jen of the north

new. work.

2011-03-14T10:19:00.000-05:00

Back in the studio, working with artists and getting a lot out of this ""job." Experimenting with papier mache, personalized shrines made out of fabric and trinkets, and oil painting. I am extrememly grateful for this position, that i left last August and returned in January. Never again.
new. work. same old sketchbooks. little scraps of paper and ephemera everywhere at home. my beautiful table scarred and scraped and blotchy from years of creating (or maybe not enough clean up)
new. work. the chance for a jolt to the system to get things moving ahead again. upta camp on friday afternoon. if i can get my taxes done even better.
this hour change whooped me. no i cannot just wake up!
right now with fingers pastey and my back hunched over the keyboard I could sleep. Isn't this invigorating?

little branch

2010-10-29T10:52:00.002-05:00

check out this color array i found in a tree around the corner!

i thought i would bring it up to the new space for me on the third floor...the woman who lived in it before was in tough shape--an alcoholic with anger issues, especially towards her boyfriend....she sounded like a lion and the cuss words flew out of her mouth....in taking over, i wash her out and change the future of the house as a whole....

good karma taking over...

you got that right

tuesday

2010-10-26T08:38:00.000-05:00

another round of blanks to start out with on this fine day.

little roundies?

new old sewing machine and an area to set up in

sarah, attic dog

new

2010-10-19T07:39:00.000-05:00

starting to move in to a very unfinished space in the attic of the building

nice under the skylight

new everything: workspace, circumstances, & outlook.
between the last post and this one is an epoch
so let's begin again.

the third floor/attic space is the new workspace
coming together
i have a bandsaw in the basement where i cut wood
& then it's up here to design & paint

plain wood stage after cutting shapes

small tree altar
6.75" x 4.25" x 1"

from side to show shadowbox-look

what is up for today? start in the basement & work my way to the attic...
(oh, and i'm going to see phish tonite!!!!!)

encaustically challenged

2009-10-15T14:03:00.007-05:00

so here's the drawing...

and here's the encaustic....

encaustic is a wax technique used to either paint in or transfer images into or....many other possibilities.

i have been dying to find the right way to do encaustic for a long long time and even through a lot of research i couldn't figure it out. didn't take a class that was offered every semester at the local art institution. all the guidelines i read about online sounded very scary and man, you don't want to inhale that stuff....and then martha brought me a copy of directions from someone's blog...(i swear i will post the link when i find THAT piece of paper again!), but you know....it's not that hard to achieve the results i wanted. and that is to have a image that looks like a drawing "floating" on the wax surface....

Sooooo...

1. melt beeswax hunk in heavy pan on stove or burner slowly

2. paint melted beeswax over a piece of wood with somewhat even strokes

3. place photocopy of image face down on warm beeswax surface

4. burnish with back of spoon in all directions (most important to burnish really well)

5. apply nail polish remover with cotton ball and rub until paper starts disintegrating. rub until all paper comes off & there you are left with an image floating in the wax.

oh how i love the look.

martha said she had seen pictures of wooden dolls with encaustic faces...v.cool.

you can melt oil pigment into the beeswax as well, but i'm not liking that look as much. i've seen it where people have mixed in dried flowers to the wax....what else would be interesting to stick in there? peppercorns? spices? ripped paper? foil? threads? fabric?

so here's the one of amelie's drawing of ME--her first entire person drawing at 3 1/2 years old! i think i look splendid.

and then here's one of nyc rooftop details...

more to come soon...just purchased some yellow pure beeswax that smells so good...i also started layering some fabric in today's batch...

nyc style

2009-10-12T06:16:00.010-05:00

dmg, jenny hi! and me...penn station

the freakin iphone

i finally made it out of maine!
i saw david in nyc with jen a couple of weeks ago...for jen & i it had just been a few months, but with david, 5 years! 5 years! and what did he do for the majority of the time? become one with his stupid new iphone which didn't get reception for crap in the city, but yet dave trudged on, trying trying trying to make it work....it was wonderful to hang with him, let me tell ya.

nyc was the first trip, first time away from amelie for more than one night and well, that was weird, it was. but nyc was enchanting, as always.

we cruised chelsea (hit all these galleries jen knew of--the best was hellen van meene photography (at yancey richardson)) traipsed thru washington square park for viewing purposes, saw the frick collection (which blew my mind....i was in a filippo lippi trance....!), strolled through a chunk of central park, ate bagels, photographed constantly, hit the guggenheim for kandinsky, had an earth shattering experience at the neue ('um, that's "noya", mame'....) gallery (enough german expressionism to satisfy the thirstiest of lovers of that era).....and we walked on and on and on.....(jen & i swear it will be sensible shoes next time, truly)

2 ladies at penn station

washington square park
murray cheese!
star sighting! wedding planner from sex in the city
jen and dmg at will ryman installation, marlborough gallery, chelsea
guggenheim!

kandinsky

dmg and i at 30 rock

oh that was good for the soul.

good for the art spirit and the friend spirit.

a piece of art, a piece of heaven

2008-04-29T11:59:00.002-05:00

here's the latest history of geometry piece for the series. i love this one. it's not too big, about 10"x14"x4". supa-chunk! i'm getting ideas for what i want to do with them, but don't want to write about that yet. so this is the piece of art:

and the following three photos are of our piece of heaven in temple, maine. we have 600' on edes brook & it is beautiful. you can't see it from the road or up where john is building the camp, but you can hear it roaring down over the hill. it's a great sound. the man who owned the land before us said it was the reason he loved it so. that sound of the brook.

when we were there on sunday, we walked down & scouted out some deep parts & pools that would make good places to dunk under & wash our hair this summer. & there are plenty of flat rocks nearby. it is really pristine, this water. this area.

i see ourselves spending a lot of time down here, cooling off & soaking.

what a beach day

2008-04-24T20:06:00.002-05:00

it's school vacation week & all those families who stayed home are psyched (gotta stop using that word) because it's been in the 70's & in maine in april that is NOT normal.

yesterday we went to willard beach in south portland, but an hour after we got there it was a mob scene...looked like a school trip gone out of control there were so many kids there. today we drove down to old orchard beach & parked right next to the beach (that will never happen come about memorial day or sooner), but what an excellent spot. & not only is this the biggest beach around, but it has also been the emptiest. & we do love that. spread out!

we dug out amelie's kite & it was perfect flyin weather. we just tied it onto the big bag & watched it swirl & dive & people who did walk by were really into it. one time the kite went all the way down to the sand, a couple stepped over it & then it immediately tore up to the sky again.

we built a sand castle & adorned it with jelly beans. when we weren't looking jax sucked them all off the top of our towers!

and then almost silently from down the beach came a group of 3 horses...i felt like we were in amish pennsylvania with the way the people were dressed & the wagon of course. amelie has been very scared of horses & when she saw them she kept repeating "no! no! no!" which escalated into a certain fervor as she clawed up the front of me. but it worked when i talked her down, telling her how much the horsies loved walking on the beach & how happy they were. just as long as everyone is happy, amelie is happy.

it was some day.

oh right, it's earth day...

2008-04-22T21:12:00.005-05:00

i usually don't forget, but i did. i usually plant a tree or go see the sunrise or take a moment. but i didn't. this year i strolled downtown with amelie & saw congress street blocked off & all these bicycles & skateboarders & apples on tables. even then, it didn't dawn on me. it took to going to where amelie calls the "chocolate" library (charitable mechanics library, across from MeCA, where pat the librarian has bowls of chocolates out within reach of small hands) where i was wished a happy earth day. i am living in a fog.

we strolled & strolled. went to the public library too & made it back to congress square for some live music which was loud & not my fancy at all & that's when amelie fell asleep, sunglasses on.

by the time we got home & i "parked" her, i had to take a picture & do a sketch.

she sleighs me.

(is it "slays"?....i like "sleighs" better)

she does.

wednesday is trash pick-up day

2008-04-16T20:06:00.002-05:00

i admit it. i go through people's recycle bins...not for bottles (which is a cut-throat business in my neighborhood), but for fine supafine magazines. tuesday night or wednesday early morning dog walks are the best time & yes, i have my favorite stops, bins that have rewarded my stopping time & time again. last night i had jax out for 12 block walk & i scored this stack...not bad for many people not even having put their goods out.

i don't have them for long tho. i looked through them page by page quickly & if something caught my interest, i'd rip it out. the next step (not done yet) was to take these images, articles, whatever & paste them into my collage books.

the reviewed lot was back out on the street by 6am this morn, in my recycle bin. i wish other things in the house would have such a fruitful turnover~

time away

2008-04-15T21:23:00.011-05:00

i really needed some time away. really. there was a little monotony happening. and i was trying to find a way out for a change of scenery. as it happens, john had done some snow plowing throughout the winter for many of our neighbors, all of whom reciprocated with many niceties: free bonobo pizza, bottles of wine, hours of babysitting, some cash & even a promise of use of one's "camp" for a weekend). well john ran into the owner of that camp, jos ("yose"...he is dutch), last week, who said, hey, this weekend's available if you want to go & we jumped.

we had been there last year for a weekend & the place has healing powers. it's located just outside of bethel, maine, in a wee area named mason township. it was built by jos & beth around 1997 & let me just say that he is a fantastic & precise woodworker. it is a gem of a place, more of a house or chalet than a camp, but with the camp-getaway feel. the place is full of art, art books, music, movies, cozy beds, a beautiful fireplace, & all amenities known to me (claw foot tub, coffee maker, microwave for heating bottles, toys to keep miss a. busy busy, washer & dryer & quietude unlimited). the sketch above is of a tree out the window by the fireplace.

i looked at lots of books, read lots of books & sketched & sketched & sketched. the following is after a painting done by nance parker (who has her own camp with her partner greg right across the river there), which hangs downstairs next to the fireplace. i think it's one of the most handsome paintings i've ever seen by her. even amelie looking at it one day said, "pretty, ma-ma. pretty painting" & then she went up & looked at it closely. melt me. not that she has to be an artist or anything!

a newly discovered artist for me is tony o'malley (irish, 1913-2003). i was really interested in his drawings. his story? he was a self-taught artist. after regular schooling, he worked at a bank until coming down with TB. during his convalescences, in & out of many sanatoriums, he started painting in his 40's. his work in the end became quite abstract & bold.

the drawing on the left above i particularly liked--i couldn't stop looking at it, but then i saw the title & liked it even more....it was called "young girl dreaming IN springtime", not "young girl dreaming OF springtime." (i guess that's just my chilly maine mentality, dreaming of spring....) i love the birds too. the next photo is basically just copies of a few of his images of iconography that i found interesting...

then these are by kees van dongen (dutch, 1877-1968), whom i never remember learning about or hearing about as an art history major, but WOW. this guy was an exceptional painter. one of the fauves. he painted a lot of portraits, of women, bien sur, but they have a striking quality about them, especially in their dark eyes. this one below is a painting entitled "quietude" which i love. i tried to find a copy of it online to link to, but i can't...while this drawing does it no justice, believe me, it is incredible.

check out these eyes below....(total mascara blow out!)...riveting & good.

we came home last night. i feel like a completely new person. quite the restart button i pushed.

onward.

history of geometry (part three)

2008-04-03T08:17:00.004-05:00

here are some more photos of more chunks of wood that i'm calling my history of geometry series. (woo hoo! a series!) and that's the cat. the terror. the psycho. the bain (bane?) of my existence. mr. cuzamano. don't mess with him. ok, i guess jodie at the clinic told me he was one of the feral kitty's babies, but i was like, he's got orange eyes....i shoulda known.....

i like doing these pieces. & just thinking that i have been working on them for over a year tells me there is something there that needs to be addressed. at least i'm hoping for some epiphany! i want to try to show them& when i get a few more done, i'm loading them in the car & searching for that special place.

in looking back at these i did awhile ago, i want to add more layers of mod podge so i'm going to have a slathering party tonite & see how thick i can get it.

today it was 56 degrees. we played out back with bowls of dirt & "rocksies" (amels is adding "sies" on to everything.....jax the dog, "jaxsies") it's great. warm in the sun. back deck is OPEN.

