Creation March 6, 2008

One of the things I am trying to do with my silk screening is print on fabric. So, with my coral, here is one of my textile prints:

There are 2 prints of my coral on the purple fabric - the reddish orange is beneath the gold. I thought this was ok, but that it needed something more…

So I combo’ed my love of needlework (I sound like I am 100 yrs old!) & silk screen printing and embroidered around the reddish coral:

I really love it now! The off-white embroidery gives the reddish coral some definition and makes it pop. It also gives more depth to the entire piece. It took me a few nights in front of the TV, so not too bad.

I may make a pillow out of it, or not - I am not sure. If I make a pillow, I’ll need to add fabric around the edges to make it large enough to fit a standard pillow form. And when I was thinking about that last night, I realized the edge fabric would have to be selected very carefully - can’t be too bright / light or else it will take away from the design. Can’t be too dark or the entire pillow will be a goth-like pillow. So we’ll see… for now, I am just enjoying my multi-media creation.

New March 4, 2008

I have been making lots of prints at art class (silk screen printing) and so I decided to swap an old print out of mine for a newer one.

And I named it (and the other 6 prints that are exactly the same) “Two Corals”. But I am thinking that coral plural may just be coral (not corals). I haven’t actually researched it yet, as I am afraid that it will confirm that I am an edjeet. I should have given it a more artsy name, like “Touching Fingers” or something along those lines. Next time I will not be quite a literal, and I will also research the plural of the noun I am using!

Cool Project February 27, 2008

I dropped Ruby off this morning to get groomed and her nails done (i.e. cut & drummeled).  When I picked her up, we wandered to the local doggie store, Beggar’s Bones.  When I went up to pay for Ruby’s vegan treats, I saw a poster on the wall that caught my eye - NotMYPitbull, a photographic project demonstrating the true character, sensitivity and loving nature of this misunderstood breed.  The artist, Karen Morgan, went to VCU and now lives in Chicago.  The NotMYPitbull site gives a lot of good background and history on the pitbull.

Now, to clarify, Ruby is not a pitbull, but rather an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix.  But pitbulls are her close first cousins, and people who don’t know much often think she is a pittie.  For those in the know, she is really too petite to be an American Pit Bull Terrier.

Regardless,  I am a huge bully breed lover because of Ruby, and firmly believe that dogs are good.  It is bad owners that create bad / mean / aggressive dogs.  I could go on, but I will step down from my soap box now…

Printing February 25, 2008

For a while now, I have been wanted a Gocco printing machine.  It is a tool you use to screen print things at home (and it seems much easier).  I am taking a silk screen printing class right now, and it is great, but super labor intensive.  This little Gocco machine, though the prints are much smaller, seems very easy!  [Its official name is:  PRINT GOCCO PG-5 SET and I believe a company called RIZO makes it]

From what I can gather, this machine is made in Japan, and may be discontinued?  But folks here in the US are trying to keep it around… anyway, since Marmidy is in Japan right now, I thought maybe, if she has a little spare time, she could try to get a machine for me (and inks and bulbs!).  [Mom - if you can get it for less than $200UDS, then buy it!]
But what exactly is Gocco, you ask?

cleverly combining the basic priciples of screenprinting and rubber-stamping, “print gocco” is a clean, easy, and fully self-contained compact system that exposes and prints all in one unit. using flash bulbs similar to those found in old cameras, an original image is thermally imprinted on a master screen. next, colorful prints are made by pressing the ink-applied master screen against a sheet of paper placed on a sponge pad. 

I should take some photos at class or the next time I print, so if you are unfamiliar with conventional screen printing, you can picture what I am learning to do…  and then you will see why this little Gocco machine is so attractive!

Beautiful December 17, 2007

My friend, Laura, is a graphic designer / illustrator who does beautiful work.  I wish I could illustrate like she does!  It is just so impressive!  She sent holiday gifts to people who have helped land her work (she just went out on her own after being the Creative Director at a local design firm) - and I got the gift (got her lots of work at my old place of employment).  It is so cool!  A letter envelope sized tin that hinges open and contains 3 letter sized cards and envelopes, with her designs on ‘em.

This is the cover of the tin - so beautiful and cool! The cards on the inside are similar in feel, but silver printed on a cream stock.  Love ‘em!   I know I won’t want to mail them out!

She also is helping out with the SCAN Board of Young Professionals Bourbon Street in Shockoe Bottom event.  She designed this logo for us and will be designing the invitation!

