god is watching

God's Eye

First of all, more people should come to Church of Craft. Tonight was quiet, and a little odd at moments, but pretty awesome. Tristan made a 10 foot monochord this weekend--he set it up on the bar and plugged it into an amplifier and let everyone bang on it. BIG sounds. Steve learned how to patch his own jeans and played piano (which inspired me to be listening to my Erik Satie station right at this very moment) on a big white grand piano. Some guy made buttons out of string, another guy made an erotic statue out of obscure german lego-esque building blocks, and I made a very large god's eye. I just don't understand how people could choose to miss this shit. It just gets better and better every month.

I don't think anybody gets the god's eye. Not that there's so much to it--it's really just a ubiquitous childhood crafty weird church camp kind of thing (not that I have ever been to church camp) that I thought would be fun to try on a large scale. It makes perfect sense to me, and I think it looks awesome, but maybe I'm just odd. I did a little research to see if anyone in the art world has touched on the subject, and lo and behold:

By Arianna Stolt

From a window display at Craftland by artist Jen Corace.

So yeah. It's not a sweeping trend or anything, but I suspect maybe it will be. I think I'm going to make a bunch and create a totally church campified stage set for the fauxbois record release. You'll see.

rethinking

letting go of an idea that i'm attached to is a really hard thing to do. and that's why i'm going to do it here, in a semi-public sphere. to make it *official*. goodbye big beautiful dilapidated building. i will think of you often.

colouring

in the spirit of wasting time, i thought i'd visit colourlovers, which i haven't messed around with for a while...so much fun to be had on the internets. too much. here's a color palette:

based on this "inspiration" photo:

fashioning

uh oh. found a new time-waster.

Welcome to Polyvore! by csnow featuring Forever21

collaborating

I was just browsing around my friend Rick's blog and was reminded of this project that we did together a while back. I miss the little ghosties. It was an extremely fun and satisfying project--the kind of thing I could do all the time.

helping

I am so happy to get to practice my rudimentary design skills for friends with cool businesses...

quilting

Last night I had a rare opportunity to see a collection of Gee's Bend Quilts at BAM and meet two of the artists whose families have been making these quilts for generations. It's a remarkable story, and the quilts are really exciting to look at.

I have to admit though, some of the Q&A totally bugged the shit out of me. There could have been a really interesting conversation about any number of topics--Louisiana and China--the two women present--had really insightful and intelligent things to say--but were asked stupid questions like: "Doesn't it just feel AWFUL to see your work hanging in a museum, instead of wrapping yourself up in it?" Louisiana's answer was (I'm totally paraphrasing) "If we kept our quilts for ourselves, we'd be the only ones who knew about them--this way the whole world gets to see them, and enjoy them. Our quilts are like children--they are born, they grow up, you let them go." Such a lovely, simple, pure way to look at it. And all those art students couldn't grapple with the guilt they felt about how intentionally they are going about their work. How much purpose and importance and thought they put into it; instead of just creating--out of necessity--and letting the work speak for itself.

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Accidental post part I

I'm going to always put "Part I" when I start writing about something new. Forcing myself to follow up. Maybe I'll even at some point put "Part I of V" or something, to really seal the deal. And now here I am writing about I-don't-even-know-what because I accidentally clicked the wrong tab. All I really wanted to do was to add a widget. What's funny is that nobody even reads this. I'm marketing myself to nobody. Which is fine. When I'm ready, I'll be ready, and I'll put it out there.

Oh! I'm contemplating going back to school. This is to put a third and altogether different spin on the possible direction of my life. Whatever route I take, I know that I have to do SOMETHING different, and soon, or I might explode. Or implode. It will not be pretty.

I started a new blog--one that will be dedicated to the fashion show that's coming right up...details here.

Bike Metaphor Part II (Contrived, but true)

Why I wrote "Part I" on my last post is a complete mystery.  I had no plans to follow up, but I suppose it was a good tactic to require a forced "Part II".  

I've got my eye on a new bike.  It's top of the line.  It's fast, it's beautiful, it works really really well, and it has a lifetime warranty.  I've never been wooed by the idea of a lifetime warranty before because all of my decisions have been so temporary.  "This will work for now." type of stuff.  (Do I have commitment issues?)   But suddenly I'm having more of a long-term approach to where I put my energy, resources, commitments.  Did I mention this bike is super expensive?   Money shouldn't be an issue.  (But it is.)  I still want the bike, and I will not compromise.  

Bicycle Metaphor Part I

Lately I've been frustrated. You know, with myself. In an attempt to treat myself with more compassion, I'm not going to judge it, I'm going to make a metaphor out of it. There's something infinitely more cathartic about processing through frustration via metaphor.

So I'm learning how to "ride a bike" (start/run a business). A little late in life too--all my friends already know how to ride. They're out tearing up the streets sans training wheels (although they do have pretty terrible accidents sometimes, and end up not being able to ride a bike at all). And there's so much fear because 3 people have been killed by bikes in the past month in this very town. So sad. And true (not part of the metaphor). And then there's me--teetering along, scared shitless, so not confident in the strength of my legs or my sense of balance.

So I'm scooting along on my bike, which quite frankly might not even be the right bike for me. It might be too small. It feels slow, and might need a tune up. Perhaps I need to take the plunge and invest in a bigger, comfier, faster, sleeker more fancy bike? Perhaps I need to suck it up and make do with what I have? Either way, I'm just resisting it. There's freedom that comes from knowing how to get on a bike and ride. And freedom can be scary. And so I have excuses about why it's not 'clicking'. I have throngs of people supporting me--holding on to the seat and stabilizing me--just waiting for me to zoom off on my own. They're saying "you can do it" but the more I hear that, the more distracted I get about what it is I actually have to do.

