i had a weird moment the other day. the urban outfitters catalogue arrived and as i was flipping through it [feeling old because there are very few things kids are wearing today that i want to wear. we've moved onto the 80's through a hippie lens?] - i came to the above page and paused. wait - that's illustration play
. wait. i'm IN THAT BOOK. wait. urban outfitters is selling it? is it in stores? can i walk into a store and have a weird moment of i'm IN THAT BOOK in a hipster college environment? hmmmmm
so this last sunday the new york times included their T style magazine. my friend grace pointed out the above hermes outfit to me. it's pretty great. of course wandering through the snow w/ a yak [or buffalo?] in a million dollar outfit doesn't really seem feasible, but that's what we love about high fashion right?
also in the magazine was a fantastic article on catherine opie . when i was lucky enough to see her ice fishing series in LA i practically wept in front of them. i admire how she constantly looks for different things to photograph. and reading this quote made me see how she ties them all together:
"From early on, I wanted to create a language that showed how complex the idea of community really is, how we categorize who we are as human beings in relation to places we live," ... Her 1995 photographs of Beverly Hills and Bel Air homes aren’t so different, she says, from her portraits of the S-and-M community. "They’re both about the notion of the facade, and body modification is as much of a facade as architecture."
um yeah. chew on the notion of facade for a few hours and see what you come up with.
hope your wednesday is going well. and thanks for all the studio well wishes. and the underdog ink support. you guys are great!
Labels: artists, inspiration, me me me
hello friends.
why the title of this post you ask?
well.... i have decided that it really is time to try and simplify my world a bit, for several reasons. and one of those steps is to let go a bit of underdog ink . i'm not going to totally dismantle it - because who knows - perhaps i'll get a whim to design a shirt - or some jewelry, or a softie or two and i'll want a place to sell that stuff. but i am going to try and clear out the inventory i have at the studio. SO - above is the new design - a little bird saying hello to a giraffe - available on both women's T's and baby/toddler Ts [sizes 6-12 through 4T] and totes. AND - all the older designs i have - women's - baby's - and jewelry are 15-45% off. i’m most likely never going to reprint any old imagery [at least not in the same color/shirt combos]– so now is the time to grab something – pretend it’s christmas in august.
the other reason this is a leap is because i'm going to try and use/save any proceeds from this sale for a build lisa a studio fund. i love my studio. i love that it's only 5 minutes away from my house. but i'm realizing that i really need to time manage better - if i have an hour of "free" time i want to be able to use it in my studio. i can't do that now. just the effort of packing myself and the dogs into the car means i need to have at least 3 hours of time. plus i'm always leaving something i need in one place or the other... and thus i am going to attempt to build myself a space in my backyard. going into debt scares me - but i know this is worth it ! and if aurora has taught me anything it's that i must ask the universe for things that i truly want.
a set of plans by a very very dear one [close to our favorite bug ] are almost complete. i have a feeling this is going to be one huge roller coaster ride....
anyways. thanks, as always, for your continued support - and if you are up for early christmas shopping - visit underdog ink!
have a great friday and weekend
Labels: underdog ink
in NH we stayed with mary jo and her husband and their adorable dog daisy. i wanted to send a little thank you gift for all of their hospitality. so above is daisy ! i'm not as great at doing dog portraits as my husband is, but hopefully they liked it.
i have a studio visit today so i have to tidy up - there are 4 different bodies of work on the wall at the moment - some that have to go out - some that need to be photographed, some in progress - it's a little congested.....
and here's a link - check out sarah hillenberger i love her knitted body organs [duh]
have a great weekend!
OK - the last of the maine pics
maria would rather be a rat than a cockroach. she also does this adorable thing where she waves at birds and cats, etc and says hi... or i see you....
she also makes a mean lunch
her studio is also lovely
good-bye maine.... thank you for a good visit... and for all the memories all pics here
{there was an amazing marine store there - just look at this rope!}
this week it's framing, packing, shipping central at the studio. i dream of having a little shipping center - table - brown paper roll on the wall - boxes and bubble and labels and string all lined up, organized, and ready to go.... is that strange? maybe someday i will have my own little shipping area.
i also ran downstairs to jot down 5 words. last night just as i was falling asleep i had an epiphany. i think i know what i want to do next in the studio. time to research ... i love this part - when and idea just starts to take shape.... it feels exciting.
hope your mid-week is going well....
