life-in-parallel

Photo updates

2011-12-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

Dear K, Hello! So great to see you recently, thanks to the lovely Stacey + Ryan! Hope you had a great Christmas in Jax with the family. Thought I would post a few photos of the last month (since we are a little behind, as usual ;) Less than one more week of vacation.. then its back to another semester in paradise!

Favorite photos from ArtMiami + Scope with you!

why didn't someone tell me I had a spastic hair sticking straight up? ;)

PBSC Faculty Show: (finally printed those damn paperweight photos!)

Trip to the Florida Keys with my other favorite K:

Hiking at a nature preserve with Hubby:

"Modern Botanical" designs made for other K for Christmas:

What a great December! I'm spending the next few days relaxing and partying. The 3rd Annual Hopkins New Year's Day party is almost here. Miss you already. Happy 2012!

Love, K

what a surprise!

2011-11-20T09:46:00.001-08:00

Mystery Caller K,
Thanks for conspiring with S for such a wonderful surprise! Your manvoice indeed threw me for a loop.

Cool cardboard art, too! I love the color and pattern and type.

I wanted to show you something I've been working on. It's a littlevideo experiment to accompany an old song I recorded.

Boom:

Can't wait to spend the weekend with you!

love,
k

A cardboard quickie..

2011-11-16T07:53:00.001-08:00

Hey K,

Have you and the Mr. seen this artist? Thought of you both. Seems right up your alley.

Ana Serrano

Love, K.

Surprise!

2011-11-14T18:13:00.001-08:00

Dear K,

YEAHHHHHH! So excited you are coming down to visit! ;)

You and Mr. C are so lucky to have Stacey and Ryan! They love ya to pieces and I love them for sending you to me for a weekend! May the parties begin!

Talk soon, dear. Love, K. (aka: "Mystery Caller")

Exploding with words

2011-10-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

So my new exhibit is up! I literally spent last weekend hanging from the rafters, installing 300 ft. of hand cut text around the space of Whitespace Collection

I'm feeling really good about it. Thought you might want to see some pics! The opening is next weekend and this installation will be up throughout the whole season. Yeah!

On a lighter note.. meet our new friend, Lilith!! ;) She's an outdoor only friend.. showed up on our door a few weekends ago, and hasn't left. As much as this is a shock to me, she's actually pretty cute. Plus, the Mr. is in cat lovers heaven. ;)

Been thinking about ya. Hope you are great.

Love ya, K.

their dreams and ours

2011-10-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

K,
OMG, yes! I just got into Swoon, after watching this movie: Our City Dreams on Netflix instant. It shows her Mississippi River Project towards the end. So cool! Plus it highlights other amazing women artists: Marina Abramovic, Ghada Amer and Kiki Smith. But I appreciate Swoon's alternative approach to the art world in general, and her sincere gestures for bettering community.

Thanks for all the links! Good luck with install. Let's chat this weekend.

Love you!
k

Your zest for life is oh so good..

2011-10-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Whew. . . nice last post. We needy a heady one to balance out our light and airy posts. Thanks for all of the fantastic links. I love that GoDoGood campain.. seems appropriate for the times. I totally agree that these days, your "likeability" factor IS a factor in the job search. I tell my students this all the time - its not just about knowing the programs or having an awesome portfolio anymore.. its acting professional (and "goodness" is part of that). We had all kinds of faculty meetings today and idea of not only acting responsibly came up but also critical thinking and fostering a critical dialogue. Funny that you sent that NY Times article, I read this one in the Chronicle and was thinking of you too. Foundations.. are they changing? Are they needed? (I think so..)

When Adobe first started developing their Creative Suite, graphic designers were so fixated on "learning the programs" that they forgot about basic design principles. I always note to my students that graphic design existed long before Adobe. It is possible. And it can be amazing.

Speaking of teaching - I scheduled two field trips this week for various classes. We went to the Jaffe Center to look at books, touch old presses and smell old ink. It was a full sensory experience. In addition, took my 3D class to the Boca Museum where I watched their brains slowly explode. We saw an amazing installation by Federico Uribe, a Miami artist. Holy crap... it takes alot for me to feel overwhelmed by art anymore. (Ever feel "art-ed" out??) . . . this gave me hope in the future of installation and the general creative force here in south Florida. It was Florida without being overtly Florida. No glass. No neon. No airbrush or watercolored palm trees. I loved it. Walking into the room was and again, it a full sensory experience. He had hanging birds, trees, cows - a whole habitat built just for us. One of the most interesting things was that in his statement, he talked about sustainability and making responsible decisions towards society and the earth with his art. He even got Puma to donate 2000 shoes and over 25,000 shoelaces for his delicate assemblages. It was all of my favorite themes in one installation: detailed, obsessive and unexpected materials; nature and bold vs. quiet color. Be sure to watch the video!

Also.. rediscovered my love for Swoon. And watched this video of her and thought of you. I really liked how she talked about her process.. how she got to where she is.. and her awesome project, Miss Rockaway Armada project on the Mississippi River - and how that has morphed to other collaborative music + art projects. (Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea) She also brought up this idea of in a disaster, what CAN artists really DO in terms of act as an agent of change, help, assistance. Her questioning of the role of the artist in the world is really interesting. If you haven't looked into those projects, you should! The community aspect makes me think of your Traveling Truck Show, Mabel's Wayback Machine, etc.

I install my piece this weekend, wish me luck! ;)

Thanks again for my recent gift... it makes me miss you so!
Love, K.

good-type-ness

2011-10-12T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hey K,
I just read this article in the NY Times--a great read about new efforts in Education. The article follows two schools from very different socioeconomic backgrounds in their approach to teaching students "good character" alongside regular rudiments. The schools are challenged, among other things, to define what "good character" means and how it is of value to the students and their future success and life happiness.

First thought: this nebulous little thing, "good character," seems to be infiltrating systems of all kinds. I imagine in this economy, one's character is the deciding factor for employers to take on a new employee. Character or "goodness" also carries a lot of weight in consumer choices. Organizations and their corresponding advertising agencies are playing to our society's consciousness, swaying us to believe in a company or choose a brand based on its good character. I find myself being pulled in by more and more commercials that drive a direct message of social awareness or advocate sustainable practices. The indirect message we're likely supposed to glean is, "oh, ______ is a really good company, I feel good supporting them." This has been an advertising ploy since the 60s, but sometimes these mini-movies can be powerfully moving and strike such a personal and contemporary chord...yet still with a tinge of suspicion.

This gave me one of this moments. Watching on TV (without the branded background graphics of this webpage to clue me in), I was completely absorbed into the imagery, message, the song!!! So sad, and then hopeful, and then...WHAT??? This is for Chipotle? Surprising, yet somehow inspiring.

And one that is somewhat ironic to show in reference to the article above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owsTf0HxvJI--highlighting an incredible education project powered by a super positive influential man, to bring value to AmEx?

However, I think it's great that companies can be born out of this consciousness, in which their advertising IS what they do---Toms or the Red Campaign.

It's cool, I guess, that being good or doing good is momentarily trendy, but can we take it beyond consumerism?

This Summer in Chicago, Kay Rosen's GODOGOOD public installation took over the streets, on billboards, banners, signage, postcards, stickers, buttons, magnets, buses, trains...and even used-book collection containers in several building lobbies downtown. What looks a little like a large scale advertising campaign, is an art project, just one of Rosen's many word play ditties. After grabbing your attention, though, the work called for action: http://godogoodchicago.com/

Tangentially, I'm glad type-based projects are getting a lot of play these days, too. Doyle Partners did the experimental type pieces that accompany the New York Times article (images at top). They were actually temporarily installed at the school, only photographed from the perfect perspective. Here is a "making of" video. The design company has a lot of other word/type-play solutions, too.

Whew. I don't know where that came from. Anyway.

xo,
k

Hanging in the wind...

2011-10-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

Sorry I've been out of regular posts. . . Been thinking of you - and congrats on your newest exhibit! The photos look so awesome! I too love seeing art in non-art places and that industrial space is super cool. Parallel lives strike again with Florida and Chicago connections. Speaking of, Bill Tasma's drawing on the places/spaces he has lived totally remind me of my Homestellations and other "not made yet" pieces that are similiar in my head. I love the fact that the drawing were made on dry-erase boards, reminds me of erasing memory/erasing bad memories of spaces. Ironically, I'm applying to be in a show at Evanston Art Center by you with Homestellations and another night sky photo piece. ;) We'll see..

In addition to several applications checked off my list in the last few weeks (finished applying to a big grant and a couple of shows), I finished my cuttings - without an assistant. I'm currently taking applications!! I'm looking forward to installing them soon. Check out Whitespace's season of programming, including my project in the "Special Projects" section.

Art + life + lots of lesson plans had me wanting to do something fun.. Here's hubs and I parasailing over Palm Beach yesterday. Honestly, I was a bit more freaked out than I thought I would be.. plus, these photos were taken pre-barfing on the boat from motion sickness from the ocean. Yikes! Fun activity gone bust ;) Oh well.. one more thing off the bucket list. It was pretty beautiful and oh, so, quiet....

Miss you - Hope you are great.
xoxo, K.

art in the warehouse

2011-09-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

K,
Wow. You need an assistant! Lookin' good!

Our cardboard machine was debuted last Friday. It was a cool show! I really love shows at non-art specific sites like this---seeing art objects mixed with other objects. Reminds me of Showtel, which by the way...one of the curators for our show, Gretel, said she started the Hotel/Motel one night only art show phenomenon in Miami over 10 years ago, and she knows Kara Walker Tome. Funny, huh?
More on our completed project here: http://kaycebayer.com/projects/machine/

Some other pics of the opening:
Karolina Gnatowski took over a spray room to show some new work.Bill Talsma performed a warbled lectured on all the places he's lived. His illustrations of remembered floor plans reminded me of your "homestellations." Bill was dealing with memory, but mostly playing with tropes of authority.
Furniture designers of Dock 6 Collective (the host of the show) exhibited their beautiful objects on a central runway. My faves were the works of Zak Rose and Dan Sullivan.
We got a lot of good feedback on our project. Most importantly, we made the Dock 6 guys (who work with the actual machines we were referencing) smile. :)

Let's chat soon!
k

Paper, paper, glue, glue

2011-09-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

LOVE that link! Thanks for it.. been thinking of you also. Fall is here (almost)... and not much more to report. I've been swamped with school life, class projects and design projects. And.. spending all extra time cutting and glueing.

Love your little sprouts! How's your newest cardboard project? When is your big opening?

Miss you.

xoxo, K.

cut me a story

2011-09-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

K!
I ran across this book sculptor (image above) and thought of you and your paper cuttings. Check out her work---it's bEEaUUUtiful! http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/portfolio-book-cut-sculpture/

Enjoying a green and sunny September so far! I just adore the ivy covered buildings all along the boulevards. And look! My Ornithogalum has had another litter of pups. Don't they look like giant green sperm?
Just a quickie! More soon.
Love ya,
k

same ol' tricks

2011-08-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hey K,
I've been busy! Whew.

The showcase is finally over. It was a huge success (but a lot of work!). Here are some pics of the Opening Night. This project took over my life for about 3 months, so...I'm glad to get back to normal.

C and I are working on a new project for a show in September at a furniture warehouse. We're building a machine. I'm up to my old tricks with this one---automata and animation. At top, is a still from the animation. It's supposed to act as the inside gears and such. If you can imagine, all those little things spin and move. I just need to add some handmade sound now. As far as the physical machine, C is doing most of the adorable detail work. I helped with the engineering of the whole, and wanted to make some parts that were movable. This little feller (below) will hide within and allow some really amateur functioning. Of course, however, in the studio, Dust and Co are on top of everything! Here are some pics of our progress:
Sometimes I can't even pick up a piece of cardboard without a fight! ;)
Anyway, it's good to be making something again, after such a full Summer. More soon on our little getaway, and other creative endeavors.
Congrats on your big new art opportunities---it's gonna be awesome!

Love ya,
k

Boston style

2011-08-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Miss ya! Hope you are great.. I'm just getting back from an adventure vacation full of canoes, art and fun. Convinced my brother to go to the ICA - which I've been wanting to go to since it opened. It was well worth the trip to the harbor, especially the above video room. You would have loved it, so soothing. Saw an amazing video: "1st light" by Paul Chan which made me think of you - a slow, mesmerizing animation. A nice juxtaposition from all of the typical flashy fast pieces. You know it takes a lot for me to like video ;)

Also saw a great Francesca Dimattio large scale wall piece that made me want to revisit large collage/wall drawings. . . maybe soon. Maybe in our piles show??

Another treat was a "studio" exhibit on one of my all time favs, Eva Hesse. Her quote " My interest is in finding my own way.." in vinyl letters on the wall set the tone for me pondering many of my own new, small projects.

Next week yields school starting - first week as full time faculty! Plus, revisiting my cuttings for a new fall installation. I'll tell you all about it soon.. gotta get cutting! Hope you are great. Call soon.

xoxo, k.

I heart multitasking

2011-07-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

Dearest K,

Thanks for the love.. much needed and felt. Back at ya, sister.

Love your dance photos and stage mock up drawings! Traveling truck show is going to be such a success, I know it!

I've been pumping out the design projects the last few weeks also. Here are the projects I have just completed.

