Bitter Tarts

cross-post on graffiti cover-up

2011-08-26T21:17:00.002-04:00

I did this project where I had to paint over street art. It made me feel sick. Posted from my other schooly blog.

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Today, because our program is focused on community service, we were all supposed to choose from among several community organizations with whom we'd do some sort of project from 9a.m. til noon. There were a few that I was interested in, but ultimately I chose to do my stint with HAND (Housing and Neighborhood Development.) I wasn't sure exactly what we'd be doing, but having lived in Bloomington for several years, I'm quite familiar with some of the housing issues that happen here in town, so I thought I'd like to at least meet some folks at HAND and see what sorts of things they do. My only previous experience with HAND was when I called to complain about my landlord not fixing my roof.

Our project ended up being painting over graffiti, which I, as an artist as well as being an advocate of emerging artists and public art in general, felt more than a little strange about. However, I feel like it's important to experience all possible facets of a situation when reasonable, so I figured this was a great chance to get a first-hand perspective on what the city's take is on street art.

Here is the art we were expected to help cover up. I didn't get the greatest pictures, but essentially it was two walls that met to form an L, and each one had work by several different artists or writers.

The first wall .. USE covering up some other stuff

What we were helping with was apparently a "pilot program" in place to help "deal with" (? control?) graffiti in Bloomington. The pieces we were covering were on the walls of a business, and when I asked why it wasn't the building owner's responsibility, Dave (the city worker that was supervising us) said that it was, but that this pilot program was part of helping business owners to deal with the cost of covering the graffiti. The business owners help pay for the paint, and HAND, along with volunteers like us, provides the labor. The paint is one of a few stock colors though, I guess to save money ... so I'm assuming the business owner pays less than if s/he got the exact match.

The idea is that the faster graffiti gets covered up, the less likely it is to keep happening because the artist's work ends up not really being worth the amount of time the work is up. And also that the faster it gets covered, the less likely it is that others will add their tags to the same wall. I don't know if I agree with this philosophy, but that's what Dave said.

I also have some serious doubts about the assertion that the people doing this are trying to be "like big city thugs." I mean, maybe a few of them are. And maybe they're also 12. I think the reasons why people do street art are as varied as the artwork itself. But the city's approach -- and I suppose this is the simplest way -- is to treat it as all being the same.

"Is there any kind of distinguishing factor between art that maybe makes the wall look better than it did before, and graffiti that's not so good?" I asked. The reply was definitely "no." It's all vandalism and it all costs the city money.

I volunteered to go first. It was sort of like painting the walls of the gallery. I didn't feel super bad about it for many reasons, including the fact that I know that when people do this sort of art they do it knowing it will get covered, and also the fact that as I said, although I'm more sympathetic to the artist, I really felt it was important to get this experience of being on "the other side." It was weird, though. Because we weren't covering it to make the wall more beautiful, or even to match the original paint. It was SOLELY to cover this other person's artwork. Which, true, s/he didn't ask permission to put it there, apparently. But I still feel strange about the fact that aesthetics and permission are coming together in this weird, bureaucratic, uneasy way that doesn't make logical sense to me. I can see painting the wall to look exactly as it did before. I don't really get covering graffiti just to cover it.

Dave was an interesting guy. He said that before he'd gotten the job painting over graffiti, he'd been unemployed and making his living scavenging and selling scrap metal. He was either fairly passionate about the graffiti "problem" or very good at seeming he was. But I think he was being truthful. He advised us all to tell our graffiti writing friends that it costs people lots of money to cover this stuff up, and to please ask permission if they wanted to paint on a wall.


there it goes

I don't disagree with some of the reasoning when it comes to covering graffiti, but I also don't agree with a lot of it. And I certainly don't see how it's the city's responsibility to help business owners paint over graffiti on their buildings, particularly when I don't really see what the city's doing in terms of assuaging the social unrest brewing here (which may or may not manifest in street art -- as I said, there are a zillion reasons why someone might paint on a wall, some political and some not at all and many somewhere in between.) I guess I wish I felt like they were thinking more about what they're doing when they're covering graffiti, and what it means, rather than just making blanket observations and assumptions about it.

