked during a flood a couple of years ago, and though I’ve tried to restore them, they are not what they were.

We visit the rock where we were married each anniversary, and the landscape and nature there is still just as beautiful and inspiring. It’s great to live in the Ozarks and be able to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounds us here.

Filed Under uncategorized | 13 Comments

Beam me up, Fluffy!

June 23, 2009

Not much art going on this week, other than emails and boxing up stuff for shows. Also thinking about what I’m going to say for a full hour at the Modern Materials opening weekend artist’s talk.

I was going to transport this quilt to the Untitled [Artspace] gallery via space-age technology, but the space-time portal didn’t reveal itself in time. So I had to fall back on FedEx.

FedEx is not a bad second option though. I usually use the second-day delivery, and have always been happy with the ease of computer-generated labels and email confirmation of delivery. The routine is so regular now it’s almost boring — roll it, wrap it with fabric, wrap with plastic, box it, label it, stick a letter in it and ship it.

However, give me a Sharpie and that girl who likes to draw and hasn’t gotten out much lately takes over. Although I can’t say for sure what that elephant is tossing — a peanut or a caterpillar? (click for a closer look)

However, Mochi, the supreme guardian of all things postal that come and go through the front door seems unimpressed by my wrapping, boxing and excessive taping technique. (By the way, have I ever shown you the impressive stainless steel floor in the lobby that she guards?)

Filed Under exhibitions, studio | 12 Comments

Vintage Friday

June 12, 2009

Long ago I told Paper Dolls for Boys that I would post vintage photos on Fridays, but I really haven’t got that many great vintage photos.

I do however have a nice collection of mid-century cookbooks — many I found when I bought two big boxes of old papers at an auction. They appear to be the entire 1950-60’s Home Economics classroom files of a woman named Frances, and are full of leaflets and brochures about choosing silverware, how to use a deep freeze, bug sprays, dieting, and more.

I love looking at these old cookbooks, finding a lot of humor and inspiration for my work from the drawings and advertising copy in these retro pieces of domestic history.

So Tracy, I hope you won’t mind if I post some of these instead of photos. For some more inspiration from retro graphics, check out my Flickr set here and the Flickr group mid-century illustrated.

Update: I almost forgot to post these, here are some folks who actually did the photos:
Los Angeles is My Beat
Laughing Living and Loving in Austin
A Jen Too Many
Raineworks
and be sure to check out the hula hoops on
Woolanthropgy

Filed Under Inspiration | 10 Comments

Did I say that? (less is more)

June 11, 2009

When I first got into some art shows and was asked for an artist statement, I often spent a lot of time at the word processor — refining and tweaking and trying to cram as many power-packed poetic words into the space allowed. Type…..check the word count…..retype……check the word count.

Now after a year of using Twitter (only 140 characters, not words allowed!), or maybe because I’ve decided I’d like to leave some mystery for the viewer, my statements are getting much shorter than the space allowed.

In fact, my statement for Quilt National 2009 was only one sentence long. I’d actually forgotten I’d said it because it’s so core to what I believe that it seems apparent, but was pleased to see it in print. And it also ended up on the back cover of the book.

Sometimes I guess, less is more.

In case you can’t read my quote in the photo, it says, “I believe the true power of art is the ability to transport us to new or unexpected places.”

Filed Under exhibitions, media, twitter, writing | 10 Comments

A little morning exercise

May 29, 2009

Encouraged by the flurry of comments about favorite cheese curl poses (thanks you guys, I don’t even have to ask — you all just jump right in and tell me what you think!) I started refining some of them.

Between sketching and a real plan to work in fabric from, there are lots of little steps. Rayna said she liked this one.

But Russ said snacks should go closer to the mouth, and rightly so!

Then I got a little toe-happy. I don’t usually draw finger or toe nails, preferring to keep things low maintenance.

That’s why some animators’ characters only have four or three fingers. Less to draw, especially in the old days when they had to hand-draw each cell.

But in the end, I never could get that pose to relate to my other cast of characters.

So moving onto to a pose inspired by Linda, I also decided to call them Cheez Curls, sounds cheesier, don’t you think?

Hey, maybe I should add a little mouse in there somewhere too.

Filed Under drawings | 15 Comments

She’s in the Wall Street Journal

May 23, 2009

Who? That woman I told you about, the one with a big nose and Eiffel-Tower hair.

I first got wind of the article in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal from folks on the SAQA yahoo list. Those of us who aren’t at the conference and Quilt National opening last night are feeling left out and checking the internet for show gossip.

So that’s a good excuse to go out for a Green Tea Latte, right? And I found the print version on the news rack at B&N. The photo is really tiny and oddly cropped, but looks pretty swell in the website article and slide show here.

Thanks to Meg Cox, for the nice mention in her article and more info about other quilt shows this summer. I’d never heard about the populist Sisters Oregon one-day outdoor show — that sounds like a crazy fun affair!