1. Etsy Banner Design for the lovely Elise. She has great jewelry, check it out!

2. Package Design for new local snack food: I got a Wacom drawing tablet and it has literally changed my drawing/design life! You would love it.

3. Starting K Street Projects (in the works!! FINALLY. Stay tuned for listed items) After years of both of us talking about this, I'm finally starting it. Now to start binding books with my new materials.

I'm finishing summer classes and off to Brother Canoe Camping in New England. Can't wait to be in the cool breeze of the trees.. its hot, hot, hot here! And I desperately need a vacation.

Will report back with canoe photos when I return.

Lots of love, K

love from Chicago

2011-07-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

My dearest K! Love and good thoughts are beaming out from Chicago to you!

Totally thought of your and S's sweet moves last Sunday when N and I went to this thing called Summer Dance. For 15 years now, Chicago has hosted this amazing project, open to the public, featuring great live music, and free! From Thursday -Sunday (every week in the summer), you can take a dance lesson and then dance the night away--each night provides a different kind of style or genre, from Balkan dances to Ballroom, Bollywood to Polka. It was adorable to see so many people of all ages dancing together outside in the garden of Grant Park to the music of a Big Band. Next time you come visit, let's dance!

Like I said today on our phone chat, I'm still catching up with everything after having visitors. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the project I'm looking most forward to working on. I wish I could simply quit everything to focus on this, but thus is life. We will multi-task forever, won't we? Anyway, our traveling truck show proposal is well underway, and I'm obsessing over the possibilities. The collaboration team (there are 8 of us) started a blog to share info/links/photos/inspirations with each other while we're in the planning process. I put up a mini version of Mabel's Wayback Machine there. Check it out:
http://travelingtruckshow.tumblr.com/

I like your dreamy hot summer pics. And FISH--yay! Pets always make home more fun.
I love you sooooo much! Thinking of you lots!
k

The colors of summer

2011-07-20T17:08:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

Love those botanical gardens photos! That "living stone" looks so prehistoric. Glad you had fun with the fam.

Well.. pretty quiet around here. Laying low. Trying to stay cool. Usual summer stuff. Above are two fun color studies from recent weeks of adventures. One from a fun night out on the town with friends, the other from a quiet beach drive in the mist.

Also.. we got some fish! Meet "Oscar, Levi and the Whalers" ;) They have livened up our living room and the Mr. sings to them in the morning. It's hysterical.

The above photo is the first of what I would expect many bookbinding adventures. Paper has been organized and now its time for binding. Felt pretty fun, since its been awhile to sew and stitch signatures together. Wrapping classes up in about a week and looking forward to my trip to see my brother. Expect northern pics for next post!

Love, K.

adventures with the folks

2011-07-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

K,
Well...although moving a little slower this time around, we really did quite a lot last weekend--a Cubs game, the Shedd Aquarium, duck dinner at Sun Wah, saw organist Chris Foreman at the Green Mill, the Chicago Botanic Gardens, dinner at B + K's house, Sunday farmer's market, the Caldwell Lily Pond, Algerian crepes at Icosium, a play about dentists at Theatre on the Lake, a walking tour of Old Town, the Chicago History Museum, and finally a July 4th BBQ in the backyard. It was super fun!

A few highlights in pictures
At top: The sky was crazy on our way to the Shedd. The kind of sky before a tornado. The night before, we had a terrible hail storm---I've never experienced anything like it. The news said golfball-sized hail. It was LOUD, and terrifying. The next morning, leaves and branches completely covered the ground, and cars all had little polka-dotted dents on their roofs. Above: The Chicago Botanic Gardens were beautiful. My faves were the Weeping willows in the Japanese gardens, and, of course, the Desert Room.

Below: The neighborhood explodes around the 4th---with people firing off major scale (totally illegal) fireworks out of alleys on every block. We awoke to loud booms and their resulting car alarm set-offs at like 3 am almost every night. For our celebration, however, we stuck to the simple ol' dragon snaps and sparklers.
And this (below) is the lovely little plant my folks left on my ledge before leaving town. We saw some of these at the Botantic Gardens and I thought they were so weird...and cool! They're called Lithops, or "living stones." Native to South Africa, they disguise themselves as rocks, so animals don't eat them. Lithops grow in all sorts of colors and textures, and they even flower. Strangest plant I've come across yet. I'll post soon about art stuff...getting caught up with everything else.
Love,
k

This type of summer

2011-07-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

Been busy down here.. up to my ears in books and bookmaking. I LOVED your "Pop Song". Super sweet and layered in love. Made me think of "K Booty Shake" ;) which I still think about and laugh out loud.

Lots of things since I last wrote. Finished my I-Invasions... all four of them

have an opening tonight. Hope I get some good feedback. Also received a generous donation of bookbinding stuff from a friend. Sorting through all of the drawers and boxes. I will probably keep 1/4 of the stuff, even this means I will never have to buy paper again! Book cloth, book board, guillotine, paper cutters, nipping press, and funky old tables.. we even have a round backer in our driveway. Yikes.

Want a roll of book cloth? Let me know what color and I'll save one for you. Otherwise, most of

it is going to the Jaffe Center at FAU. I couldn't possibly use all of it in a lifetime!

Also, finished E + S's wedding invitation and picked up a new freelance design job. And I thought in the summer things would slow down ;)

Hope you have a great time with your family! It's been super rainy here, so I'm taking this long weekend to slow down, putz around the house and organize all of my new paper. Call once the fam is off your couch!

Love, K.

I'm a Dork for Dad

2011-06-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hey K!

I wrote this song and recorded all the parts myself (which is why the drum track is a little sloppy). Anyway, what d'ya think?

Hosted by kiwi6.com music upload.
Download mp3 - Upload music.

I'm liking the looks of those piles spilling from the square frame! They kind of look like roots, or layers underneath supporting the facade. And, yeah, S (our most recent L-I-P reader) and I both agree that you should make those shirts for real. Also, cool rope! Fun solution.

Mango slaw sounds delicious. Our yard is overflowing with rhubarb. We haven't attempted anything yet, but our neighbor, N, brought us some crumbly hot rhubarb bread last week. Sooooo good! She found this cool site with tons of rhubarb recipes: http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipes

Photos at top: We went to this really great grocery last weekend, the HMart. The produce section had an amazing variety of fruits and veggies I don't usually see in groceries. We stocked up on Shitake and Oyster mushrooms, Baby Bok Choy, thick raw spinach, and all sorts of goodies. We even got a Daikon radish, which I plan on pickling (Kimchi), and mussels for really cheap.

Let's chat soon.
Hope you're enjoying your trip to the Keys! Share pics!

Miss ya.
k

Invasion of the summer piles

2011-06-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hey K!

Happy Sunday, its hot, hot, hot here and I spent a sweaty Saturday in my studio.. felt good to finish two pieces (out of 4 total) that will be in an upcoming show. I've titled these "I-Invasion" - thinking about piles of technology vs piles of analog. I Photo pics are mounted and then "invaded" by handmade mixed media (including recent linocuts). Feeling good about them, and I really like the blobby, organic shapes growing from a classic square. Whatcha think?

I totally love your animated blobs falling.. its like watching raindrops fall, mesmerizing. Love the color scheme too. Where is this going? Coco knows the perfect place to nap..

Thanks the feedback on the mitochondria power house t-shirt.. sorry for the visual confusion. Yes, that is the shirt I made, I just chose to post a photo of it on a model (not brother).

Also, random house improvement photo below. We are checking off lots of our summer mini (AKA cheap) house projects, this handmade rope handrail on the stairs is our latest. Simple, kinda nautical and it is totally functional. Now Grandma won't fall down the stairs when she comes over ;)

Hope you and C are having a great Sunday. We just got back from seeing a matinee ballet. . and now to tackle school stuff. This week I've got to finish two more invasions.. and clean up the invasion of falling mangos in our backyard. I'm obsessed - I've made mango slaw, mango sorbet, smoothies, mango bread. You name it.. What's on your plate?

Love ya, K.

p.s. That Daft Punk video was totally awesome! Thanks for sharing.

piles, revisted

2011-06-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

K,
Did you make that Mitochondria T-shirt? I like the poster font, a lot.

Welp, good chattin' with ya today. After we spoke I got to work planning. Wanted to share this cool Daft Punk type video I stumbled upon in research. Thought of you and your previous "action words."

C and I went to the farmers market today---the first one of the season. It was busy, and BIG. So many new vendors with handmade preserves and organic products. Yum! Just picture this...C on bike with French bread under his arm. It was a very Euro moment. ;)

I did this little drawing yesterday--trying to get back into piles again, after loosing everything (digital, that is). Scanned, separated, and reorganized into another test video:

I'm thinking of making a few more of these and having them pile up all at once, with a bit of random timing.

The cats love being right on top of whatever I'm working on (like image at top), it's nuts!

Anyway, love you! Have a good week!
k

Surface designs

2011-06-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

Love the jellies .. (I'm so predictable) Hope things are going better this week.

Not much to report. Had a great trip .. even went kayaking with family. Super fun. A short work week, including my brother's b-day tomorrow. (He's convinced I should start a whole t-shirt line of organisms. I'm tempted.) Both designs are kinda inside jokes - as my bro always says he is "living the dream" despite his 30-hour shift days. The mitochondria t-shirt design is in response to what few memories I have of biology class... this little organism is about the only thing I ever remember. Something about that "powerhouse of the cell" term that always stuck.

Two great things from this week, design-related.
1. Brother thought that I bought his t-shirt, when I made it. (whoa, professional!)
2. A favorite student gave me a rad poster he designed to hang on my new office wall in the fall.

(Double-like)

xo. K.

under water

2011-05-26T16:32:00.001-07:00

aquarium, a set on Flickr.

Hey K! Productive weekends like yours are just so damn satisfying. Nice work! Mine was busy, but I don't know if I got much done.

We did enjoy our trip to the Shedd, though. The jellies were really cool! Above are some pics.

I'm currently without a computer (using the hub's), but will post later about my crazy week! I'm in deep, and hope I can reach the surface come the weekend. I'm anxious to work on my piles! Yours are looking good.

xo,
k

Words + Wood + Paint

2011-05-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

Whoo. . . feels good to get so much stuff done this weekend. It's been beautiful weather and I've been outside + inside enjoying my space and light.

Here's a breakdown of what's been happening around here:

1. Friday: Hubs installed baseboard in our bedroom (free!). Meanwhile, I printed 15 linocut "first tries". (Not totally satisfied, still experimenting with paper, color and considering cutting several others to layer on top so there is more going on.. ) But it did feel good to pull some prints - remember our first printmaking class together? I'm working on this as my version of "piles".

2. Went out to play scrabble and get fancy coffees with the Mr. He kicked my butt by getting a "scrabble" (extra 50 points, damn!) Of course, this made me into a sullen, cranky teenager. ;)

3. Saturday: Nightstand makeover. Painted two and added awesomely wierd wood knobs (that I got at a bargain $1.50 each!) The start of our list of summer "under $40" house

renovations. Yea!

4. Designed two fun things for Brother Bear's birthday coming up. (I'll post after he gets them.. even though I'm sure he doesn't read this)

5. Cleaned out closet.. found clothes I forgot about. Free shopping!!

6. Sunday: Hubs and I put on our suits and washed, waxed and oil changed our cars.

7. ---------- and the day is still young. Have plans with the other K tonight.

Something about this photo that I love..

What a great weekend! (They are certainly not always this productive) Next weekend we are going on a mini-road trip to our old Tally streets. Look for pics down nostalgic lane. Hope you are so great. How was the aquarium?

Love ya,

Summer Tunes

2011-05-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

Love that lil' sumpin sweet. . . so sweet of you. You are always so good at making things to make people feel better.

Not alot to report here either.. in a lazy summer way. I've been working on two blogs for my summer design classes. Thought you might want to see them, even though they are a work in progress: Photoshop and Intro to Mac.

Above are two favorite Holga images the Mr. and I's road trip last summer. Both of these were taken in sweet, summery Savannah, Ga... One of my favorite places.

Last weekend was social weekend: dinner party at our house, party at friends house and Mom over for breakfast. Tomorrow night we are going to see Lovers, I'm digging new music these days and this is a super funny video. This weekend I'm hoping to work on two art proposals and some home projects including a nightstand makeover. Will post, post haste.

Hope you are great. Miss your voice... expect a phone call from me!

xo, K

just a lil' sumpin

2011-05-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

K,
I do like those drawin's. Thanks for sharing. Oh, and I can't wait to look at all our old pics/notes/doodles from our cross-country adventure!

Welp, not much to report. The above image is just a lil' thing I made for KVZ last week. She's in recovery now, and I've heard she's doing just fine. :)

I'll leave you with a video. We went to see Jonathan Richman at the Hideout last Sunday. It was amazing! He is so loveable---the whole audience was dancing and smiling for 2 straight hours! This is a clip from the show (I found on YouTube--the funniest part is when the person taking the video starts sing over top):

Looking forward to seeing the real Holga pics!
Love you,
k

A quick sketch

2011-05-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

This site by Homer Steinweiss reminded me of you.

Happy Wednesday. Happy trails.

Love, K .

Photo cowboys

2011-05-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Howdy partner!

I see that you got the gingham cowboy bug in you, since your trip out west! I done reckin' that I luv that there animation.

