This Is Procrastination - Right Here

Just drew this. These are all my favorite colors. I am also heavily procrastinating right now. I am supposed to be working on my first little "collection." But... I am doodling hills and sunny skies. I think I need some rays. Maybe the beach this weekend... 

Had a Mirror Pond Pale Ale tonight. It put me in a good mood and sounded like a great alternative to hot yoga. Some guy was in a Speedo last time and it traumatized me. Deeply.

Tubular Tractors & Girly Boys

It is really weird to have a blog because I am basically talking to myself in hopes that someone else reads it. Am I hoping for that? Are bloggers lonely people? Facebook and MySpace offer a bombardment of meaningless wall posts. Usually I’ll post or receive something like, “Whoa, baby, you’ve been workin’ out!” or “Hey I haven’t seen you in sooo long come see me in SF!” I am tired of it. I am tired of talking to people on Facebook so I am going to rebel against it and talk to myself on the internet. So much cooler.

Today I am going to talk to myself about Elsie Marley and her crafty and hip line of plush toys/soft sculptures.
“pink digger” Elsie Marley, 2009, sewn pillowcase

If you think that crafts are not cool right now, think again. There is a total rebellion against the technological age that will only get more popular as time goes on. In the 90’s we were so excited about technology that we abandoned most things handmade. We wanted the new computers and cameras and cell phones. Well, we have all that now and a lot of it gives me a headache. I’m always on my cell or Twitter (not really because I have like one friend on Twitter so that’s not bothersome) or doing photo shoots for potential facebook albums…

I got off topic. This is why crafts are coming back:
We want to connect with our mind and body again. We are tired of computers doing all the thinking. There is a lot of structural planning in crafts and it feels good to exercise this part of the brain again.

Whether Elsie Marley realizes this or not, she is creating a line of plush toys that is completely part of the crafts movement. Se has taken something, a tractor/machinery, and placed it in soft, fluffy, handmade world. This is gender bending in a way – if youcan bend the gender of a tractor, which I think you can. Tractors are generally associated with rugged men and she is sewing stuffed tractors to decorate little girl’s rooms. Completely the opposite world that a tractor usually lives.

Even male artists are embroidering and sewing in the fine art world...
“I know you won’t be sorry.” Tucker Scwartz, 2007, thread on muslin, 46”x 56”

These days the “cool” artists are crocheting iPod cozies and sewing their own clothes. Artists are starting their own handmade collections on Etsy and making it big time. It’s actually pretty huge. Crafts used to be something only old ladies and little girls did together. Now, there are exclusive and prestigious knitting clubs in held in galleries. That’s insanely cool to me.

Maybe I’ll start a prestigious club: Dead Knitters Society

It’s not just a condiment, people! Did you know that cooked tomatoes(even in the form of ketchup) eaten with a little bit of fat can reduce oxidation levels by 30-40% in your body and significantly reduces the risk of prostate, stomach, and lung cancer. Tomatoes’ preventative power: Lycopene.

If you like The Soup: Watch This

Yarn is Much More Than... Yarn

String is... bootiful. 

That's probably not the best intro, is it? My 6th grade english teacher would be ashamed of me. I'm not really sure how to communicate the adventures that lie in a skein (a ball, basically) of yarn. 

This picture might do the trick. I took it at a yarn specialty store up in the mountains in Quincy, Ca. It's not as much about the string as it is looking at it collectively. One color - boring. Ten colors - cool. Tags - cool. Diagonal shelves - cool. Me writing "-cool" - cool. From those beautiful blobs of yarn could arise a headband or wall art or a blanket.

It is really important for me to get excited about my materials. I spend as much time organizing and arranging as I do working. That is probably not efficient, but I love my materials. I like the soft bundles of yarn and the needles that stab my bones when I am watching TV. If there is any point to this I guess it is: Connecting with your materials/media will communicate visually in the end. It is obvious when an artist chose a media they felt passionate about it vs. choosing it because it's "cool."

Have you seen the movie the Science of Sleep directed my Michel Gaundry? I am going to watch it in bed right now for inspiration. It's beautifully weird and quirky and weird. I love the way Stephane cannot distinguish between reality and his dreams. Plus, I'm obsessed with France even though I've never been there. In the end, is there a difference between reality and dreams? 

Tomorrow I think I will write about French art.

Peacocks Rule!

I like peacocks. A lot. I actually really like birds. Sometimes I get upset because birds are "in" right now at Anthropologie. Everyone wants that cute little bird pattern. But I actually like birds. I like the way they jump around and cock their heads. I like the way they fly into my sliding glass door (jk it makes me cry actually.) Peacocks are actually really vicious. I went to this organic farm in Half Moon Bay and they have an exotic bird zoo-type-thing. I fed them carrots and they almost chomped on my fingers. All their body weight went into their bite.