amelie paints her birthday gift

2008-03-31T14:19:00.003-05:00

amelie got this horse painting kit for her birthday from john's mom, bopche (which means grandmother in polish). i got it out the other day & told her she could paint it the next day. that meant that she said "paint horse?" about 25 times until the next morning arrived...

it's a ceramic horse that came with a bunch of different color paints & paintbrushes. she got right into it...well, into the paints, which she promptly started painting her face with & tasting..

in the end, she got a bit of help from me (i was into the dots) & i have to say, it's a beauty. this morning she tried to introduce the cat to it up close & personal...but that's another story....ahem.

history of geometry (part two)

2008-03-29T16:06:00.003-05:00

this is the piece that really started it all...i did this years ago, on heavy duty watercolor paper with the same technique of geometric angles & paint chips. after starting the pieces with a wood base, i found this piece mixed in with other stuff & it just hit me....wow, i'm doing the same thing now. that's when i started attaching some importance to it. i must be doing these for some reason, they are telling the story of balance & emotion, the 2 big things in my life i can struggle with regularly...any way, this is the first image of the history of geography series.

so this is what i start with, nice old chunkers of wood. they have to be thick & worn...i love that look.

and this is a better picture of the one i just finished, seen with other things to give it a context...i placed it on top of the piece i'm going to be working on next, seen in just the first step of covering it with gesso.

when i did the first piece, about a year ago, i just thought of the title "history of geometry". it somehow fit.

i've had shows here & there, nothing consecutive, nothing really dramatic. my solo shows were given at people's studios or in my cousin's bookstore. i really want to get some work out. i just don't want to keep accumulating it. now comes the step of finding out where it goes.

the history of geometry: part one

2008-03-26T21:49:00.004-05:00

i love math. always have. soared way high on them in the sat's and dogged my verbal. completely into graph paper, pencils, compasses, rulers & old geometry books (hardbound--i mean old!). i got geometry & mr trifone. i could do it & do it well. now i find the interest resurfacing in the elementary simpleness and cleanness of it all. does that make me a bit tightly strung? in some ways, probably, yes.

in the last year, i have been making these pieces from chunks of old smoothened wood, paint chips & lots of mod podge matte mat. i've done 5, gave one to my brother jeff for his birthday, & have slowly continued to make them.

first, after selecting the piece i want to work with (after acquiring it from the graveyard around john's shop or the beach), i slather the top with gesso & then after it's dry, i take a ruler & pencil & make lines & vectors & planes. sometimes i erase, sometimes not.

then, i choose which angles i want to fill with color. i exacto paint chips (free from maine hardware!) to fit in precisely & adhere with a chunky glue stick.

now comes the mod podge...

layer after layer, 20 or 30 times, i always like the result of it. it kinda of reminds me of the look of encaustic, that waxy opaque dreamy medium that i have no idea how to accomplish....but i like the results...

i will post more pictures of these. they are little (usually) chunks of old wood, that i consider sculptures more than anything. they are color diagrams tho, & they are what i like to do now. they satisfy me. i am drawn to them.

amelie's little piece

2008-03-25T20:47:00.002-05:00

this is amelie's. it's got has a piece of canvas that she painted & sharpied and a photo transfer of a b & w photo of her that didn't work out...at all! but i stitched both into a little piece that turned out really sweet...i added cotton batting & a heavy muslin backing...i'll put in a photo of the finished piece upcoming.

hmmm...more little pieces.

2008-03-20T21:16:00.006-05:00

well, this is working for now. taking up lots of different bits scattered around the ironing board, amelie's bureau & the scraps crate & putting them together....where did they all come from? have i been sewing little bits all this time? i guess i have. all these elements that were just piling up. with the 2 i've done, i realize that they are going to have to get a bit messier, a bit bolder, to really pack some passion.

it's friday and the wind is whipping cold. 50mph or something. amels & i are hunkered in the bunker. i'm sneaking off occasionally to add another layer of mod podge mat matte to this wooden piece i'm working on & amelie is lining up her dolls and trying to lay down a little blanket over them again and again and again...

the little piece

2008-03-19T19:38:00.005-05:00

i have so many remnants hanging around...little pieces of drawn, painted or assembled riff-raff & they are desperately in need of being sewn in & brought together. so i'm making small pieces. they are about 18"x18", around there. they're "quilted", but they are not quilts. what are they? little pieces, i guess. i always am playing around with ideas of how to show them...in a shadowbox? (best idea, i think) with a dowel stuck thru the back? (worst idea, i know)

anyway, this one is called heal. the more i look at, the more simple it looks. it's the curse of looking at your work too much. at the time when i was making it, yesterday, it was a very quiet, calming & centering feeling. i don't need to second guess that after it's done.

and a close up: (stitching on top of a photo transfer of a drawing from my sketchbook)

and here's a picture of the mouthy critic....cuzamano (kooz-a-manno), getting his tail all in a puff.

and so let me throw this out in the air...is fiber work art or craft? a big piece of that for me is presentation. i don't like the idea of "craft", but that is just my shallow thinking clutching on to the word's negative connotations of our day. a century ago, what were the connotations then? was fiber utilitarian and simply functional, rather than a piece of "art", albeit a painting or sculpture, something to ponder on and find beauty in alone, period? am i organizing my thought pattern enough? i will revisit this topic.

taking panes show, richmond, maine

2008-03-17T20:42:00.009-05:00

yesterday, we drove up to richmond (45 minutes north of portland) to go to a show organized by my former next door neighbor, richard lee.

he works in the old ames mill building and one day, during an art class, he heard construction noises going on & found out that outside, workers were replacing some of the old windows. richard acquired 20 or more & distributed them to local artists to create what they would with them within a short time period. this resulted in him organizing this show which he set up on the entire third floor of the building.

i had heard about this through my friend, arlene morris, who sent me her postcard on the event...she had a window.

so we get there and the place is overflowing with people.

my camera konked out half way thru and i hadn't even gotten the pictures i had wanted. i will have to go back.

so you had to weave your way thru all the panes. they were covered in paintings or fabrics or mounted with welded pieces. some people had blown out all the panes and hung things from their frames. one had birdhouses hanging where each pane had been. several had taken out the old glass and made stained glass pieces. one was completely the same as when it was taken out. arlene's had faces peering thru the glass with built up hand made paper she had ripped and drawn on. richard's had three sashes hinged together, snaking thru the maze. and then at the end, at the far wall of the gallery, in the sun, was david maclaughlin's...a deconstruction piece, with imprints of him all over...

great.

richard gave a speech, amelie ate cheese, i saw familiar faces that were 10 years older & everyone listened.

it was an event. a good show.

pottery beach

2008-03-14T06:42:00.007-05:00

welcome to the land of pottery beach....david & i found this little little scruffy beach on the side of 5 islands lobster shack up in georgetown, maine many many moons ago...we were just walking around and ended up on it & we were struck by how much pottery we found in this one area...the place was just saturated. this was right about 1995 & we were on a serious mosaic jag...we were sticking shards of pottery on everything...i even did a small wall in my house in georgetown when i lived there & david & i actually applied a mosaic to a dried out stump...it was a garden piece! stumpy!

yesterday while amelie & i were making a delivery for john up in waldoboro, we had the opportunity to stop in there (only 20 miles out of the way) & as usual, there was an overflowing abundance of pottery. i love that different beaches have different finds. east end beach: tiny seaglass & old bottles. scarboro beach: big smooth round stones, giant shells & sand dollars. pottery beach: pottery & large chunks of seaglass. like going shopping--go get what you need!

here's the lobster shack....great place for a summer meal...go before sundown or YOU will be eaten for dinner by the mosquitos...

and here are my favorites...

i've got the ceramic tile adhesive out....mosaic mercury is climbing....

how do you spell mosaiced? mosaiked?

more photo transfers

2008-03-12T07:58:00.008-05:00

this is a sketch of the part of the portland skyline from bug's light in south portland....on one of those columnar pads. but shown here, it's been copied onto a piece of linen! awesome. (really need to stop using that word. in need of new exclamations.)

and then just copies of some great pictures: 2 of amelie.....love both of them--on the right is one john took that one in his shop this past fall and on the left is on the back deck last summer...she has a black eyed susan clipped to the top of her head, just the way i like it! and in the lower left is 1 of my my maternal grandparents, charlie and elsie shorter, taken in cocoa beach, florida in the 1970's. they were livin large then, retired, spending summers at camp in millinocket, maine and winters down there where grandpa played golf everyday and gandma knit everything in sight and they lived a block from the beach...

this is a whole new medium. now i can copy anything onto fabric. totally cool.

hello transferring images to fabric...finally!

2008-03-12T07:14:00.005-05:00

after two days of trying 6 different techniques for photo transfer, i finally got it to work very very well! how gratifying! and i took all these pictures, but now my computer is crapping out and i can't upload them to the blog....i've been trying since last night. one uploaded this morning, so i'm quitting while i've got one to go on...

this is just a page from my sketchbook that i copied onto a pice of linen...and it turned out crystal clear! excellent.

i used this product called "bubble jet set 2000" to soak my fabric in & then i let it drip dry. then i ironed on sheets of freezer paper and ran them through the printer....there were some paper jams, but wow, it works really well. i'm gonna do a bunch more today and hopefullly get some more images uploaded (c'mon blogger!).

the saturday afternoon painters

2008-03-09T01:06:00.004-05:00

i absolutely love painting with kids when there are no rules and they can just explore the materials. i was teaching at oak street studio downtown, but classes were structured on lessons pertaining to art history references & techniques, which is incredibly valuable and amaazing in results. but there is something to be said for play through art as well. and when someone who hasn't done a lot of creative work comes in a picks up a paintbrush, only success can happen. even if the child has had a lot of art experience, still, that time of free expression is an empowering opportunity.

so this is my nephew (teddy), amelie and my niece (jessi).
i taped their work up on the cupboards of the kitchen & basked in their genius.
hopefully we can make this a regular happenin. good for all.

our first sand dollar together (!), scarboro beach

2008-03-06T20:13:00.006-05:00

i've been waiting for the day when i can show amelie a sand dollar, honestly, i've been looking. and this morning as we were walking scarboro beach in the balmy 40 degree weather, i thought to myself it didn't matter if we found one today or not, we would eventually. and swear to kharma that no more than 10 seconds went by, and there it was, smack in our path. to tell the truth, amels didn't seem too too interested as i made her hold it and i was like "hold it up!" & "show it to the camera!" yeah yeah.....she was more interested in seeing how many smooth stones fit in her hand...

she was a sport tho, i mean she humoured me. it was a gorgeous morning. normally i go to ferry beach which is on the other side of this point of land and it's more of a protected inlet that you drive right up to. scarboro beach, especially in winter, is more of a serious undertaking. you have to park on the street and walk in, about a quarter to a half mile (red-winged blackbirds called back & forth across the marsh land that we walked over), and then, there in front of you, THE SEA. you hear the waves cracking before the ocean is within view. it's a happening. and no picture could possibly project what i saw and experienced...it's just beyond film....

and besides jax, amelie & myself, there were a swarm of surfers catchin some tasty waves. they look kinda like seals in the photo below or now that i look at this again, they really look like NOTHING, but i wanted to include this picture, because it gives a better feel for the maine coast. maybe not. hmmm. oh well. regardless of capturing surfers in maine, it was especially invigorating to be there. i had to carry amelie all the way back to the car as well as a hat full of shells & stones. the sand dollar was safe on my inner fleece pocket and made it home unscathed. banner day, la la la!

leonora johnson, my great grandmother

2008-03-05T21:31:00.004-05:00

this is a photo of my great grandmother leonora. she was my father's grandmother on his mother's side and her picture has been piquing my thoughts as of late...

i have just started going over the extended family's histories thanks to my father and his years and years and decades and decades of tireless research and passion for geneology. he has spent hundreds of hours of work in libraries and town halls searching for records both nationally and internationally. he's spent countless excursions visiting cemeteries and plotting out maps of burial plots of our family. he's corresponded with and taken oral histories from family members. he has diaries, photographs, letters, records, and ephemera from the past 250 years. and he's organized. very organized. and i'm completely and entirely astounded, amazed and heartfully attached to him.

so more about leonora...she was my grandmother's ("ginger's") mother. per my father, in her early years, she was quite a "robust" woman who married twice, loved life and had a good time.
after her first husband died and she separated from her second when she took ill, she moved into my grandparents house and lived there for 30 years. my father grew up with her. he called her "gramps" and talks of her very fondly, even though she butted heads with my conservative grandfather by constantly undermining his authority. she was loud, not afraid to state her opinion and as my dad says, a "fly in ointment." he says if she had a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, she was happy. he remembers her when his folks would leave the house and she'd be pulling out the liquor and smoking away...she was a bad influence! but a good soul. my dad says she was sick for 25 years with an unknown sickness and lost too much weight. he thinks when she died, in her 80's, that she weighed a mere 75 pounds, so the photo above showed a woman that he didn't remember.

going over geneology with my dad is a precious thing and i am a fortunate girl.

the photo moves me, the style of dress, the upswept hair....and when i look at her i see ginger and my cousin stuart in her...so interesting to see our relatives through other relatives, carrying on and on parts of each other.

i had first heard stories about her from ginger, my grandmother, about how she taught her to sew....how they would work everyday in an attic and sew clothes for the whole family and sometimes other people as well...my father filled me in today telling me a bit more, saying that after leonora's first husband died, she converted the house into a boarding home and moved her and her children up to the attic to live...my father recalls ginger saying that at night she could see the stars through the slats in the roof....that's how houses were built....no insulation in the attic and so the winters were very cold indeed. bits and pieces. that's what you learn and what you can pass on if someone is there to receive it.

winter into spring...

