See Artist Studios

Talented Olympia artist Pam Corwin, featured a few studio pics on her blog. I was fortunate enough to be included in this first edition of a "Virtual Studio Tour". I am inspired...

Check it out, it's pretty cool! Business of Crafts Blog

2010

I won't go into the past year and a half. Let's just say it was a really rough time and I am getting back to work. :) Yay me

I am concentrating on Dos Chicas again and have some fun, new ideas to incubate.

Copyright infringement?

AP photo 2006 Mannie Garcia\Shepard Fairey

Here's an article about one artist using a photograph that was taken by another. This is a very good example of how sticky this issue can be: Calif. artist sues AP over image of Obama.

Personally, I feel "do unto others as you would have done to you" was unfortunately overlooked. It would have been wise, and respectful for Fairey to talk to Garcia first about what he wanted to do and seek permission. Credit should have been given to Mannie either way because that is the right thing to do. I honestly feel, more than ever, that we artists need to respect each other's work. See my earlier post on copyright.

What do you think?

Olympia Loves II

feb-the smell of rain in the soil
thick mist over crowds of tall pines
when it feels like snow, but not quite
damp dirt, but not quite mud
sun sets a little later everyday
bigfoot is hiding around here
somewhere

Olympia Centennial Rotary Club Calendar

My work continues to get noticed in wonderful opportunities like this:

2009 Rotary Club Calendar, APRIL!

Design Book Arrival

Remember when I told you the good news about a AvA Publishing wanting to include lovely Lorraine in it? Well, I received my copy of PRODUCT DESIGN: IDEA SEARCHING in November, but I just now posted this draft. It is a beautiful, slick-looking book. I am quoted with words of wisdom (ha). This was a really big deal for me.

Artswalk wrap up III

What a wet evening! It rained cats and dogs and not as many people braved the weather, but for those of you who came to 'a girl's backyard' and saw Come and Go, thank you! It was so much fun to have live theatre available for people to see and enjoy. If you ever get a chance to see a Samuel Beckett play, go. And remember not to take it too seriously. The guy had a wonderful, dark Irish sense of humor. No wonder I like his writing. tee hee

Ru, Vi, and Flo from Come and Go

On the visual art side, I sold half my show! It was great fun to see people react to my art and have it dislodge childhood memories. I heard wonderful stories of reading books on rooftops and that I wan't alone wondering what it looked like down the chimney. Several people declared, 'Me too" to my "I Wished I'd had a Sister" piece which tickled me very much. I tried some new ideas with photo reproduction and had art available for $5 and was a hit. I'll make sure and do that again.

I have photo reproductions still available in my store for $5. First class shipping will make the total $5.42.

Chimney Dreams

Paperdoll

Come to Artswalk!

Getting Ready for Artswalk I

Beads and beads
Bugle beads, Gold
And a few purple seed beads
All on oilcloth, which you know I love.
Nylon thread that mucks up my machine is now used to bead bead bead. It takes a while to do this process, but it is amazing.
super thin needle, beads, sample, and scissors. i luv scissors. july

Birthday Cakes and Wishes

One thing I love to make more than anything is fake food. Past creations include a layered cake out of spray foam, cured hams from Sculpey and paint, bread, and mini tea cakes. This rather large cupcake is more fantasy-Pee-Wee's-Playhouse-like, made out of styrofoam, fabric, oilcloth, beads, thread and a lot of straight pins. I first told you about it in April. Many eyes saw it at the Tacoma Art Museum's 5th Birthday Party along with other amazing art cakes. Follow this link to see good pics on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacomaartmuseum/tags/birthday/

It is a little terrifying to make something and then let it out in public. Thoughts creep in, insecurities...will people like it? Will they say sh*t about it? Will it make them smile? Honestly, I was surprised my small stack of cards disappeared and one nice person actually took the time to email me and told me to "keep going" with my art, which was very cool. ty

Make a wish and blow out the candle...I did...and do you know what I wished for? Is it bad luck to share your wish? I'll tell you later.

Ode to buyolympia...

bobbins and spools, circular blades and kenmore, time and lots of time where all my bags are loved...

Because of my affiliation with your wonderful website, i (dos chicas, rather) have received lots of attention and had money come my way which is always fun. millions saw my work. many fans and purchases kept rolling in. yet i stayed anonymous.

late nights and seinfeld, too much coffee, and 5 minute naps helped the production line keep going for deadlines. hundreds made by hand, one at a time. the quiet revolution no one saw coming...