So... I guess I don't actually like peacocks, but I respect them because of their beauty. I always get excited about the bright neon and iridescent colors in nature. Usually the patterns are even better. I have been incorporating a lot of bird patterns into my felting lately. Above is an exercise I did to explore peacock patterns. Peacock feathers are universally recognized. Maybe NBC helped with that.... who knows.

Anyway, I am playing around with feather spreads and how it looks in a softer version communicated through stitching and felting. By the way, felting can be very dangerous. I am pretty sure I accidentally stabbed my finger bone with a needle last night. Sort of like cleaning your gun... Don't watch TV while doing it.

Song of the day: Waking Dream by Natalie Walker

I sing her songs in the elevator from floor 1 to 21 and 21 to 1 every day. My little American Idol tryout if you will.

Yummy Colors

I snapped these cakes at an awesome deli/bakery in Berkeley on 4th Street. Pastry chefs are often overlooked because they are in the "culinary arts," but anyone who watches Ace of Cakes on Food Network knows that they are much, much more than pastry chefs. They’re insane sculptors. In fact, whenever I watch that show I want to fly to Maryland and hang out with the people who work at Charm City Cakes. They’re really funny and weird. They over-achieve on every cake. I like it.

Friends have said my work looks like candy. The colors and shapes are similar. But... I don’t think you would want to eat felt or quilt batting. Frosting is much better.

Felting: Soft Sculpture Heaven

Rue the Jacabunny, KitLane, Jan.2009 as seen on Etsy.com

Ladies and gentlemen! Hello, how are you today? Great. Good. 

If you haven't heard of it, it's called needle felting. I can't really compare it to anything else I have done before. I remember always seeing felting kits, but they were like $50 and I wasn't really interested in something when I could just stitch felt or wool myself. It wasn't until I browsed the Etsy site that I discovered how many cool things you can create from felting. You can use it for applique patterns or you can actually sculpt objects. If you want to try, recommend Clover supplies. It seems they are only available at craft superstores or really small stores - no in between. There are some really neat-o how to web videos. I have basically taught myself how to knit through YouTube how-to's... Thinking about crochet tomorrow. Might also look into flying to the moon. Don't get me started about space. 

Tonight I am making a headband with felted flowers. Should be interesting. My style can be very whimsical and nutty. At the moment, I am trying to put together a "debut" collection for my Etsy shop. I thought about it a lot. At first, I just wanted to put stuff up to see if it sold. Then, I realized that was a reckless thing to do. If I am going to be successful, I need to learn to tone my spontaneous/impulsive side in some areas such as business planning. Instead, I am taking it slow. I have studied what sells on the Etsy site, I have made connections by messaging sellers and asking them to "favorite" me. CRAFTzine.com interviews some great artists in the Bay Area and all over the country. I have e-mailed a few. Cathy of California recommended Craft, Inc. It's awesome. If you want to start your own business or get organized as an artist to prepare for the professional world, I would highly recommend this book. 

I know I need to wrap it up, but I was just reading my old journals from 6th grade. I realized that I always try to sound really cool in my journals... Do you do that? See what I mean...

(Changed the boy's name to Matt)

"Matt has been bugging me lately. Matt and I haven't been getting along so well. If he ever gives me the idea that he doesn't like me it makes me upset and I give him a cocky attitude which I'm sure can turn any boy off. Even though he is fine, nice, smart, funny, athletic, and strong, he can still bug me. I guess you could called me spoiled rotten. "

Pretty, deep for a 6th grader, huh? Sounds like someone had been listening to some adult phone conversations.

Artists Agree to Disagree

My experience as an art major taught me how to dissect an argument and weigh all viewpoints fairly. It is a very healthy experience to learn how to debate among your peers. There were often many strong personalities in one room and everyone would give their two cents, but it was more of an activity than a competition (from what I remember.)

I guess that is my favorite thing about art. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and it makes it sort of beautiful. I enjoy the fact that there are people who probably hate some of my favorite artists such as Tracy Emin and Ann Hamilton. My opinions of different art pieces have helped me develop my own aesthetic style.

Now that I am graduated, I have noticed that this harmonious existence does not always exist in the working world. People forget that others' opinions do not determine the quality of their self. So (freakin') what if someone feels differently than you? Most of time, it is something petty.

Practice this with me? Highly value your own opinion while simultaneously keeping an open mind to others. You would not be unique without the other end of the spectrum.