2008-03-04T22:20:00.004-05:00

today was over 40 degrees and people in maine just loooooove that in the beginning of march! a scarf? bah! who needs it? my coat? ick! amelie swaddled in so many layers she can't move? not today, no not today. it was a gentle freedom affecting every part of the day.

i stopped trying so hard at everything today. i slowed down and frolicked around the pool rather than doing the solid scissor kick for 20 minutes to try and reduce the size of my thighs....and i floated...there was no need to race, even though we had plans immediately following swimming--it didn't matter. and that carried on, through our date with shea & sasha at the children's museum and then to the coffeeshop...

at home tonite i had time to sketch and jax was an available model until i really started getting into it and he rolled over....but that's absolutely ok....i just added some flowers and mandala of blue blooms and just painted with amelie's favorite pal, "kit-tee", looking over the page. really nice, really cozy-homey.

tonite the forecast is for freezing rain and hilary is the projected winner of super tuesday in rhode island....uh-oh.

the line-up

2008-03-02T20:18:00.003-05:00

saturday morning, i was just sipping my first mug of coffee, seriously, and i looked up and realized that amelie had set up four seating implements right next to each other. and then she was setting up dolls in each one of them....besides thinking that a poltergeist had occurred, i promptly got it on camera and was really impressed by her initiative. and even more impressive, but not in the picture, is cuzamano, the terminator kitty, who was seated in his carrying case (made of a leopard fleece covered metal frame), just to the left of all this.

so from left to right, we have dolly, and then (another) dolly again, then lola, then amelie.
good times.

orange

2008-02-28T22:13:00.002-05:00

orange is not a favorite color of mine, but it is definitely endearing itself to me as of late.

a week or so i found this butterfly (stitched in burlap) that i had made several years ago and i pulled it out and put it on top of the to do pile...it had a bit of orange in it and i made it into a purse tonight and lined the bag with an orange gingham that i had.

also within the last week i received a letter from my alma mater (it was actually an invite to a happening on campus) and the envelope was made out of orange vellum! it was gorgeous and felt so lovely in my hands....so i cut it up (!) and put it into this collage shown in the next picture on the right...

also, another interesting orange connection...amelie and i were drawing with the crayons that marie gave her, and i picked out this killer orange and the name of it? macaroni & cheese. nice.

i need to explore more in orange.

a giant exhale of relaxation

2008-02-26T21:20:00.004-05:00

amelie & i delivered some wood up to albion, maine (15 miles outside of waterville) for john and after that was done, we had the gracious gift of having a free afternoon and evening to do whatever we wanted....
we drove to the coast immediately and began to mosey south....starting in belfast then going through northport and lincolnville and then to camden, where we parked it and walked around. these pictures are so gray! i swear it seemed like the brightest day i 'd seen in a while...it was incredibly energizing to be in new surroundings where we knew no one...what a freedom.
we were hanging out by these falls, down behind the main street and all the shops and restaurants are closed for the season and i look around and i see the lord camden inn...right on main street and i'm wondering if they are open.....and we cross the street to get a better look and there's a banner on the door saying welcome and walk-in winter guests welcome! so we go in, just to check it out.....

there was a fire burning in the fireplace in the lobby and after talking to the concierge, she gave me a key to room 205 to check it out.....the rates were very inexpensive....and we walked up to this room, in the corner, and it was lovely....pure and true. windows on two sides, one with a walk out deck (this is the view from the deck), a beautiful overstuffed bed, a flat screen tv (with a dvd player for the charlie & lola i had tucked in my bag), and a bathroom built for the queen of the day, moi. oh yes, we were totally taking this room.
so we signed in, parked the truck (it took up 2 spaces!) and went to our room.
there is something about this action, getting the room and shutting the door, like a giant exhale...i have not been away from home for a long time, where i'm on my own and just going where i desire. i was blissed out.
amelie & i had dinner at peter ott's tavern, where we split a huge juicy burger, and then we went back to the room & snuggled down in that huge delicious bed....god, that was fantastic. that too, was like a giant exhale...

amelie got to watch charlie & lola in style. after she passed out, i got yet another gift of 3 back-to-back episodes of project runway...perfecto....then a soft landing into slumbers...

this morning we continued south through my past, rockport, waldoboro, edgecomb, wiscasset, woolwich and bath....here we are driving by the iron works as we're coming into bath. and here's the town on the right side of the bridge...

i really can't get over how dreary it looks now, from my laptop back at home. i had a rejuvenating time, be it in under 24 hours...it was just what i needed. in a huge way. and tonite, when i lay down on my squashy lumpy mattress, i will pretend i'm back in that soft soft bed, snuggled next to my amelie...ahhhhhhhh.......

the next snowstorm

2008-02-22T15:17:00.007-05:00

this morning we were going to go swimming as usual, but amelie was pulling the pancake monster all over the place (when she doesn't get what she wants and goes and lays down on the floor and cries) and getting her dressed....well, it took longer than usual. so instead, we just went downtown to deliver new products to edith & edna to see if they would nibble....brandi won't be back til sunday, so i'll find out next week. but i dropped off 2 bags of stuff and in one were 7 flannel hats, one of which amelie is sporting above.

i also took down a quilt and some fabric books and some purses. edith & edna looks incredible...the store has become fiercer in it's look and has definitely honed in on their style. i love it. the downstairs is now creative central with delicious books and an art gallery and homemade kids clothes that would make you want one even if you didn't want one. oy...

we also went to videoport and rented a new charlie & lola and came home...the snow had already started...very light...and we had some chicken noodle soup and i put amels in the swing and she fell asleep!

this is part of the kitchen...i love the prayer flags by nance parker....she found these blocks for sale in guatamala and paid one dollar each and she made up these banners. i love them. i will take a close up in days to come...

and here is the snow falling out the window....they say only 5", but maybe it will be more....time for some white mocha....!

my niece jessi & amelie

2008-02-21T23:12:00.004-05:00

jessi is 6 years old, lives in falmouth just up the road and is my most favorite niece! she comes over on saturdays to hang out and make art or dress up or sew or jump on the bed. i've been within "range" of her since she was born, so we have a close relationship and now with amelie here, things have grown even more. so anyway, a couple of weeks ago, jessi shows up wearing a classic skirt-over-the-pants outfit (one of my absolutely supremely favorite looks) and i was all excited and amelie started pointing at herself saying "amelie? amelie?" like she wanted to wear the same thing. so we riffled through her drawers and came up with a pretty similar combo and she was thrilled. and i grabbed the camera toute de suite.

sometimes when jessi comes over, she goes off and plays with amelie and i get ALL the dishes done or the laundry COMPLETELY folded or dinner TOTALLY prepared. that girl is a gem. i love having her over. then later on, jeff (my big brother and jessi's dad) arrives with my nephew teddy and we all hang out for a smidge. i like the coming and going of family and the use of our house and the relationships being forged like a foundation. having kids around is good for what ails in a winter full of winter. and all other seasons.

jessi is absolutely all into hello kitty and her 12 webkinz. and thank goodness for her cause i had no idea what a webkinz was and i saw signs for them everywhere so she really enlightened me. she loves drawing kitties and she especially likes her neighbor isabelle.

i love that girl.

local hero~Sandy MacLeod

2008-02-20T23:17:00.008-05:00

a couple of years ago i was just learning about sculptor mark disuvero ...saw an article about his work at the storm king art center in an art mag, saw a show in nyc and, in general, loved his usage of heavy old wood and metal and old parts and pieces and nuts and bolts and more. it was just around the time i met john and started to hang out with him down at his shop , which was chock full of such acquisitions. something so inspiring about old things...anyway, john told me about sandy macleod , a local guy who used to actually work at the storm king art center and worked with disuvero as well...sandy would go down to john's place to get old salvage pieces from time to time. i met sandy when john introduced us one night in a loud crowded restaurant where the artist was eating alone on a friday night and i'm sure he would have no idea who i am, but i've been quiet fan for a long time...he had a piece down at the maine state pier that was all red painted steel and quite simple and it wasn't my favorite, but the other day on a trek with jax down at the park by popeye's ice shack, i came upon all these sculptures that i knew were sandy's....and they are wonderful.

that's jax moseying in the background, as my friend david noticed, probably ready to take a pee any time, but isn't the sculpture great?

so you're walking around this park and there is a part where you can go down some stairs towards the south portland bridge and wind around back up and so i did and there was this sculpture down there that couldn't even be seen from above. again, a presence that was grand and breathtaking...
and the view from the tail end up!

yesterday amelie fell asleep in the car and i drove over there and sketched that first one...
(amelie did the drawing on the left side of my sketchbook later in the day which i loved and immediately pasted into my sketchbook)

anyway, this sandy macleod...he's got it going on.

mr. zimet

2008-02-19T20:08:00.003-05:00

about 6 years ago, when i was looking for work, i found an ad for a part-time housekeeper/personal assistant which would pay $25/hour and i called immediately. it happened to be the phone number of a mrs. zimet, who was looking for help for her husband of 55 years who had just moved out and was living on his own in downtown portland...they were still married, just driving each other crazy. how odd?? she described him as "gruff" and a bit stubborn. i was completely intrigued....sounded perfect.
when i met, he was all i could have wished for....very tall in stature, vocabulary of a scholar, drove a fabulous convertible and had incredible books and artwork. and his humor was dry, completely parched. he loved not letting on that he was joking--you had to catch him and start laughing and then he would roar! he was loud and could really take up a room.
i would clean and organize his apartment, help him with decorating and sit with him by his desk and file his paperwork for him. i usually would work a few times a week and i would be there with the plant lady who did all his watering. she was ok.
he had great taste too. he was 75 and i was 33 and we were reading the same books and discussing philosophy and trying to figure out how to save the world by laughing as much as we could.
mr. zimet was an architect and developer. he was from toronto and he told me of his first success when he took over a track of land and developed it into these very modern apartments. i asked him how it was received and he said, "oh jen, it took off like a song...." that phrase has always stayed with me, long after mr. zimet and me worked together, long after mr. zimet has been gone.
i am making a piece right now, a getting-back-on-track piece, that i am calling "it took off like a song" in honor of mr. zimet and his philosophy that things can be achieved--you're damn right!- and you gotta work at it, but let's be a bit wacky too and lighten up!
so this one is for you, mr. z. and more to come, i'm sure.

twinkles

2008-02-18T12:45:00.003-05:00

this is twinkles the cat, after a Charlie & Lola episode "Boo! Made You Jump!" there is this small kitty hiding in a very scary old castle. it was very very terrifically cute. so i paused the video, did a sketch and then set about to make the little thing.

i'm realizing that i'm quite infatuated and consumed with this series. i'm not sure if i'm bordering on "a problem", but it's really fun to fall in love with a character and then try and create it. amelie is goofy about it. she loves seeing them come to life. but she can't say twinkles, so the kitty is known as "tinkles" in our house. awesome.