Thanks for posting those photos, and yes - I'm newly obsessed with my Hipstamatic. Bizarre that new technology could inspire me to revisit my old love, the Holga camera. I just might join the "photo a day" set. I've had many days off of lounging around reading, dancing with family, eating cupcakes and finishing carving my linocut. Here are some square dancing diptychs.

Your trip out west reminded me of ours, many moons ago. The top pic is a snap of the first page of that journal of cross-country doodles. ! Speaking of old processes', I'm currently scanning Holga negatives that I never got to from our road trip last summer. I'll post them next week so you can see the analog vs. digital difference.

I'm back in the saddle tomorrow.. ho hum.

"Cash love", K.

country sayings and hoo-ha

2011-05-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

K,
(read in a deep southern drawl)
Welpy, things are plum peachy on the homefront. You could say I feel finer than a frog's hair split four ways and sanded twice. I'm keeping the smokehouse greasy and weedin' a pretty wide row, if you know what I mean. The weekend's flyin' by.

(normal drawl)
I put together this little demo yesterday for my upcoming AE class. I think I'm gonna have everyone pick one of these silly country sayings and illustrate with found images and text. What d'ya think?

Hope you're enjoyin' all the family time!
xoxo,
k

time warp photo obsessions

2011-05-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

K,
There and back. It was a quick trip. I'll fill you in soon.
Yay for time to "studio" and obsess over visual pleasures! I'm not quite in studio mode yet, but I am obsessing...over pictures. (for Denver pics: my flickr set)

I've been noticing your hipstamatic pics have made it to the blog. I'm really liking this look---something about the almost-square format makes for good composition. My facebook friend, J, recently shared some of her pics as well (the above pic is hers--I think of C's and my piece in the Remake show). She started a cool project, an iPhone photo a day Flickr set--another on the list for inspiration in our quest for making a routine art practice. Check it out: project i365. I'm not familiar with all the filters and options of the iPhone camera or even the analog processes that it is emulating, but the color saturation, texture, and framing devices are good looking! I especially like the ones that somewhat obscure the overall scene and render the object in a strange light, like below:There is also this nebulous sense of time...

Flickr even has a Hipstamatic group (for the app users, that is)---maybe you should join?

I also discovered this Microsoft camera app: Photosynth. It is smart enough to calculate how you are holding your camera and weave together a seamless 3D panorama of the very spot you are standing. Awesome!

Anyway, I'll get to some making this weekend and post again.
Hope you are enjoying your break!

k

Explosions in habitat

2011-05-03T10:15:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

These pattern and crochet obsessions rocked my world today.. Thought I would share.

Love, K.

Festivals of Sun and Studio Sundays

2011-05-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Whoa.. Yea to social weekends full of creative cooking! Looks like you all had a great time. Also - hope you have a great time in Denver! Congrats to your award, you so deserve the recognition. You participated in a 4x6 show and I participated in a 6x6 show.. continuing the parallel, I love it.

Well, one more semester down! Grades are almost turned in, and now for a little bit more lax summer schedule, including more studio days. To kick start the summer, Hubs and I went to SunFest in downtown WPB where we volunteered yelling "Get your beer right here!" for a few hours and then got to enjoy some music in the sun. Had a root beer float (my fav!) and saw MGMT. They were pretty awesome.

Spent Sunday in the studio starting a new linocut. Thinking about topographical maps of patterns. "Pattern-landia!" I'm so used to my trusty x-acto these days that I forgot how clunky linocuts can be. Fun though.. will post finished block when it is complete. Also brainstorming a new version of my cutting words to apply to a summer show. Keep ya posted.

Your photo diptychs are inspiring me. Think I'll work on a dualing retort this week.. stay tuned!

Love, K

diptych moments

2011-04-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

K,
We're off to Denver! I'll post some pics of our adventures when we return. In the meantime...some diptych play:

Have a great weekend!
k

It's Monday...time to clean up!

2011-04-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

Holy Social Weekend, K! I'm still trying to catch up. It's a fun list to share, though.

Friday night: N + J's double birthday Chicken + Beer night, then the Black Lips show at Logan

Saturday: Eastgiving - Odd Couples party at our house, started cooking early and hung out 'til late. It was a Thanksgiving dinner the night before Easter, with an Odd Couple theme--so folks were to bring food that had an odd combination of flavors/ingredients/purposes/etc.

Select menu items:

Turkey with Apple Cabbage Slaw
Chocolate Nachos with Strawberry Jalapeno salsa
Cannibal Cookies (Brother's creation--with fritos, pretzels, oreos, peanuts, and chocolate chips)
Earl Grey Beer (homebrewed by N)
Horchata White Russians
Kosher Split (envision banana split, with kosher dog in place of banana)
Tofu Asada Spring Rolls (C's creation--carne asada spiced tofu wrapped in Vietnamese wrapper with pico salsa)--pictured above

Sunday: Brunch at A + J's, where we set up some Peep dioramas. First, an homage to the movie UP, and then a couple horror flicks with live animals.

At around 3 we hopped (since it was Easter after all) in a Zipcar and drove to Bridgeport to check out the end of MDW fair. Here are some highlights (click to view larger):

C + I participated in the Peregrine Program exhibit--where artists submitted 4x6 ephemera that was installed as below, and the audience could take one of their choosing. E, continued to replace the missing spots with other entries, so the piece was constantly changing.

...and then we crashed

Hope your celebrations were as fun as mine. I can't believe the size of that lizard!
xoxo,
k

Leapin' Lizards!

2011-04-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Yahooooooooo!! What a week. Exhale, relax and celebrate are in my vocabulary for the weekend. Here are snippets from my to-do list this long weekend.

1. Gallery opening success

2. Go to beach to relax

3. Check out 2 new books from the library (non work related ;)

4. Drink wine with friends to celebrate

5. Hot tub party

6. Make delicious falafels for friends

7. Sleep in and then make eggs

8. Yard work with the Mr.

9. Bike ride with the Mr.

10. Easter celebrations with family

(All but 8 - 10 have been completed, yes!) Wish all weekends were like this! Love your zoo adventures, I've never seen dreadlocked camels - but then again I was shocked at the below picture.. check out the wildlife in our yard this afternoon! This greened odd creature must have been shaken up by my weeding. Yikes!

Love the animation... you are really working it these days. I'd love to be a passenger in your bus world! I'm feeling a productive next few weeks a coming. I still feel like I need to let my mind wander a few more days after the last few very stressful weeks. In honor of starting down another art path - I made the above "celebrate" photo cutting to send to the 6x6x2011 show in my old haunt. Breezy and cathartic. I'm still on this text kick - planning linocuts next... Something about cutting text is doing it for me lately.

Great to hear your voice earlier.. thanks for all the love and encouragement!

Continuing the parallel, xoxo

style test

2011-04-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

The zoo was fab! We saw a huge aardvark, lazy wombats, dreadlocked camels, and all sorts of unusually appealing animals. This dainty little klipspringer (above) stood on his tip-toes on the slimmest bit of rock. I learned about a new animal that I'd never heard of before: Okapi. They are apparently known for being really shy. As expected, our okapi was in hiding, but I did sneak a peak of his beautiful markings.

Anyway, I worked a bit on the animation Thursday, drawing more scenes and pieces. Wanted to do a style-test, to see what it might actually look like in video form, so here is the bus passing the bus stop:

Alright. Get to work on your mess!
k

Spring Cleaning!

2011-04-17T12:42:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

I'm going to take a week off from posting to clean up what I have "made" for the last few weeks.... A MESS! The studio is in a completely non-functional state, as is my house. Regardless, the view from my window is so nice today - (also check out the new neighbors!)

Hope you have fun with the animals today!

Back at it next week, promise.

Love, K

sunday music

2011-04-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Very professional, K! It's totally your style, matured. Amazing what presentation can do to legitimize. Nice work.

My m-box came in and I recorded a little sample song to get the feel for the software. I'm also experimenting with blog audio players/hosting (let's see if this works).

Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.
Download mp3

Over branded/whelmed/loaded

2011-04-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Hey... awesome walk documentation of your neighborhood architecture! I love seeing your pencil lines in both the continued piles and animation studies. Slowly but surely... you said it.

I'm feeling slow these last few weeks, in response to the vast amount of things on my to-do list. Too busy this week for any art fun - but here is what I have been working on.. not fun, but necessary. Hoping for more fun next week.

Remember this? Oh how short internet life is...

Portfolio gathering is time consuming, tedious and often annoying. But.. I'm glad I have it now and have burned discs full of my portfolio, student portfolio, etc. Here's to professional development. Good thing I took a break and listened to bluegrass at a park today. The old-timer banjo player made me think of you.

Happy week. Love, K.

scene 1 - street view

2011-04-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Hey K, nice chattin' with ya today!
Look at what I accomplished this afternoon:
I took a walk around the neighborhood, snapped some pics of houses and drew up the background for the first scene of my animation.

Slowly but surely.
k

mango envy + dreaminess

2011-04-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Dear K,
Mangoes just fall in your yard?!? Totally jealous! Anyway, what dreamy cyans you have! I especially like the airplant-nest---curvy and spindly.

Speaking of prints and nature and dreaminess...
C and I went to see Eel Space's new show last night. Its subdued mysticism and layered prettiness was right up your alley. Check out the artists' sites (I think you'll especially like Liz McCarthy's work): http://eelspace.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/remember-hallow-places -animals/

The images above were taken from inside a muslin nature screen made by Nicolás Rojas. Isolating a small space within the gallery, the marker-drawn transparency created an interesting frame for viewing the rest of the work in the room. Katherine Lion's prints hung on the wall close by and felt like an extension of the screen---layers of transparency and texture, abstractions of nature, filtered and blended into forms that invite you to look through/look into. Everything seemed to float in air. Even Rebecca Beachy's dead animal remains shimmered like minerals from the earth, thin fragile dust that could easily be inhaled or sneezed away. In a separate space, Nicolás showed a looping projection from a handmade projector---the image hazy and slow, the audio sweet and serene. All together a grouping of delightful hippie-ness.

On a personal note, I had to skip my Thursday art day this week; too much work to do. But, I drew a bit this weekend. Above are 4x6 inch drawings--more studies for piles/goo. And below, storyboards for my animation project. Just trying to figure out how I want it to end...? Oh yeah, and congrats on the KMH branding and such. Really like your dad's pillow pattern with new rug. Orange is becoming a primary at the Miller-Hopkins residence, eh?

k

Blued memories

2011-04-01T12:38:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

Hey you! Man.. intense work week, so I wanted to just play around with cyanotypes today. I spent so much time in grad school coveting the perfect shade of blueish cyan that I forgot how fun these prints can be. Granted, I didn't concoct my own chemicals, paint them on handmade paper, dry them and then print negatives/drawings on them.... oh well. Busy times call for pre-made cyanotype paper! I went all Anna Atkins and simply made images of plants in my yard. My favorite were the air plants. (Reminded me of your new air plant glass container) A non-conceptual outdoor project on a beautiful sunny day. I needed some photo fun - all my time in front of the computer screen these days make me miss the smells of the darkroom. It was like seeing a ghost of an old friend...

Since its spring, we have the beginnings of fresh mangos being dropped into our yard by the neighbor's tree. Perfect! I loved the light in this quick still life.

Also managed to finish my design portfolio! (whew) - Fully KMH branded and everything ... will post portfolio pics next week. Until then.. still doing visual pattern research and pondering lines, shapes, etc. Can I count buying a new rug as pattern research?? ;) The below pillow is a Norwegian pillow that used to belong to my dad, I treasure it so and think it looks great with the new orangey striped rug. Whatcha think?

I'm continuing to love your piles... keep em coming. And, I REALLY loved that animation - totally reminded me of a more whimsical version of the William Kendridge exhibit we saw together. Until next week.. love ya!

xo, K.

piles of xeroxed paper, little snacks, and glittery rocks

2011-03-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

K! OMG, that "put a bird on it" video was hilarious and so true! It does seem all the craft fairs have meet Hitchcock's The Birds. Hee.

You beat me to it this week---awesome! Glad you're finally working on pattern. I totally know how it feels to be thinking about and collecting bits for something for a long time without being able to get down into it. So congrats!

My Thursday art day was somewhat productive. I completed another little study for piles (above). And I began scheming for another Mabel-type performance for the fall. Just trying to figure out logistical things: like renting a truck for 3 days to perform in it, possible locations of the touring performance, how to get others involved from the get-go, what this should be about... It's exciting, though.

Yesterday, C and I had a fun outing to the Chicago Zine Fest, which had 3 floors of Zinesters showing/selling their wares, workshops, lectures, and a little film fest. This was the most beautiful animation: http://katiearmstrong.com/oncemoreoncemore.shtml I love the sketchy aesthetic and haunting sound production. Very inspiring for my own upcoming animation project.We bought a few zines for the Good Stuff House collection, and then enjoyed Dim Sum in Chinatown. After filling our bellies we came home to fiddle around the house. I'm propagating a few plants. Check out my baby airplants atop the rock collection---rocks from Victoria, B.C. and Unicoi State Park. ;) Looking good!More next week. Love ya!
k

Put a bird on it...

