Merit


My friend Wil's band Merit is going to be playing in Syracuse this weekend at Taste of Syracuse, a big festival with lots of food, drinks, and music. Merit is playing on Friday at 4pm and then again on Saturday at 9pm.  If you're in the area you should check them out {and buy a cd}!  By the way, Wil is the bad-ass in front.

If It Wags


I'm trying to pick out collars for Cassie and Pancake Sue from If It Wags. Who would think it could possibly be this hard to find a collar? I want them all! It's like shoes - you need to have more than just one pair. I think Pancake would look great in the polka dots and Cassie would like the green stripes.

Stuffed cuteness


I love these pillows from Velvet Boutique. I especially enjoy the grid layered with organic elements on the second pillow.

The growing season

I've been meaning to post some images from my mom's new greenhouse. She and my stepfather built this last fall and their plants are thriving now. They have a huge mix of vegetables {in the raised beds} and flowers {mostly annuals and gorgeous hanging baskets}. I love being inside and looking at all of the plants. I keep thinking that if I had a greenhouse, I'd finally have the perpetually-blooming garden I've been trying to grow! Mom said that they've planted even more in the outside beds since the last time I was home.

Some of the many varieties of leafy greens.

Here's my mom {and Scout} showing off some of the baskets.

Two of my favorite baskets, which also happened to be my grandma's favorites! She ended up with the purple one {right} and I got the blue basket {left}.

Annuals, including cone flowers, gerbera daisies, marigolds, and begonias.

A few hanging baskets and some broccoli in the background.

Kelly Hider


I'm getting ready to head over to the U of R Art & Music Library Gallery for the reception for Kelly Hider's new work. Kelly is one of my very prolific former students. Her newest pieces are mixed media "drawings" on paper. Make sure you check out her website. The show is open through June 21.

Viko


I was trying to find how much our awesome Viko chairs are worth and I came across this amazing couch on Treadway/Toomey Galleries. I would love to put this on our sun porch and lounge with a magazine. The chairs that we have were a wedding gift from my dad and stepmom {Grace got them from a chruch sale!}.

Papermaking in Ghana

I just got an email from a friend about a summer teaching opportunity through the Cross Cultural Collaborative. It sounds like an incredible opportunity {some info below}. Please pass it along!

Description: We are looking for a volunteer to work in Ghana in August 2007 teaching paper making to Ghanaian children.We have started experimenting with indigenous materials like pineapple and plantain. The children make blank books from the paper and then we sell the books to pay school fees.

qualifications: know how to make paper using lo-tech equipment and an interest in working with Ghanaian children

contact: If interested, contact Ellie at 1-617-277-0482 or at aba@culturalcollaborative.org

apply by: 6/20/07

salary is room and board in Ghana (your pay for airfare)

Our new addition


Well, we seem to have gotten a new dog tonight! We're fostering a pup named Susie Q. She came pre-named, but we'll be calling her Pancake Sue. She's about six months old and is a lab terrier mix {they think}. She's only about 20 pounds, but she looks like a miniature Tipper. She and Cassie played for a few hours tonight and now she's sleeping at my feet. She's really sweet and has already made herself at home. She seems to be house trained and hasn't had an accident yet. Now we'll have to puppy-proof the house!
I love these pieces by Uniform Studio!

Playing catch-up


Well, this weekend was a busy one! Friday night we took Cassie to the annual Lilac Festival and had a great time eating fried dough and walking through hundreds of lilac bushes. The festival even had vendors selling a lilac perfume that smells just like the blooms. I really wanted to buy some, but I never wear perfume and spraying it through the house seems like overkill.


On Saturday morning we headed over to the Fabrics and Findings auction. This was only my second real auction, and we were up against some seasoned veterans! Our energetic auctioneer was John Reynolds {above}. I ended up buying some more fabric swatches, a shadow box and a pretty nice mahogany dresser {for only $10}. Myra was able to hold her own and walked away with some amazing fabric. She also pointed me in the direction of a great sewing blog by Erica Bunker, which will hopefully inspire some new summer clothing.

