from one place to another.

so i fly out early tomorrow.
i hope New Orleans is fun.
i hope it is not too hot.
i hope i sell some work.
i hope me and my sister get along.
i hope good news comes next week.
i hope c misses me.
i hope you have a lovely weekend.
i simply hope.

beautiful work...

Please watch your head

Artist Spring Hofeldt.
So in casual conversation I just found out that I work with an amazing painter.
I casually looked at her website and was like ****! They are great.

Let me tell you.

Spring does not have an artist's statement so I am not sure what motivates her personal work but ...you know me I love birds, so I love these paintings.

Surrogate.

And LOOK at how she handles the glass, so lovely.
I love how sweet and clever the titles are.



Her portraits are quite impressive as well.
You never know the talents of people around you until you ask, and then sometimes they really knock your socks off.

Got my white linen dress...

Today is the day for the install for my work at this show:

"FOUR" at BECA Gallery

I am a little nervous as no one has ever installed so many of my large pieces without my help...
and I hope it goes smoothly.
'Cause trust me, installing my work is a major b*tch.

I am so excited for the opening this weekend, I am going to New Orleans to attend.
I mean come on it was pretty much an excuse to go to N.Orleans but now I am even more excited ... for both my work and myself as the big WHITE LINEN NIGHT is this weekend.
This is a New Orleans tradition that is a celebration for the arts and all the attendees are meant to wear white linen, because it is going to be hot, hot, hot! So way more people will see my work and I will have way more fun. Yay!

new studio, shipped work.

So I am finally all moved in to my new studio. And I know it is a much better place for me.
The sunlight, the access to the subway, and the community are so much more of what I needed.
I am still arranging things but it is working...

great work of a good friend.

I just wanted to give a shout out to my friend Ryan for his new website.
I have mentioned him before 'cause he has a nice blog &
I recently received one of his pieces.
His website looks great and his work is really interesting.
I recommend taking the time to check out one or two of his videos because they are great.

Ryan just finished his first year of a 3 year graduate program and knowing how much my work evolved and changed from then to now makes me very excited to see his work grow.
Most of his work is in some way dealing with memory, the loss of memory, or the memory of an image...

got my knit on.

with the girls.
Had our little knitting night last night at my house on the roof.
It was such a nice night... but my embroidery got cut short by the fact that it got so dark.

It was also lovely that we, hopefully, added a new member to the group who found me through flickr.
The lovely Leila from needle and dime
It is so nice to add new people and she's a sweetheart.


The best part was recieving this beautiful hand made gift from my friend Erica.
She started it on my birthday and just gave it to me...and I love it.
I truly will treasure it...as a gift handmade is a gift from the heart, and it is so damn beautiful!


and might be the most "me" gift ever.

home.

We are home, settled back in, getting back to our life.
I have lots of news, lots of good art, and lots of stories to tell...
But today laying low here so I can honor E.

Just an FYI, I may change from posting in the morning to the evening as my life has changed and it has been more difficult to put the same energy into my posts in the morning.

goodbye, e.

Our vacation was changed and saddened by the need to say goodbye to our E.
E being for "Elvis," a name he got accidentally.
Elvis being an incredibly sweet, loving, and chatty cat.


He was much to young to die, but life is fragile and unpredictable and we know he is still with us.

The 5 best things about E:

1. He loved C so much that he would stare at him for hours, seriously.
2. He would talk to you as if in conversation and he would talk to the birds.
3. He would reach out and touch you just to show you he loved you.
4. He was extremely handsome with his all black coat, long and lean body, and wide face.
5. His purr was as loud as a freight train.

Our sadness is deep as he was truly a member of our family. But we feel lucky to have known his sweet simple soul.
I am sad that this moment will not happen again...

But I am very glad that it did.

another bed...

I woke up to you today with love...
and look forward to being away with you for the next week...so I will be waking in another bed,
in another place,
without internet so see see us in a week.

sorry...

apparently I slept through yesterday...

see you in a week.....

if i were in charge of the world.

If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel oatmeal,
Monday mornings,
Allergy shots, and also Sara Steinberg.

If I were in charge of the world
There'd be brighter nights lights,
Healthier hamsters, and
Basketball baskets forty eight inches lower.

If I were in charge of the world
You wouldn't have lonely.
You wouldn't have clean.
You wouldn't have bedtimes.
Or "Don't punch your sister."
You wouldn't even have sisters.

If I were in charge of the world
A chocolate sundae with whipped cream and nuts would be a vegetable
All 007 movies would be G,
And a person who sometimes forgot to brush,
And sometimes forgot to flush,
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.

Judith Viorst

peace of mind...

look where I am going...
a cottage in the woods for an entire week.
I think this will be good...