2011-03-25T12:50:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

Hey! How was your Thursday art day yesterday? I had a random day off so I feel a little more relieved of stress this week. The last few weeks I have been really thinking about fabric. Fabric design, fabric repeats, fabric remnants that I have been collecting for years. What is it about pattern that I love so much? (Note pattern research above) Remember my new goal of pattern design? - This silly, crafty, stitchery has been unfinished - hovering and flying over my studio papers for at least 3 years. (ridiculous) I think I have carted these fabric scraps through 3 different states, its about time that they are put to rest and completed. Think they will look great on our living room sofa.

There is something so wonderful about hand stitching with windows open, drinking iced tea and trying to remember all of the sewing lessons that my Mom and Grandma have given me over the years. Despite their patience, I'm still a horrible seamstress... . . oh well.

Hope you are enjoying a moment of sunshine. Happy Spring!

Love, K.

p.s. Also, the reasoning for the post's title is this HYSTERICAL video from Portlandia. No birds next week!

2011-03-19T12:57:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

Don't worry - I'm in! Just busier than the usual busy of a week... Thanks for such a great get away in the woods. Between seeing you, E, and an old friend, I - I am re - art energized!

Love the piles and your vintage watercolor set rescued from a Helen, Ga shop. (I ironed on my jean patches today, a .50 perfect fix!) We'll start the piles talk soon... meanwhile, I'm smack dab in the middle of design land. Above is the wedding invite that I just designed for E + S's October big day.

Next week I'm hoping to have something less design and more crafty goodness. Hope you are having a great weekend.

xoxo, K.

p.s. your "piles" drawing reminded me of this piece by artist, Heather Layton. Something about the layering and colors...

pile studies

2011-03-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

K!
Thursday studio time produced first study for piles project. Weekly art-making has begun!
Your turn.
k

following the others

2011-03-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hey K! We had a wonderful weekend together with E in the North Georgian woods. I'm fired up to get back on our virtual sharing.

I wanted to share some other bloggers (people I know) who post frequent snippets to guide and inspire their personal art practices---a lead, I think, we can follow.

First up: Tailored
http://thetailoredblog.blogspot.com/
Lindsay Chenault Bolton shares her inspiration and observations about hand lettering, typography, design trends in general, and life---referencing imagery she stumbles upon on etsy or other artist/designer sites. She also posts her own work in process--drawings, tracings, and final product shots.

Second: Everyday Artworks
http://katharinelion.blogspot.com/
Katherine Lion started this blog as a way to force herself to make. (Sound familiar?) Her goal is to create one thing a day for a whole year, and she has made it to 183 so far---halfway there!

So...let's quit procrastinating and just do it!

Here's the goal: Once a week, we'll post up something, anything that we are working on artistically (design, craft, planning, research...whatever!). Hold me accountable, and I'll do the same for you.

What d'ya say?

k

Wintry Mix

2010-12-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

K,
Your 10x10 looks great! Nice lighting effect on the word-ball. Reminds me of Ann Hamilton's Lineament. I'm sure you know of it, but it's featured in the ART21 series: video clip. Or a critique of it here, touches on some of the same concepts you are working with in your very tactile work.

Welp, not much to report on my end. Winter has officially hit, and we're trying to stay warm and cozy inside.I had a little surprise the other morning, though. The tiny cactus on my window sill opened up the most curious flower---it's really hairy and has the coolest pattern on it. C is sort of afraid of it. ;) I had no idea this little plant had such a big show to reveal.Just working on a few Christmas gifts in the studio these days. Chris and I made this for my brother Scotty--he needs something for his new apartment. His GF is living with him, too. She is a hairdresser, so we thought "Hair Metal" would be fitting for both of them. Okay. This is my last post before the big trip. Hope you have a wonderful break with lots of friend and family time. Love you!

k

P.S. The title of this post is a popular weather phrase used around these parts. Brother says it sounds like a party snack. However, it is not fun at all.

Basel it!

2010-12-08T10:24:00.001-08:00

Dear K,

Thanks for your studio, net and home update. Love that you have been slowly stitching together another winter. Perfect for this time of year... we are on opposite production schedules based on our geography, I think. I am slammed in winter and basically stop to a screeching, sweaty halt for the summer... you wind down and cozy up for winter. At least the wheels are spinning! I really love your soft geography... interested to see where it goes. Also love your new mid-century chair (aka "K's guest bed" for the next time I visit) ;)

Here's my update:

Studio: Finished 3 exhibits in 4 weeks... whew. Really looking forward to that holiday break, but full of ideas. I thought I would post pics of my 10x10 installation, "cutting words".

around town: Continued art exhaustion at Art Basel this past weekend. Always full of inspiration and fun fashions. Here are some snippets.

Just a quick post today.

Miss and love, k.

On my mind:

2010-11-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

K,
Congrats on all your art busy-ness lately; it's fantastic! I've been in a slow-making, kinda-researching, mostly-nesting sort of period. But a few ideas are planted, getting me pumped for future projects.

In the studio: Working out some details for C's and my collabo, mainly building prototypes and laying out the ground. I'm considering other ways to use this soft geography. Perhaps it will become a set for a tiny film?

On the net: After watching this really cool TV special on the history of Chicago's theaters, I've gained a renewed interest in early 20th century American entertainment. A few weeks ago, C and I visited one of the historical theaters still operating. These old buildings are architecturally inspiring, but more intriguing is the idea of a mass audience (from rich to poor alike) filling these temperature-controlled spaces for hours of varied entertainment. Having the vaudevillian era already in mind (Mabel's), the early movie shows--including a night of live comedy acts, orchestras, and silent films--seem a natural progression for me. And as plans often collide, work life is fueling the fire a bit. I'm researching the history of the moving picture and animation for a class I will teach in January, discovering beautiful hand-drawn and nostalgic framing devices to play on visually (examples at top and bottom of this post).

All of this leads to...well, the wheels are spinning. What better way to get my hands in all sorts of making than recreating this "night at the movies?"

"The Chicago Theater, a film palace, can be described only in superlatives." Check out this 1921 article about the then new theater: http://chicago.urban-history.org/ven/ths/th_ar23.shtml
Wow! And just stumbled on these hauntingly powerful photos of abandoned theaters: http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/2009/10/awesome-abandoned-theaters-in-the-usa/

At home: Settling in from the cold outside, I'm baking warm bread, practicing Mandarin, and rearranging things. C and I recently picked up this fabulous chair for our living room. It was a craigslist find. The woman that refurbished it, has a house full of amazing mid-century pieces. You can see some of her past work here: http://www.reformobjects.blogspot.com/Anyway, I've got more to post on recent art/design faves.
Love you!
k

Color me happy...

2010-10-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Dearest K,

Your sock monkey painting is not only loved by me and the hubs every time we snuggle up on the couch - but now its featured as part of our lovely family room on Apartment Therapy's inspirational Room for Color contest 2010. Vote for us ;) I love looking at the interiors of personal spaces and seeing what people do with style, color, texture and light. We spend a lot of time back here, so cool to see that we made the contest.

Spread the good house word!

xoxo, K.

p.s. apparently I'm back to blogging ;) missing you.

cutting words

2010-10-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

I've had a burst of energy lately and wanting to show you things. . . Above are pics from my newest project, "Cutting Words". Also thought I'd share a fun pic of me flying my kite on my birthday, a tradition of mine. Was a fun weekend of laughter and love from friends and family, followed by romantic walks and kite flying on the beach before a fancy dinner at hub's restaurant. What a treat! (and thanks for the awesome book of lists!)

There is a bit of a cool breeze in my studio today, along with beautiful light gracing and informing my x-acto blade. How are you?

Love, K

it's sew you.

2010-10-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dearest K,

Well.. so we aren't so big on posts these days, sew what! Love your deer with antlers image.

Seems like after a whirlwind summer, things have evened out - and I've sewn out some aggression. Here are some images from my piece, "Gender/Gentle Reminders" that is included in the "Myth of Power" exhibit at 1310 Gallery in Fort Lauderdale this weekend. The evening of art, Art Fallout, should be fun. Check out Girls Club Collection - think you'll like it, plus they have an awesome new website.

Next exhibit.. . cuttings. Will post images of my cut paper words this weekend. I'm loving all this meticulous handiwork - a nice compliment to design/computer work for galleries and classes. I know you know.

Happy fall. Miss you. xo, K.

sewing too!

2010-08-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Patience, K, yes, we all need to remember. Sewing certainly takes it. With your handiwork, it seems you have more than me. I did a little amateur machine sewing this week. Here is my attempt at flag-making. It was for a friend, originally from Texas, who participated in the Chicago triathlon today. The Texas Pronghorn Antelope is fast on both land and water, so I thought an appropriate mascot for her race.Post up some of your power embroidery---I wanna see!
Nice chatting with you today!
k

Things I need to remember...

2010-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Oh, Louise!

2010-06-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hey K,

Happy holiday weekend... hope it was a good one. I spent the weekend doing house things with the Hubs and Brother, M.d.... fixed some electrical things, hung up a pendant light in the dining room and cleaned the house for a Memorial Day BBQ with friends. Equal parts sun and fun.

Not so fun news this morning regarding the death of one of my favorite artists, Louise Bourgeois. A longtime favorite, her constant wondering and wandering has always inspired me. I love her sense of exploration of self, ability to experiment with materials from bronze to graphite and layered textiles.

She will be missed in my memories of feisty, powerful, female sculptors.

Love,

Happy summer!

2010-05-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Dearest newly Mrs. K,

Love your recent posts... and our new burst of springtime energy.

I've had a weekend of smiles, sun and various productivity. I wanted to share with you the garden made by many hands (mostly me + Kelly, but also Elise, Tina and of course, the hubs). As you can see, we put herbs and butterfly-flocking flowers in the planters, then totally revamped the area along the fence with plants, mulch in a fav color and a cutie little white picket fence (which we found in the garage from the previous owner - score!)

Mom gave me these sweet lil birds with herb indicators.. love them

These wispy purple flowers, "society garlic" are my favorite.. delicate and soft and I can watch them move in the wind while washing dishes.

After a "bookshelf explosion" and months of trying to figure out a solution for my studio getting baked by the summertime sun - we put up a new shelf and I made these wallpaper panels to block out the sun out of old wallpaper that I had hanging around. (so now when you and C come to visit, you won't get blinded by the morning sun!)

Went to an art fair and actually bought something! This amazing print by local artist Ashlee Walters. Its mixed media, drawing and silkscreen and I totally love it. Gonna frame it for our "saloon" as S says. (He meant "salon"-style dining room - but now we just call it "The Saloon" ;) It was a great weekend of art.. even went to an amazing opening at a new gallery, Rabbit 18.

Your succulents look amazing (I need your secrets!), sea babies intriguing and thanks for sharing new love gifts. Talk soon, you!

xoxo, K

home goodies

2010-05-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

K,
As a carryover from my last post, I wanted to share some details from my post-wedding gift nesting. Here are a few adorable new items for our home. Flower measuring spoon set from Natalie---so pretty! Gorgeous blue colander from C&B. And sweet footed dessert bowls from my parents' friends.I reorganized our growing collection of finger puppets, displaying some new ones we got in Florida. Armadillo is cutest!Yesterday, we walked next door to our neighbor's back yard sale, that really happened in the basement. We learned a little gossip on the street and history of the house--ghosts and biases and all. I'm really looking forward to getting outside and meeting the neighborhood now that it's almost summer. We bought 2 things: this little birdhouse and a funny ceramic toilet that Robin's (neighbor) sister had made. My mom gave Chris this backbone (I think from a cow or other large animal) for his drawing class. In the meantime, it's a favorite knick-knack of mine.Trying to display more things that remind me of Florida, I put out some tiny shells on our bookshelf. And the cutie heart dish you gave us, now holds all the shells we collected in the 2 days after the wedding--yay!That's all for now from the homestead. We're trekking to the Home Depot today for tomatoes + herbs to plant outside. Chat soon!
k

green stories

2010-05-15T15:44:00.001-07:00

K,
I almost forgot our password...

Here's my post for our new plan.

Before the outdoor gardening begins, I've been giving some special care to all of my indoor babies, (and learning a little too).

Here are the highlights:I got the little Jade from Chinatown last time we ate Dim Sum---now that she's in terra cotta, she's lookin' mighty fine! The light green one in the middle was a gift from Kim (she and Matt got it as a clipping from the Garfield Park Conservatory). He's an Aeonium, and now that I know how to water properly, Aeo's growing tall!I finally learned that this lovely droopy lady is an Ornithogalum Caudatum (sometimes called Sea Onion), and she has multiple pregnancies!--something I have never seen before. Her baby bulbs grow right on her bulb under a few layers of skin. Once they have matured, the skin peels away and they fall off and plant themselves right next to her. So cool! I gathered a few of her pups and put them in a new pot. So...I'm breeding sea onions!My African Violet has been blooming consistently since we moved to the new house. She must really like it here. Chris's friend Kim gave her to us a year ago when we had that "Keep the C in Country" Event. The leaves are like velvet earlobes.Jefferson gave us this mini Orchid in Florida at the beach house. I brought her on the flight home, protected her by my feet on the plane. Surprisingly, she made it!My other succulents are goin' strong as well!Share your succulents, too!
Love,
k

Practices Now

2010-02-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

K,
I like your past posts, and was thinking about doing that ArtHouse project, too. (I can't believe they've moved to NYC.) I also was equally as enthralled by the William Kentridge exhibit at the Norton---I can easily say that it was the best, most engaging and worthwhile show I have seen in the past 5 years. His studio video installation is currently up at the MCA for their show Production Site: The Artist’s Studio Inside-Out, exploring artists' practices and interpretations of "the studio."