Eduardo Recife


I just came across this drawing by Eduardo Recife, titled "I told you so". He has also created some great fonts. I had just used one of his fonts for a wedding invitation {letterpress, of course} and it printed beautifully.

Summer workshops


For those of you who are interested in book arts, photography, printmaking, digital art, and more, check out the Visual Studies Workshop Summer Institute. There are a range of one-week workshops at VSW and they can even be taken for credit! I'll be teaching Intro to Bookbinding and I'm really looking forward to it. These intensive workshops are a great way to focus on making new work without distraction!

Am I crazy?

I got up early and went to the 75% off day at Fabrics and Findings this morning with a few thrifty friends. We got there early and still weren't the first people in line! I got these amazing fabric swatches {among other goodies} and felt slightly insane while I was organizing them by color in my sewing closet! Be on the lookout for new stuff made with these super-cute patterns {Etsy may be in the cards for me, too}. I'm going to the final auction tomorrow morning, but hopefully I won't have anything to post about, my wallet can't take many more deals.

Miniature work

My friend Carin Mincemoyer is currently artist-in-residence at the Bemis Center {where Andrew works}. I love Carin's work and I'm lucky enough to have one of her tiny landscapes! She'll be speaking for ArtTalk at the Bemis on June 7 at 7 p.m. If you're near Omaha you should check it out.

I love this bag from the new issue of Living. I've been thinking about making my own bias tape, so now I have a goal to work toward. Good timing, too, since I'll finally have a bit of free time soon!


I love zinnias. Luck for me MS Weddings features them this month. Unlucky for me, I don't have my subscription anymore. Reading it online just isn't the same, but I'm not sure if I want to renew my subscription.

Productivity


I had a very productive day. Marni traded me work-time at our houses. We painted her garage doors and then tackled my sun porch. We cleaned out all of my clutter {well, moved it to the attic} and rearranged the furniture. Check out this awesome table that I found on the street last summer...the enamel is in pristine condition!


I also hung a few garage sale finds. They really make the room.

More deals!


I just got the most amazing deal on etching ink...75% off the clearance prices at RIT. Lucky for me RIT has a non-toxic printshop and they appear to be liquidating their inventory of oil-based etching inks. Woohoo! I got $225 worth of ink for $30 {and started putting my grant money to use}.

Closing sales...


I just found out that Wild Wools in Rochester is closing. Very sad news. They had some beautiful yarns and such a cozy little store. The bright side to this, however, is that they're having a going-out-of-business sale that runs from May 16-20 and everything is 50% off.


Another sad closing is Fabrics and Findings. They've been in the Anderson Alley building for years and I can't believe that they'll be gone soon! They're closing sale is also this week...Wednesday {30% off}, Thursday {50% off}, and Friday {75% off}.


You might be able to snag a knitting bag from Made by Rachel {not me} at Wild Wools. Be on the lookout for one!

Swamped


I've been swamped lately. Lots of grading, another wedding, working at the studio....arrg! I hate grading. It's one of the worst aspects of teaching, but I suppose it's a necessary evil. I had an amazing group of students this semester, which makes grading much easier. Here are a few pieces that my advanced drawing students made. The top image is a detail of a meticulous medical drawing. The bottom image is from an equally meticulous pop-up book.



I also couldn't resist posting a few pictures of Jake and Cassie keeping me company at the studio. She's definitely becoming part of the family!

Landscape Painting

I've been increasingly interested in abstracted landscapes the last few months. This "landscape" is by British artist Clare Woods and is enamel on wood. I love her separation of colors, which reminds me of screen-printing.


I also love the work of Jane Callister. Her work has a beautiful element of fantasy and surrealism. And her color choices make me want to eat her pieces!

New work

I just finished this four-color screen-print and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. It's for an exchange portfolio that had the theme "If, and, or..." Now I'm ready to work on the next print and {hopefully} finish all of my end-of-the-semester grading!