Studio Channel Islands.

You love printmaking! Tell your friends! This will be at the Studio Channel Islands Art Center on the beautiful campus of California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA 93012

In non-printmaking news, I have begun crocheting doilies for my best friend Jenni, who needs at least thirty-seven doilies before she gets married in October. Because of course, "it would be perfectly impossible to keep house with only thirty-six doilies."

I have new pieces to post for sale in my shop....just need to scan them.

Featured on "Heart Handmade"

Have you ever wondered how Michelle Moode holds a pencil when she's drawing? That's just one of the many shocking secrets revealed in my Heart Handmade interview, which can be found HERE.

I hope it's good for a few laughs...

Virgo.

Here's my Horoscope for the week, courtesy of "the Onion":

"You'll finally catch the great white whale this week, only to realize the damned thing is just a metaphor."

I don't know....made me laugh!

Print Matter(s).

I forgot to write a post about the "Print Matter(s)" exhibition at Studio Channel Islands Art Center! It's a beautiful exhibition of California Printmakers, curated by my friend Jennifer D. Anderson. The exhibition will be up 'til August 9, and if you're around California, you should check it out!

My work for this show consisted of many many layered book-ish things, expertly arranged by Jennifer whilst I was frolicking on the Atlantic Seashore.

The pieces incorporate etching, lithography, monotype, drawing, typing, and a lot of sewing. They are attached to the walls with T-pins.

Wait...

Hold the phone.

In my last post, did I just compare washing dishes at the Penland Auction to "pinchin' yourself when you've 'gone away' while driving on a long, long trip just to make sure you aren't in a dreamland and you haven't really run off the road"?

Hmm. I think I need a nap....

Again?!

I've decided that for one week in August, I'm gonna wander over to North Carolina...you know, again. To breathe wholesome mountain air, see some old friends, and wash dishes.

This will be my SEVENTH year managing the dining hall at Penland for their Annual Benefit Auction. It may sound more glamorous than it is. My team and I will be washing dishes. A lot of dishes. And pots. And silverware. And bowls. And glasses. And then different shaped glasses. And maybe a third shape of glasses. And then some things that we're not-quite-sure what they are, but we gotta wash 'em.

And then we gotta wash everything again, the next day.

If you're a friend or a fan of my work, it should come as no surprise that this satisfies my conceptual interest in repetition.



I do find dish washing to be rather satisfying. No, really. I like washing my own dishes, (particularly with my lovely view from my kitchen window, and my vintage china and Lisa Miller ceramics....)

And at the auction we listen to a lot of good music and always end up having a good time. There's always a moment when I tell myself I'll never do it again.....it is hard work, but it's a good way to remind yourself that you're alive.

Today my friend Maranda wrote to me about how "we do this to ourselves over and over...it's like a way for us to remember we're alive. it's like pinchin' yourself when you've 'gone away' while driving on a long, long trip just to make sure you aren't in a dreamland and you haven't really run off the road." She wasn't talking about washing dishes, but it does seem relevant.

Anyway...

A Beautiful Party.

My friend Ann opened an Etsy shop: take a look: "abeautifulparty". This piece is called "Tied Up," and it can be yours for $20.00.

Ann is working toward her MFA in Illinois. (That is, she's in Illinois, not majoring in the subject of Illinois.) Ann and I were both Undergrads at Murray State University, in Kentucky, but we didn't really get to be friends 'til one crazy week in Vermillion, South Dakota, some years ago.

In her words, she is inspired by, "old nintendo graphics, love affairs, aquatics, perfume, women, fashion, and music with synthesizers".

Hooray for Ann!

A Very Brief Report about Deer Isle.

On my Summer Vacation, I took a freezing cold plunge in the Atlantic Ocean.

I can only say that the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was amazing. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I was fortunate to spend two weeks there. I learned a great deal, and I got to spend time with some wonderful people, like these misfit bookbinders:



Thank goodness for the timer on my Polaroid camera. This was a particularly glad evening.

It was bone-chillingly cold the majority of my two weeks in Maine. It was rainy and foggy, wet, and very moody. There were shades of green and grey I have never seen before, and so many different kinds of tiny growing things.

Descriptions are boring and difficult. Maybe you should just look at some more pictures....I have posted many images on my Flickr account. What? Didn’t know I have a Flickr account? Well, I don’t mention it too often, you know. Maybe because I'm still trying to figure out how to work Flickr. Take a look...here.

Anyway, It was a drag to return to LA....

There are new pieces for sale in my Etsy shop. I haven’t made work of this type in a while, and I’m really in love with these at the moment. These mixed-media drawings utilize appropriated imagery from my Mom’s Girlscout handbook from the 1950’s. I was never a Girlscout, and at one time in my youth I was sort of obsessed with my Mom's handbook.....Anyway, way back in 2003 I started using the kind of generic images of girls as points of departure for self portraits. I think that's what's going on here.



Please take a look. This is just one of the things that I’m doing right now.