Drew Lightfoot's Heavy Influence

Clip from American Escape, Adobe Illustrator, May.2008

I am a fan of Guster. One day last year I was surfing Guster music videos and one of still frame caught my eye - it was a yellow blob wearing a tie. This still frame would soon become the inspiration for most of my body of work so far. Music video: One Man Wrecking Machine. Director/Artist: Drew Lightfoot. I had an extreme epiphany while watching this video in the computer lab on my headphones: Odd, quirky, weird, cool, rad, clever, and crafty handmade objects were considered "cool." Literally, the next day I went to the local arts and crafts store, bought a sewing machine, and started creating. Not only do I enjoy creative and quirky ideas, but I enjoyed that fact that I was sculpting with felt. Felt it very malleable in its own way. You can shift it, shape it, stitch it, sculpt it(sing to the tune of Technologic by Daft Punk.) The product of felt work is soft sculpture - something that has grown very close to my art heart.

At some point, I started sewing these little felt squares. That sounds exhilarating. I need to spice this up somehow. I created a line of plush toys for girls last year, and I had this reoccurring shape of rounded squares. Today, I thought, "I want to show it to someone who actually took the time to read my blog." I liked the color of my dads antique blue armchair and set them up for an exclusive photo shoot. Then, I laughed. I had created miniature pillows. As I was prepping them for their 15 minutes of fame, I realized it simulated making my bed. My mother was an interior designer so I've always had a glamorous house. So it happened. Somewhere along the line, I turned into my mother... only I am now creating miniature pillows. But, I think I have a solution: Plush candellabra mobiles. I'll have it done by the end of the week.

Favorite Song of the Month: White Houses by Vanessa Carlton

The Ballad of Tina Pink

Last may, I had an assignment to research 10 places I might consider working for my art practices class. I decided not to take it too seriously (so I thought.) I looked up some animation studios. Couldn't find anything besides Pixar and Dreamworks. Attention span was very short. Just for the hell of it I googled this Zune commercial that I remembered: The Ballad of Tina Pink. That one video completely, completely, completely changed my life. In fact, the video's comment on artificial surroundings inspired the theme of my self portrait: artificial connections with the ideals of nature.

Self Portrait, 48in x 24in, oil and acrylic on woodpanel

The Ballad of Tina Pink led me to the Zune Arts website which led me to the most insane and creative stop-motiong animation shorts I have ever seen in my life. I became obsesssed and researched every studio that was featured on the Zune Arts site. Apparently, Zune majorly supports the arts. After some major web surfing I landed at the home site of Bent Image Lab. The artists there are out of this world. I'll be there one day. One fine day.

Life After College: Dreams, Fears, and Loads of Ideas

San Francisco Sunset, Spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel, Jan.2008

I am sipping a glass of my mother’s wine at my little sister’s miniature desk (my “temporary office” I like to call it.) Luckily, it’s sort of edgy to live with your parents right now. No, I don’t have my own place, but I get any color of fruit snacks I want at any time. Change of subject. Being an artist can be intimidating. Art is personal. My portfolio work is practically my diary. If you don’t like my art – you might not like me (living parents can cause one to become melodramatic.) While the economy has bitten the big one, I have drunk the water of life – dreams. I am going to be a famous stop-motion animation artist, a children’s book illustrator, a fashion designer, a magazine editor, a painter, and a glass artist. Not in that order, obviously! No, I am not really serious about that but there are so many amazing creative careers!

Do you remember how your goldfish went into shock after you loaded him/her into the bowl of freezing cold tap water? I felt a lot like that after graduation. I have the opportunity to creatively apply myself to almost any profession in almost every way. It is exhilarating and it is frustrating. Which way to turn? You’re probably feeling sorry for me right now. I know, I know, it will get better.

It is now January and I have been graduated for exactly six months today. Today marks the day in history that that I put my dreams and ideas into motion. For months I have obsessively and critically observed trends in the arts & crafts world. Much of my work is craft-based, though it has been classified as “fine art” because I have exhibited my work. Stop-motion animation studies like Bent Image Lab and handmade arts sites like Etsy are helping me gravitate towards my calling.

My college president told us that the “e” in e-mail stands for “evidence.” I will tell you - that is definitely true, but what about the “b” in blog? The first thing that comes to mind is “butter” because I just ate dinner. When I dig a little deeper, I think of “best” – as in the best thing that has ever hit planet earth (I love space, btw.) I would like this site to be a place for me to grow in my ability to express the ideas and processes my work, to make new friends in the art community, to promote myself, and to discover more artists. I would like to show you why I think the way I do and why I love the things I love. This may get weird. This may get funny. You might laugh. You might cry. I might not have one reader, but gosh dangit – I love life.