Mike Maxwell recently opened up an etsy shop and thank God because I am dying to get my hands on one of his Rock Bottom Risers. At the moment he's just got one RBR up and an awesome painting. But if I know how Mike utilizes the web, we won't have to wait long for more of his incredible work to appear.
Mike was generous to donate the bottom blue RBR to our Gulf Fundraiser. That will be available on Monday.
Lena Wolff shared with me her friend Signe Mae Olson's blog Twin Spaceships over the Summer. I have been meaning to post about her beautifully subtle photographs for a while...so no time like the present! Enjoy. And thank you Lena! Nothing like sharing the goodness and inspiration.
jeez, maybe i should just turn this blog into an australian artist blog. i just can't seem to stop writing about australian creative types. i'm beginning to think i should just move there...ok, not really. but thank god for the world wide intra webs, i can just sit and surf and ruin my posture instead.
lil sean's work has a great palette. his drawings and prints are humorous and often colored in pastel pinks, yellows and baby blues. a lot of his subjects are what looks to be like displaced, characters living on the edge of society or the opposite end of the spectrum. he writes in his blog: "this week i'm all about drawing crap celebrities." what follows is a bright pink image of paris hilton. YES. so awesome.
lil sean just finished a zine called panic head which you can purchase on moose. it's a hand sewn limited edition...and i'm really hoping that dude standing in the spaghetti is alex trebek, cause well that would just make my day. you can also purchase other prints of his on moose as well, or check out his flickr page or blog.
** all images used courtesy of the artist.
i recently met mark schoening at first fridays here in boston in his studio through a friend of mine. mark's intense black and white paintings hung on his wall shining brilliantly. i wish you could've seen them too, there is such a beauty to them. which you can see here, but i tell you in person they really shine. influenced by abstract expressionism to science fiction, here is what he says about his work:
"i do not have theluxury of escape. in this century, in this moment, few of us do. information piles up: the advertisements, the mechanisms, the media,the people. i am attached to it, in the midst of it, a part of it. however, as a painter, i am also a witness and a reactionary. the paintings speak of information explosions, where an entireenvironment can be physically contained in a seamlessly presentedtwo-dimensional world. it is a reaction to the age of technology wefind ourselves living in. the way we look at, perceive, and processideas has changed, and because of that, because of what the viewerbrings to the experience, these paintings could not have been created inany other time. this is not so much a comment on myself as it is theviewer. they now have the ability to take in numerous ideas andaesthetic techniques all at once as a consequence of their everydaylives. what i am doing is letting the ideas fall in a frozen plane,allowing for further investigation."
so well put, no? considering that i am watching the dog whisperer, talking to my sister and instant messaging w/ friends as i write this i can really appreciate his thoughts on taking in numerous ideas and aesthetic techniques. mark certainly gives his viewer the benefit of the doubt. how refreshing. mark is a featured artist of the 2008 decordova annual exhibition which runs through august 17.
Really drawn to these 'wet plate' photographs that photographer Boogie has been experimenting with. They seem haunted, leaving me equally as into his description of them:
"I've been experimenting with wet plate photography lately, and am having a blast. I've been doing it in the basement of our studio, which probably hasn't been cleaned in the past 50 years or so. Not the best conditions for this kind of work, but it's making for a really interesting results - the HAND OF GOD is present in every image. But if you wait around for ideal conditions, you might as well not try anything.
Another thing, I feel like this kind of photography really does capture a part of people's souls, and in this case it's the demonic part. Somehow I think it reveals people's dark sides.:
Boogie will be part of After The Rain, a group show at Carmichael Gallery opening this Saturday. You can see more of his photography on his blog or check his site out, a broad range of amazingness going on in there.
It’s said that cleanliness is next to Godliness. You should always keep yourself and everything around you clean because this is the only way you can remain healthy. Unclean places are the source of many a diseases since mosquitoes and insects thrive at places where there’s no cleanliness. Even if you leave your home unclean for a while, you will realize that insects start giving their eggs and pigeons come to stay there! To avoid such situations, you should get your home cleaned regularly.
