No More WorkHorse...for now

I have not stop working since I got out of school on June 18th. Its been a crazy busy summer and I have to say not a bad summer at all. Taught two amazing classes which I know i need to post some pics on the amazing art work my students produced this year. Artscape was a blast even with its horrid heat but I did get interview on channel 11 and made some new friends and got re-acquainted with old friends too! Wrote curriculum which is gonna kick some art teacher ass into the 21st. century and got me excited for my next year of teaching. Tomorrow is my last craft show till crafty bastards in October. Need a break to make some more designs, work on some art and start illustrating a children's book in the works. I've been watching the movie Beautiful Losers, which I've just discovered you can watch the entire movie on you tube...and I suggest you do, if you haven't seen it yet. Which brings me to this video I posted that was directed by Harmony Korine for wil Oldam..two of my favorites artists. Going to go for the beach for a week and actually take a vacation! Leaving right after Hamilton Fest tomorrow night. So its peace out for a bit! I'll be back in a week and then another weekend to NYC!

New Pillows !!!

A new pillow for my bird party series....otis's buddies on the clothesline!....will be on sale tomorrow at Hamilton Fest. Along with Otis himself in yellow and another bird on the wire pillow in dark gray with white lines.

Updating and re-making

Been crazy sewing these past days. Need to make some money for my week at the beach. So here are pics of the bags I've been making that will be available at Hamilton Fest. I'll have new pillows too. Will post them later today after they are complete with more Fest info.

Hamilton Fest this Saturday!!!

Hamilton Fest is this Saturday!!This will be my last summer gig! If you haven't seen the new and hip Hamilton you need to show up to see how hip Hamilton has become! Two of the best restaurants and hang out joints are there: Clementine and Hamilton Tavern. You'll people from all parts of your past! I love living so close to this area. So come on out. Its form 11-8 on Harford Road just north of Ecodale.Good food, craft vendors, cars, beer and music. And the weather looks like its gonna be in the 80's!!!! I'll be sharing a booth with my BEST buddy Danamarie from greenstarstudio.

Cheryl Dunn

I feel like an idiot that I just discovered her. Seriously...I am so in need of embedding myself completely into the art world of NOW! Am doing my best this past two week of getting Baltimore County into the 21st. century. Today was our last day of curriculum writing for the summer . I love this group that I get to write with, and brainstorm with, for this little portion of the summer! And we are so on track for making us move into what is happening now!!! Anyway, watch this little snippet on Cheryl Dunn and then research her work more. She is featured on the movie Beautiful Losers that I need to watch again and again to see how I can bring this into my teaching this year. Loving the statement "haters are people who don't make things" . Love it!

Color Cuts by Heather Moore

I love paper cut outs. I need to get these into my curriculum! Love the idea of them being on paint samples too. Check out more of Heather Moore's work on her blog skinny laminx

Kitties show off Beautiful Decor

Taking a little breather from the sweatshop to find inspiration ( or really just giving in to my short attention span today) and I found this great post on design sponge in her sneak peeks called best of cats. I love how these photos work so well with showing off the cats environment. Here are some of my favorites. Check out the whole post here.

diy is soooo punk rock!

I went to see Jenny Hart speak at the Summit of Awesome last year in Washington DC and she had this wonderful connection of punk rock to the diy movement and I had this great aha moment! I knew I liked aspects of this movement for a reason. Being a punk rocker myself from the early 80's I felt that I was an intricate part of the movement here in Baltimore. Not that I played but I truly supported the scene. Helped Strazz with sound, watch fear of god practiced , picked up Danny and took him to reptile House practice, let the girls from Scab try to pick me up, hid Ethan in Jules loft from the police, Made the kiddies come into the show before the "yo boys" came to get um, rode the infamous bus trip to NYC to CBGB's , made tons of flyers for van Gogh's ear and Gray march, and saw just about every punk rock show in the Baltimore DC area from 1982 to 1987, and then some. What I loved about the movement, was the fact that we had to do it ourselves. We had no one to rely on that we could trust. We wanted to see this "forbidden" music of the time and we wanted to see it our way...and we did! And this diy craft movement has elements of that that I really love. Course now its getting over saturated and now even art institutions are beginning graduated studies in this movement....which I think will ruin the whole thing! But I guess like all things, it must progress.
This video is London May. The first drummer of Reptile House. He moved on, but kept on playing, and progressing! I'm quite proud of him. I think he is saying much about where we came from and where we're going ....another little connection to this life I lead.

Artscape starts today!!!!