Love it as well!  She is just so talented!  and to boot, she is really, REALLY nice!  Sigh - at least I am a little bit nice…

Ninety-two bucks December 13, 2007

Last night Boom and I went to an Art180 Open Studio - an art show for the kids, showcasing what they had done that semester with the Art180 program.  This particular Open Stuido was at a urban, hip-hop type store, showcasing tennis shoe design and stained glass.  All the shoes and glass projects were great!  I asked a little girl (well, perhaps 11 or 12) standing by the shoe display if she had designed a pair of shoes - and before she could answer, her mother said, “These!  She designed these shoes!”  and she (the mom) was so proud!  I was expecting the kids to be proud of their finished products, but seeing how proud and excited the parents were was really unexpected and totally neat for me!

Unfortunately, since I was the only board member in attendance, I was called upon to say a few words, of welcome and otherwise.  I had been tipped off that this might happen, and as a good hubby, Boom emailed me yesterday with some questions and suggested that I think a little bit about what I would say about ART180 should I ever find myself in the position to speak about it / on it’s behalf.  Of course I didn’t spend nearly as much time thinking about that as I should have, and totally just spoke off the cuff - I don’t think I sounded like a total idiot, just a partial idiot.

When you boil it down, ART180 is important to me because it gives marginalized young people (middle aged) a creative outlet that they might never have experienced.  This focus’ their energies on something positive, whereas the other alternative may be quite bad.  It also gives them an opportunity to try something new, something that they never have tried before or even may have known exists.  Who knows, perhaps this exposure will get them thinking about other things out there that they may have never considered, and maybe they will realize they have options.  I know it teaches them something about themselves, and that right there may be reason enough to love ART180.

When I think about my middle school years, it’s not pretty.  Not because I didn’t have enough food to eat, or that I was being pressured to do drugs or have sex, or that my parents didn’t get along, it wasn’t pretty because kids that age are mean.  I think it is just hardwired into people that way.  So I can’t imagine being a middle school aged kid without any sort of strong support system trying to navigate life - it nearly brings me to tears (because I was lucky and because it has to be so hard when you are not so lucky).  My hope is that ART180 will help these kids realize they do have options and they can be someone, all using some sort of art form.  I think it is just one of the coolest models - and I am really proud and  excited to be involved.

Anyway, since the Open Studio was being hosted at this store, Boom and I thought we should buy something.  As I gazed around, there wasn’t much in the way of ladies apparel.  And Boom is not the most adventuresome dresses.  But then I spied some Ed Hardy t-shirts.  I have always liked his stuff and had just seem some shirts at Nordstroms- so we went to look at them.  The sales associate asked us what size Boom wanted - Medium.  But the shirts they carried started in a Large.  Fine, we’ll take a large - but need to find out the price.  He went off in the direction of the cash register - when he came back he said “I know why the price wasn’t on there - they are trying to hide it - they cost $92!”  The look on Booms face was hilarious!  We didn’t purchase the shirt, as $92 is a lot for a t-shirt Boom would likely never wear.  It would have been momentous, however, to see Boom, a fairly conservative fellow wearing a t-shirt designed by a famous tattoo artist!  Maybe someday…

Awesome November 2, 2007

I definitely know that I have an awesome hubby. Boomboom was quite the trooper last night! He was one of maybe a handful of males at the purse auction - and he didn’t complain or anything! The event drew quite a crowd - and most folks I didn’t recognize. A lot of times charity events draw some of the usual suspects, so I was impressed that this was a whole new crowd! and it was crowded.

My purse was the first one on the live auction block - unfort, it was a little hard to hear in the venue and seemed like there was lots of commotion, not too many folks paying attention. Boomboom had the winning bid of $300 - lucky man!!! And I felt very lucky to have some friends at the event - solely there because of me.

It was a great learning experience - about constructing a purse, about how different charity events are run, about what LINC does and how cancer can affect so much of your life when you are diagnosed with it.

One of the judges that selected my purse to be one of the 3 live auction purses came up to me and told me she really liked my purse, that it was very well constructed and beautiful. That was really awesome, as this lady is literally an icon in Richmond. She is so daring in the fashion arena - I always love what she is wearing, as it is always something very stylish but outlandish at the same time. and she wears everything fearlessly - which is really the best part! She totally rox, esp. in a town where most people try to look the same. So that meant a lot to me. She is also the pres of the board of the major art museum in town - so I feel like we could be kindred spirits (except that I am not nearly as fashionable as her, but I have some time to try to catch up!).

Mr. Chair October 3, 2007

I am taking an art class this fall - silk screen printing. I really am enjoying it! My teacher is quirky and nice, like art teachers should be. She clearly has a passion for screen printing, which is great. Last class (we meet once a week) I printed my first screen. And it was awesome (the printing process, not my design) - after each pull over the screen, the print looked exactly like the last one, but each time it still surprised me and took my breath away a little bit. So I can see why my teacher loves it so much.

I’ll be able to take my prints from last week home, and I’ll post one up here! Likely you won’t be as excited as I was, but hopefully you will like Mr. Chair as much as I do.