Michelle's Seattle Picture Show.

In Seattle I decided that I prefer the term "picture show" to "slide talk," or "artist lecture."

"Slide talk" doesn't work because I wasn't showing slides, and a "talk" sounds so confrontational....like I'm giving people "a good talking-to"...

...and "artist lecture" suggests, (in my mind) a stuffy three-part research-y song-and-dance about some white-haired gentleman who made paintings in France long before I was born.

So I started referring to my presentation at the Kirkland Art Center as a "picture show." My inarticulate rambling was held together by about 150 pictures, and I'm guessing less than half of them were images of my work. We traveled through time and space. I talked about Muppets, pepper-grinders, Googie architecture, wisdom teeth, the Winchester Mystery House, my grandmother's kitchen floor, typewriters, spinning yarn, star trek, gardening in outer space, um...bookbinding......it was fun. I think they liked it. I was proud of myself.

Here are some pictures from Seattle:


This is Myra Kaha, the Educational Director at the Kirkland Art Center. We were in line for some sorely needed coffee. I know Myra from our grad school days in West Virginia. She made things out of clay, and was one of my favorite people to complain to.


We went up in the space needle. Myra was afraid, which amused me.


Here is evidence of how amazingly organized I was for the two-day book workshop I taught at the Kirkland Art Center. It went well, although I overestimated how much we could do in the time we had.


Myra and I went to an opening at Pottery Northwest, and I made a new friend, Tammie Rubin. Tammie is in the green shirt, her art is dangling overhead, and Myra is in the brown shirt with her back to us.


Here are my feet at rest, in the very comfortable garden spot at Pottery Northwest.


It stayed light really late.


Here's one of my favorite moments of the trip: after the workshop ended, but before my picture show. I am enjoying a PBR and teriyaki beef, and moving images around on my computer.

That night when I was finally done with everything, Myra and I went out to her very best friend's house, and we had a pleasant evening in a real Seattle backyard. Its strange how many connections I share with my new friend, Kristin Swenson-Lintault. Besides knowing Myra, she has also been participating in Art House projects, AND weirdest of all, she went to Murray State back in the day.

The art world is NOT so big.

So Seattle was great fun.

...and I'm on the run again. Getting ready to head to Penland, and then Atlanta. I have closed my etsy shop for now, but I will be back in business in September.

The Happy Ones.

So, I've been on spring break from CSUN this week, which has been a pretty successfully balanced time of rest and productivity. Okay, maybe a little more rest than productivity...

I've also had lots of good news this week.

The "calculations and waiting" in my last post refer directly to my apartment-hunt. I've lived in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles for almost two years (well, come august), and I've been in my current apartment for over a year. I like where I am, and after a brief investigation into moving more drastically out of my neighborhood, I decided I'd rather stay put for now. I know these streets, I like walking to places around here, I like driving up to the observatory as needed, and I like having a familiarity with the check-out folks at my market.

But dang it, I need more space! My little studio apartment has been good to me, but in recent months I have felt more and more crazy because of the stiflingly small space. And street-parking. So I've been looking at apartments for a while now, and it really helped me clarify what I want in a place to live.

Geeze, this is wordy.

To sum up, I am moving May first into a place that I am very, very excited about. Besides having room for a couch AND a bed, it also has a petite dining room, hard-wood floors, a GARAGE, a telephone niche, and all sorts of 1930's detail that makes Michelle a bit giddy. It's the one-bedroom apartment that feels like a home, and it's the same price as one I looked at that was in a dark building with EIGHTY units. Bizarre.

Okay, so that's the big news. Let me tell you about my summer plans.

In July I'm planning on making a short trip up to Seattle, (never been there) to stay with my friend (from WVU) Myra. I'll be teaching a two-day bookbinding workshop at the Kirkland Arts Center, where Myra is the educational director.

In late July/early August, I will be at Penland (as I mentioned last post) for Arthur Hash's metals workshop. So excited to play with metal again. It's been a while!

Afterwards, I'll be hanging around P-land for a few more days to do my thing at the fancy-pants auction, and I hope I can persuade these girls to join me:



After THAT, I'll be making my way to Atlanta, Georgia (not sure I've ever been there, either...) for a residency at the Art House. I'll be making things and having a show. I'm excited.

I'm planning on posting more work for sale in my shop today. Not all of it is brand new....as I begin organizing/packing for the move, I've been finding pieces that I've forgotten about, (most have been in shows and have been resting in frames in a closet) and I'd like to find good homes for them. I do not make art to hoard it all in boxes and closets.

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.

ufos.

This weekend I finished up my images for the Scavenger Project for the Art House Co-op. Above is my response to the "Unidentified Flying Objects" prompt. It is a Polaroid Transfer with a little sewing and pocket-watch gears.

I posted more of my images for this project at my Flickr account. Enjoy. I did.

All the new.

I've been very busy lately. Already a month into classes at CSUN and LMU, and I'm pretending it's autumn in Los Angeles, even though it's still too dang hot. But I'm wearing plaid, so....it must be fall.

The images above are of the work I mailed to the Art House Co-Op in Atlanta, Georgia for their "Collecting Objects" project. Today I signed up for what sounds like another fun adventure, their "Scavenger Project."

Here's good stuff: I actually found Lost Found Art while teaching my 2d design class. Who knows what I was talking about at the time.

My friend Ann Flowers has started a blog, haunted by pretty ghosts. Check out A Beautiful Party.

CSUN has wireless internet everywhere, which leads us to my next recent discovery: how fantastic is Pandora Radio? Why didn't I discover this sooner?

Here's a breakthrough moment in the history of the universe:



Well, actually like most things in the universe, this breakthough is rather a looping-around of something I was doing years ago......


So, I've made 115 sales to date in my Etsy shop. I listed some new things on my birthday...check 'em out.

I'm working on a stack of applications, proposals, and entries.

I'm also working on etching big zinc plates, and taking out some of my agression on a litho stone.

Art House Co-Op

Or "coop" as I like to read it....

I met Steven Peterman from Atlanta at the open portfolio event at SGC, and today I checked out their website. I'm very excited about the projects that this organization, um, organizes. See if you don't agree! I'm participating in their "collecting objects" project. They are sending out mini accordion file folders, which participants fill with objects... receipts, ticket stubs, lists, Polaroids, etc. Then they are having a show of all the collected bits and pieces of the universe. For someone like me, who is constantly picking things up off the ground, this is an ideal assignment!

There seems to be plenty of room for participants...check it out!

More good things in my etsy store. like this: