And We're Back!

Yikes. Nothing has been posted here since December. Talk about being remiss in my bloggerly duties! What can I say? Sometimes life happens, and those happenings make me sort of neglectful of some of my projects. (Shrugs shoulders) I've also been known to take on way too much at a time, but that is besides the point.

So yeah. The good news is that I have been busy connecting with other creative souls to talk about and make art. When I think back to the origins of this blog: a mutual need for creative accountability, well, I guess I have been applying that same need to my day to day interactions too, I just haven't been good about sharing those endeavors here.

I'm lucky enough to have stumbled into some pretty talented social circles here in Portland. It's one of the things I really felt like I was missing in my old life back east. This city oozes creativity though. And in the last year or so, I have met some really inspirational and creative people. I've even embarked on some creative experiments with some of them.

• Foley is an incredibly talented artist who has a gift for drawing off the top of her head. I've always had to be looking at something for my inspiration, and am incredibly envious of her ability to simply create. She's open and funny and helps me to loosen up a bit in my own work. Foley is writing her first graphic novel. She posts pieces of it on her blog, Boy Howdy, and her work is damn sexy! Our collaborative project will be called "Sex Pots"- her drawings on my clay pots. Don't understand the title? You will after you look at her blog.
• My friend Damon, is a photographer who uses medium and large format film. He shoots architecture and other urban scenery. The beauty of his work is that he reinterprets the photos by cutting and rearranging them. Sweet symmetrical beauty. Of course, I've always been a fan of symmetrical anything- I find the implied order it creates very comforting; this might make me biased. Current plan is to combine his symmetrical images with my plates and other clay forms. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you. Check Mr. Sneed's work here.

I've also met folks who are constantly making work: watercolor, sketching, colored pencils, slip cast clay forms, music making, collage, acrylic- you name it and it's happening all around me. It's all very inspirational. Now I just need more hours in the day and/or days in the week. I'll tell you, this full time job thing is for the birds!

Mandy and I will be back on making projects together here soon. We chatted yesterday and she reminded me of a collage project from college that I barely remember, but it got the wheels turning and now I'm noodling a little collage experiment for us. I'm heading out of town on a business trip tomorrow, so it will have to keep until I return. Think magazines, scissors, glue, lots of little pieces. Anyone have a challenge to offer up?

Holiday Christmas Creativity

This post is directly related to the guilt-trip Nicole put on me for abandoning the blog.  Believe me when I say I'm not abandoning it, I just haven't had much to say lately. Lots of chaos in the personal realm leads to little to no creativity for me.

However, for Christmas presents this year for the kids friends we did make fleece hats. These are incredibly easy and turn out so adorable. Take a look,

All I did was cut a rectangle out of fleece measured to head size, sew the ends together length wise to make a tube.  Then with scraps tie the top together and cut into shreds for the top plume. I also rolled over the bottom cuff for effect (cute if doubling up the fleece for a reversible look and warmth:)

If you can't decipher my directions I found a link to directions..

Check it out HERE

Happy Holidays!

Mandy

Techno Tuesday

While I've been off making pottery for the 3rd Annual Give Good Art Sale and not writing or posting photos here, I have discovered a cool blog called Techno Tuesday. It's an online comic strip that "began as an exercise in drawing comics and complaining. In fact it still is, after it’s inception in January of 2006. The comic is based on technology and the modern world." Being that I often find myself pondering the social implications of all of this technology, I found it especially enjoyable.

The artist, Andy Rementer, actually contacted me at work yesterday to tell me he had drawn one of Rejuvenation's mid-century modern pendants called the Astron, in his most recent comic. I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share it here. Check out his blog and let me know what you think, or just comment on our blog in general.

Does anybody actually read this thing? Bueller? Bueller?

Post Turkey Post

Hope everyone had a nice holiday yesterday. This morning felt a little more like Christmas than the day after Thanksgiving as I dragged my sleep deprived self over to the studio to unload the kiln. I am pleased to report that there was only one casualty from the bisque fire, and that both of my cake plates survived! Phew.

