unnamed friends: Siamese Janus, or shared ventricle
I think I’m going to make this little guy out of wood and have him be my exhibition entry for the Art Meets Heart Juried Exhibit @ARTgarageGB
Tag Archives: pastel
IQ’s Fall Art Reception and Fourth Quarter Art at the ARTgarage
So, I’m not really ready to be think-y about Branding yet; I’m still trying to figure out what it means for me specifically and what it will look like in practice. I could totally parse it out here, but I really don’t want to subject y’all to that sort of babble–and it totally would be disconnected babble!–so, instead, owls!
Fungoid owlets, to be specific.
And my Fourth Quarter exhibit at the ARTgarage.
And, an Art Reception at IQ’s!
So, I’m going to begin at the end and work back through to the beginning. Cause I’m tired. And it makes sense in my head. Have I mentioned I’m tired?
The Fall Art Reception and Open Mic at IQ’s in Green Bay. It’s totally a Heather Peterman gig, but she totally shares her stage with other artists. She invited me to come and play with everyone else–to the point I’m on the flyer. *hands* Heather is totally awesome and makes beautiful art and bags (I have one; it’s my favorite bag!).
Actually, she had invited me to participate in the last Art Reception, but I wasn’t feeling ready to be out with my art and potentially not sell anything sell my art. <–Have I mentioned that I have raging insecurity? And a height-related inferiority complex? *whistles*
So, yeah, come out to IQ’s on Saturday and see a bunch of fantastic art–maybe even buy a few things–and listen to a lot of good music. The Fall Art Reception coincides with an Open Mic. We might even get The Husband up there to play!
*and we segue over to here in a non-awkward self-aware fashion because I don’t have a good transitional idea right now*
Sometimes, ya really just have to go for the obvious transitions, ya know?
I finished putting up my Fourth Quarter Exhibit at the ARTgarage. Here are some pictures.
From left to right: unnamed friends: AT-AT ($140), unnamed friends: sheepapillar ($150), and unnamed friends: twitter-tail ($130).
Still talking about the framed pieces, from left to right: unnamed friends: squid attacked by bird-blob ($150) and unnamed friends: uni ($130).
Sculptures, from left to right: unnamed owlets: fungoid owlets (1-3/100; small owlets $65, medium owlets $85), unnamed friends: from the 100 acre wood ($1200), and unnamed friends: fungoid owlets (5-7/100; small owlet $65, medium owlet $85, large owlet $120).
The unnamed friends: fungoid owlet artist doll edition is going well. I’ve already sold one–mind, it was sold to Miss ‘Lain, and she always buys my stuff. She’s my own personal patron.
Here are the little buggers (in close-up!) so far:
This little guy was #4 in the edition.
And, I have 10 more owlet carcasses waiting to be stuffed for Saturday.
Have I mentioned that I really like not being afraid of my sewing machine anymore?
So, here’s the currently updated calendar:
Story Beads: Beading to Heal–September 30th $30.00
The ARTgarage has a class cooperative with St. Vinny’s, and this class is being offered through that program. This class is also totally based upon one that I took with Lisa Kay a couple of years ago. She’s totally as awesome as you’d think she’d be winning a Fulbright. Share the love!
So, I had one person signed up for this class, but we had such a good time, I think! Definitely going to see about doing this again in the Spring–maybe as more of a series of “come and learn; come back to hang out and work together!”
“Visualizing Your Hopes and Dreams”: An Art Night for Freedom House–October 3rd, 6-8 pm
It’s basically an art class being taught for the families that Freedom House helps out.
Kelly and I had about 10 people (though 2 were too small to do more than run around) plus Freedom House’s coordinator-lady Robyn (who is totally awesome). We all had a good time, one student tried drawing for the first time in her life, and I made a new friend.
Studio Tour–October 7th, 12-6 at the ARTgarage
It’s really Chris Style’s studio tour, but all the ARTgarage studio artists were invited to join the fun. This tour happens the 8th and 9th also, but I’m only going to be there the 7th and the 9th.
Bay Area Watercolor Artists Opening–October 7th, 5-8 at the ARTgarage
Not necessarily my art scene, but ya know, I’m still gonna be supportive!