Ahhh, the weather is doings its usually Artscape weekend routine with majorly hot hot weather. Tomorrow we may have some sprinkles to cool us down but also make us feel like we're living in jungle weather! That means's lots of cool dresses and seeing some body parts we really shouldn't have to see! All my items are packed and ready to be loaded in the truck and I could have slept another hour but my body is excited for the weekend and has me up. Woke up to discover I slept through my first earthquake!!!!3.6, outside of Rockville. Love finding out news by reading facebook and twitter statuses. Anyway, I get to set up for Artscape then have to go back to my last day of camp and then back to the festival for the rest of the day and night. This summer has been non-stop. I need a vacation from my vacation! The camera bags above are my newest creations for this weekend. Hope to see them all disappear this weekend into the hands of excited customers!

Power Styling..60's style

You know I have this fascination with power lines and I believe their beauty to be quite vulnerable. Looking on my favorite blog grain edit, is a treasure of a find, a review of Power Styling: Future Power Structure Concept Book. Its premise is:

In 1964 United States Steel called upon the nation’s electric utility companies to reconsider the current look of our power stations and transmission towers to be both functional and beautiful. Two years later, Henry Dreyfuss and Associates were commissioned to investigate possible design alternatives, and I believe they were documented in a book entitled “Power Styling” which was produced by United States Steel in the mid-to-late 1960s.

I love these structure illustrations. Can we only imagine if they came into fruition?

Sondheim Artscape Prize: 2010 Finalists

I took my drawing portfolio students to the BMA yesterday and we spent a long time in the Sondheim Artscape Finalist show. I asked them to pick who they wanted to win. I was happy to see such interest in contemporary art with these high school kids. It probably helped that everyday we viewed a new contemporary artist through the Art 21 series. Anyway, I recommend that everyone go see this amazing show. You will notice more video, interactive and sculptural pieces than paintings. And for a painter, who's always jokes about my favorite painting teacher, Joyce Stillman Myers' definition of a sculpture being something you back into when you're looking at a painting, I have become more of a sculptor, installation artist and appreciator.
I loved Nate Larson's twitter geo-scape quotation photographs. But got was absolutely blown away by Matt Janson's sculptures. Their beautiful three dimensional paintings that oozed of cake icing appeal and reminded me of my favorite 40's aesthetic.

Many of the pieces that Janson creates express a tension between lightheartedness and danger. His work frequently incorporates mirror fragments, which have a sparkly quality that appeals to viewers, while the mirrors' sharp edges warn them to keep away.

Other artworks have a thick, gooey texture that simultaneously brings to mind frosting and viscera.

Tonight they announce the winner at a special reception at 7 tonight. The show will be up until August 1...and its FREE!! with great air conditioning. So, no excuses! Oh yeah, my students pick a variety of these superior artists, but Janson got the most votes.

photo from BMA Flicker page

9 Days and Counting for Artscape!!!

I'm trying to remain calm!!! I really am. Doesn't help having to go from teaching half a day to teaching a full day until the 16th...the first day of Artscape!!! But I've been pretty dedicated to my work schedule and have completed all of my smaller items. Lots of eyeglass cases, zipper pouches, iron on patches, coaster sets and some new tea cozies! Now onto hand bags!! Hope you're planning on coming to the biggest art festival in the USA!! Here in good old B-more. Mob Town sure does shine on that third weekend of July. Let's hope this 100 temps are getting themselves out of its system.

Happy 4th. Weekend!!

Going to spend the day with the family in Catonsville and do the 4th. on the 3rd. cause that's how Catonsville rolls. Gonna eat crabs, watch the parade with my favorite Boumi temple guys and then back for more eats and the fireworks! To commemorate this day..here's a pic of my sister and I on the 4th in the same backyard that we're going to spend today! Loving my dad and pop pop pics here too!

What I'm into

I was doing a little catch up on some of my favorite blogs and found this great show idea from Berkley Illustration's blog "Let's Share". They were given 6x6" wood panel to do anything they wanted.And this is what they came up with...taking me back to my bike racing days I love the podium set up. I love this creative endeavor. Thinking this could be a very cool studio assignment for my high school kiddies. Next week I start a drawing portfolio class for two weeks and Ive been searching for new ideas.
...here was the idea and assessment of the project:

The concept of the show was to interview friends and ask them to rank the top three things they're 'into' right now. Ryan then interpreted their choices as medal winners in some kind of strange mental Olympics.

We were hoping to gain a few insights from the work:

1. Seeing what our friends have going on upstairs right now and hopefully learn a little more about them because of it.

2. Discover what kinds of things our friends have in common with each other and with us and with the whole wide world.

3. See how people's interests change or take on a different tone when on paper versus in their heads.