sick day

2008-02-16T08:21:00.002-05:00

amelie still sick & i am getting a tad bit of cabin fever...we have still been going out: to the beach so jax can romp & we can collect sea glass, to the grocery & to the library for loooong periods of time, but the pool is out for now and long treks have been put off til she's better. so we do a lot at home. yesterday i made some coloring sheets for her with sharpie on vellum. it was good for a time!

and there were some leftover valentine's cookies to munch on. amelie scraped off the frosting the best she could and left the rest.
these were really fun to make--refrigerator sugar cookies that you roll up in parchment and chill and then slice and bake. and i found a huge cache of cookie cutters that i didn't know i had that will keep us cookie ready in the months to come.

the sewing nook last night

2008-02-14T07:41:00.004-05:00

after i had wrapped things up last night (finishing off the hat i started, fixing up the collage for john for v-day, and swept up all the threads and bits on the floor) i took a couple of pictures of the sewing nook. i've been spending time in here. & during the daytime, i give amelie a giant jar of buttons and a muffin tin and she sorts and plays with it for a chunk of time. the cat wanders in to scratch the couch, and jax lazily saunters in a plops on the throw rug he's not supposed to be on. it's a very tiny room, all the way in the back of the apartment. and it's absolutely the snuggiest coziest place to be on a frigid day. at night, after amels is asleep, i go there and listen to music and quiet down from the day. good ju ju.
behind the sewing machine is my focal point for what i want my mindset to be. i put up the pieces and pictures that embody my dreams and dynamic future! i have an old picture of my mom's folks, some quotes, some success stories, and in general, inspirational "things".

although i'm not the tidiest person, i do love a good thread rack and i do love to organize by color...it's like when i first started painting and bought my colors one at a time until i had a good palette going....one time i remember counting 21 colors and i was very proud of that, like they were important acquisitions. same thing with the threads. and now that i have a whole color vocabulary, it makes it really nice when i start sewing and i need a special color (other than black) and i have it! small pleasures.
and here is my biggest sewing nook fan....jax. completely and totally comfortable and in for the long haul. what a good pup.

let's paint! ....ok, kitty too...

2008-02-11T16:50:00.001-05:00

just as soon as the paint was out on the dish, amelie stuck her fingers in, wiped her face & ran them through her hair! of course. let the fun begin.

i had wanted to be able to sit down and paint on a scrap of fabric to add to the collaged piece i'm making, but that went quickly out the window as i just got into playing with brushes, water, the cat and the paints with amelie and we had an absolutely perfect time.

she seems to be preferring purple, like her auntie deb, so we had to mix up a big blob of that. she was more impressed, after washing the brush in the water, that the water was purple. then i had the brilliant idea to put a little paint on kitty's nose. i turned around for a millisecond in which amelie was showing strong artistic flair as she painted the kitty's paws, whiskers and ears. kitty ran away. when i saw him tonite, he was clean. like you could never tell....what the???? and below is amelie, the finished portrait. with hands as messy as this, it has definitely been a juicy day:

more bags

2008-02-08T08:34:00.000-05:00

i've gotten a bunch of bags done now...here are 2 more...

now that i'm making time to work everyday (well, every night), it's much more facilitating to get things done. amelie even does other things while i'm sewing, like play with all her stuffed animals in the window seat or i can give her a big jug of buttons and a muffin tin and she just sorts and sorts and sorts. granted that doesn't happen all the time, but it's a big change from just a couple of months ago.

it's been snowing for days now and amelie and i both have colds which is the perfect excuse to stay in and get things done around here. so far, there have been 7 loads of laundry done, 9 drawers and 1 closet cleaned out, and outgrown clothes of amelie's put aside for the lots for tots.

maybe today we'll do some painting.

a small LOLA obsession

2008-02-06T07:48:00.001-05:00

my daughter is nuts over lola from the BBC series charlie & lola and i have to say, i follow close behind. lauren child is the creator of it all and she has books out that follow their adventures.
we just by chance took out a video on them a few months ago and amelie immediately fell in love with the characters....and she says "woh-la" for lola & it's about the cutest pronunciation ever.
for her 2nd birthday, i made her this lola doll. when she first saw it, she said oh, woh-la! and went over and gave her a kiss. that was all i needed. now she drags her around and usually sits in her lap. but for this picture, she is completely totally being very polite and allowing lola to sit on her own.
making this doll was a great experience, getting back and spending time in the sewing room.
and oh, how we love woh-la.

a willa hat to top it off

2008-02-05T00:20:00.000-05:00

with this little sweetness 2 today, things in the household are surprisingly off in a most positively positive fashion...the sewing machine has kicked it into high gear, finished products are being put out there & there has been time to do what needs to be done.
this hat was inspired by a 5 year old girl named willa who i have known for a long time. she is a supercool child who is a most kind and caring and she loves black sharpie markers....need i say more? we were attending her bowl-a-rama party and needed a gift...so i made the original design for her, with this same fabric (once a simply fabulous jacket). well, there was plenty of that pink corduroy to continue the trend. i zoomed through 3 more and they are all for a 21" head, usually for 2-5 year olds. get one today here!
and there are more hats and more inspiring girls and boys behind the inspiration to come. coming soon....

Etsy Shop Open & Blogging Back...!

2008-01-22T12:23:00.001-05:00

Here we are, back on track...and ready for business....I have just started uploading images to my shop on Etsy, so watch for the additions from now on....you can find me here.
I'm making little kitty handbags, soft fabric books, baby slings, hats, cards, quilt & whatever else hits my fancy.
In my absence to the blog and being seriously crafty, I was working at a local art studio for children, teaching classes. Now the focus is back on my art and being at home.
I've wanted to sell on Etsy for a long time now, so let this be a beginning with a bang! Cheers!

I'm Coming Back

2008-01-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

I am percolating with ideas and items for sale on the etsy shop. It's been a loooong hiatus and well, it's OVER. Time to get it on!

altered books

2007-04-24T10:07:00.000-05:00

what does a mama have a lot of? children's books....everywhere....but that is a good thing. and it led me to finding many at goodwill and salvation army that are cheap cheap cheap. i really like the sizes and feel of the thick chunky cardboard book for kids and have been buying them now whenever i see them...but they are not for amelie...they are for me! i love books, paper, journals and sketchbooks and wanted to make some of my own...but all the handmade ones on the market look soo similar to me and boring...the sewed up bindings, the extra heavy watercolor paper as pages...so i thought i could re-do these little numbers..

and viola! here are a few in the same design group...the funky paper i found in the san francisco area last october and then for the rest i used different pieces of graph paper, cause i really love drawing on that...
i'm trying to get the application of the papers down because so so many of the glues just slide off the slick surface of these books. so finally i'm using sand paper to give the pages some "tooth" and then applying papers with YES glue and then coating them all down with the ever wonderful mod podge mat matte. hopefully it will all stick.

here's a little charlie hewitt (according to me!)

2007-04-02T19:30:00.000-05:00

on the last day of the charlie hewitt exhibit at the olin arts center at bates college, amelie & i finally made it up to lewiston, maine to see the show.
i have been admiring and purchasing charlie hewitt work for about 10 years now. (that sounds pretty good....actually, i only bought one of his pieces....a small ceramic wall piece, but it still counts!) i have seen his shows & work mostly at the june fitzpatrick gallery intown, but a lot of other galleries for individual pieces. he is a maine native (born in lewiston) and now lives in nyc, in the bowery district. i just like the way that sounds. the bowery. he is a printmaker, painter, sculptor and artist in many more ways than i could possibly know about...
he had a lecture at maine college of art about 2 months ago that i eagerly went to, but amelie unraveled and wanted to explore every inch of the gallery we were in while loudly exclaiming "errr....bbbbeeee-yurrrr....bbbbeeeee-yurrr", so we left. later when i told alex, she said i should have stayed, that charlie was a father of a young boy and couldn't care less...oh well, no looking back at this point.
but i love his work.
his iconography reminds me of philip guston with nails, fingers, pipes...it has an industrial feel. i was thrilled to see that some of his work had been painted and printed, cut apart and then sewn back together in a different arrangement. awesome.
the greatest thing was that no one was there except the nice attendant who showed me the book from the show and still had one that was signed by him that i promptly got my paws on before we left. i put amelie on the floor with my open purse for her to unload and disassemble, which she did a brilliant job at, while i cruised the exhibit, sketching while i went.
it was ____________! (are there words?)
anyway, here's some of the sketches:

great show. so glad we went.
the past few weeks i have been recovering from a pinched nerve in my neck and a cold. all seems pretty fine at this point.
hallelujah.
this week starts a new semester at oak street studio. i'm teaching 2 classes and assisting at 2. i'm in! it's great. teaching the little kids and getting messy with paint feels right right now.
see you soon.

century girl by lauren redniss

2007-03-14T21:36:00.001-05:00

this book is amazing! a drawing/collaging/antique photo dream....and handwriting too. and it was at the library. i became immediately inspired and firstly, i got out the fabric to do a sewn portrait on the machine of one of the photos...

is this not an incredible costume? this book is about a women named doris eaton travis, who performed with the zeigfield follies and had a long career of dance and performance. she lived to be over 100...and i hate to say it, but the woman who created this book is the artist in my eyes. i love the way she sets up pages and writes little notes and it just looks fresh and inviting...

so this is my machine-embroidered version...not sure what i will make it into. last one i did, i actually put it on a piece of john's reclaimed wood...the two materials are pretty opposite, but the age of the wood brings the piece back a little. i did make pillows as well, a lot of them in fact, but i really find pillows boring compared to a piece that would hang on the wall. hopefully there will be more to come~

the doll project--#2

2007-03-03T18:47:00.000-05:00

here's doll #2....what to do with these things! i need some inspiration....this one came with a hollowed out bible and a story how this "doll" was born an evangelical christian in california and had an out of control problem buying too many socks...oh my! crazyness. it's made of two gourds, with embedded bottlecaps in the body....

i was thinking of tattoing something on it or added words in a branding-type fashion. or i may fill up the hollowed out bible with this doll's stash of socks...

i had a great conversation with alex about this, thursday night at drawing. we were talking about how this project is bringing up many issues around our reactions to each doll we receive, our views of femininity and what we want to do to these pieces. we were talking about how on the first pieces we received we just wanted to obliterate what was before us and how we were repulsed by them--alex covered hers with a scarf for 2 weeks before she could look at it....i put mine back in the box...ugh. we are learning a lot about our creative process. how we deal with them. what we each find important about this.

i think for me, firstly, i just wanted to be involved in a collaborative work. i did a ton of collaborations at spindleworks, and i worked through many feelings of having to share and feeling like what someone else did screwed it up. in the end, they were all lessons on letting things go. secondly, i love dolls and to me, they represent the primitive art of women over the centuries: making pieces to give to children or as things to symbolize their feelings or as strength induced deities. (ok, that was a bad sentence, grammatically--please excuse!)

need to make more dolls. and not collaborative ones. but for my daughter. for myself. for tradition. for stitching's sake.

quiet monday

2007-02-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

these are after some birds i found in a children's book when i was at work, assisting in an art class for kids at oak street studios, and i'm sorry to saY i don't know the artist (which is really poor) & i shouldn't even put them up here, but they are so fun and silly i love them...i wish i could be more whimsical in my work, when i want to be..i find that very challenging & it's hard to admit...in working as a designer for this company, whimsical was in and i always thought i would be able to just whip up something whimsical, but it was just not meant to be. i do like these birds and will give props to the artist after i get back into oak street next week (this week is school vacation--no class).

and then this is from the other day (last wednesday) during the snowstorm...the "valentine northeaster" which was really no big whoop...but i took amelie for a drive early on, to promote nappage (which successfully worked) and we drove through evergreen cemetary...a good place for a snowy drive....every little sideway and road was plowed and amelie got to see the ducks chowing down (they had just been fed--a nice surprise) outside the car before she nodded off. but looking at the gravestones....some of them are just exquisite. that is an art. these incredible markers. i have much to do there. anyway, i love the picture above with amelie & my hands on the page....
quiet, quiet monday.