IQ’s Fall Art Reception–October 8th
3-8 pm at IQ’s Bar 2105 University Ave., Green Bay
Studio Tour–October 9th, 12-5 at the ARTgarage
Same sitch, different day.
4th Quarter Artists Opening Reception AND the first Artists’ Demo-ing Night (hip name yet to be chosen)–October 13th
5-8 pm at the ARTgarage. The Artists’ Demo-ing Night is something new that we’re trying, so if you’re an artist in the Green Bay area, come to Demo Night! We all aren’t ARTgarage artists either, and we’re willing to share our windfall awesomeness!
Japanese Stab Binding: Books to Heal–October 14th $30.00
Also, a St. Vinny’s class.
Artist Books: A Bookmaking Workshop–November 11th-12th $150.00
Bookmaking techniques and artist books! \o/
Artists’ Demo-ing Night–November 17th
Same sitch (yes, I did use “sitch”) as the other one.
Artist Dolls–November 18th-19th $150.00
Really, this is ‘Lain’s gig; I’m just co-teaching.
Black Friday Mixed Media for Kids Class–November 25th
Co-taught with the fabulous Miss Carrie. Bring your kids
to be babysatto learn about and make mixed media art while you getsome peace and quietsome Yule/Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Saturnalia/insert-your-holy-day-here shopping done.
Artists’ Demo-ing Night (I really hope we come up with a better title soon.)–Decemeber 15th, 5-8 pm
This Demo Night happens during the ARTgarage’s annual Holiday Sale/Show, so it’s a double header.
Miss ‘Lain is also teaching a couple of other classes that I’m kinda helping out with (Mostly so that I can take the class without paying for it! Don’t tell!).
Circuit Bending 101–October 28th $60.00
Puppetry–December 2nd and 9th $150
So, that about covers everything…okay, probably not, but it’s all I’ve got right now.
Courage.
*waffles*
I think today’s post is going to be drive-by-y and preview-y–mostly, because I’m still the sickliest squid to ever be sickly (i.e., I have the Cold That Will Not Die And Makes Me Want To Expire). <–It’s a wordy cold; it really is–ask The Husband and PA/Minion. They’ve had to listen to me be up half the night for the last week with the worst cough ever.
*is a miserable whiny bug*
So, understandably, it’s been a bit difficult to do think-y things. The most impressive things I think I’ve managed during this cold is reading The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt and working on an edition of unnamed friends: fungoid owlet artist dolls. <–The proto-type of which went to my most excellent friend, Miss Hel, as an artist trade.
Now, the edition is coming along just fine. I’m up to four of the little owlets–using a sewing machine? so much quicker than hand-sewing, and I think I’m getting pretty okay at it–but I’d like to get a couple of more done before Friday, which is the Change of Quarter at the ARTgarage. That means that (theoretically) all the artists switch out their art for new art so that the gallery is full of new art.
…
It doesn’t always happen that way, but that is the theory.
The Court of the Air was–okay. Too much “it’s the end of the world,” and too little “cheesecake, jellybean, boom.” There are so many buried popular culture/popular literature references going on in there that I could only say that at least Hunt is well-read.
Really, every other page, I had any combination of “Really? Are you really doing this? Are you really going to moralize quite so obviously? Are you really going to be that awful with the punning?” responses going on.
There were very few things that felt unexpected (or were expected, but I was actually pleased about the presence of the expected). I wanted way more of the Steammen Free State ’cause, really, they were the most interesting characters for me; I wanted more character development because, seriously, the entire novel is about endings: the end of family, the end of security, the end of reality (quite literally), the end of previous identity, the end of life. There was only really one moment of “beginning” that happened for me, and that, of course, had to do with the steammen.
I wanted the world to actually be developed rather than all of these really, potentially great ideas being thrown together with little-to-no explanation or history.
But that’s just me. It could totally be someone else’s cuppa; it just wasn’t really mine. Your mileage may vary.
So, yeah, I veered of there into an elitist literature rant, I think. That happens on occasion.
What I’ve been thinking about is Branding. How artists brand themselves and their work, and how that branding can be extended to promotional/networking pieces like business card, website, yada.
…
I’m working on it, I swear.
