v e r y l o n g l i n e s.

I thought I'd share the statement I wrote to accompany my work at Surface Gallery. I know I'm a terrible tease, considering I haven't posted any images of the work for the show, but I'd love to hear what you think...



statement: very long lines

A few months ago I taught myself how to spin yarn with a drop-spindle. Besides becoming obsessed with the repetitive nature of the craft, I was also fascinated by the spatial paradox of the process. In my tiny little apartment, I could sit in a small space and create a very long fine line. Yards and yards and yards of creation, wound up into a tidy, compact space.

Although the work included in “very long lines” is not made of Michelle-spun yarn, this interest in the spatial complexities of creation has certainly informed this body of work. My current living/working space is very small, and this has affected my art in ways I am just starting to understand. For years most of my work has been petite, or made of many petite fragments. I made a conscious decision to work on larger pieces for this exhibition, making an uncomfortably small workspace even more uncomfortable. It is part of the work that is invisible to the viewer, but working through this discomfort is part of what the work is about.

In creating these airy, open compositions, I am satisfying my desire for a place (or state of mind) where there is room and time for intricate detail, room for growth, and even room for un-organized “stuff” to comfortably exist.

My work is an autobiographical exploration of the non-linear nature of memory. The repetitive nature of my processes, (printing, mark-making, sewing) facilitate a meditative mind wandering, thus each finished piece becomes an abstract record of my thoughts. The “very long lines” refer to time lines, conversations, landscapes, paths, and distances between friends. I often equate interactions or conversations with tangible threads: loops as repetitions, tangles as complications.

March Cold.

I have a nasty cold. This was taken a couple of days ago, when I was still in denial about being sick.

I've had so much going on, and I know that this sickness was partially caused by being run-down.

I went to Nashville the weekend before last, drove up to Murray, Kentucky to eat at Hihburger and see friends, and then back down to Nashville for a college friend's wedding. It was a really, really good time. I'd post pictures, but I have not scanned my polaroids yet.

I saw plenty of ice-storm aftermath:



It did snow a bit on my drive back to Nashville, but just enough to delight this city mouse.



It seems like mere moments after I got home to Los Angeles, my friend Jenni flew in to town, and stayed with me this past week. I was NOT on vacation, and actually had tons of work to do for my show in Bakersfield, but I managed to burn the candle at both ends, and we had a great time. I got to show Jenni some of my favorite California things, and we discovered some new cool stuff. And of course we laughed like crazy about stupid stuff the way we have since we met in eighth grade.



Jenni helped me haul my work up to Bakersfield this past weekend, and then we took the long way home...a very long way home. We took the time to trespass in orange groves, and we found a wonderful honey farm on highway 126.





And we went to the Griffith J. Griffith Observatory... Twice.



Most of these are Jenni's pictures, by the way. So we had a splendid time, in spite of the stress, and business, and work, and sickness. Now I'm just trying to pull myself together and feel better.

Say, my show at Surface Gallery in Bakersfield opens this coming Friday, from 5-9pm. The work is there, and perhaps even on the walls. I'm looking forward to seeing all the pieces together, because the way I've been working on them has been very one-at-a-time, due to my teeny-tiny apartment.



Do come. "A splendid time is guarenteed for all." I'll be wearing a stunning new frock from Anthropologie. Well, I wore it to Whitney's wedding, but its new-ish...I think all the smoky smell from the "after party" has aired out by now.

My cold medicine is starting to make me sleepy, so I should conclude this post.

Good evening.

Everyone We Know...

...and the wisdom in their teeth.

Highlights from my submission for the Art House Co-op's most recent Sketchbook Project. They sent me a moleskin sketchbook, I put a pink hard-cover on it and filled it with loveliness. I started working on this in January, when I had my wisdom teeth out. At the time, there was nothing else in the world that I could think about.











Check out more images at my Art House Co-op profile.

Tulips and other Pretty Things.

O, its been cold and rainy and wonderful out here in California. I love it. I've been very busy with work and art. And tulips and letter-writing. Can't believe its already mid-February. Deadlines are sneaking up on me from all sides.

But I wanted to take a break from my productivity to at least post some pictures, and a "hello" to my mom, who likes to check in on the ol' blog.





I'm spending every possible moment working on work for my upcoming show, "Very Long Lines" at Surface Gallery in Bakersfield. The work is larger than usual, and also very open: lots of lovely white space. And also lots of intricate tiny detail. I may be going blind!

I'm not ready to start sharing this new work with the world, but I will post some pictures of some of the "source material."





Journal drawings, August 2007.



Magazine image of a river...this has been taped to my wall for a few months. I know its upside down. The Polaroids are from a sunrise in Northridge, maybe in November.





I made these sketches in 2001, in my little seventh floor drawing studio at Murray State University. They were images from dreams. Very vivid dreams about art I had not made...don't worry. I'm not about to start writing about my dreams on this blasted blog.





More recent journal notations...December 2008.

Okay. Back to work.

It Happened One Night.

Geeze, what a great movie. I'm in love with Clark Gable. And Netflix.

Forthcoming.

More newish work in my Etsy shop.

These are other things:

I'm getting ready for the spring semester at CSUN.

I'm making work for my forthcoming solo exhibition at Surface Gallery in Bakersfield, California. Mark your calenders for the opening of "Very Long Lines": Friday, March 6 2009 5-9pm.

The Los Angeles Art Show is January 21-25. I'll have a piece in the Los Angeles Printmaking Society's booth. Its this one:



Last night I ordered 75 sheets of Rives BFK paper. (50 grey, 25 white) So that's pretty exciting.

The last couple of days I've had Penland on the brain, and I'm going to apply for a class this summer. Check out their summer catalog!

I'm also doing the math to see if I can participate in a class in South Dakota this summer. Check out Frogman's Print Workshops.

It's a pretty evening here in Los Angeles. I think I'm going to walk outside and enjoy it.

The newest new you ever knew.

I'm back from faraway, and unusually optimistic about the months ahead.

I'm still healing from the wisdom teeth episode, but it is a great relief knowing that they can't bother me anymore. And yeah, I kept them:



Besides the teeth, this caribbean blue le creuset cast iron pot is new:



My family and I watched all three seasons of "arrested development" over the holidays, while I spun lots of yarn:



oh, and this is new to me:



There are more new pictures on my flickr page, I listed new-ish pieces for sale in my etsy shop, and much more news to share in the coming days....stay tuned.