Now, two days to glaze and re-fire everything. Pictures coming very soon...

Coloring Outside of the Blog

I'm feeling sort of pensive this evening so I'm channeling those thoughts into a post here. I'm two CWP projects deep and have nothing new to report. Mandy's "Bloom" painting got some love last week while I was on stay-cation (or clay-cation as one friend dubbed it). I'm actually quite satisfied with the direction it's heading. So far, I've kept the colors the same, but have inflicted my pseudo-pointillist style upon it. I love the sense of movement and texture applying the paint this way provides. It's back in the holding pattern for now, but I'm close to the finish line on it for sure!

Sketchbook Project? (Deep breath) Let's not talk about that right now.

So, if the aforementioned projects have received minimal creative attention, what have I been up to, you may ask. Well, I have rekindled my love affair with clay. I finally sprung for a shared studio space with twenty-four hour access so that I can create anytime I feel the urge. At first I was skeptical of the artists co-op environment, but after two weeks of spending many hours a day there, I'm happy to report I think it's fantastic! While working at Lonesomeville was a lovely experience, there certainly were creative restrictions. Working around other clay artists gives me ideas and the opportunity to learn new tricks. So far all the folks at Radius have been great.

I worked diligently all last week, throwing mostly 2 lb. plates and bowls, with a side of giant platters and smallish vases. I also have two cake plates ready to fire and I'm curious to see if either of them survive. There was a third that cracked today before even getting near a kiln. The nature of the beast with clay. With the Give Good Art Sale a mere 12 days away, I'll admit I'm a little nervous about the outcome of my clay creations.

Tomorrow, all that greenware (around 50 pieces, last I counted) is heading for a bisque firing. Think of me fondly as you eat your Thanksgiving dinner, chances are I'll be headed to the studio to unload that kiln. Will it be like Christmas morning or more like that time my brother ripped the heads off of my Barbie dolls and threw them in the pool? Your guess is as good as mine. Stay tuned...

Contemplating Mandy's Painting and Other Anecdotes

I was so excited to see how Mandy altered my Mosquito watercolor to finish it up in a way I would never have imagined. The story behind that painting and why it was left unfinished goes a little something like this:

My last boyfriend was a writer and had written a book that took place in a fictitious (?) town in florida called Mosquito Key. He had visions of his book cover consisting of a squashed mosquito, that looked more like a Rorschach Print than the pseudo realistic bugs I kept painting. Now, I have at least 20 renditions of this concept; in water color, colored pencil & acrylic lying around the house and no clue what to do with them all. So it was fun to see how Mandy approached it.

I did receive Mandy's painting several weeks ago and promptly placed it on the easel with the other two unfinished paintings, that sits in front of yet another almost completed canvas that hangs on the wall behind my closet door. At first I was nervous about working on it, so we've been engaged in a bit of a staring contest- stalemate sort of situation here.

There has been so much happening lately that I have felt creatively drained by the time I had time to work on my own projects: busy at work, new roommate, moving all the art crap back into my bedroom from my "studio" (aka Mike's new bedroom), oh and planning for the Art Sale! Whew! I am thrilled to report that I have taken the next week off from work and will be making art all week long.

My first creative mission of today? Get some of my own paint onto Mandy's painting. Here it is as she sent it to me.

Finished Nicole's Painting...

This was such a daunting task, taking someone Else's art and finishing it for them. A very cool concept, but hard as hell. What ever to do with an other's idea without offending them to much?  We sent paintings that we didn't really care what happened to, but I still felt weird adding to something someone else did. So, what happened? It sat taunting me for weeks before an idea hit me. During meditation I was thinking of webs, spirals and wormholes and I thought how cool would Nicole's bug be with a Yantra behind it! I forgot to take an extreme before pic, but here it is before paint..imagine it with just the bug and that is the "before".

Then I just kept adding paint,which I continued in watercolors to keep with the theme. This is a challenge for me anyway because I am not one with watercolor. Check out this pic and my Crayolas!

Then the final product..

What Ya think?