Remix.

So, in an attempt to shed my art past and hopefully get out a current funk I have started tearing apart and getting rid of my old work.  This seems pretty crazy to me and I don’t feel good while I am partaking in the act of cutting apart my large installation pieces.  But honestly at this point I don’t know what else to do.  I do not enjoy looking at boxes that are and will never go anywhere.  They have passed their prime and are no longer eligible for current art exhibitions.  And, I don’t plan on having a retrospective and even if I did the work wouldn’t make it that long.  So, as everything in life has a cycle, so must my artwork.

The first piece I decided to dismantle was “Toilet Paper” which was created in 2007 and consists of 30 rolls of toilet paper with several portraits printed on them.  Have a look.

So, after unpacking it, tossing some of it, saving the clean toilet paper for later use and keeping the images I think I might turn into new works, this is what I am left with.

A much smaller box and a somewhat calmer mind.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco.

I am so in love with the Museum of Craft and Folk Art. I randomly sent an email to them in December and asked if they needed any volunteers. To my luck, they did! So, today was my first day volunteering. I met some of the staff members, got trained of the logistics and goings ons there, and, best of all, I got to see the current exhibition! Which, by the way closes on the 16th, so get on over there if you can.

image courtesy of http://www.mocfa.org/ (Favianna Rodriquez, artist)

Being at the museum today did exactly what I hoped it would do. It made me feel like I was actively involved in the art world. The art world does a great deal of stuff that I don’t understand, but I don’t want to shy away from it just because we have different ideas about where to take art in the future. I will just nudge myself inside and get my voice heard…somehow.

Never too late for a compliment.

“Are you the artist who was in the Waste Not, Want Not exhibit at Olive Hyde?
Your work consisted of plastic bags, toilet paper and receipts? I should
have written you sooner but that show really left an impression on me.”

Image from Tri-City Voice Archives (My work is the second image on the left hand side)  Read the full article HERE.

Leah wrote me a nice email about a week or so ago.  It was so great to get a random note from someone telling me they are thinking about my art.  An artist’s dream!  Ask any artist what they want to do with their work and generally speaking the answers are usually, inspire others to create, provide beauty to the world, or show that beauty exists in unlikely spaces, or send a very specific message to a viewer.  There are other reasons to create art and they are all valid.

I became an artist because of the feeling I got when I walked into a museum for the first time.  I thought to myself, if I could make just one person feel the way I feel right now with the work I make I will consider myself a successful artist.

It feels good when your work is well received.

Looking back it is kind of funny because I also received the worst comment to date at that very same show.  Someone told me that my prices were too high and that it diluted the message I was trying to send with my work.

As you can see all responses to an artists work are kept somewhere in their mind forever.

So, comment away folks.  Artists are bred for critiques.  We have to accept them.  The good ones feel so good and the “bad” ones feel really crappy for a while, but we always learn something from them.

Thanks Leah.

Check out what Leah’s currently working on by visiting her blog.

http://leahvirsik.com/

Andrew and Yuki – Wedding Photography in Muir Beach, CA.

I had an awesome time last month photographing a Rock & Roll Wedding!  Andrew and Yuki had so much fun and their friends and family were clearly happy to watch them tie the knot and celebrate their love for one another.  I had an extra fun time because I got to go back to one of my favorite places to photograph the wedding.  Andrew and Yuki were married at the Muir Beach Community Center which happens to be the same exact place my husband and I were married about a year and a half ago.  Every time I drive to Muir Beach I get butterflies because it brings back the wonderful memories of my favorite day.  Thanks for the good times and good memories Andrew and Yuki!  Have fun loving each other now and forever.

My Creative Reuse in Muir Beach.

Last year I was a vendor at the Muir Beach Holiday Arts Fair for the first time.  I had such a blast that I am doing it again this year (and for as many more years as I can!).  If you are in the neighborhood, feel like chatting, or want to spend a day at the beach, come by and say hello.  I will be selling my one of a kind upcycled purses.  So, come and buy one and join the creative reuse revolution (:

To see some of the products that I will be selling, check out my online shop HERE.

