happy holidays

::embroidering has just begun on this side::
and here's another example of my gifting sensibilities this year. by now, I'm sure you're thinking, what's up with all this white? this is going against my color grain... but at the same time fits completely with my first rule of any artistic pursuit — follow that gut instinct. and in this case, that white fabric and I fell in love. and now I'm about to send it across the country on its merry way.

I've really jumped into the making stuff kick this year... hilarious because the amount of space we occupy now is a postage stamp compared to our digs in Nashvegas. And even if I did want to sew with a pattern, there would be no room to lay it out. I have just enough room to haul out my sewing machine between meals and marie's projects in the "kitchen" to sew my small-ish stuff. and yet, I have to say, I love it. (although. a crafting room would be great. just saying).

Angry Chicken has some hilarious gift tags to print out... if you know they're going to the kind of person who has a sense of humor. (and, of course, I do know those kinds of people!)

hand made holiday

from pillows to purses, hopefully I'm getting it all in.
these photos are ridiculous, since there's basically no light here on the east coast after about 3 p.m. but I figured they'd never been seen if i didn't post now, since they're heading under a christmas tree soon. I usually get the pre-gift jitters about now... wondering if the present will be well received, or if it'll end up hidden away and unloved. hopefully, I'll hit the next stage in the gifting process... it doesn't matter as long as I tried my best, made something I'd love to get, and made it to the best of my ability. whew. hope i get to that place soon.

p.s. the lining of this bag, which I didn't photograph, is vintage fabric with cute, wise sayings... the most apropos right now? a stitch in time saves nine (or seven hundred in my case).

*snow daze*

oh the holidays... nothing motivates me like the thought of a snowed-in Sunday, when it's not impossible to get out of the house but pretty undesirable! so, here's the sewn, and still unstuffed pillow I'm probably going to give to a lucky recipient this Christmas... probably one of those people on my list who I never know what to get for them (read: me mum). This same person deserves an all-expense paid trip to Italy for a month, but since I can't quite afford that, a handmaid pillow is the next best thing...

hope you're having a great weekend, and aren't covered in slushyness!

pregnancy pregnancy jiggety jig!

::Michael Cera and Ellen Page at the Toronto premier of JUNO::

It seems like the topic on everyone's lips these days, from celebrity baby bumps to the hottest indie flicks— pregnancy. Marie and I went to the latest offspring offshoot screening, Juno, last week. Awesome soundtrack, great story and the acting — cutthroat zingers delivered effortlessly by Ellen Page, and my favorite person in the whole movie, Allison Janney. Jason Bateman and Michael Cera never actually interact in the movie, but do seem to fit in a vehicle together, post their "Arrested Development" hijinks.

I do have to say, however, that I found the parental reaction to Juno's pregnancy to be a bit unrealistic... maybe it's just me, but I don't think most parents I knew in high school would take it as calmly if their daughter walked in preggers. but I'm sure that's just my midwestern upbringing talking. Another thing that bothered us was the insert of a Gibson guitar plug, not because we're guitar-hating neo revolutionaries, but because of Gibson's conservative stance on pregnancy, homosexuality, etc. and if we let it, the whole plot was being influenced by the Gibson agenda in our brains. I had no problem with Juno's eventual decision, but I had a sour taste in my mouth after the whole promo. Thoughts? Please.

BUT that doesn't mean you should have any sour/bitter tastes, because this flick is worth seeing (especially after the Love in the Time of Cholera drivel we sat through. shudder).

by any other name?

Poverty Jet Set: (page 6)

A group of people given to chronic traveling at the expense of long-term job stability or a permanent residence. Tend to have doomed and extremely expensive phone call relationships with people names Serge or Ilyana. Tend to discuss frequent-flyer programs at parties.