the doll project--#1 & what i added

2007-02-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

so here are the fallopian tubes i made to attach to this doll head...i think it's a head, and now that i attached, the tubes look more like a bow tie or something. it feels completely disjointed to me and i am pretty unsatisfied...but this is what i got and this is what my hands created and that's really it. it will be very interesting to see this doll in it's completion!

and i just had to add this pic of the "drain" that was embedded into the upper part of the backside of this piece when i received it....it really made me crazy. i kept feeling uncomfortable about having a metal piece against this soft fluffy base. i didn't touch it--hopefully someone else will address it.

pretty freaky, eh? these are not your grandma's dolls!

the doll project--#1

2007-02-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

the doll project is a collaboration of 18 women & 18 dolls-in-the-making....there are 3 groups of 6 women each, and within each group, each woman starts a "doll" and then mails it to the next woman on the list. and so on. 5 times & then the doll you started gets sent back to you.

so we have just started the process...

this is what i received in the mail about a month ago to work on:

it is about 14" from top to bottom of the stick. i had a month to work on it...well, it sat dormant and shrouded for at least 3 weeks, but i was really thinking about it a lot...john & i had many good discussions about it....would i add to the ugliness? would i try to pretty it up? i thought it was so ugly & so disturbing...

i mean, what the heck was i going to add to this? and i didn't even show the oddest part of this, but on the upper back of this "head" is a tiny inlaid drain....smaller than a the metal piece you put in your kitchen sink to catch all the crud, but still, the same idea...

the piece seemed angry and ugly all at once. the creator wrote that she was working on facial and genital issues---as she put it, "always (my) dichotomy".

and lo & behold, it looks like a face, but it has a penis-looking piece and an anus looking piece to it and around what looks like the mouth area is smudged with a dirty looking color...yucky yucky yucky.

this is quite the challenge.

i constantly changed my ideas of what to add....a mask? a piece of fabric? kitty ears? what? a condom?? a strap-on? what?

the creator also wrote about using what you had at hand to make your addition, so i stuck to the sewing area & pulled out pieces of gessoed canvas strips and started playing around with them...a little later i was thinking something twisted around the stick...and then i thought intestines...(i wanted it to relate to how i felt about this "thing"--to me it was a bit androgenous, as both male & female parts together eliminated each other.)...but then i came about attaching a set of fallopian tubes out of these canvas strips that i stitched together and stuffed and twisted....we'll see how it turns out. should be interesting?

picture to post tomorrow if i get my act together!! (have to get it out to the next person on the list!)

ciao!

may everyday be valentine's day

2007-02-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

last nite on the news, when the newscasters were down at the local grocery store, they were interviewing people getting their valentine's day gifts early, due to this huge impending northeaster on it's way. one lady commented that she didn't need to get all crazy buying stuff for the holiday because "everyday was valentine's day" at her house....i liked that.

of course, we were part of the ones that were stocking up for the storm and i picked up ready made cookie dough and decorations for today. nothing was made from scratch, as i am a little sad to report.

but it would be a good idea to keep the thought of what valentine's day signifies all year long, especially when i turn into the crazy pms mama on occasion.

anyway, here's the cookies that amels & i made for papa.

love love love

life drawing thursdays

2007-02-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

last nite karen modeled for us....she reminds me of helena bonham-carter because she has dark hair & small well defined features & she is petite....a very soft-spoken soul.

last night was kind of quiet & soft spoken as well....the studio was still & the mood was sleepy.

i am still obsessed with black paper & colored pencils...i know that is my comfort zone. but i am almost out of the paper & need to go to the supply store for more materials. maybe i will try something a bit different for next week.

my friend & former boss, arlene, always believed in pushing yourself past your comfort zone. she always challenged the new media as more extensions of your artistic dialogue. i know i have the few instruments i count on for survival: the sharpies, the brown paper bags, the black paper, colored pencils--to name some. i don't have much desire for new media for life drawing, but i'll spend some time & look.

life drawing thursdays

2007-02-02T07:47:00.000-05:00

last night we had lexxie oh lexxie, that fine tattoed lady model for us...i don't think any of these drawings have even a smidge of these, but her entire back and shoulders and back of her thighs were covered...she even had wings tattoed on her back. she is an illustration major at MeCA and she has bleach blond hair with black roots, the biggest angelina jolie lips i had ever seen and piercings in some interesting places...

about 1/2 way through the session, lexxie put on this huge crinoline 3-tiered skirt to wear, which was really fun...in this next drawing, i just looked at her and let my hand draw her without looking at the page...that way, i think it captures some essence about the person and/or pose...

and then in the next drawing, i focused in and tried to capture her face...i drew her face so many times last night...it's such a challenge to capture skin!

again, i'm living for this little time every thursday night. amen.

john's birthday

2007-01-30T12:37:00.000-05:00

late in the evening early last week, i finally had some time where i wasn't destined to be cleaning, doing laundry or passing out on the couch and i made my way down to the studio to work with some pieces of wood for a change....also, john's birthday was on the horizon, and making him pieces of art is so gratifying and satisfying for me as well as him....

all of the wood pieces came together in a blink of an eye and they are all pieces that i have salvaged from john's yard or he has brought them home to me if they seemed interesting...

i added the bottle and remnant of an old bracelet i had for some obvious beauty and softness, and found the dried flowers in just the right colors. at first i was thinking to buy a daisy or other flower, but then the dried looked so pretty.

it's called "connection".

i think he liked it.
and working in the studio was beyond great.
and working in this assemblage style is one of my true passions.

life drawing thursdays, posted on monday

2007-01-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

ok. getting back on track with a bit of retroactive posting....this is from last thursday nite, at the drawing room...it turned out it was only alex & i drawing josh, this great model who posed clothed for us, something i thoroughly enjoyed....while drawing the nude is a timeless endeavor, something that has been done for ages upon ages, i have always loved drawing people with their clothes ON, as that is more telling of the times we live in. it was completely refreshing and alex had incredible music playing....the shawshank redemption soundtrack and some brazilian evocative musings....our model was a music afficianado, as he has worked at bull moose music for 5 years and it got him, well, in the mood as well....

he really played up the expressions on his face and gave us stories rather than mere figure studies....

kudos. very inspiring. and after a week of being mama and working here & there, these 3 hours felt like i traveled to a different country and back. refreshed & ready.

has is been that long AGAIN?

2007-01-25T11:27:00.000-05:00

this time i'm really having trouble keeping up!
i've been now working 3 days a week at the oak street studios, assisting martha in her classes, doing life drawing every thursday, and working on the doll project (which is really interesting and fun...) also it was john's birthday on tuesday and i made my first wooden assemblage piece in almost a year probably for him...nice at last to have stolen time to be in the downstairs studio....
i need to take pictures of everything and post!
we'll see how long that takes!

life drawing thursdays

2007-01-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

my new favorite weekly activity--life drawing....what used to be a very simple thing, like attending a drawing group, needs to be planned out ahead of time now...get care for amelie and budget that cost in with paying the model at group, and well, it's a big deal now, let me tell you...but it completely takes me out of my normal mindset and into that forget-about-time mode that drawing and artwork has always provided for me...it's like having steak after being vegetarian for 4 years....yummy!

these first two are one minute pieces, the warmup...

then onto the 5 & 10 minutes...

then a 40 minute at the end....
also inspiring is getting out after doing something for myself for 3 long lovely hours and walking the 10-minute walk home. i am satisfied. i am fed. like i said, yummy.

the doll project

2007-01-09T13:54:00.000-05:00

i assisted at an art class the other day with martha miller, a local artist, who was teaching at the oak street studio, an art space for kids downtown...i had been hearing her name for years so when she introduced herself, i felt like i was around a celebrity...so i'm talking to her about the drawing room, that space where i'm doing life drawing, and alex, the woman who owns it and martha asks me, "are you part of the doll project?" and no, i tell her, but i'd like to be and she tells me there still may be space available for participants....hmmmm.....so.......immediately when i get home i email alex to ask and just like that, i'm part of this collaboration, the doll project....

here's the deal:
so far there are 3 sets of 6 women each.
everyone makes a "doll" (loosely defined in your own creation if wanted)
in each set, you take the piece you make, or start, actually,
& send it to the next person in your set.
in return, you receive someone else's "doll" to work on
this continues on until everyone in your set has worked on everyone else's "doll" in your set
& at the end there will be a show.

so.
i didn't want to make or start a standard doll. so then i thought about the idea of paper dolls, but made out of fabric...so i think i am going to do that....so i will work on these photographed above and then send them on to the next person.

we also have to send along a journal and a disposable camera with the piece we create so that each woman who works on it can photograph and write about her work.

i'm so excited to be a part of this opportunity. it has been a long time since i have had a community of artists around me....i am feeling as though i am experiencing the early stages of that, by getting to know people, taking part in activities, and showing my work. i am feeling the art fire once again.....DO ART NOW!

first drawing class @ the drawing room

2007-01-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

tonite was life drawing held at alex's new gallery! and even better, john came home to watch amelie so i could go for 3 long luxurious hours of drawing....it was beyond rejuvenating--beyond!

our model was karen and she was great at holding poses. she has a beautiful body and a shyness/innocent look to her that was very endearing.

i found myself completely relaxed!

attending these classes MUST be a priority for me...i talked with alex tonite about maybe bartering a class for studio sitting or anything else she might need....i mean you rack up the price of a babysitter with paying the model and, well, you got a chunk of change there! anyway i can do this i will. i wish i could attend all the life drawing classes--there will end up being 2 or 3 a week, but to at least be part of one of them would be killer.

p.s. in previewing this, i see the pictures leave a lot to be desired...oops...better luck to me next time...

ahh vermont

2007-01-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

there is always good peace to be found in vermont & this year, post holidays of all sorts, we trekked to st. johnsbury, in search of stephen huneck's dog mountain & chapel...an odd destination to some, i am sure, but i had heard about it from brenda, who years ago gave me a framed piece of his with a lab swimming after a ball which said "life is a ball"...i had always wanted to go as it was a place where dogs ran free and you could see lots of work ( paintings, prints & furniture) and your dog could get a heap of exercise. so with that knowledge and a reservation at the local dog friendly b & b, we were off!

here on the mountain, there are lots of wooden sculptures of dogs on the grounds as well as benches with dogs on either ends...as soon as we arrived, jax walked suspiciously up to one of the sculptures in front of the chapel...

do you see him approaching?
inside, amongst stained glass windows depicting huneck's lab sally in various stages of life and play, are thousands of notes from people who have ended up at the chapel to pay homage to their beloved pets who have passed on...some of the walls are completely full, but the front one still had a bit of room...there a put up notes about my awesome dog paper and brenda's lab abbie, may they be able to access dog mountain from heaven!

jax was a happy pup. he pranced all around with the dogs who worked up there at the gallery and ran himself ragged....it was the best.

after being up on the mountain, our only destinations needed to have two requirements....a good bookstore and a good pub. and we drove aimlessly, listening to new cd's and enjoying the falling snow as we whirled around bends that followed the rivers of vermont...ahh. now that was nice!

my holiday inspiration!

