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.

hello.

I'm home from Seattle, and it was an exhausting trip. My workshop and "picture show" (artist lecture) went well, and I had a good time with my pal Myra Kaha. I met good people and a weird cat.

And Seattle is very cool.

Hold tight for a full report. I'm already packing for PENLAND, which is next on my crazy summer tour. But I am changing gears now from workshop-teaching to workshop-taking. yay!

Trying to decide which typewriter is escorting me back east. I'm thinking my pretty lil' baby hermes...

Busy and Travel-y.

photo courtesy of the lovely and talented liz sherwyn

July? What? What happened to June? Where am I?

Here are some stories:

Last Thursday I drove up to Visalia as a chaperone to the awesome young ladies of Bethel 43, Los Angeles, Job's Daughters International. What's this? What is Michelle talking about? Job's Daughters is a youth organization for girls age 10-20, affiliated with the Masonic Fraternity. I was involved when I was little tiny Michelle, (California Bethel 244 and Kentucky Bethel 9) and am now delighted to be an adult volunteer. It was an exhausting and HOT couple of days in Visalia. This was California's state-wide convention or "Grand Bethel." Imagine hundreds of girls in fancy dresses singing "don't stop believin'" a cappella. Noisy charm bracelets and lots of stuffed animals waving in the air. Yeah, its pretty much awesome.

So I left Visalia Saturday morning and headed south to Bakersfield, which I'm fairly sure was hotter than Visalia. I taught a two-day bookbinding workshop at Surface Gallery, where I had an exhibition in March. Besides the bookbinding, I spent time with some really great people. There are really really great people in Bakersfield, and I'll have words with any person who says otherwise. I slept on a couch "like a cloud", there was badminton and scrabble, good art, good tea, good honey, good wine, a good dog, birthday cake.

I love Bakersfield.

Now I'm home, and I'm in preparation mode for my next adventure, which is another bookbinding workshop I'm teaching...soon. This time in Washington at the Kirkland Art Center. I get to see my ol' WVU pal Myra Kaha, and this will be my first visit to Washington state. I'm excited.

So the next few days I'll be measuring, cutting, tearing, counting, counting again....

Happy July, everyone-everywhere, all over the place.

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.