—Douglas Coupland's Generation X

Even though I'm not technically in the realm of generation x-ers, I think this is still pretty pertinent... thought I'd share the meaning behind my choice of url. AND because today is my friend Natalie's birthday and she read this awesome tome with me in college during our even awesome post-apocalyptic literature course. Where we also watched, coincidentally, Red Dawn.

laisse tombe les filles

some sixties vibes from France Gall to get you over humpday...

p.s. don't let the Munster-like intro turn you off... on the other hand, if you're as big of a fan of the Munsters as I am, go ahead, compare away!

record(ed)

apparently awards season has started down in the land of indie. here's a delight from Craig Zobel's candid study of the recording industry: "Great World of Sound."

advertising+art

::Trend:: by Matt Siber, from the series “Compare to…,” 2006/2007. Digital C-print, 25 x 20 inches.

because I'm on a roll... the Photographic Resource Center has this awesome paradoxical show up right now, AD/AGENCY, featuring photographers who manipulate advertising images, or use and abuse commercial photography to comment on consumerism. The best part is that the curator, Leslie Brown is showing it now! During the holiday blitz! Art humor.

one more reason...

::Lucy In the Field With Flowers::
Oil on canvas by Unknown
24" x 30"
Acquired from trash in Boston

...to love Boston. MOBA — the Museum of Bad Art. This place is on my wish list of visitations here in the greater beantown area. And the whole idea of the museum reminds me of a documentary we saw a month ago — My Kid Could Paint That — about the debacle surrounding 4-year-old Marla Olmsted. The doc not only addressed whether or not Marla could actually paint the works displayed under her name, but if what she was said to have created was actually ART. love it. love it. Personally, I'm not here to judge Marla (she's got enough to worry about) or art (plenty of awesome books/magazines/critics to do that). But it is interesting to jump into the whole debate and throw some opinions around.

For example, I recently got into a heated debate about when someone can be defined as an 'artist.' We had to actually call up a third party to ask their thoughts. This third party put in her two cents on putting it at, 'when a person creates art, they are an artist.' This same third party just told me two weekends ago that (and I quote), "Painting is dead." Which leads me to believe getting your MFA in New York is potentially hazardous to your health. Proceed with caution.
(*disclaimer: I've also known several others to get their mfa's in new york who've turned out fairly normal... of course it took a moment or two for them to snap out of their pretentious fog... it happens, I guess).

bronx=up, battery=down

once when I was a baby (don't worry, I don't actually remember this... it's been retold to me so many times it's become family folklore), I was having a pissed off moment. You know the type of moment -- the kind where my parents tried everything. Fed me. Changed me. Walked me. Nothing worked. So my dad started singing a song from On the Town (the Broadway version as you'll obviously notice)... "New York New York It's a helluva town/ The Bronx is up and the Battery's down/The people ride in a hole in the ground/ New York New York! It's a helluva town!" and then Gene Kelley proceeds to do several amazing dance moves...

ANYway, he sang it approximately 56 times in a row. I can't be certain as to whether I kept crying because he was singing, or stopped because he'd hit that magical number of 56...

But anyway, I've been humming that song all day, because we're heading to la grande pomme tonight and I can't wait! So here's to you, dad. and gene kelly, of course.

i made myself go...

because it looked like it might not be my cup of tea. You know, when you see a poster of Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden looking all sad and distraught, and the title of the movie seems uninspired (Rails & Ties? really?), it just puts me in a 'do I hafta?' mode. But, it was a free screening, which trumps all the other excuses bar none.

And... it was good! The acting wasn't contrived, the plot was believable and the sad parts didn't bother me. The night turned out well — slices of pizza from Emma's, watching a great movie with marie — actually making me forget that I'd waited for a half an hour in the cold for the bus to take me to Kendall... *sigh*

bambino

and here he is, sent all the way from baltimore, evey's baby boy.
what a doll! can't wait to meet him.

sometimes you just can't help yourself...

...you get sucked into the weird recesses of flickr. this is an example of what happens when the Secret Science Club has a contest. and not just any contest, but the third annual Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest. And there you have it. A squirrel with a sombrero.

p.s. would this be considered art? or humor? or art with humor? or... just too weird and sick for words? I think I may enjoy visiting the 'humor' camp too much.

may i take your order?