I thank you pat and aaron for the initial risk you took with me. Our first meeting was positive and you were good with giving my bags a shot, even though none of us knew if they would even sell. How surprised we all were!

miles and miles of thread and football fields filled with oilcloth i've unrolled in my tiny studio...

Because of you i was flattered with attention from numerous magazines like SELF, ORGANIC STYLE, TU CIUDAD, SEATTLE MAGAZINE, and SOUTH SOUND WOMAN, and numerous blogs and websites like THIS NEXT, YUMSUGAR, WIST, POLYVORE, and APARTMENT THERAPY. all those people are very nice, too.

How can I thank you? The words just aren't enough. I am sooo sad you aren't in olympia anymore...I won't ride my bike downtown and drop off my inventory anymore...I won't see your smiles anymore... i hope portland treats you well and helps make your dreams come true.

an army of lorraines and tillys now grace the planet thanks to your little website. i hope people's smiles carry with them afterall, that is why i make the things i do.

all my best to you...xo

Once every three years...

One very important responsibility bestowed on me three years ago was organizing my mom's family reunion. It was a lot of work, but is there a better thing to spend your time on than family?

Usually we have 3-5 day gatherings, which is hardly enough time to do and see everything. Today is the last day and we had so much fun eating, visiting, and being outside in our glorious summer. I love getting reaquainted with everyone and catching up. I love the hugs, the laughs, the stories and being entertained by my crazy uncles.

I always get sad the last day because everyone heads off on their separate ways, but I feel so honored that these people traveled as far as they have to come up and see this part of the country. Thanks everyone for being the awesome people that you are. See you in Little Rock (oh-ten)! ha

picture credit to Uncle Florida

Well, hello July.

Once again I am here to briefly let you know what I have been up to in the way of art, besides working full-time. I started Metal Class again so I can get reaquainted with Oxy-acetylene welding and TIG. I have a show I need to get ready for in October and I am looking to put metal and oilcloth together. What? Yes, sounds crazy I know. Don't ask me what the heck these things are going to look like, because I have no idea yet.

Dos Chicas' Barbara was in L.A.'s Tu Ciudad Magazine, which was super cool. Unfortunately, that publication has ceased to exist...

My studio is a pig-sty. Neglect will do that to things. I am going to put my mom to the task with her gold medal organizing skills! I need more shelves or something. You've seen the pictures.

The job is going fine. This project is almost half done and crunch time has begun. Stress levels have increased, and I am refusing to subject myself to that garbage.

Have a wonderful summer. We are enjoying the hot weather and need to go dip our bodies into the Sound. Kisses...

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Hello! I suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, you say? You are right. I had been searching for work in March and April and got assigned a long-term temp job with the state of Washington. I am currently doing data entry and QC for their Corporations Backfile Scanning Project through the Secretary of State's Office, affectionately acronymed, OSOS. Office of the Secretary of State-Washington

It's fun. So that is where I have been; adjusting to full-time work again and not making much art. (sad face). My sewing machine is currently awaiting repair because something is just not right with it and a dear friend has let me borrow hers, but I want to get it returned. My studio is an utter disaster and I am seriously burned out on Dos Chicas. Leave me love notes. I miss you and am checking in when I grab a few free moments.

I'm showing at the Tacoma Art Museum!

(TAM) Tacoma Art Museum moved into their new building 5 years ago. They are having a public birthday party on May 3 and there will be an original Ay Artbag on display. If you are in western Washington, come on by!

Tacoma Art Museum's Birthday Bash

Next!

Okay, so I went to a great forum last Wednesday night. It was put on by the City of Olympia's Park and Recreation Dept. and was filmed live for later broadcast on our local TCTV. A lawyer who volunteers with The Washington Lawyers for the Arts spoke to us about Copyright issues.

The copyright on any "works in a tangible medium" is the life of the artist + 70 years. It was a great two hours and a lot of interesting scenarios were shared by some of the artists. One lady is a calligrapher and she uses quotes from literary works. Under the current law, she is infringing on the copyright owner. She was told that she should seek permission from the author or publisher before using any quotes from works where the creator is still alive.

I make, actully made, political collages out of magazine images. This I will cease doing because I am infringing on the intellectual property of the photographer. I had no idea....I suggest you do some research before you take an existing image and incorporate it into your own work.