Filed Under exhibitions, media | 9 Comments

Modern Materials poster

May 23, 2009

Speaking of summer shows, there’s a stellar show curated by Jill Rumoshosky Werner that’s in the works for July 10 - August 27, 2009. It will be at [Artspace] at Untitled gallery, and I’m really impressed that the curator and gallery has decided to feature so much three-dimensional work — at a time when many shows are pulling back from allowing 3-D work.

Jill has done a great job assembling an great group of artists and she’s gone the extra distance to publish a curator’s blog. Scroll down through the blog, and you’ll see posts about each of the artists and why she invited them.

The poster above was published by [Artspace] instead of the usual postcard announcement. I love the way the graphic designer used the colors of Arturo Alonzo Sandoval’s quilt to map out the colors of the text. It folds for mailing (hence the fold-lines in the photo), and I have a few extra, so email me with your address if you’d like one.

Here’s the full press release from the gallery about the show, catalog with introduction by Sandra Sider, and a couple images of work for the show.

Filed Under exhibitions | 1 Comment

Just one more, then I’ll go back to bed….

May 21, 2009

One night I woke and sat in semi-darkness, hoping by not turning on the lights, I could fall back asleep. Finally I did, but not before I drew these little yoga doodles. It’s an idea I’m exploring for a new Yoga 101 project called The Cheese Curl pose. Only problem, I have too many ideas and can’t decide which I like best.

But wait there’s more! I guess it’s like cheese curls themselves — you can’t stop at just one.

Filed Under drawings | 22 Comments

The Franken-Quilt

May 19, 2009

I’ll tell you a little secret about my quilt that’s going to be in the upcoming Quilt National — I call it a Franken-quilt (as in Frankenstein).

I was trimming it to prepare for the binding (at about four in the morning — a ghastly time to do such a critical task) and I trimmed too much. When I pinned the binding on, I found it would hit the edge of the flower shop at a bad place - yikes!

So I dug the edge out the trash, zig-zagged it back on, and re-trimmed slightly wider. Enough that I could move the binding over a bit and the zig-zagging doesn’t show. So no one knows about the mistake except me, and now you.

Quilt National groups A, B, and C

Dale Anne asked about the coding of the artists listed on the Quilt National 2009 website. The whole show will be on exhibit at the Dairy Barn from May 23 - September 7, 2009. After that, it will travel to The Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Missouri — the only other venue that will exhibit the entire show.

After that, the quilts are sorted into three groups called A, B and C. This way smaller segments of the show can travel to museums and other venues that can’t accomodate the whole show, which is quite large when taken together.

The entire collection will be on exhibit at The Foundry Art Centre from September 25 - October 29, 2009, and I’ve been asked to do an artist’s luncheon talk and then walk the audience through the exhibition on Thursday, October 8.

So if you can’t make to the Dairy Barn in Ohio, come visit the show at the Foundry in Missouri! After that, I think the schedule for the smaller group exhibits is still being planned.

Filed Under exhibitions, quilts | 12 Comments

Quilt National 09 alerts

May 17, 2009

When I received the new Quilt National postcard, it reminded me the opening is soon — next weekend. And hey, I just checked and there’s a new QN website to explore — here’s a list of all the QN09 artists. I can’t remember if I mentioned one of my quilts was accepted, but I’m on the list!

It’s not a PaMdora quilt, because I sort of wanted to see what would happen if I submitted something other than PaMdora — would it be accepted? So I started the new “Wish You Were Hair” series. Another lady did get accepted into the 2009 show. She doesn’t have a name, but she does have an attitude.

PaMdora will be at the QN banquet though, wearing her old “Moth-eaten Sweater.” I did that little quilt for the Art Gallery in a Box IV which will be auctioned at the banquet to raise money for Studio Art Quilt Associates. Here’s the postcard for that:

Taking a peek at the names of the other artists who were accepted and the many other people I know will be at the SAQA conference, I wish I could be there too! The last two were a lot of fun. Here’s my blog posts from the 2007 opening and party next day outside The Dairy Barn.

Filed Under exhibitions, quilts | 2 Comments

Shoes Blues

May 6, 2009

Some of my distraction from creativity lately has been a pain in my foot. Apparently either my feet have expanded a whole lot or all my shoes shrunk. None of my shoes fit anymore, and I’m sadly giving them away to a lucky sister.

Although I’d heard of Birkenstock before, now they are the only shoes I seem to be able to wear. I’m trying to treat my toes more kindly, because they have to last me a lot more years. Getting back into my yoga routine (daily now) helps also. Now I know why my yoga teacher was always encouraging us to stretch and have “happy toes!”

Filed Under drawings | 4 Comments

Cover for a Gratitude Journal

May 3, 2009

Here’s a quickie project that was fun to make. I had a small quilt that I liked, but never finished. So I cut my favorite part out — the swoopy loop stitching — backed it with two pieces of fabric and zig-zagged around the edges.

Inside it has a pencil pocket, ribbon page marker and an office calendar that I’m using for this year’s gratitude journal.