2006-12-30T14:33:00.000-05:00

this is what my most treasured gift from john is.....a coveted diana fayt bowl! many moons ago, we went to susan's gallery, and john managed to secure this piece--which i was swooning over--without me even knowing it!

my pictures can't possibly relay the beauty & weight of this piece, but i hope you get a little idea of what i have in my sweet little hands right now...
meanwhile, i am still having major problems uploading photos and it makes me crazy. we'll see what happens the next time i post & i see i'm averaging 1 post every 9 days. this is just unacceptable! onto the new year! want to be more devoted to this. if i continue to have problems with blogger, i am going to switch to typepad. hrmph.

a very happy winter solstice

2006-12-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

i have just hunkered down for the longest night of the year...amelie is finally down, john passed out from the sheer exhaustion of working non-stop for many, many moons and i am finally hands free and able to catch up here.
to mark this day as the first of our winter is a strange occurance, considering it was about 48 degrees today and there isn't a speck of snow to be seen...but it is wonderful to celebrate this first time we are going through this as a family...with amelie in tow, i don't care what the celebration is about, it's always a lot more fun now!
so we have our tree up & there are lights strung in about every room and continuing out around the deck, we have paper snowflakes cut-out on our front window trying to entice the skies into producing the same, candles are lit and we made a giant sun-shaped pizza tonight in congruence with the solstice celebrating lore (the sun-shape, that is, NOT the pizza).
this picture is of our mantle that holds some very dear things...1) a recent acquisition is this papier mache sun made by nance parker of the dynamite shoestring theater in town--john got 3 of these last weekend and they are brightening up my spirits everytime i come across one of them, 2) a picture of john when he was in little league--oh my, totally cute, 3) a wishbone from my mother....she always gives them to me, saying that if i need to have a wish come true, i just pull on it by myself and that way it will always work, 4) an antique story box from my first trip to india, 5) a ceramic container bought in oklahoma city with david at that co-op, and of course, 6) a candle, lit.
now with the house quiet and both hands free, i'm frozen in a vat of possibilities...what do i do? down to the studio? clean the kitchen? read the peabody sisters? read my new ready-made magazine? do a sketch? watch a movie? work on work?
i'm just going to sit for a moment and revel in this. the longest night of the year...

p.s. blogger won't upload my picture, so i will continue to try later and later and later....

look what i made my mom!

2006-12-12T21:37:00.000-05:00

this is a knitting needle holder thingy...i made it today for my mom's birthday...with all her knitting lately, i thought she could use this rather than the plastic bag i think she keeps all her needles in....just fold it up and tie it & voila, good to go!

this fabric is actually from an old sheet set of john's and my post from July 12th "i am full of sheet" shows my other use for this fabric--outfits for summer--and i still have some left...david, should i make you something for christmas out of it?

pick an image friday

2006-12-08T17:14:00.000-05:00

this is the new view on my desk....thank god, cause i killed the other plant that has graced this room since this summer...that one started huge and just kept getting smaller and more sickly...so i went out the other day, took amelie to skillins and walked through the greenhouses, looking at all the incredible plants....unfortunately, there were no geraniums and that's what i really wanted...love the smell of those after you prune off the dead blossoms...
anyway, we'll try a kalanchoe (the pink one...this plant grows wild in india...we'll see how it does in the front room...i give it a few weeks tops!) and a creeping charlie (ode to my grandpa) and a hawaiian schefflera for the exotic edge (especially since it snowed last night)!
it's important to either have fresh flowers or living plants around and this is a nice view for me every morning when i open the curtains and the light comes thru...not always the sun, but usually the light!
over to the left is the card john gave me for our anniversary. all right.

look what my mom made!

2006-12-07T20:09:00.000-05:00

my mom never comes to get-togethers empty-handed and thanksgiving at jeff & deb's was no exception...she came in with 3 little brown bags, one for each of her grandchildren...after the afternoon and meal was over, she brought them in to present to each of them and there were these amazing hand knit stockings! (i took photos of both sides so you could see all of amelie's name...) but these were really a....well, i have to say it, a feat!
she started knitting several years ago, with a baby blanket, i believe, for jessi, her first grandchild and has just been continuously progressing from there...sweaters and mittens and more blankets and now these stockings!
kudos to you, mom. these are sensational!

Drawing Show

2006-12-06T14:11:00.000-05:00

i submitted these works to a drawing show at the new gallery, the drawing room for their opening exhibit this friday night...i met the woman, alex, who started this gallery at a party over thanksgiving and she invited me to put in some work.
the gallery is entirely set up around the art of drawing and will organize drawing groups and monthly work.
alex also teaches at maine college of art.
i'm hoping to be able to spend a lot of time at the gallery! it is in the state theater building on the 5th floor.

pick an image friday

2006-12-01T09:48:00.000-05:00

i love this picture of immigrant woolen mill workers from sweden.
i also love old mill buildings.
when i had just met john, he was taking down a huge mill up in lisbon falls, maine.
i was able to spend days up there, going through the different rooms and roaming on my own. there were remnants of the past in old looms and materials, ledger books and time cards...some days i would be up there after dark and it was almost spooky, imagining the life that place had had and the amount of people and their stories that were housed inside. it was powerful.
i imagine women like the ones shown above, newly arrived in the US, spending most days & most hours trying to make enough to get by in these mills. look at them and their dress. i missed the boat on those times, with the long skirts to the floor and the beautifully made blouses....i just love that look. and the aprons as well. i may have to try to bring that look back!
i wish i knew their stories and their hardship.

in the pink

2006-11-28T10:23:00.000-05:00

we are celebrating a wee bit this morning: things are going well, amelie is silly laughing and blowing butterfly kisses, i got a load of baby slings out to edith and edna downtown, my old job may have some new possibilities and i just had a cup of hot cocoa...we're in the pink! also, there is a double meaning to our title today....my friend linda gave birth to lily glen on november 15th and for the whole time she knew she was having a girl, she referred to her as "pink"...so we are celebrating her arrival as well!
these drawings were inspired by a photo of a plate i saw in a french magazine last night at borders....the colors and iconography made an impression & last night i drew from memory what i had seen.

pick an image friday

2006-11-24T12:50:00.000-05:00

oh thank heaven.
i am a long time fan of the 7-11 fountain drinks and the sbg (super big gulp). shall we honor it today?
for years the sbg has been a treat to be had....in college every sunday with the dallas morning news crossword, during shifts when i was a waitress at the chinese restaurant in the old port, during hungover mornings when you just needed the burn of carbonation in your throat and even when the closest 7-11 was 16.5 miles away....now i'm fortunate enough to have one right around the corner...on a sheer whim, i can at least drag myself over there for the almost instantaneous satisfaction.
through it all in these past 21 years that i have been getting the sbg, little has changed about the packaging, the selection or the price. there are still at least 8 sodas to choose from, as regulars will know....but i have my own top secret mixture that i have not strayed from one bit. i will not reveal this recipe, but will tell you it consists of 2 different sodas and a strict ratio....only a handful of people are privvy to this--one even has switched to this mixture and i have run into him at local 7-11's in line to get his!
anyway, ode to the sbg!!!!

make slings, not war

2006-11-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

i'm busy sewing away, making a bunch of slings for sale...hopefully they will be accepted at the local store i love--that would be great. i moved the bedroom around yesterday to accomodate more floor space for amelie to play on while i worked, but of course, every few minutes she wandered over where i was and i would feel her little hand on my foot as i was trying to work the sewing machine pedal...it takes a bit longer than it used to.

so far i have 4 completed, and today, maybe i can do that again...i'm going to see if i have any appropriate fleece for this, as those slings are so cozy this time of year.
do we even as a society realize we are in a war time? it seems as though life just goes on without much change at our level in this city...it's sad. occasionally there is a protest or people on street corners waving signs, but do most people acknowledge what a horrible thing is going on?

the mill at salmon falls

2006-11-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

this weekend i made it down to rollinsford, new hampshire for the open studios at salmon falls mill complex...i love old mills and this one has been completely rehab-ed to accomodate lots of artists....and these studios were so inspiring and cool i had total studio envy...it was pretty bad! anyway, artists spaces were not just shells with artwork, but chock full of amenities and inspiration...they had couches and fridges and music and rugs and walls were covered with great images and their artwork was on display as well as current work they were working on.

one of my favorites was maya travaglia, who worked in "flat glass"...she made pieces that hung in windows that were like stained glass pieces, just using flat glass, no relief or chunky pieces...and there wasn't any soldering involved...just wires that somehow held the pieces of cut glass together. one thing i really liked were her drawings for the pieces, which she had up all around her 5th floor studio...they were simple and abstract, but they had a lot of balance to them. when i came home, i doodled a series that was directly related to what i had seen at her place..

maya told me that she and her husband had moved to the area about a decade ago from new york city to pursue an "alternate lifestyle". her husband had shared the space with her in the mill until just recently, when he got his own space for his landscape design business....maya was just now spreading her wings to claim the space.

another issue this brings up for me, not only being inspired, is wanting a space! while walking the hallways of the mill, i thought, this is a place i belong...these are my people! being around artists all the time is good for the artist's soul. and a building like the mill would be just perfect....plant the seed.

pick an image friday

2006-11-17T13:23:00.000-05:00

i totally missed last week...oops. please excuse.

for today, Reclining Mother & Child by Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1906.

paula was my favorite artist is college, and i ended up writing a big paper on her life & work. she fulfilled the typical rebel artist profile....she turned to art and moved to worpswede artist colony in germany to pursue her dreams...there she met her husband, otto modersohn, also an artist, as well as many other artists, including rainer maria rilke. she flourished and made art the central focus of her life. she traveled to paris to see the art there and fell in love with the city and eventually, she rented a studio there and stayed there for months at a time, returning sporadically to worpswede to see otto. she became pregnant in 1906, but died from complications after having her daughter mathilde in 1907.

this painting captures my life at the moment, let me tell you. i remember when i first saw it in college, thinking it looked a bit uncomfortable and awkward, especially without a blankie over them. but really, now that i am breastfeeding & sleeping with amelie all the time, this looks like a very peaceful piece to me. i love paula's bold brushwork, the solidity of her forms & her focus on the subject of women. many of her pieces seem to capture the mystery of the woman psyche....you are just intrigued by their look & their expression. in Reclining Mother & Child, i see the calm on the mother's face, but i really am struck by how the baby and the mother create a whole--they FIT together. that's what i'm experiencing with my babe. we are one together.

i dig it.

occupation: doodler.

2006-11-12T19:30:00.000-05:00

i'm doodling, everyday...i may not be posting everyday, but dammit, i am doodling. i am trying to figure out what to do next as far as bringing home some dough...i have been fortunate for a long time to have been successfully employed as a designer, and now, i ask myself if i have the kahunas to make it on my own. that is the goal here. so i have a bunch of things swirling around the stratosphere called my head. ahem.

then i focus in for a bit and get detailed and try hard and concentrate and that works...the question is, how can i put all this knowledge i have accumulated and all these pieces i have acquired together? how can i be cohesive??

then i return to what i know, something comfortable that doesn't completely stress me out or make me bend over backwards. some writer once said, "write what you know." there really is no need to reinvent who i am. it's all there. one time i took a class with the bead artist joyce scott up at haystack mountain in maine. she was explaining how she got to be the artist she was, which involved stitching beads into three dimensional sculptural figures...she said she started as a painter, but it was really too messy and very hard and then she tried many different things, but beadwork won out as she was able to sit down as she was doing it and it was fun. and that's that. and she is extremely successful. and i mean successful in that she can sustain living and doing what she likes. it doesn't have to be so complicated. i could just keep doodling and do something with the doodles. doodles are damn fun.

beautiful use swap--goodies received!

2006-11-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

i signed up last month to do my first swap through k. cooper's hoping for happy accidents blog...i have to say, it felt like the next step in the blogosphere for me...to get to know some fellow bloggers...and i had been reading k. cooper's blog for awhile. so...beautiful use...
"participants are asked to send any three objects that are at once utilitarian, simple and beautiful to their partner. think about the beauty in the everyday...a packet of perfect new pencils, a white enamel bowl, handmade beeswax candles, a natural canvas tote with red stitching... these objects can be new, thrifted, vintage, handmade...just keep in mind that its probably best to send something that you'd be pleased to receive yourself."

my swap partner is richele from *richie design*...i went to her site and got familiar with her stuff and tried to figure out what would be good to send...i went back and forth on a bunch of different ideas, but finally came up with buying some antique bottles and decoupaging drawings that i thought she would like onto them...

the day before i mailed them out, i received the package from her...i tried to wait til i had gotten my things out to treat myself to opening it up, but i couldn't! so, here's what she sent me!

i totally love the prints she sent. here's a some close-ups:

she also sent two packs of her cards, which are also beautiful. i want to do more of these!

Class offered at Edith & Edna!

