COYOTE

I have an art show!  This is my installation entitled "Coyote," which will be on display until the end of November at Courier Coffee Bar in downtown Portland.  Below you see Joel (the owner) & Ryan behind the bar with my sculptures.  There are seven autumnal coyotes leaping and creeping about the shop.  Each one is made with chicken wire, papier mache, and pieces of fabric and painted paper for fur.  Plus branches.

It wasn't easy getting these all finished, as I had a bad bout with the flu just when time was of the essence.  But everything came out just fine in the end, and now I can think about other things besides hot gluing and cutting and branches.

If you're in Portland, you should go check it out!  If you're not, maybe these dogs can come to your town and occupy a space near you.

Coyotes in the works

I'm busy with another project...

I'm making a gang of coyotes for an installation at Courier Coffee Roasters in downtown Portland.  I was part of a group show there back in February (and was fortunate enough to sell my Never Bird sculpture!), and now they want me to do a full-blown freak-out sculpture installation.  So it will be a bunch of these wild dogs, looking all freshly emerged from the forest floor.

The show will open November 3rd, which means I only have a few more days to get these critters done.  Wish me luck!

In other news, I quit my day job (working with kids in an after school program) and will be done with that whole thing on Friday.  I need to find a part-timer job that takes up less brainpower, so I can shift that brainpower over to art and music.  Wish me luck with that too!

embroidering Michael Jackson, and other recent adventures

If you've been wondering what I've been up to, besides not blogging, here's a sampler platter.

I recently embroidered this portrait of Michael Jackson holding a baby tiger, and stretched it over an old picture frame.  This piece was for a group show we (myself & Ilan) put together at Emerson Space Case called "Just to Tell You Once Again" - art inspired by Michael Jackson.

The reason we decided to organize this show is because we were celebrating the two-year anniversary of the birth of Emerson Space Case, which happens to coincide with the death of Michael Jackson.  We put out a call for art, and a bunch of people submitted pieces.  It was tons of fun, and also a lot of work putting that whole thing together.  I really love curating art shows; I wish it was an actual job, but alas it's a volunteer position at the moment!

You can view some of the art at the Emerson Space Case blog, or more of the art at the Emerson Space Case facebook page.

sometimes things look cool from the back:

and maybe it should have been a shirt:

I actually did TWO pieces for the Michael Jackson show.  Here's the second one, entitled "Michael & Ben:"

I hope to make more embroidered portraits, and also more of these boat things.  Speaking of boat things, have you seen the little boats Ann Wood makes?  If you haven't, you should.

So, anyway.

This should probably be a separate post, but here it is.  I made this t-shirt for Ilan (a birthday gift), using the freezer paper printing method with fabric paint.  Perhaps I should have taken some progress photos so I could teach you how to do it.  But I didn't.  It was very meticulous work with all those dino details, but I think it came out really well!  Who wouldn't want a bear riding a triceratops?

And lastly, here's a little watercolor painting I did for a birthday card (birthdays really bring out the artist in me).  It's a cheerfully colored stag beetle!

The Weirdest Craft I've Ever Seen

I borrowed this book from the school where I teach.  Old books like this are always an inspiration for me, and the illustrations are simply adorable in this one.

...  and it describes this craft that is so bizarre I had to show you:

The best part about it is that I feel like if I taught this craft to the 5, 6, & 7 year-olds that I teach, they probably wouldn't even think it was that weird.  Walking face with fingers coming out of its mouth?  Hell yeah!

This gives me a brilliant idea to create an entire book of crafts that make absolutely no sense, like the one above.  Do you think anyone would buy it?  If the illustrations were cute enough, I think it would fly.

This book also has some cool ideas for other (more normal) crafts, accompanied by ridiculously cute illustrations:

Clonehenge: A Blog about Stonehenge Replicas (they are not kidding)

I stumbled across a blog called Clonehenge recently when I was looking for terrarium inspiration.