Okay, so I’ll be think-y about Branding for the next week and get back to y’all on how that’s working out for me–probably, with references since I’m still Research Girl (no Buffy references intended).
And, so the calendar is delineated where everyone can find it (I’m not all-that-pleased with the inserted Google calendar):
Story Beads: Beading to Heal–September 30th $30.00
The ARTgarage has a class cooperative with St. Vinny’s, and this class is being offered through that program. This class is also totally based upon one that I took with Lisa Kay a couple of years ago. She’s totally as awesome as you’d think she’d be winning a Fulbright. Share the love!
“Visualizing Your Hopes and Dreams”: An Art Night for Freedom House–October 3rd, 6-8 pm
It’s basically an art class being taught for the families that Freedom House helps out.
IQ’s Fall Art Reception–October 8th
3-8 pm at IQ’s Bar 2105 University Ave., Green Bay
4th Quarter Artists Opening Reception AND the first Artists’ Demo-ing Night (hip name yet to be chosen)–October 13th
5-8 pm at the ARTgarage. The Artists’ Demo-ing Night is something new that we’re trying, so if you’re an artist in the Green Bay area, come to Demo Night! We all aren’t ARTgarage artists either, and we’re willing to share our windfall awesomeness!
Japanese Stab Binding: Books to Heal–October 14th $30.00
Also, a St. Vinny’s class.
Artist Books: A Bookmaking Workshop–November 11th-12th $150.00
Bookmaking techniques and artist books! \o/
Artists’ Demo-ing Night–November 17th
Same sitch (yes, I did use “sitch”) as the other one.
Artist Dolls–November 18th-19th $150.00
Really, this is ‘Lain’s gig; I’m just co-teaching.
Black Friday Mixed Media for Kids Class–November 25th
Co-taught with the fabulous Miss Carrie. Bring your kids
to be babysatto learn about and make mixed media art while you getsome peace and quietsome Yule/Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Saturnalia/insert-your-holy-day-here shopping done.
Artists’ Demo-ing Night (I really hope we come up with a better title soon.)–Decemeber 15th, 5-8 pm
This Demo Night happens during the ARTgarage’s annual Holiday Sale/Show, so it’s a double header.
Miss ‘Lain is also teaching a couple of other classes that I’m kinda helping out with (Mostly so that I can take the class without paying for it! Don’t tell!).
Circuit Bending 101–October 28th $60.00
Puppetry–December 2nd and 9th $150
Courage.
fiber porn at the whitefish bay farm gallery’s shepard’s market
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My step-mother-in-law’s birthday was last Friday, so over the weekend, the Husband, the In-Laws Wisconsin Edition, and I schlepped up to Door County to check out the Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery and the annual Shepard’s Market.
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There’s a complete list of this year’s vendors, so go take a look. It’ll be well worth the time, especially if you’re fiber-inclined or think you’d like to learn to spin. *is resolute about not learning to spin* Oh, who am I kidding? I’m so going to end up learning to card, spin, weave, and cause general mayhem with wool. *sigh*
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But, as you might have guessed, Door County is fabulously beautiful (if full of cherry trees, which, I discovered last year in Baltimore, I’m really allergic to when they’re blooming), and the Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery is no exception.
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It’s situated on a farm a bit outside of Whitefish Bay (which is a super-cute little town), so it’s a bit of a trek to get there. Yet it’s completely worth it. There were noisy/nosey guard sheep that I’m sure alerted the entire county that there were people–strange, maniacal people hell-bent on shearing them of their lovely fluffiness–within a field’s breadth of them. But they were so cute! And there was something brilliantly tranquil about the greenest-greens with little (re: freaking huge) dirty white and chocolate sheep nibbling away the day.
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Needless to say, there were a lot of sheep-derived products for sale (okay, really they were just yarns and stuff like that), but there were some things that really caught my attention that I thought y’all might like to hear about.
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Here are my absolute favorites in a huge pile of awesome.
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One of my favorites were these accent yarns by the incomparable Bonnie Paruch of Icelandic Lamb and Wool. The neat thing is–Bonnie’s a plein aire oil and pastel artist whose studio is located in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. The beautiful accent yarns that she makes and sells are, as she phrased it, a hobby.