Happy Halloween!

blurring the lines

::dancers::

I enjoy watching a project unfold/develop. Seeing a mismatched bunch of steps become a collaboration of movement. Trying to think of my own projects and find the ultimate unblocker: motivation.

the weekend cannot come fast enough

in other news, here's George Dvorsky's blog about Dumbledore's 'outing.'

pillow

it's a little lumpy, but here's a pillow I made for marie this summer. It includes two of her favorite things -- purple and circles. Oh and believe me, the symbolic reasons behind both are deep and long winded. Actually, I loved the colors together, and had fun with fabric paint. This was during the summer when I had more downtime than I needed... now, of course, I wish I had more!

Here's a detail:

mismatch

before moving back north, I had big bouts of downtime at my last job... hence hand sewing this pillow together at my desk during breaks. I have to say, initially I wanted things to line up (maybe to justify some sort of quilting law...) but then I decided I didn't want to have straight lines and angles. I don't generally enjoy my sewing to be too 'perfect,' which may be why I've balked from the quilt marie's grandmother assigned. sewing homework=ridiculous.

this is one of a few things I've sewn and not immediately given away. which reminds me, christmas is coming...

bed

::Athens:: From Bed Series, 2003 by Jessica Levey

"... When we journey alone together through the wild country
of the soul, and I envy your greater courage, which looks solid
as mahogany, or your agile heart, softly flaming like pearl,
remind me of the child too small to peer over snowbanks,
who sailed mythic seas, and hand-crafted worlds..."

From "How the Poet Got Her Stripes," by Diane Ackerman

lines

::woodworkers:: by alyson fox

skulking through the shiny squirrel, an easy place to get lost by-the-by, I found this great piece by alyson fox. Fox does my favorite kind of art — simple lines, great color, novel concept AND it's fun. Check out her materials list: ink, colored pencil, water color and found materials/objects. Which comes to my next point, these are all things I can find in my house as well. so alyson fox = inspiration and not a blow to my artistic drive (read: can't start this project because i don't have a gocco machine).


::dinosaur:: by alyson fox.

Here's an excerpt from her interview on the aforementioned shiny squirrel:
"The drawings are an on going series of a fictional family with half true stories. I like the work to feel like something is about to go wrong. I get inspiration from lot of things: thrift stores, old photographs, textiles, my mood, and conversations."

"Trust thyself only, and another shall not betray thee"

—Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

details

fashion fashion fashion... in hindsight, i think i read more about people who take their fashion seriously (sometimes pushing it to comical heights). You know the type who grab found objects and create random, but 'cool,' combos.

This site makes me feel guilty every morning... not jewish grandma guilt from ages past, but the nagging little voice before i get dressed that says, would that be featured on bitsandbobbins? noooo, missy. and usually i move on.

elyse sewell, in her random blogging states, is part of the aggressive fashion machine... but adds her evergreen comments to a world that is hilarious and strange. (plus cultural commentary on hong kong. makes me want to visit even more).

this site is just begging to be rifled through for hours... people who work here are way way way too cool.

a hankering

i'm sure you know how it is... the afternoon has rolled around, and it's not even close to dinner, and it's still too close to lunch to even really be worrying about dinner... and yet. i think a peanut butter and apple sandwich is in order. the snack of champions. too bad i don't have any of these ingredients handy today, but the picture looks good.

last night, marie's grandmother flew diligently across several states to visit and she brought me a nice little pile of fabric! new-to-me fabric presents are such a treat... it's like getting a brand spanking new journal with blank pages waiting for some creative bug to bite (regardless of if it ever does! i have hundreds of just-started journals to prove it, beginning in preschool).

hopefully, i'll get around to using it soon (and showing my projects... dang camera/scanner debacle).

sailing, sailing

photo by marie
the oceans won't be the same... now that marie and I are sailing certified! it's a strange feeling, thinking that a month ago, I had no idea what 'tacking' or 'jibeing,' was other than possible dance moves... or that there was such a thing as 'luffing' or a 'boom vang' (frankly, sailing terms are weird, and i think many rational people would agree...).

lunch...