I love it, and I think you should see it.  Not only do they have cool pictures of things like a mini version of Stonehenge inside a terrarium (see below), but they also have a terrific sense of humor.  Reading about Stonehenge replicas has never been so entertaining!  And to top it off, the title of the blog is a pun.  Bravo!

been busy around the house

At times it's a challenge for me to connect real life with internet life, and that's why I've been an inconsistent blogger.

My last post (over a month ago) was about our trip to the Redwoods, which we did and it was fantastic!  Rainy, but fantastic just the same.

Here are some things around the house that have been exciting me lately....

We built raised garden beds for our back yard!  Of course, these photos were taken over a month ago, so stay tuned for garden updates.  Here's Ilan doing the power drill thing.

My dad let us borrow his truck & wheelbarrow for doing the dirty work.

 We learned how to make stuffed poblano peppers!  With rice, beans, veggies, & cheese.  It looks a bit grotesque here, but I assure you it was a real treat.

We painted our bedroom (finally!).  This sort of minty mellow green, which goes nicely with the browns & golds of the rest of our stuff that goes in there.

I bought this absurd/lovely merman hook for (some of) my necklaces!  'Tis an impulse purchase I do not regret.

I made these frames to hold my earrings!  I finally faced up to the fact that I have so many of them, I needed a system.  God, I love jewelry.  I got the plastic grid material from SCRAP (it's actually for doing needlework, but works for so many other things), stapled it into some thrift store picture frames, and painted the whole mess.  Viola!

I should also note that I got this idea of using this material for this purpose from a fellow volunteer at SCRAP, who sells earrings at craft fairs and displays them this way.  I would give her a plug here, but I can't remember her name and I can't find her Etsy shop... so maybe some other day!

I crocheted this plant hanger to hold this pot!  I found myself with all these leggy succulents flowing lazily out of their designated terrariums & pots.  Something had to be done.  I rounded them all up and made them into one big hanging monster.  The material is just cheap ol' acrylic yarn, and I made up a pattern based on hat-making, only with bigger holes.  That's right folks, it's really just an upside-down hat with strings tied to it.  You should try making one!

I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm a sucker for old-timey animals in clothing, especially when they're humble, have silly magical adventures, and speak with British accents.  I found this Wind in the Willows record at The Record Room (here in Portland).  It's very abridged -- it doesn't even include the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" chapter -- but still worth the $3 I paid for it!  That Badger gets me every time.  I want to spend a night nestled in his cozy underground home.  And I didn't even know he played the concertina until I saw this cover!

 

 

 

And finally, I'd like to share with you the blooming things.  Maybe I should have saved this for a separate post, but I'm too excited and I already uploaded the photos, so here we go!

I planted some tulips in the front of the house the moment we moved into this place in December.  They came up like gangbusters and did their thing, just like they said they would.

Also, I am happy to report that my kalanchoe is blooming for the first time since like two years ago.  I love it.

And finally, here's a plant of which I do not know the name.  I've had several of these plants for years, but this is the first time I've seen one bloom!  I had no idea it was possible.  These plants are cool because when they're healthy, they will reproduce like crazy by growing tiny baby versions of themselves along the edges of their leaves.  These babies will drop into the soil and grow like madmen.

Here's what the smaller versions look like:

Redwoods Ahoy!

my Grandma Jean, Grandpa Pete, Aunt Connie, & Uncle John on a family vacation in the redwoods

Today I'm embarking with Ilan on a journey into the redwood forests of northern California!  Can't wait to stand next to those prehistoric giants.  We'll be  camping, exploring, roasting things on fires, and noodling around with my new Mahalo ukulele guitar (strung like a guitar, but the size of a ukulele)!

Got this little lady the other day at Showcase Music & Sound on Hawthorne here in Portland.

I'm excited to see new sights; some nature, some kitsch, some unexpected surprises.  Maybe I'll even pick up one of these souvenir steins at the Trees of Mystery!

(photo courtesy of Sugar Lily Vintage on Etsy)