2006-11-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

i stopped in to Edith & Edna today and talked to Brandi and she told me she was looking for people to teach classes, so i volunteered...here is the first one coming up:

Stitched Cards
Date: Saturday, November 18th, 2006, 9am-12pm

Create beautiful one of a kind cards to be used as holiday greetings, gifts or works of art....
Using paper, photos, fabrics and your sewing machine (or ours!), we will arrange collages on card stock and then stitch them together rather thank gluing, to achieve a more textured look. Additional beads, buttons or charms can then be added as well. For materials to collage, I often select interesting patterns or backgrounds from magazines pages, paint chip sample cards from hardware stores, b & w photos, and bits of pretty or sentimental fabrics to create these great looking works of art!

hopefully there will be enough people! sign up if you're going to be in portland, maine the weekend of november 18th.

again, with the company i work for going down, i look forward to new creative ways to "make a living".

design competition: part three & four (work & completion)

2006-10-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

i finally sent out my pieces today for the design competition...it was for a bindery that does journals and photo albums and they are looking for some new people to work with....so i sent some design ideas to see if they may want to work with me...here are a couple of samples that i sent...again, i was down to the deadline, but i did get them out...

of course i was changing things up til the last minute, and sometimes i don't think that helped...it's like a knee-jerk reaction....looking at the pieces then going to cook dinner and thinking "hmmm....a little more white wouldn't hurt that one..."

i need to keep my momentum! earlier last week the company i was working for went chapter 7, a.k.a. bankruptcy....this means that i am out a job....this could also mean that the time i did on that could now be time spent on jen davis design...push on ahead! push on ahead! the money is scarce, but push on ahead!!!

again....a minute of exhalt for completing this design project...feels satisfyingly good.

pick an image friday

2006-10-27T11:30:00.000-05:00

i am very fortunate because today, not only is this my image, but it is my latest acquisition as well! this, for everyone who doesn't know her work yet, is a diana fayt original. i have admired her ceramics ever since i came across her blog by random...one black bird... i was really beside myself when i saw the pictures of her work...i have always been attracted to drawing and her ceramic pieces incorporated drawing and bold color patches as well as here and there details. they just seemed very strong and there's no other way to say it....they pumped me up! later in time, in tangenting out from blog to other links to other blogs, i came across a blog, art esprit and i was immediately intrigued because the woman whose blog it was was from new hampshire....and when you're from maine, new hampshire is right next door-- really--so i continued reading on. ..this woman, susan, owns a gallery--artstream--in rochester which happens to be the town right next to where john's folks live....so that picqued my attention further and as i started browsing through her site, i saw that she sold diana fayt's work...(with fayt being pronounced "fate", i knew it was just that and i knew i had to go..)
so last saturday, susan had an opening and she had some new pieces of diana's so i went and the ultimate thing, beyond meeting susan and seeing the great great pieces in her gallery and her wonderful space on the river, was seeing diana's pieces in person and being able to hold them in my hands and bringing this one home! oh, happy days.
p.s. this photo is courtesy of artsteam studios!

design competition: part two (still)

2006-10-26T06:44:00.000-05:00

i've been doodling for days...i am trying to get my head around this competition and i am finding myself a bit nervous for the blank page...i just need to do it and be done with it. i did some work on the actual beautiful paper i bought and botched it up and had to go buy more of it last night. i need to breathe and proceed.

anyway, all the finished designs need to be in the mail by monday and it's gonna be right up to the end for me.

git er done. (how did this saying get so popular? and does it have bad connotations? someone please fill me in!)

pick an image friday

2006-10-20T16:21:00.000-05:00

i was down in the studio the other night, which is located in the basement, when i noticed while looking thru my old sketchbooks that they were starting to smell MOLDY!!! yikes! john helped me rescue them and only 1 out of about 30 had some serious damage. ew. i started looking through them and i really have a visual record of the past 20 years. i need to take better care of these!

this image is from one of the books from last year and it is one familiar scene in these archives...it's of an island off of harpswell, about an hour north of portland by car--by boat, probably half that. it's a place called pott's point. when i lived in brunswick from 1990-1997, i would drive out to this neck of harpswell a lot. i would drive down a private road to get to the beach which afforded this great view. now, if i have some extra time & i am up in the area, i make a point of driving out there. it represents my past & my independence.

design competition: part two (playing w/the materials)

2006-10-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

i am working with the material now and it's a challenge to slow down and work patiently and slowly. i always want to be done immediately. i realize now after starting these designs that it's not going to happen the first time i attempt it. i tried to upload the images of what i'm working on, but everytime blogger stated that "errors had occurred". ah, yes. time to slow down.

design competition: part one (getting ready)

2006-10-17T18:49:00.000-05:00

i'm going to send some designs in for a competition at the end of the month and it's a big deal for me. i want to start doing more for my own design, rather than working for another company. believe me, i feel fortunate to have a creative design job, but i really want to work for myself and be able to get by. anyway, that's the big picture. back to this competition.

i need to design 6 pieces by the end of the month. i have started sketching out ideas just to get things rolling around in my head....

you can either send in the designs via email or by the post. and since my computer skills are not the greatest, i'm going to be sending the pieces directly. i went out today and bought the GOOD paper and some more colored pencils for my palette.

i just want to accomplish this. do it well. start the ball rolling. even though i am time challenged to the max right now with amelie & working for my employer, i MUST make my own design a priority or years could go by, i just feel that.

anyway, i always keep in mind SARK's advice for getting things done....it's like the baby step philosophy...like if you need to vacuum....break it down into steps: 1) open the closet door and look at the vacuum 2) pull the vacuum out 3) plug it in 4)turn it on. yes.

so, this is part one. i am preparing the ground. onward ho!

pick an image friday

2006-10-13T16:03:00.000-05:00

this image gives me goosebumps, ignites the fire in my belly and visually captures a personal dream...and you may not understand, so let me fill you in. no, i do not want a sex change. to me, this represents an artist at work...ok, outside in the elements, cigarette dangling out of his mouth, building sculptures larger than life, and getting to the meat of matters. i LOVE this. this is david smith, a metal sculptor/artist who lived from 1906-1965. the magazine celebrates his life's work in an exhibit traveling the country currently.

someday, i want to be working with huge metal pieces: welding them together, getting messy & creating sculptures that evoke a presence in their surroundings. digging in. being driven. having no choice but to create.

beautiful succulent san francisco

2006-10-12T13:26:00.000-05:00

amelie & i went to san francisco this past week to surprise linda for her baby shower....jen met up with me in chicago and we flew out together. jen & linda & i are the closest of close friends from high school in weston, ct...anyway, linda was completely surprised, it worked out great, and we even had some leftover time to tool around the city...not surprisingly, jen & i ended up in the haight district...

there are still plenty of deadheads around and hippie stores...amelie got stickered with a dancing bear and jen & i went to a pub to get a beer...

jen spotted a place to get henna...we could have easily gotten tattoed as well, but the henna seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. it's so pretty. i didn't get a picture of jen's finished hand, but here she is getting done..

and mine done up:

it was about 85 degrees there and then we decided to wander around golden gate park,where there was probably a 20 degree difference...it was also overcast there, but we walked through the botanical gardens and found this odd succulent...there were many cool plants...twould have looked beautiful in the sunlight.

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now we are home & it's back to work!!! chop chop!!!
p.s. i tried to find a store there that carried diana fayt's work, but couldn't find it! rar! i know there's a gallery in rochester, nh that carries it, so that's where i'm gonna have to go. must touch it & see it in person!

pick an image friday

2006-09-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

this is a wood cut from the cheap art of the bread & puppet circus from glover, vermont.

many many oh many moons ago, i traveled up there for the summer extravaganza and was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY. this is a group of people relaying the thoughts of our times with a most political edge through puppetry. they are definitely democratic and very evocative. they have simple, yet elaborate skits. they mock the state of the union. they philosophize on living as simply as possible. the pursuit of happiness? quit your job, buy a cow and live off the land. their messages are striking and simple.

john and i were at bull moose music last weekend and i noticed this itty bitty flyer announcing bread & puppet's first world insurrection circus...coming to the neal st. garage this wednesday night. i was almost shaking...i couldn't believe it & then i couldn't believe it was real. but they did come (they really did!)-- the bus pulled up right in front of the garage which is right around the corner from our house! and they put on an hour performance...amelie watched from my shoulders. there were about 10 performers total, putting on skits and doing massive costume changes...

now wait a minute, this is pick an image friday. this is the most basic of the artwork they had with them, and the cheapest. at 3 bucks, we got this beyooteeful piece of art, with the memories of a wonderful night.

thick skin/just do it

2006-09-28T06:06:00.000-05:00

so i remember when i first started working as a designer and i was creating collections carefully, let's say....then came the reviews and claire would just go and axe entire collections, that i had spent days/weeks/months on and i was crushed!!! she kept telling me, "you gotta have a thick skin, jen, it's NOT personal, it's your job."

the worst was when i had developed this entire line of outdoor furniture, worked months on it, traveled to china to work with the factory on it, and had the prototypes sent over....claire took one look at it and just said "no way." that was about 8 months worth of work down the tubes.

i became very resilient. now, when i work on some collections and they can the ideas, i just add them to my inspiration books or glue themin my journals. hrmph! their loss!

these are some plates i designed for fall 2007...when i took them in, the comment i got was that the leaves looked like claws and the marks within the leaves looked like talons.....lovely! after she said it, i saw what she meant, but i still like them. and i don't give a hoot that she doesn't...i'll just whip out something else.

pick an image friday

2006-09-22T08:04:00.000-05:00

about a year ago, claire introduced me to the illustration of melissa sweet at work....she loved her images and was trying to inspire us to loosen up in our designs. at that point, i looked at the children's book she had brought in with m. sweet's drawings (i can't even remember which book it was) and then went on my merry life thinking nothing of it...

a wee bit after amelie was born, i bought a book at the closing sale of northern sky toys and after i had gotten it home and started to read it to amelie (it was entitled big bear's chairs), i realized that it too was illustrated by melissa sweet & the drawings were the best!!!!

now we've gone a melissa sweet jag and are checking out everything she has done from the library...one of the best i've found is a book called carmine, in which melissa sweet does the story & the illustration. it's the old little red riding hood story, done up new.

anyway, getting back to pick an image friday, this is my image for the week:

it is taken from carmine...i LOVE this image, because of the setup on the desk with all the art supplies and the drawings and everything. it reminds me of my desk, all raring to go with everything i need to have for a couple hours of fun....it also reminds me that it is something simple and that i don't need much. also that the passionate drive in my life is all about creating...creating art....creating a wonderful life for amelie....creating love with john.....creating a dynamic macaroni and cheese....you know, all the important stuff!

i want to focus on this image this week, put it in the mental hopper, and watch what happens...

pick an image fridays

2006-09-15T08:24:00.000-05:00

i like these topic days, where you can focus on the same thing on a certain day of the week. so i have decided to do pick an image fridays, where i will speed through a magazine or book, looking for an image that holds my interest for more than 5 seconds.

when i was moving stuff around yesterday, i discovered an old cache of art magazines and have been looking through them and sketching from them...this morning, i saw this image....actually, now, this is the sketch of the image i saw, but it held my gaze for awhile.

so this woman in the mask had me thinking of masquerades and dressing up, something john and i really got into when we were following the dresden dolls around. when you dress up, you can take on any personality and be so mysterious...people with masks are almost always intriguing and there is a lot of play involved. plus the more you can animate yourself through gesturing or costume makes it all the better.

althought you can't see all of this woman, you can really focus in on her eyes and they are enough to allure.

sometimes at shows i would get all dressed up in costumes with a mask and other times i would just wear only a mask with my regular clothes. it was challenging for me to let go of my inhibitions. i am sometimes reserved and shy, even behind a mask. some people can really free fall through the character they create. people say it can be so easy and you can forget yourself and just be anything. but that was difficult. there were definitely points of the evenings where i loved it and one time john and i acted out this whole routine of dance and chase all around the hall, but then after we had finished, someone asked us to keep going and i just couldn't pull it off cause i was thinking to hard about it.

this picture makes me think of those times i dressed up and the uncertainty i felt.

aucocisco gallery

2006-09-01T09:48:00.000-05:00

this week we got a wee sneak peak of not only the new show up at aucocisco gallery--hilary irons--, but also viewed their new luxurious space, which really does them a huge justice. they were in such a teeny space before, you know, where openings are really stressful because you can't see the artwork OR move around OR get any wine cause the space is just too jammed.
their new space commands two rooms and is completely becoming to the artwork. although the owner's little dog tried biting my ankle as i walked in the door, amelie and i pursued onward and looked around the first room which housed the hilary irons exhibit.