What a great weekend and beginning to the week... and I usually do not. like. mondays. Friday, our friend morgan came in town, and we of course headed to the north end for italian. Saturday and Sunday, marie and i took our very first sailing lessons. each day was distinctly different. Saturday = hot, muggy, with a very careful almost timid instructor. Sunday = cold, rainy, with an instructor who wasn't afraid to let marie heel the boat until water came in. exciting! Also in the list of firsts, we had our first soccer game sunday (with morgan as our cheering section) and we won... and last night i went to orchestra rehearsal in cambridge. (Later I picked the two wanderers up from their red sox game... they hiked around beantown yesterday until their feet fell off).

There's something about the weather getting cooler that equals cooking... I've been on a cooking kick partly because of that and also because marie's back home (contrary to whatever my sister might say, I like sharing).
since morgan is in town, we made these crazy delicious tomato tart things that went down nice and easy with morgan's homemade guacamole.
a few days ago for lunch, I made this pita pizza (Ingredients: pesto sauce, one sliced tomato, parma. cheese/mozarella. Heat it in the toaster oven/microwave until the cheese melts. eat.). deeelicious.

calm

yesterday, marie and i took the train to Providence; an hour of marie shooting out the window, the dog nestled at our feet. The south station terminal looks a bit like we entered into europe (the shot above is not marie's she'll be happy to say...). maybe it's remembering european explorations — relaxed days, exhilaration with each new discovery. marie said she feels like we're supposed to go from our walks — to the ICA or in the North End — back to a hotel room, instead of our apartment.
I still have to remind myself to relax, though. my friend nat brings out the calmness. In providence, we walked around thayer street, eating pizza, taking photos at the trolley stop, and dodging students moving into brown. last night, we ate a decadent dinner next to the canal toasting nat to be "a finder, not always a seeker."
today, lazy day seeping in, we grabbed breakfast at Loui's, walked through the RISD museum where a giant Buddha occupied a whole room by himself. We talked about remembering the kindness of strangers when other strangers are not...

the divine gas

chiho aoshima, the divine gas

Last night, m. and I took a journey to the financial district in Boston, and then over to the ICA for free Thursday nights. The museum sits on the inner harbor, with views of Eastie, and the Tobin. It was our first trip down there together, and the buildings/water/art all served as inspiration (that word again!). The Philip-Lorca diCorcia exhibit was a mix and match of his previous showings and the Louise Bourgeois show spanned six decades of her work, but m. was not interested in this room's contents.

The first thing you see when you walk into the museum, is Chiho Aoshima's giant mural, The Divine Gas... the lines are so clean and the colors vivid, that at first you wonder, "is that really a mural of a giant tooting?" love a sense of humor in art.

polas

it's days like this, hot humidness, that i have to remind myself to appreciate it, because it's not going to last... green images on 3191... and this pola in france, in march, which always cools me off {and make me wish i was there, no matter how cold!}.

in contrast... i'll need to reference this when I'm freezing my tush off in november

flying to the next thing...

just sent a postcard copy of this to lauren... hope she likes it. I've been hankering for little drawings... most postcard size, and can't stop filling pages with black and whites. but this is the first one, so it reserves a special place.

soars through the air with the greatest of ease

Argentinean photographer Esteban Pastorino Díaz took this photo. He photographs landscapes using a kite with a camera mounted beneath it. It looks like a doll's house, with tiny clay people and plastic trees...

"The capacity to register time is, indeed, the most important aspect I wish to emphasize. This aspect becomes evident when temporality is distorted and I create a fiction of the extension of the photographic instant, and it is the extreme expansion of such instant that evidences this capacity."

This and about 11 other aerial photographers will be shown at TO FLY: Contemporary Aerial Photography from Sept. 7- Oct. 28, 2007 at the Boston University Art Gallery.


photo by Marilyn Bridges

afternoon

ever get a feeling of starting in the middle?

made it to the woods this weekend...


Through lots of coaxing from the locals, we found a nice little baby hike for the hot day. When we made it to the top of our hill, the lake was hazy below us, and storms clouds were rolling in. The humidity was so oppressive, that it felt wonderful having buckets of water pouring down as we ran down the trail to the car.