At any rate, Dave was really helpful and nice, and I do felt like I learned a lot. Sorry, USE. I did ask if the city had any idea who you were and they said "No."

rock of ages

2011-08-26T09:53:00.002-04:00

So, I'm in school again, and besides being a little weird and very exciting, I'm also on the older side of the age spectrum of my class. It's led to more than one variation on this comment when my age comes up: "wow, you don't look that old!"

I understand this sort of statement is supposed to be flattering, and I do take these statements as compliments, but ultimately I find them sort of ridiculous. I mean, I'm 33 and I'm not on meth. I pretty much look my age. I've met a few other people in my program who are also in their 30s, and they look pretty much the same as me, when you account for genetic difference and all.

My question is, where are we getting this idea that 33 is old and that by not looking grizzled, you're doing well for your age? Is this sort of statement just one of those politesse things that people feel they're supposed to say because obviously, as a woman, I must be feeling bad about myself for having attained the ripe old age of 33? Or do people really think 33 typically looks/feels old, and they are genuinely shocked that I seem healthy and energetic and not ancient? Someone help.

life and underpants gnomes

2011-07-09T10:06:00.005-04:00

Recently, a friend of mine posted on her facebook page, "do what you love, the money will follow."

Anyone remember the underpants gnomes from South Park?

I kind of feel like this advice is similar to the underpants gnomes' plan for success.

1. Do what you love.
2. ???
3. PROFIT!

I know, I know, this isn't meant to be overarching life advice or to necessarily end with that statement, but I do get kind of annoyed when people act like the reason you're not satisfied with life is because you're just not following your heart enough. There's something in the middle there, something important in step number 2, and it's all the hard stuff. It's figuring out how to pay the bills and keep food on the table while you're also working toward the fruition of step 3. It may or may not be directly related to steps 1 and 3, but it's just as important. And, unfortunately, not nearly as sexy.

2011-06-29T10:42:00.007-04:00

I'm preparing some gelatin right now in order to do a small mend on the parchment of a medieval manuscript. I don't talk much about my Day Job on this blog, but it's an interesting one, and one I'm going to miss. Pretend this looks cool and not like a ghetto double boiler with beakers on a "Buffet Range."

We use gelatin rather than paste because the idea is that you use the material that is closest to / interacts best with the item you're working on. In this case, it's a piece of vellum or parchment, therefore it makes the most sense to use an animal-based adhesive rather than a vegetable-based one.

I suppose that, because I am a paper conservation technician who has decidedly ultimately NOT to pursue this field further, for a variety of reasons, I kind of gave up talking much about it. Here's the bit of the manuscript that needs mending, "before" shot .. that little "island" in the middle there, is literally just hanging on by a fiber.

I think I stopped talking about it because I am not a conservation PROFESSIONAL. But let's face it: my job is cool. I get to work with stuff most people never see, let alone touch, in their lives. We could go on about this, of course -- how many people actually care, can see any REASON, to want to preserve and to study medieval manuscripts? It's not particularly relevant-seeming. But it is fun. I love it a lot, and I'm going to miss it terribly.

After. TA-DA

Although I'll miss my job a lot, and the change is kind of messing with my head (I've been doing this for a while now), all of this inspiration/preparation is exciting, too. I feel really stoked about this career/life change, about the possibilities for reaching greater amounts of people, about being able to better understand the world around me and being able to manipulate systems toward the greater good. I suppose in short: I wanna learn everything, and then teach it to everyone. Since that's not actually possible, I'll try to find a happy medium by learning a few things and teaching those to people around me.