My friend Merrilee makes beautiful covers like this, except hers are nicely turned and neatly finished. This version was definitely more impromptu — didn’t even think of adding the velcro closure until the very end (and yes it would have been better to plan ahead!)

Filed Under journals | 8 Comments

Flat Cat

May 2, 2009

Yesterday I saw this flat cat in the neighbor’s driveway, so I stopped the car to find out why he was so flat.

This was the answer. And this tense little stand-off continued for some time, both the cat and bunny completely oblivious to me getting out of the car and snapping photos.

Don’t fear for the bunny though. He got away after the neighbor finally came out of her house with a puff-ball duster on a stick and chased the cat away.

On another note, I’ve been sort of a flat cat for a while, but trying to kick-start the creative engines again. Maybe I someone to chase me with a puff-ball duster! But I do have another post in the que about making a gratitude journal book cover, so that’s coming up.

Filed Under uncategorized | 10 Comments

Twelve Tips for organizing your sketchbooks

March 26, 2009

Over the past few years I’ve been trying to get into the habit of keeping a visual journal or sketchbook, but now I find myself wondering how to deal with the rather disorganized pile of sketchbooks I’ve accumulated. So I posted the question on my last post of how to organize them, and was surprised at all the helpful suggestions I got in the comments section. Here’s a short summary:

Date your sketchbooks and individual pages (several people suggested this, and I now when I look back to older sketches, wish I had done it.)
Cut and Paste –”Forget neat signatures and just cut and paste to your heart’s content until you get the cohesive story you want” thanks to Kristin.
If you use spiral sketchbooks, you can take the coil out and reassemble them in a different manner, said Gwen.
Leave the first 2-3 pages in the book blank to leave room to write an index to specific pages. “On ‘continuing saga’ projects, I also write all the pg#s and ntbk info at the top of each page. Sounds kind of anal I know, but I got tired of hunting all over the place for patterns and design solutions.” said Ceci. (some people also wrote an index at the back of each sketchbook, or just inside the cover.)
“scan spreads and then upload and tag them on Flickr so they can be organized by topic/theme, etc.” said Carolyn.
Several people mentioned that they keep different sketchbooks for different topics — i.e. art quilts, travel, home decor ideas, book design, etc.
“Sticky note tabs to mark specific projects within a book.” said Loreen
Scan or photocopy sketches to assemble into “new books of their own (japanese-style, maybe), or make them into accordion books. These can be organised by project, or topic, or date, or whatever” said Margaret.
“Got a bad journal page?- rip it out, paint it black or paste something else over it.” Sounds like a Rolling Stones song, but good advice, Sandy!
If you add or paste stuff into a sketchbook that is hard-bound, cut out a few pages to allow room for the added bulk. (I’ve been thinking about pasting in some of my fabric experiments.)
Use different sizes and journals with different types of covers to distinguish them for different projects or trips. Or make different looking covers, suggested Dijanne.
“Sew the signatures together…and cover it…you might try this http://michaelshannon.us/makeabook/index.html” wrote Margaret.

Almost forgot to say, Thanks everyone for all your comments and suggestions!

Filed Under drawings, mixed media, sketchbooks | 14 Comments

Sketchbook Mania

March 20, 2009

It’s kind of embarrassing how many half-filled sketchbooks of all shapes and sizes that I have laying around. As I’ve gotten more in the habit drawing, I tend to pick one up and carry it around in my purse for a while, then lose it in a stack of books. Then start another.

Before now, I never much cared about the lack of continuity, but on this last trip I did so many drawings I was wishing that I had dedicated a new book to it — so that I would have one of those cool travel art journals I see in art books and magazines.

Then I did a few drawings of this family, but messed up the page in between — and had the idea to cut it out, leaving the only the dad’s hand, kind of like a pop-up book. And that was that. Started cutting up the whole thing.

Moleskine sketchbooks are great because you can cut the threads between signatures and scrape the glue off the back, and have a nice open page. I’ve done this before to frame some sketches, but have never tried to reassemble them into a new book. Now I’m in a quandry how to resolve this.

And I’m noticing how some of my ideas are scattered across many sketchbooks in a very disorganized way and wishing I had a way to keep certain project ideas together.

How about you? Ever cut up your sketchbooks, or do you dedicate certain books to themes to keep your drawings organized. Or do you even care?

Filed Under drawings, mixed media, sketchbooks | 35 Comments

keep looking »

A Wedding to Remember

Beam me up, Fluffy!

Vintage Friday

Did I say that? (less is more)

A little morning exercise

She’s in the Wall Street Journal

Modern Materials poster

Just one more, then I’ll go back to bed….

The Franken-Quilt

Quilt National 09 alerts

Shoes Blues

Cover for a Gratitude Journal

Flat Cat

Twelve Tips for organizing your sketchbooks

Sketchbook Mania

PaMdora's Box

Follow PaMdora on Twitter

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