It's funny...although life seems to be even-ing out a bit, I feel like I'm busier than ever. Although I'm still thinking about a lot, I never make time to write. Maybe I need a new assignment or a different line of questioning?

A few weeks ago now, I attended a few lectures at the CAA Conference, which was good critical thinking fuel. Here are some highlights I think you might like:
My first session, LifeLoggers, focused on artists who chronicle the everyday as part of their art-making. In line with a lot of art that we already subscribe to, like Danica Phelps or the blog "obsessive consumption," these artists are using their personal lives as material. Stephen Cartwright began tracking his daily location with his GPS device, data with which he uses to make a variety of forms--sculpture, video, dynamic charts and graphs. One of my favorite projects of his, entitled Family Tree/Life Location, was informed by collected data of the locations of his family members over their entire lives thus far. Much like our interest in the networked mapping and experimental line projects we did for Drawing is a Verb, these products reveal interesting space relationships over time. Check out the video: http://www.stephencartwright.com/projects/--life-location-video/ Although his work comes across as rather clinical and serious, the way he described the process of acquiring all this data was very lively. From the time he began logging his location, he needed to retroactively log his life from birth. To do this (as well as to find the locational data for his family members from their birth) he pieced together clues--his sister's birthdays, holidays, and other momentous occasions, studying old pictures and other remnants of the past, including the collective memory of his family, until he had a weekly account for everyone. I find this project most interesting because it didn't stem from a tedious mechanical log, but a complex and relational negotiation of memory. Another artist, Renato Umali, journals his own life in quantifiable terms, making terrible (his words) Excel spreadsheets and charts--the personal in the forms of business culture. The irony of content and form is very humorous, rating his alcohol consumption comparatively to his mood, or meat consumption in relation to talking to his parents. You can view some of his "Statistical Diaries here: https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/rumali/www/. As part of his presentation he reenacted an on-going project: The Umali Awards. The make-shift award show mimics popular award shows like the Academy Awards, yet celebrates daily life. "The nominees for Best Eggs are...Scrambled (and a powerpoint slide will show a picture of scrambled eggs), Fried with Rice..." and so on. There is a category for "Best day of the year" for which he allows others to vote, and DIWITTY (Day In Which I Talked To You) for which one person is awarded for having the most exchanges with the artist. It's funny stuff, and most importantly creates an intimate celebration of the everyday.
My other fave session was "Artist Citizen: Catalysts, Collectives, and Utopias," which included artists, social researchers, teachers, historians and critics on how art operates in the social sphere. Cause Collective discussed their projects and interests in the dialogical process of making of art in public, showing excerpts of their video installation "Along the Way" at the Oakland International Airport. Liena Vayzman brought lemons to share with us all the way from her backyard in California, as an introduction to her talk about Food as Art as Sustainability Activism. Jim Duignan of DePaul University discussed his founding and continuing efforts with the Stockyard Institute in Chicago. It's an alternative education-based project that often works with disadvantaged youth, breaking all the traditional rules of education, in favor of artful pedagogical experiments that empower young people to think for themselves. I would love to get involved with this! Finally, Sheryl Oring, an artist I think you will really like, shared some old projects and current "Creative Fix" Campaign. (In line with our recurring themes of old-fashioned letter writing---her website is really good, too.) For her project "I wish to say" she dressed up as a secretary in a public office and hand-typed postcards on a typewriter from individuals from the public. Posing questions about the freedoms protected by the First Amendment, she asked people, "If I were the President, what would you wish to say to me?" You can read many of the postcards on her site or the project blog: http://www.iwishtosay.blogspot.com/ In a similar process, her current project "Creative Fix" facilitates and elevates others' voices on the subject of our current socio-political predicament. Believing that artists and other creative thinkers can play a legitimate role in big decision-making, as individuals who have valuable solutions to today's problems, she poses another question to this particular public: "What would you do to fix the country if you could do anything at all?" See some of the responses (from the seriously poetic to the beautifully absurd) here: http://www.youtube.com/iwishtosay.

Whew! Enjoy the links. I have more to come.
Love,
k

This is why...

2010-02-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

...I haven't been posting. If I'm not at work, or running errands in the cold cold cold, I'm doing this:Sorry, K.
But I've got a long one in the works right now.

Love you, I do, it's true,
k

Fiction project!

2010-02-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Hey K,

Where are you? I miss ya. I just got a little piece of inspiration in my mailbox today.. my sketchbook for the Art House Coop "Fiction Project". I can hardly wait to fill it up with words and images. My theme is "a million little..." So many ideas fill my head on this lovely breezy day. The windows are open in my studio and I am working on my lists. AH! Maybe that's it! "A million little lists..." I'm remembering an old bookmaking project involving all my lists.. funny to look at now. More letter writing... must be our thing lately.

Just a quick post to say hello. The above photo is a little quickie from our recent camping trip to a deserted Florida island.

I'm holding out until the end of the week with more art news. Stay tuned.

Love,

William Kentridge: Five Themes

2010-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Dear K,

Ever since we saw this fantastic exhibit at the Norton, I have been wanting to post about it. I think we both agreed that it was the most visually stunning, aesthetically overwhelming and comprehensive exhibit we have seen in a long time. Time Magazine agrees, and lists it in it's Top 10 of 2009. Pretty wonderful exposure for the Norton! I also love this interactive site dedicated to the retrospective at SFMOMA.

Hand-drawn animation shown in short film format sometimes leaves me wanting more. (Again, with the tactile issue, again). .. But Kentridge's charcoal lends itself beautifully to be drawn out on screen - rubbing, smudging and wiping away the residue was a warm surprise to see in a film piece. I loved the rawness of the imagery and mark-making and could appreciate the ambition of his character development of Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitilbaum.

I'm so glad that we got to see this show together.. it started the year off on an ambitious art foot. Which inspiring exhibit is next to leave us optically exhausted?

Love,

New Year, New Language?

2010-01-08T07:59:00.001-08:00

Dear K,

It's been a great year for both of us... probably the best yet. I'm still inspired by not only your fabulous visit south, but these video found letters. I'm loving them! You could really be onto something with these.. a new series? What I love about them is the amount of sincerity and love that is communicated and felt by not only the production, but the careful method in which you construct each letter, word, and sentence into a traditional letter format. We seem to be "drawn" to letter writing. So often, I miss writing real letters...

Yesterday I read this great article and it got me thinking about the tactility of letter writing. If I were to work off of your inspirational videos (not copying, just collaborating ideas ;) . .. to suit my own obsessions, I would want my letters to be tactile. The feeling of touch is so important to me. While video offers a contemporary way to communicate, I love other peoples work in video, but I always feel the need for direct hand-to-artwork dialogue.

This might be a new direction for me in the new year. Tactile dialogues. These above photos are inspiring me to consider revisiting embossing, dots as sentences, and textural mark-making.

The photo to the right is just a silly one I found - thinking of all of the new love and life stages we have both jumped through this year. Here's to next year - I know its going to be great for both of us. I'm so thankful that we are still friends after all these years, "bumps on paper" and letter writing.

Love,

type projects

2009-12-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Dear k,
Wanted to share some videos here.

My type video project:

"Dear Mom + Dad" and "Brother" are the first in a series of handmade video love letters, using type I find around my house or make with my own hands.

My most recent students' project:

Whatchoo workin' on these days?
k

love by hand

2009-12-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

K!
In the words of Margaret Kilgallen, we always talk about loving “things that show the evidence of the human hand." It seems this is a super trend in all things design right now, too. Post-perfectly-measured-machine-made type, culture embraced super expressionistic and individualistic type. From grungily-distressed to futuristically-retro typefaces, designers had too much to choose from in placing their context appropriate type, each font operating as an audience specific voice. Naturally, the next step is to move completely from the computer, away from that which limits textural quality and levels of imperfection. It's not an anti-technology maneuver. It's a simplification, an appreciation for raw talent and skill, a flip-flop of the process (emphasis on pre-production). Hand-made typefaces offer approachability, a one-of-a-kind quality, and an unavoidable cuteness. No wonder they have been so widely accepted (a few of years ago, I only noticed the then edgy layouts and illustrations of Nylon Magazine using them, now even Starbucks stickers hand-cut words on their windows). I love it! Even the irony of using handicraft digitally. Makes me wish I could go in to type design. Only, this may not last. Then, I wonder what's next? What will be the anti-handmade trend?

I ordered the above pictured book recently: Hand Job by Michael Perry. It's a collection of great handmade type from many different artists/designers. The images, drawings and crafty things are wonderful samples from the in-between---seriousness and play, slop and precision, raw gesture and perfected final product, art and design.

Thanks for inspiration ABCs!

k

Alphabet inspiration

2009-12-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hey you,

Yes!! We are back on track! I've been inspired by many things lately - and this quick post is just to respond to your lovely text pieces (and C's amazing cross-stitch of your family). Obviously, we love the idea of letter writing, love notes, discarded texts. Makes me remember the first time I read Letters to a Young Poet or say, Sylvia Plath's Journals (in my slightly-angst youth)... and now, our letters back and forth. Also makes me think of the wonderful handmade qualities of Margaret Kilgallen.

Congrats on your new studio, love the wilty plants ;)

Will post this weekend on Art Basel Miami Beach and other art musings on the brain.

Love,

Ah! Waaaay Toooo Loooong

2009-11-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

K!
You're install looks totally amazing!!! You are incredible! I'm so proud and excited for you! In honor of our "Hanksgiving" Feast (we listened to Hank Williams Sr., watched Tom Hanks in the Burbs, and played a little "all the famous hanks we could come up with" trivia), I'd like to say...Hanks for being such a great friend! I am indeed thankful to have you!

In fact, I'm working on a little project about it. I wrote 4 "thank you"/"love" notes: to my parents, my brother, you, and C. I'm making (or finding) all the text to illustrate the notes in video form. It's for a type show that I'm applying to. I thought it would be a fun assignment, similar to the one I do with my Intro class. Anyway, it's the first thing I've done in our new studio. I'll post the final when I finish. It feels good to have a space to play!
And this is what C has been doing in the studes. It's a X-mas gift for my Mom. Adorable!Work space, a holiday, first blog in 2 months...aaaaahhhhh, finally! Thanks for keeping the blog alive.
Love you!
k

Art in Storage

2009-11-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

Dear K,

Hello! My busy week of two exhibits is over and I have the photos to prove it. 10x10 was a success and I was really happy with my installation. See the above photos for visuals of my piece, "Nesting". I was also featured in a promotional article on the show - exciting.

Walking around the storage center was a treat again this year - I continued to get lost in the sameness of the rows of storage units - a fun maze. The range of installations was fantastic - from sculptural pieces, to video, performance and an entire unit full of delicately placed zip ties!

How is your new studio coming?

Happy Thanksgiving - I'm so thankful for you.

Best,

to the delicate and beyond..

2009-11-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Dear K,

Fall is finally here... and with it brings a breath of fresh air in the art scene. South Florida is definitely seasonal - with a dramatic increase of arty events from November through April and a quiet stall through the sticky summer. I happen to like it.. the ebbing and flowing of energy, the ability to slow down and take dips in the ocean. I know you are getting busier too - with work, with your new marriage and new home. What a year!

The above photos are of a fantastic show at a unique venue. Whitebox, a new project of Whitespace - the private collection of Elayne and Marvin Mordes opened this weekend with its first show, "Beyond Delicate" - curated by Kara Walker Tome. (of Showtel). It featured local artists using "delicate" materials. I thought the space looked lovely and the work itself quietly approaching magnificent. Burned fabrics, sculptures made of sugar and podlike organisms swam through the air with muted tones of white, peach and grey. This is apparently my recently favorite color palette. I find my own work even being influenced. I particularly like the title of the exhibit - the idea of the materiality adding to the subject matter of the piece instead of being an afterthought of merely an aesthetically pleasing "happy accident". Being interesting in the exact materials that this show boosted - it was a refreshing exhibit to begin the season with.

See more press coverage here of Beyond Delicate.

What's happening in Chicago?

Love,

The power of the sharpie marker...

2009-10-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

First - congrats, Mrs.!!!

Wouldn't you love this combination of wall drawings, sharpie markers as a faux wallpaper in your newly married apartment?? - I certainly would. And you could save so much money on furniture! See the artist's website for further images.

I'm clearly in a nesting phase, but still pondering my wallpaper piece that I did earlier this year. I'm thinking of transforming it into an installation for an upcoming show. The idea of combining a medium that has such a royal/regal history like wallpaper, with the casualness and low-brow nature of a sharpie is pretty genius. Opposites - let's talk about them.

High art vs. low art

Tiny drawings vs. wall drawings

Motion graphics vs. still images

Delicate vs. powerful

Quiet vs. loud.

This is where I'm at today - stuck in the middle, but enjoying the line quality.

Best,

House and Home

2009-10-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Dearest K,

Big steps... big steps this month. You are getting married and I just bought a house! (Yikes!) I am so in love with your "Happy Hitchin" postcard and cardboard ring.. you two are the cutest. Let's take a break from art posting for a quick second and post pics of all of these new

adventures! How could we not? We started this blog to document our parallel lives, and they are continuing. So.. I want to see your pretty red dress so I can start helping you search for the

2nd one!