Hope to see you there!

GETty Crafty at Fremont Park!

About a week or so ago I was contacted by a fellow Etsian who is holding a Craft Fair Event in order to raise money for her friends, the Storms and their little girl, Getty.  Getty suffers from SMA1.  All of the vendor fees are going to be donated to the Storm family to help them pay for all of the medical equipment and doctor’s appointments that are not covered by health insurance.

I was so honored to be invited to be a part of this event.  It feels really good to feel like I am contributing to something positive.

If you are in the Sacramento area on October 16th, stop by Fremont Park between 10am and 2pm.  I will be there selling products from my upcycled unlimited line.

To learn more about this event, the Storm family, and Getty, check out gettyowl.com

Hope to see you on the 16th!

A Workaholic’s Weekend.

So, last week my husband said to me, “I am going to play videos games ALL weekend.”  He just got Civilization 5 and fell in love in an instant, so I can’t blame him.  Honestly, I was really excited because that meant I had a bachelorette weekend all to myself.  And, I spent it working!

I know, sounds crazy.  But, it was exactly what I wanted.  I wish I could make art all day everyday, but I can’t.  So, when I get a weekend to myself I tend to want to catch up on all of the art I have been planning out in my head.

This weekend I got to make 2 new purses, a wallet, and a dress!  I have never made a dress before, so I was REALLY excited to make one.  My awesome neighbor tried it on for me and the proportions are pretty close.  Just needs a few adjustments.

So, I start this week feeling relaxed and a bit more caught up in terms of the ideas in my head becoming more than just ideas.

Hope your weekend went well!

Lookin’ good art!

My friend just sent me an image of one of my monoprints hanging in his living room.  He made the wood framing device himself!  I love alternative hanging styles for work.  I often feel like a frame is constricting and keeps the art “in a box” which is the exact opposite of what art is supposed to do.

This is work from around 9 years ago.  Certainly not the same as what I am up to today.  When my friend first saw the piece he said something along the lines of, “It is nice to have work that gives me an idea of your history and where you have come from.”  It was really sweet.

The funny thing about getting this image in my inbox today is that it makes me want to make work like that again!  Perhaps I will delve into the abstract world for a while.  I do wonder what the abstract work my current self would create.

We shall see.

The Sistine Chapel is Dying.

This is a tough one for me. Artdaily.org has reported that the Sistine Chapel is in danger of falling apart because of the some where near 20,000 visitors a day that visit the masterpiece.

I have had the pleasure of standing in the Sistine Chapel twice in my life.  And I plan on returning again some day.  It was a life changing experience.  There are no words to describe how I felt when I saw it for the first time.  I was 17 and I knew that art would be part of my life forever because nothing else made me feel the way art does.  It is like love.  The second time I was almost running; in fact I think my husband and I did run in order to beat the crowd.  My heart was racing with anticipation.  It was like running in the airport to hug your family after a long time away.  I could breath again.

So, the idea of that experience not existing for future generations makes me sad.  It is also a reminder that nothing is permanent; no matter how hard you try to keep it safe.

*photos courtesy of wikipedia.com

In the middle of nowhere.

Lately I have been wondering what it might be like to live in the middle of nowhere. I mean almost entirely off the grid. Now, I already know that I would need an Internet connection, so I wouldn’t be completely pioneering on my own with my husband and pups. But still, what would happen to me if I woke up every morning and went outside to pick breakfast from my garden/farm? What would happen to my mentality? What would happen to my art? A rhetorical questions because we all know it would change. Even if I live in this same exact apartment, in this same exact town, in five years the work I produce will not be the same as it is today. My work already feels a lot different then it did a year ago. My focus is shifting gears, my priorities are changing.