Just what we both need plenty of r&r, yoga, late coffees, early nights, and deep breathes.

We leave tomorrow for the week, no internet, no tv, not even our cell phones. Truly away from it all.
And we lucked out to find someone to watch the apartment full of kitties in the city...so no
worries there.

I cannot contain my excitement.

desiring to nest?

here's a peek into my nest collection:

the nest made of pages on birds:


my blue birds, a sign of good luck.

my hair nest.


I have always wanted to do a large wall installation of nests, now if only I had a place to do it?

don't know much,

but I know I love her...
Artist Monica Bengoa:


Could not find info on the above work, but it is gorgeous, and it is embroidered plants, know that just sounds like something to make my heart flutter...I love them.


blending the everyday with the embroidered moment.

gorgeous, I just need to research her more... anyone know of good spots on her...

from one of her residency projects titled Exercise on project one hundred and sixty three. Not much information but stunningly beautiful.

Please notice the insane scale here...so inspiring.

I need more time to do more research. Her website is worth the peruse.
And thanks to Deb who brought her to my attention.

custom stitch...

I recently mailed this off to Nikole at forty sixth at grace...hoping that she is loving it.



If anyone is interested in a custom embroidery or just one that you have seen, the text embroideries are from $85-120 in general depending on the size and # of words.




You could get your blog name, i love you, marry me, i hate you, happy wedding, hug me, i'm sorry, whatever you want. Let me know if anyone is interested...my needles are always at work...

(un)common thread

Annette Messeger, Two replicants together

the uncommon thread is what makes us all in common...
My friend brought this show to my attention and I think I need to take a trip to see it asap.
I loved that even in its diversity it had so many of the artists that I love and have featured in the show...

(un)common thread

Nancy Grossman, (Concerning a Drowned Girl)

Mimi Smith ,Basic Black

Betye Saar , Blend

Be honest?

Have I been mopey and self indulgent?
Yes.
This job stuff has been a rough patch for me and I feel like I have been taking it for granted.
My work has always been a bit self indulgent, but that works for my work, it is about fantasy and ideals. Reality is not.
So I apologize, I will know be channeling my self indulgence back toward my needles and thread and away from here. Hooray.
And hopefully the shift of energy will bring good energy to my life.

i saw it and it was...

I saw the LB show at the Guggenheim and it was in many ways what I expected...
I loved it and I did not love it.


Her old work and her new work looked wonderful in the space and how it was curated.
The cells looked horrible, in my opinion, they were installed in a way to open, lined up, see one and then step right up to the next... a bit like a "wax museum" is how my freind described it. They just seemed like they should be viewed differently.



I was suprised by how much I loved these pieces. (above and below)

This piece was stunningly beautiful in person.....the white marble, soft and shiny in spots with the wood...

And in general I loved her new work the best...but as many know she has moved more towards fabric in her older years...and I have always loved her fabric work the best. (This piece is not in the show but a similar piece is)

The 3 new lithographs were amazing!!!! But I cannot find images of them online, but really they are worth the visit in themselves.
So all in all it was great, it was not, it was what I expected.
The online info and show is great of you cannot make it NYC so make sure to check it out.

I wish that the guggenheim was selling these, but they are not, and the Tate is all out, too bad!

yeah, going today...

to finally see the Guggenheim exhibit.



Cannot wait, here is a great online exhibition video: here
If you peruse around the site, note that there are lots of great little video clips....

simplicity...

I often think "oh I just want to go back to when life was simple" and then I realistically think about things, and life has not been simple since I was 5, at least to my mind at the time...

But oh how I would invite some simplicity in my life now, the job search is so dismal it is depressing, and that essentially affects my entire life...
I have to admit that I am a woman who loves routine, who loves planning my day, my week, my month, I like flexibility too, but I like the plan, it gives me purpose, it gives me motivation, it gives me a to do list that I can check off one by one...
My routine is so non-existent in this up and down roller coaster ride... I don't know when I am going up and when I'm going down.
I am so ready to get off and get on the predictable but still joy filled carousel for a bit...

needles for a good cause...

I have never been one to make political art but then again "the personal is political"
yet I especially love political art that becomes personal. This project was done quite a few years ago but I find it lovely, inspiring, and heartbreaking...
Knitter and artist Nina Rosenberg decided to make a project to acknowledge the devastation of the Iraq war. In an attempt to knit a small red sweater for each fallen American soldier in the war...


Originally she wanted to do all those who died, American or not, but that number was too large to be feasible.
The idea and the final outcome are powerful and inspiring...and reminds me of the amazing work here...


I especially love that she considered this:
...people are different. So how will you represent individuality? By using different knitting techniques. By asking other knitters, all of whom knit slightly different than one another, to make a red sweater.
Read more and see more images.