Ok. Here are some pics of our adorable abode. We love it. It was built in 1934 - very old for Florida, very "old Florida". Complete with hardwood floors, arched doorway, built in cubbies and modernized kitchens. . . To comment on your "disaster" post - its been through many hurricanes, calming my fears a tad. We are planning on painting the upstairs bedroom, which will be my studio, this weekend! - Goodbye neon yellow, hello pale lavender. The yard is still a

small jungle, but I'm learning that I can only complete one project at a time - and it might take quite some time to get all the things done. Process is everything!

Sorry for all the photos.. I'm just excited. 10 years ago when we met, I never thought about all of these steps. . . so glad we are getting there. I will post pictures of the newly painted upstairs studio in a few days! Then ... its back to work. Many projects on the burners...

Miss you.

Love to you and C tomorrow,

let's get personal

2009-09-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

K-
Okay, okay. Life is crazy for both of us! Sooooooo...let's share some pics + new realizations from our personal adventures. I wanna see the cutie house!

Love ya + miss,
k

Disaster

2009-08-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

K,
I've always had a strange fascination with natural disasters. I remember getting very excited just before a big storm hit Florida: the smell of the air, the crazy wind made visible with the furiously twisting oak tress. Maybe it had something to do with the chance of danger, the romanticism of adventure, or just that something different was happening to break the routine. What ever the reason, when the lights went out in the neighborhood and my family had to break out the candles and flashlights, I was enthusiastically glued to the window, watching the action unfold outside, and feeling...special (silly, I know). Luckily, these storms never did much damage to our lives directly, aside from a few tree limbs falling on my dad's car, or perhaps my interest in them might have changed.

Attending Michael Ruglio-Misurell's show, Project #12, at Gallery 400 Wednesday night, I was reminded of this childhood attraction. However, where I enjoyed being overwhelmed by the power of nature, Michael's obsession is composing an aftermath.It looked like Florida threw up 1985.

All the banal structural materials of back office theme parks, or bathroom stalls in Ft. Lauderdale's first gay club, were glamorously disheveled. Carefully arranged in total disorder, urinals, two-by-fours, sheets of metal, mock signage, palm fronds, socks, beer cans, and coffee cups framed peaks and valleys of environmental mess. I wondered how much garbage they made during install that they simply left around within the space. I wondered how aggressively satisfying it might have been to destroy all these things, to then build into something else. Upon entering the space in fact, it was immediately humorous imagining the making of this work, especially in its final stages---the final touches and clean-up before the opening. At what point in the destruction process do you stop and say, "Okay, now let's fix this up a little?"Formally, the installation is compelling---sensational in scale and with plenty of crannies and details to explore, which often result in an overall sense of amusement. Michael is surely challenging the space, completely altering the gallery, leaving only the front desk unharmed. It's materially complex; but thematically, a bit campy. The "Enter at your own risk" sign congers Disney's Blizzard Beach or Universal Studio's retired Earthquake ride. And as structurally intriguing as it may be, the sheer mass is indulgent and luxurious.

Gallery 400 gives the artist a small budget for the exhibition, which Michael undoubtedly spent on thrift store objects---chairs, tables, lighting, etc---to fill-out his piles of found stuff. Many of these things are manipulated, cut-up, reassembled, propped into place, thrown around with crumpled papers, wood paneling, and pieces of corporeal construction. Items with "use value" become art. The art, in this case, is a beautifully arranged pile of trash. At the close of the exhibit, this art will most likely be thrown into a "real" garbage heap somewhere (similar in form, only dislocated from the gallery context--rendered worthless). And this consequence seems ineffectual to most.

I have a feeling Michael is in part playing on the excess of human consumption, yet an ethical dilemma exists with making nothing out of something. But then, that is another elusive question of art + value I guess. The true disaster might be the waste of the aftermath of art. Ah!

Wishing you a safe hurricane season!
Love,
k

Images at top:
1. Still from the show (aftermath of surface)
2. REAL aftermath of hurricane in Florida (compositionally interesting, yes, but tragedy overrides the need for representation.)
3. Poster for Earthquake Ride at Universal Studios in Florida
(If Universal's Disaster blockbusters prove anything, we like destruction. Dramatic devastation is visually alluring, in fiction. Besides the formal qualities, though, what is the fascination?)

Staple yourself to school

2009-08-18T08:45:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

It's the beginning of the fall semester here and I am reminded why I love teaching. . . I know that you not only feel the same way, but I feel the need to tell you again how proud I am that you got a full-time faculty gig! So exciting... and much deserved.

I just read this article from the Chronicle for Higher Education and thought of you, and me, and our many pedagogical talks and jitters. After years of doing this, I still get nervous and excited about the first day of school. I've been organizing, getting my files updated, images cropped and projects ready. Ready, set, go!

Also.. have been in love with Jane Mount's paintings of books lately. In addition to her awesomely designed, yet effective and efficient personal website. I desperately need to update mine and am considering hiring someone else to do this, but feeling guilty at the idea of not doing it myself. (Even though I fail to ever design one effectively) Do we have to do everything ourselves? Thoughts?

Here's to a fresh fall.

Love, K.

Permanent Collection

2009-08-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

It's a circus around here! Plus, I just stumbled on these fantastic vintage Ringling Brothers circus posters. I would love to use these as examples in a typography class.

Thanks for the fantastic blogging. It's going to take me awhile to catch up with you.... Things have been crazy here, waiting impatiently for our house to close. In trying to stay sane, I have been imagining all of my previous spaces, my current space, and wondering how the Mr. and I will make this a home. In responding also to your "Intersecting the Personal, Part 2" - a classic great example of home-spun meets modern design. Plus, I LOVE the idea as showing your home as a "museum" - we do live in mini-museums, because we make them. We are sensitive to our space, and behave accordingly - elegantly displaying shells organize

d by shape and size the way others pick curtains to match the carpet.

I am distracting myself from banking mambo-jambo by telling myself that I will own a house where I can curate our life in. . . All these photos represent my favorite parts of our current apartment.

Also thinking of the great Kehren's idea of "The Permanent Collection, Collection". You are inherently in my "permanent collection." To quote the other K: "We are each other's permanent collection. Objects that we make as part of this idea are an homage to idea of permanence in an impermanent culture. What we keep, who keeps us; what we love, who loves us." I have K-drawings on cocktail napkins from 10 years ago, exhibit "cereal" postcards, digitally current photos and artwork. Think of all of the amazing artists we know.. we don't acknowledge it very often, but they are in our permanent collection. (If we were fancy private collectors, our semantics would surely be different about our "acquisitions")

Here's to acquiring more, collecting more, curating more - and all in a more permanent way. One last thought... Is this blog a more permanent or less permanent record of our collecting?

Miss you,

p.s. Will catch up on responses, promise!

"Stimulate on THIS"

2009-08-08T13:53:00.001-07:00

K,
As you can tell, I have a bit more time these days. So...I'm catching up with Flickr, FB, and all the other online time-suckers. Just read a delightfully hopeful article (at the NYT web) about the new chairman of the NEA. Read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/arts/08rocco.html?_r=1&ref=arts.

I really like his arguements about artists being workers too, with families, mortgages, and medical bills, just like any other laborer in America. “Someone who works in the arts is every bit as gainfully employed as someone who works in an auto plant or a steel mill,” Mr. Landesman said. An artist's productivity is valuable, and good for the economy. After all, aren't we the ones that preceed gentrification patterns.

It's tough to shift such a longstanding generalized misconception about art and artists, though. In American politics generally, he added: “The arts are a little bit of a target. The subtext is that it is elitist, left wing, maybe even a little gay.” But thinking positively, maybe, just maybe we're leaving the "art is superfluous" attitude to die with the armadillos in Texas. Yes!

k

p.s. My title for this post was jokingly appropriated from a very serious realty ad on the Blue Line, depicting swank modern condos for sale at remarkably slashed prices. Funny huh? B went on to add, "Wanna see my stimulus package?"

"production journal" by Chris Lin

2009-08-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hey K! C is currently working on a project that has him questioning the strange power of a documentary editor. Mid-process, his views on the subject have changed, and an icky feeling of responsibility disrupts his work-flow. Notes from the editing table...

I’m editing a documentary entitled “Cabrini Gone Green” for visual artist Michele Stutts’ upcoming exhibition of the same title. The documentary concerns one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects, which was first built in 1942 with several additions built in the surrounding area over the years. Cabrini Green is notorious partly because it is located less than a mile from one of the city’s most affluent neighborhood, and because of its location, it became a hotbed of racial and economical tension. Since 2006, the building began to come down, forcing the residents to move out to other Section 8 housing.

The city was building new mixed-used developments on the demolished sites of Cabrini Green, the new development mandates 10% of the new building will be rented out to Section 8 residents. In the meantime, the Section 8 holders find it increasingly difficult to maintain their status, and if they cannot keep the status, they will have to pay full rent for new apartments. This is the premise of the documentary.

As for my personal feelings, since it is my first formal documentary work, I’m finding it harder and harder to narrow down their voices to just one. Would I even want to? It would seem like a dictatorship.

Growing up, I loved watching feature-length documentary. Steve James’s “Hoop Dreams” (which is partially set in Cabrini), Michael Moore’s “Roger and Me”, and Ross McElwee’s “Sherman’s March.” All of those films have one thing in common: a unified voice. In other words, the filmmakers know what they want, and they can manipulate the footage to get it across.

The problem is, I don’t know what I want to get across, or more accurately, the message I want to get across may not be the most flattering one. After reviewing 18 tapes that I didn’t shoot, I began to find that voice in two of the subjects. Mrs. Landry and Mrs. Wilson, both over 70 years old, talked about their memories of living in the projects. I liked hearing them reminisce from the time they moved in and how the area has changed over the years. They don’t want to move out, not because they couldn’t find a new home, but because they truly love the neighborhood.

Then there is Mr. Randolf, 40 years old, who was born in the projects and is now some sort of community leader. One moment recalls him talking about the fact that the new apartments cannot provide them with a 4-bedroom apartment. Understanding that Section 8 status holders pay somewhere around $500 a month for a 4-bedroom apartment, it is harder to sympathize. To make matters more muddled, many Section 8 holder’s children and relatives move in with them, taking advantage of the deals they’ve got. Those who moved in illegally may not be able to apply for the status for reasons including having criminal records.

Part of me wants to reveal all the contradictions and focus on all the hypocrisy, but part of me feels like it’s kicking someone when they’re down. I cannot change the reality: This is going to happen whether we make this documentary or not, but do I really have to paint unflattering pictures of the project residents? Since this is my first time in the editor’s seat, I’m overwhelmed by the moral responsibilities that come with the job. Kuleshov can make the viewer believe that a man is sad, hungry, or lustful just by placing different footage immediately following the face of the man. But when it concerns something as consequential as real people, how does one find a firm ground to stand on?

I don’t know.

~Chris Lin, two-time contributor, long-time follower of L.I.P.

What do you think, K? Have any thoughts from your own film production experience? I'll respond to your questions very soon.

k

intersecting the personal, part 2

2009-08-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Back again, K.
I wanted to devote an entire post to the other show I visited on Sunday. One which approaches your question about the balance between modern sleekness and the home-spun. I think we would both agree that the modernist box of galleries/museums offers good and bad perceptions of the art experience. It's void, full of potential (like your tabula rasa), yet separated, exclusionary. There exists an in-between, flexible and comfortable, inclusive while still challenging---the exact sort of vision I hold for "Good Stuff House."Home Gallery is in a sunny townhouse in Hyde Park. It houses minimal furniture much like your "Kitty Bowe" collection (clean, simple, the slightest bit 60's), and is literal home to Laura Shaeffer, Andrew Nord, and a couple of young-ins. In tandem to the various knick-knacks and accessories a lived in home collects, artworks dangle, perch, and peek out of every viewable space. Laura and Andrew have been inviting people in for about 9 shows now---several solo exhibits, some artist duos, and this recent curatorial experiment. Laura says that this gives her a lot of room (no pun inteneded) to explore her thoughts in art viewing and making, and has become an interesting connector of people, artists and other creative-minded folks.

The experience is warm and thought-provoking. Just as you interpret someone's personal space as an identifier of his/her character and interests (I've always thought of the home as a place where one "curates" their sense of the world), Home Gallery openly invites viewers to examine the objects on the walls, coffee tables, shelves, pillows, etc. And not only do they welcome you in, but they offer you brunch! (At least this was the case on Sunday.) So as you are sitting on the couch, snacking on grapes, and watching a video play from an old t.v. set on the bookshelf, you also begin noticing the situation. Is that little shoe on the floor also part of the exhibit? What about those drawings on the fridge? It's funny. The container becomes the art, too! And unlike the modernist belief, it is NOT distracting. It is all encompassing and organically contagious---I can't help but look for connections and juxtapositions.

The Diorama Show was particularly playing into those blurred boundaries (perfectly conceptualizing its host: "home" vs. "gallery"), much like I expressed about Gunnatowski's Territory project. Sets within a set everywhere---revealing the stage props of reality as well. The show collected a curious grouping of works, all variations on the diorama. Originally drawn to this exhibit because of my recent work with diorama-like forms, my satisfaction may have been biased, but here are a few images: This is a diorama-box containing a video of weather: "Tree Line," by Luftwerk.The above, called "Mono Lake," is by Jenny Buffington. She included several ice-mountain forms in the living spaces and outside.In the backyard, trees and bushes held up some kids' work, too. These marshmellow people where the cutest!