Coming to windows, it’s important to get them cleaned for a lot of reasons. First of all, people who view our homes and offices from outside can just see those blue colored glass windows! If they’re dirty and unclean, they will make the windows appear brownish and unkempt due to the mud. Cleaning commercial windows is not the task of people like us. We’ve often tried our hand at cleaning only to realize towards the end that some stains and patches still remain! That’s why commercial window cleaning services should be hired to complete this task.
Here’s what you’ll get by hiring them:
Save Time: Professionals can get your windows cleaned in really little time since they’re experienced at this task. Time is an important consideration when it comes to office because cleaning for long hours can disrupt your office work.No streaks: In spite of using those ‘magic cleaners’ that are advertised on TV, we are unable to get the streaks off our windows! Streaks remain on our windows even after cleaning so it’s better to get them cleaned by professionals. They can make your windows as good and shiny as new ones.Save costs: Since it’s their job, professional cleaners are always in the possession of high quality cleaning agents and equipment. If we were to buy those agents, it would cost us a lot!
another baptism. SOLD OUT.
i have been a big fan of brooklyn based street artist judith supine ever since i first saw images of his on wooster collective a few yrs back. his use of big ol' mouths and huge eyes, crazy color and overall combination i find so extraordinary. then to make it that much better he goes out and wheat pastes the images on the street, so his colorful montages are staring right at you on the street. you can't hide from their eyes!
"judith supine is a 29-year-old artist living in brooklyn, ny. supinecould not speak until a month after his seventeenth birthday. he couldnot physically articulate words, he could only squeak and grunt. supineoften drew pictures to communicate with his family. his mom saved allof his pictures, just one of many reasons why his mom is great." - paper monster.
yesterday paper monster released original work and some prints from judith. well, the originals are all gone(one of them was the above image), as they flew off out like hotcakes, as they would do.but if you hurry there are still some prints available. in the meantime check out this video of him at work & play.
untitled 1. limited edition print.
untilted 2. limited edition print.
Well.. sorta.. I have mixed emotions about it.. I mean, It’s just kind of a normal thing.. you’re just “supposed” to complain about being pregnant.. you’re “supposed” to want it to be over NOW!
And while I do my fair share of complaining about how nocturnal he is… and my fair share of complaining about how he really loves to scoot his bumm right up under my ribs and push out.. but I’m SOOOOOOOO not ready for this to be over. I love being pregnant… I would take a couple .. or a few more months of this.
I had a big emotional break down the other night because I feel so jipped by this pregnancy.. I wonder if I’ll even remember it.. I blinked.. and here I am 8 months pregnant. I’m just not ready for it to be over.. plus this kid is WAY easier to take care of inside my tummy than he’ll be outside!! :)
But at the same time.. I am SOO ready to meet him.. SOO ready to dress him up in all of his millions and millions of outfits.. And SOO ready to hear all the songs Aaron will sing to him.. (he’s already been practicing coming up with lyrics for both puppy and baby!)
So.. here they are… 34 weeks 5 days…
(p.s. I’m getting bored with all of my shirts.. and hate looking at a full closet of “regular” clothes.. so I’ve been experimenting and have worn “regular” shirts for the past 2 days!! How many people can say they can do that 8 months pregnant????)
For comparison.. this was 27 weeks 5 days.. so exactly 7 weeks ago… almost 2 months ago..
All of his clothes and washed and ready to go. Seriously…. 8 loads of laundry!! He is soooo spoiled.. The homecoming outfit(s) have been picked out and laid out.. (I have 2 right now.. one in case he’s small and one in case he’s bigger.. although I have been SERIOUSLY toying with the idea of a third.. but it just seems a little to neurotic to me!) We haven’t packed a hospital bag yet.. but the birth plan is pretty much written and we’ve had our first meeting with our Doula and finished our birthing class… We got the car seat in the mail this week.. and it’s soooo cool! And our new camera will be here today..so we don’t miss a single second!
Well that’s probably all that is new and exciting around our world……..
March 23rd 2009
In my mind Miles is still the same baby we brought home from the hospital. I constantly go back to my picture file to see what pictures I took 3 months ago at this time.. It is only then that I realize how much he’s really changed… He’s getting so big.. and growing up so much..
But he still hasn’t figure out how to put his tongue inside of his mouth!