Library of Congress (then Copyright Office)

Why am I so weird?

I wonder if my tendancy to do things later in life than everybody else has something to do with the two really nice people who let me live in their house while I was growing up. I completely blame them for encouraging my weirdness by letting me be a kid and not rush me to grow up. Most things I would declare they got right, but once in awhile something went terribly wrong, like being dressed in an outfit that should have been burned. Let me expound. Hang around.

Okay, all of you kids who were elementary school age in the 70's will know exactly what I'm talking about. We didn't care how we looked; too groovy striped bell bottoms, mismatched colors, and Bad News Bears tossled hair-do's. All we wanted to do was go outside and play. For me, add homemade clothes into the mix. Now my mom made me some really cool beautiful clothes that I got to help pick fabrics and trims for on occasion and I did like most of them. My aunts and grandma on my dad's side made and still make their own clothes, afterall. I didn't realize how unusual that was. It was very normal to me.

But there was a gem of a garment that just didn't need to be created in the first place. Enter the white colored cordorouy with red patterned mystery fabric. Mom decides I just had to have a dress out of this crap. It was just wrong, wrong, wrong. I never liked wearing it and it very well was because I was in 5th or 6th grade by this time and all the kids were starting to care how they looked, but not me. I would wear it anyway and the daily fight at school would happen where I would punch or kick some wiseacre for saying anything about that stupid dress. whatever. I was not embarassed by my fashion, I just simply did not care. I was too busy dreaming and coloring and playing tetherball.

And then there were the godaweful polyestermess that were two pairs of identical pants that I wore on a regular basis in 7th grade at Lake Jr. High School. Knowing full well that I would get teased mercilessly that day, I wore them anyway. I did not care, I could take it. That is how much I would rather play with my Barbies or do other things. By the way, I think I was the last to stop playing with toys at 17. And the list of my delayed human activities continues.

I sucked my thumb until I was 8, but only at night, and I remember declaring triumphantly to my teacher Mrs. Jones when I had stopped. I sometimes wonder what she really thought when all she said was, "Oh, good for you." In 6th grade I didn't want to start wearing a bra, but my body forced me to and so I succumbed to that over the shoulder boulder holder that I've always hated. I didn't date in high school because boys scared the tar out of me. I didn't drink or party like so many of my classmates did. I'd rather play with our dog or eat pizza with my friends. I had my first kiss at 16 at a stupid birthday party. Remember "spin the bottle"? Yea, it was that bad. I never liked or did the whole "club scene" for dating and would rather watch movies or play board games at home. I got married at 33, well past the age of all my other friends who had started families in their 20's.

Look what you did to me! My weirdness is all your fault because you incubated me in homemade clothes, homemade school lunches, nightly dinners and reading, and popcorn Fridays. Geez Mom and Dad, you are totally to blame.

Handbag History

Anna Johnson's The Power of the Purse is my bible. This little book is glorious with color photos of hundreds of bags and describes the evolution of the "pouch" from a small drawstring, 5th century, to modern purses/clutches/bags. It is inspiring and one of the first purchases Dos Chicas ever made.

Our American Heritage: Yesterday on our local TCTV, there aired a program about the Plateau People of the Columbia River, Washington-Oregon Territories. I learned about "Sally Bags" being water-tight containers that people traded or stored dried seeds/grains for winter. These are cylindrical in shape and are still made today. Online there are links to other bag pictures: Lewis & Clark Expedition (scroll down to the bottom of the page), and University of Oregon.

Another Sally Bag style is shaped more like what you would think of as a purse with repeated patterns: People of the River. Beading was added when trade brought them to the area. I couldn't find any pictures of these, but they were beautiful.

Brown-bagging it? Here's Lunch Help by Angelina Chica

My lovely Lorraine is the most popular design I sell. I have happily found a lot of blogs that are linked to her, so I thought adding lunch ideas for those of you who carry her would be fun to start compiling. I'm tinkering with the idea of creating recipe cards with my own lunchtime favs that got me through the crappiest work years of my life. Stay tuned.

Fit Sugar
SELF Magazine Lunch Article-March '08
Team Sugar one and two

Lorraine on New York City TV!

"Not Your Dad's Old Lunchbox Anymore"

CW11 Morning News Blog-NYC

Follow the link and watch the video segment. Oh my, they did a really nice job. Thanks, Erin Hobday and Patricia del Rio! You both look beautiful!

Too Fun.