p/s i've really been enjoying everyone's thoughts on making and the disconnect.... thank you for sharing
maria would rather be a rat than a cockroach. she also does this adorable thing where she waves at birds and cats, etc and says hi... or i see you....
she also makes a mean lunch
her studio is also lovely
good-bye maine.... thank you for a good visit... and for all the memories all pics here
{there was an amazing marine store there - just look at this rope!}
this week it's framing, packing, shipping central at the studio. i dream of having a little shipping center - table - brown paper roll on the wall - boxes and bubble and labels and string all lined up, organized, and ready to go.... is that strange? maybe someday i will have my own little shipping area.
i also ran downstairs to jot down 5 words. last night just as i was falling asleep i had an epiphany. i think i know what i want to do next in the studio. time to research ... i love this part - when and idea just starts to take shape.... it feels exciting.
hope your mid-week is going well....
p/s i've really been enjoying everyone's thoughts on making and the disconnect.... thank you for sharing
Labels: away from home
i gave myself permission to take today off. i had breakfast with a friend and gave her a dreamweaver lesson and then proceeded to simply do nothing else today. i didn't have enough energy for the studio and so i didn't go! how luxurious!
i thought i'd share a few pictures from maine
one of the BEST things about the trip was all the good food, the amazing sites and hanging out with wonderful people. we all know maria is amazing [pictures with her to follow].... but there's a whole creative contingent ALL in portland. dinner with jennifer , meg , betsy maria and lisa c. was one of the highlights of the trip. so was meeting and seeing karen gelardi's studio. just so so good. what a community! i felt like wherever we went we met genuinely nice sincere folks. on the street, in stores, at the beaches [which were so beautiful]....
a few favs:
most of the maine pics here . still have some shots of maria and her house/studio left to share.
have a great friday!
Labels: away from home
gofun shirayuki
hi there. i'm home. it's been a few days of catch up city. vacations are great. they create a sense of wonder - i look at things in new ways. i dream about possibilities of moving [even if i don't ever intend to move], i notice differences in weather, landscape, people, smells, foods. i'm going to spend the next week showing some pictures and some fun moments of the trip. lisa c made a great traveling companion. we took turns in comfy beds and generally agreed on everything. so nice!
cadmium orange
i'm not sure if this happens to all artists - but once i put up a show i have this disconnection happen. i'm still attached to the work - i can remember the moments of when i did certain things - or the frustration of tying a bunch of french knots - but somehow i can view the work as separate from me. this is helpful in trying to determine what is successful and not successful and often once a show is up i gain a new insight to the work - but ultimately it's still a little strange. i'm curious what other artists/makers think - does this happen to them?
you can see all of our pairings here
malachite
so - the opening was really fun - although there was a torrential storm that caused havoc for some folks trying to make it.... i got to meet so many kind and creative people lisa de john and her fantastic husband, abby and her super sweet husband , kind leah from boston, elizabeth the brains behind squam [the camp we all want to go to!], megan bogonovich the ceramicist who makes ultra intricate work, fun and funny sarah whose family lives in rochester, the wonderful artist jen , and super smart and sweet betsy . i feel so lucky and honored to meet such folks - all talented. and this was just the beginning of meeting interesting people. and i have to thank all the artstream crew again....
tyrian purple
so each of our pieces involved researching each color. most of mine have several components that weave together... both lisa and i posted little info plaques next to our works to explain our thought processes. if you want to read my explanations of each piece you can visit them all on flickr
alizarin crimson
more on the trip this week.
hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Labels: art, away from home
lisa congdon and i are in new hampshire. we hung our show yesterday after some fun deliberation - and with the help of susan and adam and rainer of art stream . everyone should have an adam to help them hang. makes life so much easier! [you can check out lisa c's flickr stream for more photos of install and pieces. she's a better flickr-er than i am!
tonight is the opening. apparently there will be some exciting appearances by some east coast folk... it should be fun. our work will also be available online in artstream's shop tonight [july 18th] at 5pm eastern time. one of my favorite things about susan is that she encourages financing of pieces. i love it when galleries try to make work accessible to people.
lisa and i had to get some exacto knives and so we went to ben franklin crafts . the neatest [in terms of organized] craft store we've ever seen.
i also went out for a minute to get some liquid refreshment [it's HOT] and spied this:
and this
earlier in the day we saw a bunch of gymnastics girls running by the gallery. there's a gym right down the way....
think good thoughts for us tonight. and for my husband. who is home alone dealing with some very unfun pet stuff right now....
we are off to maine tomorrow
Labels: art, away from home