these pieces i was not crazy about, but they did intrigue me. their pictures held little tales or rituals of women and animals and most likely, in the centers were these lightning bolt images of patterns shooting through the pieces....they reminded me of cave paintings or images telling of a significant time and place. the figures in them, not only because they were women and animals, but also because of their lines and feel reminded me of paula rego, a british artist who paints similar scenes that perk your curiousity....what is really going on here?

as i continued into the 2nd room, i was delighted to see a huge dozier bell piece,
"ring", of the night sky with some of her map points guiding you in. but even more thrilling to me were the wooden sculptures by the late bernard langlais....oooh! i love his stuff!! and he was a maine artist to, well after the fact, but he still came here to live and he loved making animals and aucocisco had 4 pieces by him that were out...there were two big dog sculptures....one of them had 3 dogs piled one on top of another...

and then there was an owl face plaque on the wall and a kitty with long metal crazy whiskers. he used to live next to a factory where they threw all this old wood away, i think maybe a furniture factory, so that a lot of the pieces were already formed into shapes and he would take his pick to create these wonderful substantial pieces. ah....anyway....it was a joy!

a bug, the bug and bug light

2006-09-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

a bug:
whew. we have been sick here....soooo sick....fevers a go-go along with chills and nauseau and dizziness and complete and utter yuck! it went on for about 6 or 7 days straight....amelie was first, having fevers every night for 5 nights, followed by john with a compacted flurry of symptoms and he went down...then it was my turn and i felt as if looking back on it now, that i was in a time warp, possibly hallucinating--glad to be done with THAT. hopefully, please.

the bug:
what can i say? she's the bug!

bug light:
after all the sickness was done and the sun shone again, the bug and i went to bug light for an afternoon of crawling, yes, CRAWLING, in the grass. the park was our playground and i didn't have to worry about her hitting her head on wood floors or falling out of bed or eating sand or anything...we went nose to nose and got silly watching the kites fly by and meeting an outspoken teenager from jersey with incredible blue eye shadow that amelie was a bit mystified with...it was the best. we will return very very soon!

see it to be it

2006-08-26T06:46:00.000-05:00

i have had a lot of dreams become reality just by envisioning myself already being at the point where they are happening. i have made lists before of say 50 or 100 things i want to come true and several months later look back at that list and realize that many of my requests/intentions had come true. it was amazing! crazy amazing! i think that acknowledging dreams and writing them down or seeing them coming true in your head or drawing them gives energy to them. some of the dreams i had completely forgotten about, but just by writing them down, i think they became sort of entity-like.

as a new mom, i don't want to become solely focused on amelie, but i want instead to incorporate her into my creative life. i don't mean this to sound like a business transaction or cut and dried, i just want to radiate my liveliness and desires and have her experience them. i want to keep up my drive to be arty and non-conventional and bright and whole and excited and motivated and confident! i want to be a great mom.

i think this image that brenda gave me on a card sums up my vision of this dream perfectly. i see this as amelie and me: content, creative, curious, and cute! i need to see this in my mind. see it.

william thon show, june fitzpatrick gallery at MeCA

2006-08-22T21:26:00.000-05:00

today we went to see the william thon exhibit at the june fitzpatrick gallery. there are actually two june galleries, both of them downtown, but this one is the one connected to maine college of art. i like june fitzpatrick, she is a nice lady, but also a dog lover...her black chow is always at the gallery.

anyway, william thon...i have always liked his work. it's nice to look at someone's work before you know much about them, to give you that objective view of the work on it's own. so i liked his work before i knew his story. sometimes after hearing about an artist's life/personality, it can drastically change your view of them....(ie. picasso), however in william's case, it's quite the opposite.

william thon (1906-2000) grew up in nyc, but moved to maine to isolate himself from the fast pace of the city...he appreciated the slow quiet methodical life that the coast of maine offered, in port clyde, where he befriended lobstermen and town folk. he was married once in his life and remained true to her, his partner helen, for 70 years...he was himself quiet & modest...and later in life he had a slow descent into blindness, during which he continued painting and some of his most incredible work was done.

this show at june's gallery was similar...quiet and humble. amelie and i walked around and i could have sketched something, but it was better just to be, better to just observe with intent.

from the inspiration books: BLUE & YELLOW

2006-08-21T06:38:00.000-05:00

i found more collage books this weekend as i was cleaning out the studio...

i love the image of the woman reading on the sofa in the left side of the following spread. it's how i like to see myself in 20 years....reclining in a colorful skirt...

i just like this layout:

this is more mod...it does have an image of old icons on the bottom left, but it's very hard to make out in this photo...

i was reading in the portland phoenix about artists renting spaces in big mill buildings outside of portland as the rents intown were getting cost prohibitive...of course, i immediately wanted to go rent a space until reality came back gracefully and announced that i really needed to use the space i have on a more regular basis before moving upwards to a larger space. so i cleaned the studio in the basement. tidied. put things away. moved out boxes still there from moving day. i like that space. i need to use it more. usually when i do my work for my employer i set up in the apartment on the kitchen table or in the bedroom, but i really want to make the effort to work downstairs and inhabit THAT space. so that's a goal for the week. to get to know the studio (i already have a monitor down there, so i can hear the amels). and i want to tinker with doing my artwork more. paint, nail, shellac...go!

i have kept my sewing things upstairs in the bedroom--fabric doesn't really go in the basement...it's good to have it set up and ready. on saturday i was aching for a jean skirt, cause i had seen brenda in her new one that she created last week and i LOVED it...ah...old levis, reformed....so i just got up and started cutting up a pair of jeans. there is such gratification with wanting something & being able to create it at once! (granted, it may not be that attractive to the general public, but they're not going to wear it!)

carpe diem!

from the inspiration books: WARMTH

2006-08-18T07:05:00.000-05:00

love these pages of warm colors...terracottas, ochres, rouges...must buy some candles today!!! i have been out for awhile, but when i have them, they are always lit just as it starts to get dark. i go to the dollar store to get them, considering the amount i buy....sometimes will buy expensive exotic ones, but really, a candle is a candle is a candle to me...

i have just started painting amelie's room a reddish orange and i want to paint gigantic flowers all over it, kinda like in the bottom left of this next picture down. ok, i actually started that about a month ago and i have yet to continue....maybe THIS weekend, ahem!

i love to collage. i like the process of working quickly & glueing the images....i think about how i am going to do it for only a second or two, then glue glue glue. it's like a warm-up exercise, keeps the imagination limber.

from the inspiration books: RED

2006-08-17T14:14:00.000-05:00

for years i have been keeping inspiring pictures from magazines and other paper ephemera i find anywhere and everywhere....i end up every couple of weeks glueing them into blank books in collage form and they have been really an invaluable resource to flip through when i get stuck or need ideas.

today.....i am intrigued by the color RED amidst other not so vibrant colors...

i get a lot from the new yorker, house beautiful, french art & decoration, elle decoration & other decorating publications. i used to hang on to all the magazines, but now i whip through them very fast with one small rule....if something catches my eye for 5 seconds and i need to look at it, i rip it out.

my auntie sue is a gold mine for these mags--she gives me stacks every couple of months....also, i get some of them in the mail & finally, i have been known to dig thru recycle bins in the wee hours of weekly garbage day....i've come across a couple of homes that are almost sure finds every week....hee hee.

anyway....inspiration books? very good to have on-hand!

ah...so much better

2006-08-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

i reworked the face again, added buttons, still hated it and then flipped over the doll's hair and made a final attempt on the other side to make a face that worked for me...now i'll move on to the next doll!

a doll for a doll

2006-08-10T09:07:00.000-05:00

this is my first crack at a doll for amelie (my doll)....and i have to say, my intentions were really good....it's just that the face is not at all what i had imagined...

when i worked at spindleworks, i made dolls a lot...i remember doing the faces over and over...stitching the eyes and lips on one side, then covering them over with yarn hair and trying again on the other....OY!

i find myself wanting to rip out the stitches this time too, but have refrained, thinking that i will just continue making more...

this doll is completely saved by the dress she is wearing....it is one from an antique doll of my grandmother ginger's....and it is truly beautiful. thank god.

this past week has whipped by with no free time for creations which really bugs me! i must find more time! i must! (the challenge continues...)

hrmph!

2006-08-03T13:35:00.000-05:00

i am realizing in a big way that i have to throw out my idea of progress and go back to the little by little philosophy....meaning that whenever i have a little bit of time with both hands free, i get a little bit done. and there's a bunch more to do!!! namely hang out with amelie in the midst of house maintenance, vacuuming, dishes, dinner, shopping, paying bills, working p/t from home, walking the dog....blah blah blah....there will be no more sitting! no more!

i would love to be posting every day with creations abounding all over, but it's a stitch here and a stitch there.

the good thing is i do better with a busy schedule. (at least i'm telling myself that over and over so it really sinks in)...i'm much more apt to continuously be doing something.

so this is a wee itty bitty sketch from my book...this week has been all about these little sketches, just something to call a creation during these busy days...

now could someone go make me a dirty martini and clean the tub? that would be great.....

the corn chopper & mark di suvero

2006-07-30T21:27:00.000-05:00

whew. long time no blog. a seriously turbulent end to last week and a great weekend to change it around...
off we go today to eliot, maine to see the antique engine & tractor show...love it love it love it...lots of farmers, lots of old heavy machinery and some extremely sweet and yummy fried dough...
but we are walking around, checking out old pieces and we come across this one...a corn chopper...(figures! corn! how can i not love it?)

it immediately reminds me of mark di suvero, a sculptor i admire and john agrees that mark has probably taken a couple of these babies apart...i saw a show of his the last time i was in new york...the big chunky metal pieces were very....effective? enticing? exquisite?

i'm not sure how i got interested in such things, but this fair was full of great old pieces that have given me a lot of inspiration today. something about the heaviness and solidity of the parts as compared to those of modern day...and all the interesting shapes/angles/joinery of them all.

p.s. this is lucien and although he did not win the tractor pull this year, he made it up to about pulling 21,500 pounds of granite before his faithful tractor started to spin it's wheels...we were rootin for him...he was a character!

p.p.s. and amelie pet the cows!

dreams are made of this

2006-07-26T08:07:00.000-05:00

so many things to do today & i'm finding lately that it is easy to get overwhelmed. i do not like that feeling! in the midst of making a list of what needs to get done, i just took a wee bit of time to do some sketches from patterns,then fill them in with watercolor.....makes a huge difference in my mindset...

in the recent past when i was asked what my dream job would be, my first response was to design extremely high-end wallpapers & textiles for some very reputable company, while working from home (an old farmhouse in a beautiful tiny village in maine), with a dog snoozling in some close corner and a babe playing next to me....looking out onto a field of black-eyed susans....watching a river bubble by....ok i could go on and on....

someday i just know it will happen....

"skowhegan school of painting & sculpture--60 years"

2006-07-24T12:32:00.000-05:00

driving home from camp on saturday, i made a stop at colby college's museum of art to view their new show of works done by different faculty over the years at the skowhegan school of painting...of course there were many great artists represented, but one i had not known had taught there was marisol, and seeing her work "royal family" was truly a delectable surprise. amelie stopped squirming for a few seconds, while i tried to record this sketch in my book, then this morning i got to watercolor it.

i love her work, because of the mixture of sculpture and wood and drawing all together.
i don't run into much of her work or really any publications about her, but when i walked through the doors of the exhibit, her piece is the first you see.

i also really liked the ben shahn piece--i think it was called music lesson--and the jacob lawrence hiroshima series. wow. i never knew he taught there either.

my ex-boss and friend arlene attempted to get into skowhegan for several years and never did--i always thought she would be able to, she was the best artist in my eyes whom i knew. i don't think i ever knew anyone who applied who DID get in. but the reputation of the place? oy!

anyway, the show overall was meaty enough and well worth the stop...

thinking outside the box

2006-07-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

well, time for another short hiatus....i'm headed to camp for the rest of the week with hopes of chillin during all this HEAT!! be back round on monday the 24th!!!

p.s. this photo is inspired by auntie el, who scooped up amels and tucked her in this little basket--a perfect fit!

ciao for now!