And the image at the top is a tiny piece by Laura and Andrew hiding in plain sight in their hallway. I might have missed it, if the show hadn't encouraged such detail-looking. (I made C stand next to it for scale.)

Hoping to one day own a home (like you) and a gallery!
k

intersecting the personal, part 1

2009-08-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

K,
Cool pics of the wallpaper show! Wallpaper was so "out" in interior design for awhile, but its comeback is thankfully inventive--goodbye simulated stencil shapes, hello modern simplicity. I think abstraction has found its rightful home in paper pattern.

Thanks for responding to my questions. I too love Claes Oldenburg's plans and drawings, and find them much more entertaining than their realized forms. Maybe it has something to do with nostalgia, too. It's the ephemera that feels more personal, drawn directly from the artist (as opposed to being fabricated in a factory somewhere). The architect's blueprints vs. the actual building. The paper holds the rough visual idea. Those manageable articles---sketches, plans, notes, photos, documents---humanize the big work. They make approachable the seemingly complex. I can connect by my own jotting, sketching, list making habits.

Speaking of the ephemeral...I saw a beautiful show this weekend at the Smart Museum. Your Pal, Cliff: Selections from the H.C. Westermann Study Collection highlighted not just his work (well-crafted sculptures, prints, and drawings), but also his letters and gifts sent to family and friends, unfinished tinkerings and personal projects. I completely fell for Westermann through the artful documents of his life. Although I may just be a sucker for this at the moment, his love letters and gifts to his wife seemed so much more meaningful than his "polished" works intended for the art world. Westermann did manage to infuse his highly personal content, interests, and style into everything he made, which is very inspiring.

More in a minute.
k

With connections and in-conversations

2009-07-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Nice work on the last blog posts. The propaganda show looks interesting.. but before I comment about that, I want to address your questions about paper and architecture. It's funny, sometimes I think I should have been an architect, but then I think of the drafting involved and re-think. With you living in a city known for it's architecture wonders, and me living in a place with the juxtaposition of beautiful, beachy, Mediterranean blues and corals and suburban nightmare boxes - there is lots to talk about. I'm still marveling the design of the new Art Institute Modern Wing. I couldn't get over it's glassed goodness and birch floors. So sleek, yet completely welcoming. To me, this is the equation for a successful design. I am always drawn to modern architecture, but conversely crave the home-grown, home-spun plants and "textiles on every wall" feeling. How do we find a balance?

Another connection stems from blueprints . . and the space in which they create the ability to visualize. That possibility of greatness is so symbolic. For instance, I've always loved Claes Oldenb urg's drawings of his sculptures a little more than the sculpture itself. Always a sucker for mystery - blueprints, plans, sketches - give room for something so necessary in making . .. POSSIBILITY. It's like seeing a movie after you have already read the book. It's always better in my head for I can create the visuals, pick the wall color, construct the space.

The simplicity of paper allows this to be possible. The tabula rasa.

Paper - and all of it's simplicity - gets amplified with wallpaper. The act of covering the architecture of your walls with images negates the design of the space at the same time as it draws attention to it. I think this is what I love about wallpaper - its seams seem fluid, but the divide is fascinating. Before I go on and on again about wallpaper. Below are some installation shots of my show at the Florida Craftsman Gallery and a review here.

I have another post waiting-in-the-wings regarding small things, trinkets, fabric and twining, mending, etc. Look for it this weekend.

Question for you: What are you mending, tending to, trinket-collecting, wrapping, etc., lately? Why do we continue on this path? Does it have anything to do with the lack of tactility that modernization brings?

Love,

pretty propaganda

2009-07-28T21:04:00.001-07:00

Well, K. The diorama show is NEXT weekend, so I'll write about it then. But I did stop by a little pop-up gallery show in my neighborhood last Friday. "Run Blago Run" took over a closed beauty shop (formerly called Head Bang) for three days only. Graffiti and street-art style works were on display, all based around the subject of our delinquent ex-governor Rod Blagojevich. Graphic and pun-ny, the show offered good imagery, but remained surface in content. I liked the Blago stencils in situ much better. The gallery context sort of stunted the message.Seeing these suspicious figures lurking under bridges and in dark alleys all around Chicago just seems more appropriate for representations of Blago. What I found most interesting about the show, is that the guy responsible for the stencils, Ray Noland, is racking up the credit for these designs. (He also did several stencils of Obama speaking into microphones plugged in to "America" around election time.) Although at the same time, with all the media on him, he is carefully avoiding blame for actually stenciling Chicago property--as he would be confessing to multiple felonies. This elusive "graffiti fame" has me thinking a lot about "artist fame" in general and the inconvenience of ownership in the underground.

Anyway, to totally jump topics...My final class project was based on the idea of guerrilla propaganda. I had students screen print small cards with a message of their choice--a test in visual communication as well as print-making methods. They did an amazing job! Check it out:That's all for now. Miss ya!
k

more "home" talk

2009-07-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

Oooo! K! Was that the book we saw in the MCA shop? Looks sooo good! Well...yep. Busy as always, but really wanting to get back into this. I can't believe our show is already over. On to the next thing, I guess.

When my parents were in town a couple of weeks ago, we did this little garden tour in Bucktown. In addition to the walking in and around cool outdoor spaces, it was great to see a variety of living scenarios---old homes, newly remodeled condos, mini-castles, and little quirky niches. I thought of you and your almost official house-buying, and felt very hopeful about mine and C's future options. I think we've always looked forward to crafting our own "homes" one day in a more permanent way, and I'm super envious of your incredible find. Gettin' it going, girl! I can't wait to see it in person.

Here are some pics from the walk:[The above place was my favorite spot---owned by an artist couple. The house was small, adorable, and creatively decorated (a hand-constructed swing in the living room, lime green and white checkered tile in the kitchen), and the backyard space was contemplative and magical including flowing water, succulents, a crazy wild onion plant and a vine heavy wooden porch perfect for morning coffee/sketchbook time.]

Although I took down our show last Saturday, I'm still thinking about it and want to start our discussions again about this topic. Maybe it could lead to new topics, new work, more shows, etc. And instead of writing a review, I want to ask some questions (and would love if you asked me some, too.) So...here goes:

What do you think is the connection between paper and architecture, besides your personal magnet towards these things?
Why is working with pieces, swatches, fabric, pattern, thread, wood and various other little things so pleasurable?

Well, I think our show was a success for several reasons! It got us back to enjoying the making of art, it forced to get over the hump of lethargic production, and proved our continuing collaboration---we ARE indeed "in conversation."

To keep this up, I'm giving myself an assignment (and promising on virtual paper to you). This weekend, I plan to visit the Home Gallery's "Diorama Show" and report back about the space and exhibit.

Til then, have a fantastic canoe and hope to talk again soon.

love,
k

Ok, Miss.... Architecture!

2009-07-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hey K!

Your head must be swimming up in the clouds lately with all of your exciting news... so many big things are happening this summer. I'm still recovering from our lovely visit, 3 weeks of film production design and all of this mambo-jambo house-buying business. I know that you have things up your sleeve as well ;) (and I'm waiting for that phone call with so much love for you!!)

There are so many things that I have been wanting to blog about - our lecture with Anne Wilson, pics of my wallpaper exhibit, summertime canoe trips - but since I am still in house lust, I thought these absolutely beautiful folded paper creations by Simon Schubert would be appropriate (and would also give us the kick to start blogging again). These rubbings, along with my new purchase of Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut remind me how much I love the combination of architecture and paper. As if I forgot? ;)

Hope you are having a lovely week . . and congrats on full-time position! You deserve it!!

S and I are camping this weekend at a cold spring - the perfect remedy for hot, hot, hot Florida summer.

Love and miss ya,

Review It!

2009-07-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Now that I'm back home, I'm feeling even better about HomePage. . . Lucky for us, so does New City. What an excellent and eloquently worded review!

I'm proud of us. Are we going to have some blog guest reviewers?

I'm been on film sets for 3 days. Lots of rain, standing around and production design. Pretty great. When I was younger I remember the moment when I found out there was a job title of "colorist" - what could be better? Production design feels like this... pure aesthetics.

Looking forward to more reviews!

Love,

HomePage

2009-06-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

WE DID IT... A collaborative show after years of talking about it. Whoo! Everything is on the walls, technology - both new and archaic - is working, lights are set... action. For those few who read this, the opening is on Friday, June 26 from 6 - 9 p.m. at the ARC Gallery in Chicago. See more info here: ARC Gallery. And in Time Out Chicago.

Despite our ridiculously crazy week.. I think everything looks great. I'm not sure how we have managed to have parallel lives for almost 10 years - but am so happy that we are still working around and within the same ideas. After seeing "HomePage" on the walls, I am proud at how interdisciplinary we still are. - Showing collages, handmade books, animations, drawings, slide projections, etc.. It was nice to feel like we could play again.. . Who knew that getting back to the idea that art was fun to make would be such a journey. I'm grateful we have done it on parallel paths..

Above are some pictures.. although I'm sure we will post more.

Love,

p.s. Thanks for letting me camp out on your couch and invade for the hottest week of the summer!

cute collections

2009-06-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

Geez, K. We're really slackin' off here. Welp, I have a couple of links to share. Maybe it'll get us back into it.

The first, a blog collection of sweet photographs: small rocks hand-picked, grouped, positioned, cradled---even crafted. LoveLea sent me the link over facebook (I'll have to research the connection). Individually and as a community the images are beautiful, simple, curious, and infused with child-like wonder. View all the entries: http://everyoneneedsarock.wordpress.com/
C and I made our own response in the form of an animated GIF (at top).

The second collection, was a tip from C---www.sleeveface.com. Not only are we getting a glimpse of participants' record collections, it's a quick look into their homes, lives, closets, and (best of all) cornball threshold. I love it! You can even browse by artist. Here is Barbara:
And here is our entry as "Funny Face" + "Phil Ochs":Any other blog/virtual/communal collections to share?
Can't wait to see you soon!
k

Rugged up and left hanging out to dry...

2009-05-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

After weeks of thoughts of wallpaper, I'm continuing down the textile train to rugs - artist designed rugs. I've always been interested in textiles, but since moving to south Florida, have been able to embrace design a little bit more. Particularly in Miami, design in extremely important and exhibited all over the city. The last time I went down to Miami, I was saddened to see one of my favorite "living rooms" (image below) has been drowned in graffiti. . . The Design District is always a visual overload of beautifully designed objects de arte. Most are too expensive for my tight pockets, but a girl can dream.

While researching the judge of the wallpaper exhibit that I am in through the Florida Craftsmen organization that starts in 2 weeks, I came upon Home Miami Magazine. The article on designers Doug and Gene Meyer in the July 2008 online issue re-sparked my love of the nubby, well-designed, large scaled rugs seen above. A tad more design/space/slick than we normally post about - I'm interested in how these woven threads can so drastically change not only the architecture of the room, but the objects within it.

All of this talk of Miami and rugs made me think of an artist I have run into a few times, Michelle Weinberg. An impressive, multi-disciplinary artist, I love how she translates the same visual aesthetic with her paintings to her surface designs.

Can we start our own wallpaper and rug line (You know, in our spare time - ha!) Thoughts towards the future of the repeated pattern....

Love,

Tangled Alphabets

2009-05-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

You absolutely have to visit this website:

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2009/tangledalphabets/

for a beautiful, delicate and witty interpretation of fonts, language and pencil drawings. This made me think of your recent playful assignment with handmade fonts.

Love,

Paper that wall!

2009-05-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Urban decayed romance is exactly what I have been thinking about lately - and these dramatic scenes where something has gone awry have been trickling into my daily writings, installation ideas, slide manipulations and filmic thoughts. It's always a quiet scene, where colored thoughts lie scratched and eaten - their layered qualities seeping and swimming into each other. You're right about these "anti-slides" (as Step cleverly dubbed them..) they are much darker than I usually work. I think this "complex subtraction" stems somewhat by the life phase that I am in - newly married - starting a new life, trying to figure out what to bring into it from the past, and what to scratch out entirely.

Speaking of mechanics and motion, I can hardly wait to see your automatas. There is something simultaneous masculine about trying to figure out the mechanics of how things work, and the delicate, feminine quality of your "steam puffs" - which hint at craft, sewing and airy, soft clouds. Its an equation of Duchamp/Dada + Folk Art + Contemporary dioramic photographic studies. Keep pushing those buttons!

On another note: While you are venturing into artist + engineer; I'm knee deep in artist + architect/interior designer.

Wallpaper is never far from my thoughts. There is something about the delicacy of a simple and beautifully repeated pattern. I've always been in love with that Charlotte Perkins Gillman story, "The Yellow Wallpaper". Recently accepted into an exhibit called: "Paper: On and Off the Wall" . . . I've been experimenting with delicate lines. Here are some great reference websites that I have found in the last week: www.designyourwall.com, www.studioprintworks.com, www.handmadewallpaper.net and www.walnutwallpaper.com

Repeat and paste on YOUR walls. Can you guess which above image is mine? (The rest are from www.studioprintworks.com)

Hoping for a repeat of my super productive week and weekend.

