An old friend...

I was recently in Ft. Collins, Colorado visiting my family.  My son, Dodo (my dad) and I spent several hours in Science Museum playing with all sorts of cool things.  As we were leaving, I saw a building with the words ART CENTER, across the street.  We decided to stop.  The building was the home to two different galleries: the Poudre Studio Artists and Galleries and the Center for Fine Art Photography .  The Poudre Studio Artists and Galleries were closed, and all but one gallery at the Center for Fine Art Photography were in transition.  We did see a lovely exhibition titled "Black + White 2013" and I had a moment to speak with the director.  We talked about the center, it's history and upcoming exhibitions.  She handed me a card for an exhibition that would open the day after I left, titled, "Leigh Anne Langwell: Photograms: Life Illuminated." I looked at the card and was delighted by what I saw.  Leigh Anne and I had been in the same incoming graduate class at the University of New Mexico so many years ago.  She is exhibiting the most lovely, spooky photograms I've ever seen. The work is ethereal and quiet.  If you are in Ft. Collins, please don't miss it like I did, and if you can't see it in person, check out both the Center and Leigh Anne's site.  Congratulations Leigh Anne!

One of my all-time favorite blogs....

http://www.artisaway.com

If you haven't visited, Elsa Mora, is one of the most gifted and prolific artists I've found online.  I love her work (her papercuts are to die for) and I discover something new about her every time I look.  She believes creativity and art are life forces, and that they are available to anyone.  She is an inspiration...a mother, a woman, a maker...and she makes me want to be better in my different roles.  I once told someone that she made the worked I wish I could make, but I am not sure that is entirely true.  I think she has shown me that I can make the work I make and see it's truth.  Please check her out.  

Thank you Elsa for letting me show some images from your site!

It's 21 years old....

and it has served me well.  My Singer sewing machine.  I bought it at Sears in Rhode Island in my first and only semester of Apparel Design.  It has sewn circle skirts, finished costumes for a production of the musical "Oklahoma!" , upholstered my mom's lawn furniture, made pajama pants for my son which are now ridiculously too small, and was the way I first started making images again after my son was born.  When he was a year old and started day care, I finally got out that free-motion embroidery foot and figured out what it could do.  It has forgiven me for not oiling it enough, sewing difficult materials and hiding it away for far too long sometimes.  And now it will enjoy a bit of a vocational change.  

Again, because of my Minnesota State Arts grant, I was recently able to purchase a new Bernina 215 machine.  No fancy bells and whistles, and still a manual buttonholer, but it is a machine that will be strictly for fabric.  It is pretty, quiet and computerized.  My old singer, well, it is going to be for sewing everything else.  Leaves and twigs?  Let's see what it looks like.  All those empty paper flour and sugar bags and butter wrappers I've been hoarding...what would free motion embroidery do on those?  Paper and fabric together?  I'm curious.  I can't wait to experiment without the fear of trashing my only machine!  And I know I will always be able to find some little old man that has a talent for small machines and the ability to restore an old workhorse when it wears out.  .  

Buysomedamnart.com

Have you visited this site?  It is brilliant.  The work is varied, interesting and affordable.  Founder Kate Singleton curates contemporary artists into her online gallery, with a new artist exhibiting every Tuesday, and showing for six weeks.  I am excited to share that I will be exhibiting dolls in October.  I've got two new ones that I hope to include, and need to hustle to get the rest made.  Please check it out!  There are half a dozen things I would love to have on my walls, and a great Q&A with each artist about their process. I have discovered some amazing new talents on this sight, and can't wait to see what Kate will show next.  

buysomedamnart.com

It's a little like Christmas....

I've not been posting, but it is not that there is nothing going on.  Just travel, visits and family taking precedence.  In that time though, I have had the good fortune to spend some of my Minnesota State Arts Grant monies.  I've just barely gotten everything out of the box, and I have yet to figure out where to put it in my studio/dining room.   

I am the proud new owner of a Foredom Flex Shaft Drill.  With the help of a colleague, I first used his drill to make the hole in the back of my dolls, in which I inserted the sleeve.  It was a slick way to making their installation simple....all that needed to happen then was a hole in the wall, a rod inserted into the hole, and the doll and sleeve slid right over the rod.  Thank you so much Robert for teaching me this process!  I am always making these bodies with no idea how to have them live in the world.  

Drilling is all I have used it for.  But I'm excited to learn what else is possible.  There are all sorts of other tools i'm looking forward to exploring...sanding, grinding, polishing.  It's the beginning of my "manipulating a surface" education.  The four dolls I have going now will all be finished with this tool in my studio. Now I have to order a saw for cutting the carbon rod.  

Have you seen....

the paper collages of mixed media artist, Mary Delany?  Neither had I.  My dearest friend recently showed me a book on amazon.com featuring her work.   The Paper Garden: An Artist Begin's Her LIfe Work at 72,  by Molly Peacock, and it is unbelievable.  After the death of her second husband, in 1772, Mary began creating botanical multi-media collages.  She created nearly a thousand in the next decade before her eyesight failed her.  The illustrations are so intricate and lovely, they will take your breath away.  I've only had the opportunity to look through the digital images online, but the book is going on my  birthday wish list.  I hope you will enjoy her discovery as much as I did.   

New friends....

were completed and given to my girlfriend for her 41st birthday.  I made some slight variations in bead colors, a skipped monocle for Mr. Vampire (didn't have the right size) and some extra stitching in the wings.  I think next time I might embroider the vampire teeth so they are a little sharper.  She is going to add magnets so they can guard the fridge door.  Would you try to sneak in if they were there looking at you?

Crafting Zombies....

That is what I have been working on since my dress.  There is an important birthday coming up, and miniature zombie dolls are the perfect gift.  I am using patterns from the book, Zombie Felties by Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate.  I made the Classic Zombie and Dead Ducky for friends at Christmas...every time my son saw me with the book he begged me to stop. He is not a fan of the ironic zombie nor pleased by this current round of making.  I am again going with the Classic Zombie, but also trying the Vampire Zombie.  See the pieces below.  They really develop personalities with the beads and embroidery finishing.  I will post again when I get them done.  After that, the Thrilla Michael Jackson Zombie is next on my list.