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I don’t know about y’all, but I really love that idea: that artists can have 
hobbies, can have something in their lives other than just their art, than teaching, than activism. That we are not limited to one realm of experience and expression or one gleaming interest. That we are no more singular in dimension than anyone else–even thought artists of all types always seem to be classified as such when there’s really very little evidence to support that kind of imposed self.
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Really, though, her yarn is art in and of itself. Each batch is hand-dyed with acid dyes in small batches and hand-spun. Yes, these yarns are intended to be used as a raw material, but what could be better than a skein wound lazily into a loose ball in a perfectly clear glass bowl or vase? If it weren’t that I was a kept-artist, there would have sooooooooooo been yarn bought. As it is, I’ll have to wait until next year or see if she sells her yarn somewhere online. <–I have, however, not found any inclination that they are for sale somewhere. *is sad* But, maybe, that is a forthcoming endeavor?
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A person who I was excited about seeing was Barbara Heike of Wildflower Studio Arts, who is a Green Bay area artist that I know from The Art Garage. Incidentally, she’s the person that told me about the Shepard’s Market at Whitefish Bay Farm Gallery. Talk about kismet, yeah?
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Doesn’t she look lovely and confident?
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Barbara does Viking Knitting which she describes as
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Before the advent of chainmail, and as early as 850 AD, the Vikings used a knitting technique in making armor.
Today, the ancient art form of Viking Knitting can be used to fashion fine silver wire into bracelets, necklaces, and other beautiful jewelry.
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I can attest; they’re really awesome. They make my little SCA-heart go pitter-pat.
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She teaches classes at The Art Garage on Viking Knitting as well as demos at conferences and such. She was the big surprise at the Shepard’s Market since, while she’s weaving, she’s also working with metal. And, for anyone who hasn’t tried to weave or crochet with metal wire, it is a job of work.
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One of my other favorite vendors was Apple Hollow Fiber Arts. I was draw to them because of their amazing baskets. But! They also have magnificently beautiful spinning wheels and looms! Unfortunately, the lovely baskets that I feel in love with are not currently listed on their site but hopefully will be soon. So. Pretty!
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I am particularly fond of the pink one. *hands*
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And, to round out this exclusive about a (mostly) off-season event, more pictures! Okay, I admit that I kinda lost track of who the vendors were for some of these, but seriously, check out the vendors and check their sites (where available)!
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This lovely scarf was make by Karin Hoagland of Quiet Creek Ranch.
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All in all, a fantastic adventure and amazing event that I’m going to go back for next year and, hopefully, have a ton of money with which to purchase pretty, pretty sheep-products.
on this episode of squid’s endeavors in artland…
For those of you that read my blog on a (semi-)regular basis, then you’ll remember that I’ve been working on a piece for The Fiction Project. For those of you that follow my Twitter feed or follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I sent my piece in on Friday.
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So. The Fiction Project. Completed.
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Yay?
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I promised pictures (I’m always promising something, it seems), so without further ado (oh, come on! more ado! ado ado ado!), the bestiary of unnamed friends: a travelogue. From front cover to back cover and everything in between.
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The front cover. Nothing terribly special.
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Some nice paper (hello, paper habit, how I’ve missed you so!).
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Nifty scrapbooking placard things.
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Hand-written title (there’s a load of handwriting in this thing, just to warn y’all).
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Obnoxious pink embroidery thread for binding purposes.
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Typically garish, ugly (in a good way) squidness.
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And, then? The interior cover.
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*bum bum BUUUUUUUUUUUUUM*
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More nifty paper, but there’s the beginning of the narrative (sorta).
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The block of text is the definition of “bestiary” and reads
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bestiary n. pl. bes-ti-ar-ries
1. a medieval collection of stories providing physical and allegorical descriptions of real or imaginary animals along with an interpretation of the moral significance each animal was thought to embody. a number of misconceptions relating to natural history were preserved in the popular accents.
2. a modern version of such a collection.
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The wee plushie ninja in the corner is our guide through all this craziness. Just call him Virgil.
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Once the page is turned, this is what happens.