Between her super busy life as an artist, a writer, heading out on book tours, hosting openings and running her company Sublime Stitching, Jenny took a minute out of her dynamic life and sat down to do a Q&A with ML4U.
You'vesinglehandedly brought embroidery into the twenty first century. I wassurprised to learn that you only began embroidering ten yrs ago...wereyou always creative and artistic before that?
Well, I was always drawing since I was really little. My mom begansending me to art classes when I was five and I loved it. I was veryexcited about drawing. My dad had been a photographer and industrialfilmmaker and my mother had been an art teacher before I was born. Theywere very encouraging. I never did any needlework though. Not really. Idid some knitting when I was in high school, around 1988. That was myfirst real foray into experimenting with crafting and needlework.Comics, illustration, painting, collage and photography were my biginterests, though.
One of the things I love about embroidery is how easy it is, and howquickly it can make something so rad. Can you tell us a little bitabout how and why you fell in love with embroidery?
Forall of those same reasons you just named. I just loved the look ofcolorful, American hobby embroidery -the kind of stuff you'd see onpillowcases and tea towels. I wondered what it would be like to use itas a medium for art and more ambitious and alternative themes. It wasso pretty, but I wanted to stitch nudes, vintage tattoos anything youdidn't typically see it used for or associated with. I guess I shouldpoint out now that this was about ten years ago, and that was simplynot happening. There was very little "happening" about embroidery orany idea of "crafting" then. It sounded so beautiful to me, and Ihad never seen embroidery used like that before. Trying to picture whatthat might look like in my mind, really inspired me to try and createit. But, I was very reluctant to try embroidery, because I had no ideahow to do it, and I really thought I would never have the patience forit. "Embroidered Portrait" sounded like a never-would-be finishedproject that I spent years not even bothering to start.
But I did try it, and I became addicted to it.
Whatdo you say to people that think embroidery is dated and old fashioned?
"Embroidery is what you make it."One of my very favorite pieces of your's is "This Work, Never Ends."It reminds me of samplers I have inherited from my Great aunt. Can youtell us a little bit about your motivation and inspiration behind thatpiece?
Imade that piece for myself. It was two rectangular doilies, and Istitched "this work" on one and "never ends" on the other. They sat fora long time on the back of my armchair where I used to do a lot ofembroidering. It was kind of a message with multiple meanings to myselfabout how work is never done no matter how you try, and also howembroidery lives on forever and grows and changes.
What are some of your favorite embroidered pieces/objects that you've collected over the years?
Oh gosh. I think my long-standing favorite isa hand-embroidered pillow that says "Hello Guest and Howdy Do. Thiswhole room belongs to you. If the temperature displeases, try a coupleof our breezes. If that should chill you, later, sit upon our radiator.Help yourself to books and blotter, easy chair or teeter-totter. HelloGuest and Howdy-Do." I have no idea who made it or where that rhymecame from!When you meet women from other generations whom have beeninvolved with embroidery forever, how do they react to what you aredoing?
They seem to always love it (ormaybe they're just being polite). Over the years, these needleworkersare the ones who have been the most supportive, in many ways. They'regenerally always thrilled to see something new being done with it. Inany case, I'm always greatly relieved whenever a more experienced orneedleworker enjoys what I do, because I am a pretty heavy-handedembroiderer.
Do you haveany pointers for beginners starting out with embroidery?
Don'tget stressed out about it being perfect or "doing it wrong." You haveto try it first and get a feel for it. No one is perfect when theystart anything for the first time, and it's the imperfections inembroidery that often give its charm.
Your new book Embroidered Effects is a comprehensive guide to embroidery. Why did you decide to write it?
Ireally wanted to create a unique embroidery book that shared some of mypersonal techniques and what I've learned about embroidery over thelast eight years. It's what I've learned, how I understand it, and mybest attempts to explain it. And, I wanted it to be a little bit ofeverything: clear basics, lots of stitches, new projects, ways tocreatively combine stitches...I have been trying to cast people under ahand-embroidery spell for years. It seems like it's working! You wantto try embroidery..
What's coming up in 2010 for Sublime Stitching and your personal art?More better embroidery.
