atticus

Last Friday, my dear friend Atticus had heart surgery. The relief that came over me when I heard he was in recovery and doing well was enough to bring me to tears. I made this music collection for Atticus in hopes it'd keep up his cheer. Give some of these songs a listen. I send love and light to Atticus and to many other little people hangin' tough in this world.

*misspelling: Norah Jones (not John)

41

Today is the 41st post on my blog. 2 weeks ago, I pulled a fortune stick, #41, and read my fortune which began "You have chosen the number 41. The luckiest number under the sun."
In this month's American Craft Council's magazine there's an article about Sangjoon Park. I love repeated simple objects. This particular image was striking for me. Check it out here.

Furthermore, I should add that this magazine has been rockin' my socks for a few months now and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in craft as art, utilizing craft in art, or merging craft and art. I'm very happy to be getting a new issue every few months because I'm reloaded with new ideas and links and recommendations from this publication.
The current issue has a great article: Craft and Design. What's the Distinction? by Howard Risatti, author of A Theory of Craft. He sees craft and design as distinct entities with unequal footing in the modern world. But, he wonders, is this necessarily a bad thing? The article is worth the read. Also, a cool photo spread of new styles and materials in jewelry. There's a necklace that's like a visual riddle. Check these out in the magazine (their only mentioned as briefs on the web page.)

Happy research.

daylight

Working on working out some ideas. The bird on canvas came out better than I expected. Click on the picture to see larger & more detail.

reshaping

working on making these less as birds and more black. The paint is Ivory black oil paint and on paper. Straight from the tube, the paint is something like shoe polish as I brush it on and spread it across the paper. The resulting texture is sultry, velvety and engaging... as if there's a continuum beyond the surface. I realize the shape of the bird is not the shape of a bird anymore and some others of the work I did last night look less like birds and more like amoebas unless you know to look for beak, wings, tail.

work to do

idea in form

pricked

...returned from Arizona yesterday: a momentous, last minute trip to see my favorite person on earth.
Click on the photos to enlarge. My favorite is the "pokey hug" at center.

plans in the works for a late March group art show in Madison. Keep your eyes peeled for posters and postcards throughout March. Cold medicine.

field trip

Becky, Christine, Nina, and Craig

Cursor the title for a link to Christine Olson's Blog. Who's Christine? She's an artist my friends, Nina and Craig and I visited yesterday because she built a hot pink shanty (to be part of an artists' ice shanty town near the Twin Cities) and it's now on Monona Bay here in Madison, WI. We looked at bright designs inside (see picture) and listened to Inuit stories (with or without morals...). I colored a Narwhal in hopes to win the coloring contest! The shanty's about 3'wide x 8'long, plywood, painted pink exterior. It has a skylight and a large window on the one wall, an ice-fishing hole in the center floor (a neighboring fisherman insisted Christine have one, and helped her drill through the ice!) and a nice bench seat at one end inside.

Here's to Christine... have fun with at the Art Shanty Town. I'm glad she warmed the Hot Shanty up here in Madison... amongst the traditional ice fisherman and their shanties.