Sunday, December 20, 2009

Stitched

Currently have work up at Desotorow Gallery in GA in a show called "Stitched".
It's the piece called "Our Shared Secrets".

Friday, December 18, 2009

Midwives Holiday Party 2009

I really love my art collective, The Midwives Collective & Gallery. Sometimes I get frustrated or a bit overworked, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. And this is very evident in our annual holiday party! This year's was especially fun because we have a few new members (and new potential members) who came and participated in our present exchange, told stories and enjoyed a delicious dinner together. It was beautiful! Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures, but I have photos of my Secret Santa gift to Christiana! I was SO PUMPED to give this to her because we both LOOOOVE Dexter and have been watching the episodes together. She's a wonderful Dexter viewing partner because she gets so caught up in the drama and spends the hour gripping a pillow to her and yelling things like "OH MY GOD!" next to me on the couch. And this season has been AMAAAAAZING with the Trinity Killer. Man. Blowing my mind! I forgot what an awesome bad guy John Lithgow can be.
Anyway, for her gift, I embroidered and framed a little piece of Dexter (though we refer to it as Sexter because Michael C. Hall is so hot!).
So, check it out:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A BUSY December

Man, I always forget how November/December gets booked solid EVERY YEAR no matter my efforts. Or because of them. Either way, I'm busy, which is good (and sometimes stressful).
So, coming up this month is a show that I'm pretty jazzed about:



It's been a co-production between my artist group, The Midwives Collective & Gallery, and Off The Wall Gallery of Dirty Frank's Bar. I like the idea of our alternative co-op space and an arty bar teaming up for a show. Perhaps more cross-over teamwork like this would be good for the city as a whole?
I'm also excited about doing a specifically textiles/fibers show because this past year Moore College of Art & Design (my alma mater) decided to drop Textiles as a major, and from my understanding, relegate it specifically to part of Fine Arts. I have a problem with this. I chose Textiles because (A) when we had to choose majors I had no interest in the other majors offered and no idea what Textiles was so I thought "hey, why not?"(plus I thought it weird that choosing a major in art school was required. I had figured that it'd be more like my experience in high school, where we got to learn about all different mediums without hindrance) and (B) upon joining into Textiles, I found that it was the most flexible of the majors I could have ever hoped for. Yes, you can go into a fine arts direction, but you can also go way into the industry of it. With that, you can focus on Fashion vs. Interiors. Or you can do both. Or you can be crafty, or you can take craft and transcend it's usual crafty stereotypes and synthesize Fine Art, Fashion, Interiors, whatever. You can employ sculptural or photo techniques, book techniques, installation. Basically, I found a department that was open and flexible with where you wanted your work to go, but also taught you lots of skills for making your vision a reality. It's a shame to me that the Texiles major (Moore's first major too) is being dropped.
But what I really like about our co-production of "The Whole 9 Yards" show with Off The Wall Gallery is that we on the panel decided to approach "textiles/fibers" from a more open viewpoint, rather than only putting "textiles/fibers" artists in the show. Granted, a lot of the work falls into that category, but we strove to show the breath of textiles and fibers, so that the viewer could see how they were experiencing textiles and fibers in their lives. There's photographs, sculptures, tapestries and other kinds of woven pieces, video, both hand-painted and digital print design, paintings, embroidery, etc. And most of the talent in the show is local, which makes me happy. I think more of a spotlight should be shone on local talent.

Another thing we're doing is an embroidery workshop on Sunday, Dec. 13th:



Later this month is my Midwives Holiday Party, which is exciting! I made my Secret Santa a really fun gift this year (at least it was really fun for me to make) and can't wait for her to open it! Plus, it's always nice to spend some time with the Collective just goofing off and playing, since there's so much business involved with running a space in our spare time.

Also, I got into a show at Desotorow Gallery ("Stitched") in Savannah, GA. It's the first time I ever applied for a show (whyyyyyy did I wait this long!?!) and got in! This bodes well and has totally boosted my confidence. My New Year's Resolution: Apply for more shows, and try to score 5-10 per year. That'd be amazing. That and get a job (helloooo economy! I heard rumor you're improving...).

Oh yeah, and Christmas this year is at our little apartment. I'm excited, but also a bit stressed. But it's good. Should be a relaxed and fun day with the family.

And after the holidays, our roll-out for our "Re-cognition" show (part of the mammoth Philagrafika international festival) begins. I have a ton of images to go through and start working for the printed materials as well as website stuff. Phew!