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In case it’s hard to read (I’ve got kinda sketchy handwriting sometimes, and I have the original notes and can totally blow the picture up to ungodly proportions), it says, without the formating:
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Once upon a time
[always the best
way to start
a story]
I
awoke
to
find
a little creature
[let's not kid--
it looked like
a plushie-ninja]
sitting beside
my
head
and he said to me,
[Come with me
if you want
to live]
“It’ll be
fun.
I swear.”
He blinked
[plinked]
“Come with me.”
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Yeah, I like my L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poetry. What of it?
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Upon opening the panels of the books, the next part of the narrative is revealed.
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This all reads linearly as
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and I said “Yes, I’ll go with you, Alice. Down the rabbit hole we’ll go. Go to a land which is unseen by all.
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The note on the squid’s head reads
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this is me I’m a squid don’t ask it doesn’t make any sense least of all to me xxoo, ‘Trie
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And, then, after all of that, is the full panoramic view of the unnamed friends in the bestiary.
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I’ll save you all the individual up-close images, but I will give you what the words say.
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Starting with the dragonfly-ish critter and moving down and around.
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They are tiny (it’s relative) blobs of hot air, dirigible of dragonfly elegance. Pretension is their stock and trade.
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They, ginormous in their iteration, glide through mangrove swamps filled with slinking crocodilians. They prey upon the unsuspecting denizens, enveloping them in their yearning, bilious membranes.
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Down the tower, it reads:
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architecturally unique
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a living building
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a stone’s conception of time is so different from (h)ours–measured in milenia rather than moments–cricket-reduction means so much less ( like Eos’ mate). Just another half-inch tectonic shift.
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The owlets read:
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grown-up in collective of frog-eyed complacency–to eat, eat, eaten, to be eaten–hiding in plain sight (unobservant though it may be)–feathered, leafy immobility helpless in the forest–spitting venomed wit at any who pass
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The blob-y blurp reads:
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*blurp* *blurp* *blurp* *blurp* *blurp* *blurp*
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a bottom dwelling creature bound in parasitic symbiosis with fungoid ground owls–protections and food all in one with nary (a squirrel upon my face) any reciprocation–a polite than you as it is ushered out the door. Again, exiled from violet grace.
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The pheasant-head springy sprong reads:
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Like Byatt’s “The Thing in the Forest,” these creatures literally move through their environments–slinking, slithering, pulsating, and subdividing.
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Like cellular mitosis but with pain.
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Yet, do we know that there is no pain in cellular mitosis? Do the mitochondria scream when they remember that they once belonged to another entity?
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There are worlds-upon-worlds at the micro-level–how can we know?
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Maybe this little creature is but the unrecognized mitochondria of another, larger being.
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The tree stump reads:
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from the 100 acre wood echoing “I’m alive” like the last unicorn (just go with the Kenny Logins cum Peter Beagle reference) like the last cry of the last ugly one-horned mule (so Legend made it’s way in too). A 100 acre wood can do no more than grow, be cut down, be devoured, and fade out of memory, remaining as a remembered meal in a fungoid body.
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Up above the tree stump is the cloud sheep; it reads:
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the long lost (and misunderstood) brother of vegetable sheep–a bestiary staple–floating serene and separate, an alien never to be touched or interacted with–just gazed upon in silent wonder, autobiographical interpretations forced upon its cloud-docility.
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And the stymie, crawling up the tree stump’s side, reads:
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Up the tree down the tree waiting for its wings to grow (all sparkly and light–fairy-like in the way they shimmer) up the tree and down the tree isolated and alone all its friends have abandoned it in the mangrove swamp (really they were eaten–fed to–the bilious wings, a sacrifice to old gods with even older motivations–Jokey Smurf’s renditions of Seven.) all because it was a little late to develop. How sad.
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The back interior cover–
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Please note, replete with werewolf.
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The back back cover.
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More pretty paper.
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And that is the bestiary of unnamed friends: a travelogue. *bows*
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It, along with the rest of The Fiction Project pieces, will be touring the States and will be joining up with the tour in Seattle on June 10-12 (Poetry Jen, this is for you!) at the Form/Space Ateller. The show will be at the Hyde Park Art Center July 14-17 all of my Chicago-land peps!
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Now! To collapse somewhere squishy. This was the longest post ever. *collapses*