Love,

lost, found, and recontextualized

2009-04-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Busy lady K,
Cool install at the Showtel! The lighting really sets the mood--much like Gregory Crewdson photographs--and leaves an eerie feeling that something is amiss. Your found slide reworkings are beautiful in that urban decay romance. Here we are again working with the old, beat-up, fantasy marker of memory. But K, this looks like a darker nostalgia than I've ever seen from you. The elements of consumption and (almost) destruction may be giving way to your current state of life making. Not only are you layering and stacking and building and adding, but also taking away, clearing, and covering--it's a complex subtraction (and not necessarily a negative one). I'm also glad you're working with the now archaic technology of the slide projector (the didactic tool of the Art Historian). In parallel, I'm appropriating the old ABCs of mechanics (Automata has always been a very masculine field hasn't it?). It's silly really, but I like the look, sound, and process of making things "work" (spin, move, etc.).

Look forward to seeing your wallpaper samples!

Love,
k

Photos:
1. Found this distorted polaroid in the alley behind my house. I'm not sure if it was intended this way or if it was just discarded and left for the weather and outside elements to "take care of it." It reminded me of your slides. I was afraid to pick it up, so just snapped a pic with my cellphone.
2. Still shot of my tornado machine--simple automata of wood, cardboard, and cotton. And it really spins!!!

Showtel 2009

2009-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Whew.. what a whirlwind few weeks - and the next few are crazy as well. First, wanted to comment on your amazing last post. Oh how I LOVED your students invented font animation. What a great and successful project!! You should be giving yourself a gigantic educational pat on the back for that one... loved it and it looked like your students had so much fun as well. Here's to art being fun again.

Funny thing.. in addition to your amazing fonts, ironic that you posted about the "penny art" and wallpaper. As I have had references to both this week. See Showtel photos for penny room as well as look for a post later this week on my upcoming wallpaper exhibit!

And now for some updates/photos from this weekend's Showtel 2009. What an event! I've never been involved in something so exciting, so frantic and so overwhelmingly full of energy. Adrienne and I spent 14 hours carefully placing small sculptures and silkscreened ants about the room for our "munching, crunching, bunching, scrunching" piece. It was a total success and wonderful to be a part of. I felt like an art star!! Our sound, video, slide projections, scented room, silkscreened ants, thread, small sculptures made of hair and lint, and fabric draping the room created a fantastical habitat that spoke of layered consumption, nesting and the feeling that insects (or some other creature) had invaded the space. Although I have worked in installation before, I haven't ever had so much sensory overload. The projected slides were one of my favorite aspects. See above for a detail shot. .. I'm planning of using these in our exhibit as well. There are about 80 that change every 3 seconds, creating a didactic and scratched, eaten and abstracted image.

Kara Walker-Tome, the event's curator, did such an amazing job coordinating - complete with a lovely catalogue and much press about town. And I have to say, it was wonderful to meet so many amazing and energetic local artists.

For additional photos see here
and here.

Stay tuned for a wallpaper post - lots to tell. It's the end of the semester - grading, compiling, etc. Plus, I need to keep working on our exhibit, and the film that I'm working on. Storyboards are next. Yippee.

Lots of love,
K.

Piggy-backing...

2009-04-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

...on my last post as an excuse to share some student work, I wanted to write a bit about the tedium of doing things by hand and the aesthetic of designer Stefan Stagmeister.

I finally watched Helvetica (really great!), and was reminded of the work of Stefan Stagmeister, who is featured as a leader in postmodern design. I did a little research afterwards, and found his aesthetic very much in line with D.I.Y. craft art and the performative. His work is a perfect blurring of the worlds of design and art. Pictured above is an example of his text work. There is more here: http://www.sagmeister.com/worknew5.html

He also collaborated with designer/illustrator Jessica Hische, on a temporary public installation (pictured below) made entirely of pennies. I thought I might talk about this project in our collaboration class, because it involves all the elements of making that I am so interested in: collaboration, performance, public space and participation, impermenance, and documentation. It reminds me again of those Buddhist mandala sand paintings--beautiful, impressive in it's time consumption, and ephemeral (the pennies were left for the public to take away). You can see time-lapse video of the project here: http://designrehab.blogspot.com/2009/03/sagmeister-x-hische.html So...in my Intro to Design class, we are preoccupied with busyness. Without access to computers, Adobe programs, etc., we are learning design principles all by hand. I forgot how precise and annoying it can be to draw everything out, measure, cut, mount. With each project, I do an example alongside. My appreciation for the fast and simple, cut and paste, color fill, edit, manipulate, copy of Photoshop grows daily. We recently, though, completed a couple projects that I am proud of, using our hands first, then capturing digitally (the same process I'm working with for my own work). Below is our text animation. Not intentionally, yet sort of in the vein of Sagmeister, we built type out of found objects and material around the house. In stop-motion style, I captured all the imagery with my camera and compiled in AfterEffects. It was a great success in that everyone was into the process and together we generated some cool ideas. We illustrated the school's mission statement:

We also hand-drew a pattern swatch to repeat and print out like wrapping paper. Here are a few results:

This is my sample--a pattern of moustaches. Maybe I can paper my kitchen with this. ;)

Gotta get back to work. Miss ya!

time for tedium

2009-04-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Dearest K,
I miss you much! The pressure is on, huh? Well, isn't it always? I know you're in a crunch time, but you'll catch a break from school soon. That exhausted productiveness and last minute art-panic-fervor can sometimes feel pretty good, so get all wrapped up! And once the summer is over, you will have accomplished many great little feats. I'm completely jealous of your A/C complaint. This K is still wearing her winter coat, although the sun is out and the Japanese magnolia is trying to open.

I wanted to show you some work up at ARC right now. It's completely aligned with your aesthetic tastes and made me think of your beautiful window sill nature collection. The artist, Sun H. Choi, spent over 20 hours installing this wall piece. She slept over night in the gallery pinning each tiny twig into place---drawing with the lines of nature. The end result is a steady whimsy that reminds me of the Japanese woodcut Jeff Wall so famously appropriated or the in-flight merging of migrating birds. And yet with closer inspection, each form has its own intricate weathering that reveals the individual to the whole, the complexity of life and current.
As for my life and work, I'm pretty low energy these days--in need of some sunshine and a productive art day. Hope to talk to you soon!

k

Spring on...

2009-04-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

A quick post to sort through a schizophrenic few weeks. It's spring, which means I have to turn the a/c on for the first time in months, making me a little sad. It's the end of the semester, meaning I have papers to grade, things to compile, and the biggest exhibit to hang in my school gallery. It's two weeks until my Showtel installation - yielding technical issues, silkscreen mania and tactile decision making. Also starting a newproject - production design for an exciting film. The above bicycle photos are my "visual research".

My students are doing paper sculptures in multiples while I am at home "munching" and taking away space. I stumbled upon this photo of artist, Chris Natrop' s work while searching for a brainstorm thunderstorm.

Inspiration is needed lately. I am at the exact vanishing point of complete exhaustion meets complete inspiration and artistic energy. . . Thought you might need a spring boost.

Miss you,

An homage to Nathan and Joan

2009-04-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Hope you are great! I know we are both swamped this month.. How could I possibly have so many competing projects for my time? Both inspiring and exhausting.

Speaking of inspiring and exhausting - VSW, my old friend and alma mater is turning 40!! In honor of Nathan and Joan Lyons - founding directors of Visual Studies Workshop - I wanted to do a quick post dedicated to years of humble beginnings and hard work, independently operating art spaces, brilliant collections, AfterImage, and the hard-working grad students who continue to breath life into two ivy-covered buildings. VSW is like no other place I have ever known... part collaborative, part think-tank, part miracle, it is a direct reflection of Nathan and Joan's vision of providing an alternative and multi-faceted art space.

Today, it's run by friends and colleagues, Kris and Tate, who are giving it a fresh breath of air in a windy and turbulent economy. Kudos to VSW - its rich history and its bright future. It's hard to imagine my artistic career without it. See City Newspaper's feature article and bid on the amazing collection of work displayed at it's annual auction.

I miss it's ivy walls and cooperative do-it-yourself attitude. I'm looking forward to our Summer Institute class, so I can keep exploring its splendor.

with hope for art spaces,

Saturday in the park/studio/garden

2009-03-28T11:15:00.001-07:00

Dear K,

It's been weeks since my trip, but I still feel like I am getting back into the swing of things. Everyone wants updates, pictures, check-ins - and I am exhausted and torn in a thousand different directions. I've been feeling productive lately - starting some pieces for our show. Have finalized my plan of action for Home/Page - we should have a phone date soon!

It's a beautiful weekend here - breezy, sunny. Yesterday was administrative errands - did my taxes, started the name change process (concepts are absolutely going to be a part of my artists book for our show - one part exciting, one part terrifying = conflicted). After a morning of running around, spent the afternoon in my studio - starting collages, a photo series, continuing my "homestellations" (blueprints + constellations) silkscreened ants and manipulated slides. The ants have taken over my studio! Today is a dinner and garden adventure in Miami with the lovely Amanda, I'm excited to start having more adventures with her, now that she has moved back.

Hope you are having a great weekend too.. Is spring there yet?

Love,

Randomness head in the clouds and pictorial updates

2009-03-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Dear K,

Some great posts lately.. thanks for picking up the slack while I was securely settled into a hammock for an entire week. Belize was stunning.. am using some of my underwater photos of coral and fantastical fish as inspiration for collages for our show. Even pondering including the Mayans and other ancient civilizations in our conceptual realms of the collaborative. Anything that takes 250 years to be built is the art of collaboration gone extreme. Also note, our class description is up! See VSW Summer Institute and spread the word!

Today I'm feeling scattered.. one half still in Belize, sitting by the pool and listening to reggae, the other annoyed/intrigued by the reggae festival that is happening in the park directly across the street this weekend. I've been trying to be in my studio today, but fumbling... stumbling and crumbling into distraction a tad.

My distractions led me to ponder my quest to be more positive these days. Positive about my place in the world, my life, our artistic lives. In keeping with this positive attitude .... wanted to post some follow up photos of our show in Seattle, "Drawing is a Verb." Thanks Mike for sending these... it absolutely gives us a sense of how the collaboration between the K's danced with the collaborative efforts of the audience.

Been thinking a lot about collaboration these days.. even had a nice chat about it with my mom. (Thanks Mom!) I completely related to your idea of "negotiating me + we". I can relate - in art, in work, in love, in space. I think for so long I worked as a solo artist - retaining control and obsessing over details. Do you think that it is a coincidence that we are getting older, maturing and allowing ourselves to loose a little bit of that artistic control? I find that while other things have settled, (career, the search for a loving partner, perhaps?) I find it appealing to work with others again. Even as a child, I was never good a playing with others. Always the solo artist, I have vivid memories of me lurking in the corners with my sketchbook and crayons.

See above for photos from Seattle, as well as the official Showtel 2009 postcard. I'm so excited to be a part of this event, as it is absolutely the most important contemporary show in the Palm Beach area all year. Unlike Chicago, we are a tad void of contemporary - so I feel honored to push my multi-disciplinary envelope with my friend Adrienne. We're working on silkscreen, small sculptures in large multiples, fabric creations, video and sound crunchings.

Stay posted. Stay focused. Stay positive!

Love, K.

two little projects

2009-03-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hey K!
Came across a couple things in my mindless facebooking today:

1. I am a new "fan" (you know the feature) of "Conversations at the Edge," and the Gene Siskel is screening the work of Cory Arcangel tonight. He's a pop-culture Nintendo game hack artist. I can't make it, but checked out his work. He did a project called "The Bruce Springsteen Born to Run Glockenspiel Addendum" in 2006. Being a fan (although not yet declared on facebook) of glock and Bruce, I felt this was such a guilty pleasure.

His site describes it best: "The Bruce Springsteen Born to Run Glockenspiel Addendum is a composition for solo glockenspiel. For those not in the know, Bruce's Born to Run record is littered with glockenspiel. For example, the famous melody from the song Born to Run is actually a guitar DOUBLED by a glockenspiel. The Born to Run record itself contains 3 songs that feature the glockenspiel, ... For this project, I decided to create an addendum to the original and compose, play, and record glockenspiel parts for the songs on Born to Run that do not already feature the instrument (Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, Backstreets, She's the One, Meeting Across the River and Jungleland). This composition has existed in several formats. A 12 inch vinyl record & mp3's (meant to be played along to Bruce's record), a "mix" CD (my additional glockenspiel mixed back into the original), and every now and then I will perform it live along to a recording of Springsteen."

Here is a YouTube clip I found of him performing this:

2. After perusing recent status updates, I found myself checking out project pics of an old graduate advisor of mine from Memphis. Cedar Nordbye is an interdisciplinary artist that specializes in the performative (and was a direct influence on me during my MFA studies). He posted images of a project he did in 1999, seemingly as a way to find past participants.
The description from his album page: "In 1999 I traveled to Paris and in the hall outside the room containing the Mona Lisa offered visitors $10 and a postcard of the Mona Lisa if they would NOT go in to see the painting. I made a small artist's book documenting the results."

I also have to give him credit for the image at top. Just a sketch, but very evident of his analytical thinking. And today especially, this seemed to speak loudly, as I'm negotiating my own me + we.

love ya!
k