Ah ha! There it is. What is IT? The thing that you need to actually be able to ride a bike? It's not a you can do IT. It's a you can do all of these things at the same time in perfect harmony with one another. So while I've been looking for an IT, I really have been avoiding all of the parts that make IT up. Balance, strength, concentration, focus, coordination, desire, flexibility. Yup. There it is.

Biking is fancy

Right now, it's all about bikes. Thus, it's all about bike bags--from here on out. A bike bag is just a bag--but with the addition of two sturdy snap straps on the back that make it possible to attach it to handlebars, racks, or whatever part of your bike you desire. I've decided that every medium sized bag I make from now on will have this option. It just makes sense! (You can also attach the straps to your belt for a gigantic fanny pack, if you are so inclined. The brown & pink one will be donated to the winner of the upcoming Dirty in Pink alley cat bike race. Where will the second one end up? Etsy? That's a novel idea.

Thank you, ego

It's not a good time to be "blogging" -- not early enough to feel crisp -- not late enough to feel like i'm taking a break from my day. Good excuse right?!

So I'm developing this new business plan. And I'm doubting. Big time. What I would have liked to create already exists. Do you know how frustrating that is? Story (excuse) of my life: day late, dollar short. I guess everyone probably has their own stumbling block that shows up every time they think they have a good idea...their own internal critic that tells them: yaaaaaaaaaaa, NO. So what I'm reminding myself to do is to keep working on it.

Whether or not resources already exist, doesn't mean that there's not room for more resources of a different (but similar) kind. I need to figure out what unique qualities that I (capital I) can bring to the table--that will help more, or in a different way, or in a way that makes sense for certain kinds of people.

Stumbling block # 2: the kind of people I want to work with (the kind of people I like) would have their shit together enough already to not need anything from me. So let's get this straight: I want to work with people who don't need me? That is so odd. BUT--it's just a stumbling block! It's just an excuse! It's just a story! The kind of people who need me are: extremely creative. Brilliant even. Fucking geniuses. Brilliant creative geniuses who don't have the time or the skills to run day to day operations to make what they do WHAT THEY DO.

I don't want to see certain people working in coffee shops anymore--inasmuch as I know people just LOVE working in coffee shops. I want them to be working on their work! I want it to be profitable and worthwhile for them to do so! I want to be that supportive resource that guarantees that it's going to work because they are geniuses and I have a plan for them.

So here's the extra hard part. The ego part. The part where I pout and say "but what about MY genProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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s"? "Is it not worth investing this kind of energy in MYSELF"? "Is my gift to the world really about resourcing other people"? And another: "If I really am good at this stuff, why am I not a wildly successful artist"? Because my brain works both ways I have never committed myself wholly to the life of the artist. I have too much pragmatism and common sense and I can get high paying jobs selling advertising. Therein lies the conundrum. Thank you ego. Thank you very much.

(color) scheming

I love a color scheme...especially when it emerges from two projects and one snack that are all being worked on at once.  This one was especially cohesive, so I went over to ColourLovers and made a palette and a pattern out of it.

Reconstructed

So, the superhero and supervillian turned out pretty good. I had something completely different in my head, but sometimes (all the time?) things end up different...especially when collaborating. I need to learn that there's an inherent BEAUTY in that...such a control freak, I. Anyway, we had two extremely talented and engaging models, which made the whole thing that much better. Strangely, for me--the most fun part was making a stencil and spraypainting big diamonds on that black cape...

Project Runway?

Oh, dear imaginary reader. Am I Project Runway material? I really have no idea. I would like to see someone like me on the show--but would America? I have my doubts. Anyway, I filled out the application, designed some stuff, sewed some stuff, took pictures of some stuff, made a freaking video (by myself on my lunch break) and sent it all in on time. If nothing else, I'm just glad I did it...for the sake of doing it. Nuff said. I really like the way this top turned out though. I'm going to wear it tomorrow...

Superhero/Supervillain!

Crap. Reconstruct '09 Fashion Show--themed SUPERHERO!/SUPERVILLIAN!-- is a week from tomorrow and I haven't even started! I'm doing both a hero and a villian, made out of old, discarded, unwanted music--mostly vinyl records--but also cassette tapes, 8 tracks?, whatever else I can get my hands on. The hero will represent all that is good and pure about music--and the villain will symbolize the toxic music "industry". It's cliche, but i think it's supposed to be. Right? Superheroes are all about cliche.

I'm taking inspiration from these couture pieces featured in the Met Museum's archives. And now all I have to do is figure out how to melt vinyl records. How hard can it be? This is a pretty incredible piece by Niki Cook from last year. What a cool medium! I bet it's super toxic! I think this diynetwork tutorial pretty much sums it up. Easy peasy.

IDEA!

Stimulate the local economy by supporting your community.
STREET CRED
IT CARD

or

THE IT CARD
BY STREET CRED

A barter based "credit card" for independent artists, designers and craftspeople. Also ensures a discount for any cash based purchases between members.

IDEA!

This would take place on the blog: a monthly survey where people submit beautiful things they see online (i'm imagining links to photos on design websites, mostly). People then get to vote on what they'd like to make most, then I figure out how to make the winning design, and we have a class.

I vote for this amazing pillow (featured on d*s) as project # 1!