Also, and not totally unrelated, I've been thinking a lot (a LOT) lately about my interactions with others, particularly/usually men, and getting increasingly frustrated when I find I am not being treated in a way that feels respectful. I was going to write about this, but then I read this blog post by Willow and it kind of sums it rather more neatly that I could have. I guess this relates in the sense that I need to consider"exactly WHAT is it that I want to teach people," "do I want to have the teaching-hat on all of the time," and "how does it differ when it's a skill that you care about vs. the (seemingly obvious) notion that you ought to be treated as an equal?" All questions worthy of answering, thought perhaps not precisely now.

At any rate, it is nice - maybe "affirming" is more like it - to know that you are not the only one that notices or is bothered by these things, and equally nice to know that others are speaking up, being angry, too.

mini midwest tour: Chicago, Columbus

2011-06-06T16:28:00.005-04:00

I've quite a couple of weeks. First my boyfriend and I traveled to Chicago where I finally got to sample a delicious (veggie) burger at Kuma's Corner, hung out with some dear friends and heard one of them, the talented Meghan Lamb, read at Ear Eater #6, and last but certainly not least went to see Ga'an at the Empty Bottle which, if you have the chance to go see them -- do. It was indescribably good.

Anyway, after a hard 2-day work week it was off to Columbus, OH for the Midwest Craft Caucus. It was a weekend conference for sharing information and making contacts in the world of handmade business, basically. Unfortunately, due to the uh, perils of running one's own business, I wasn't able to make it for the whole thing! But I did sit on 2 panels on Saturday, and went to a few workshops, all of which were very informative and useful.

And perhaps best of all, I got to meet SCADS of awesome people, many of whom I knew "on the internet" but had never met in real life. Among the lovelies were:

Martha Latta of Sunday Afternoon Housewife -- who, to be fair, I actually probably have met before since she did participate in the Bloomington Handmade Market in the past, but I am typically too frazzled at those things to be very social. She's making a documentary called The Culture of Craft, all about our little world and its goings-ons, and it promises to be pretty fantastic.

Becky Johnson of the Sweetie Pie Press -- whose blog is quite easy to get lost in, and with whom I have been apparently crossing paths for years. It's a small world, the world of art and zines. Anyway, besides having fantastic fashion sense, there is a sampling of her creations at her etsy shop.

Al Hoff, Autumn Wiggins and Cinnamon Cooper, who are linked to their projects and who are inspirational, artistic ladies sharing a similar mental illness to my own -- the need to organize crafty events.

Now I'm back to the daily grind, which for me entails creating storage for medieval manuscripts, so things could certainly be worse.

I'm also in the middle of reading Patti Smiths' Just Kids, which is so far completely impossible to put down.

so much for regular blogging

2011-05-16T21:59:00.003-04:00

Actually, I did start a tumblr, for posting inspiring textile-related images that I don't have much to say about other than "wow."

Other than that, not much going on. I'm going to be a part of some panel discussions at the Midwest Craft Caucus the first weekend of June, which should be exciting and a great way to meet some inspirational folks.

Actually I lied, there's kind of a lot going on, but it feels overwhelming to talk about it all at once. I'll start with this and build on it slowly.

Bedford College of Lacemaking

2011-02-24T08:51:00.002-05:00

Can you believe how much geblogging I've been doing? Me neither.

I was seeking out possible sponsors for the Bloomington Handmade Market and came upon this AWESOME institution:

The Bedford College Of Lacemaking
Holy crap, they have tatting, knitting, drawn thread embroidery classes ... !

This is just south of Bloomington! Why didn't I know before? COMPLETELY ADORABLE AND AMAZING. I am absolutely getting in touch with these folks, and not just for BHM. Obviously we should be friends.

pinterest, fabric architecture

2011-02-23T09:07:00.006-05:00

1. My friend Miriam turned me on to Pinterest. It's like a visual social bookmarking tool. You have to request an invite, but mine only took a few days. I haven't gotten very far with mine yet, but it's fun to browse around and look at others' boards. The layout so far is not my favorite, and I feel like the "pinning" takes longer than it needs to, but it's an interesting tool. My favorite part is how you can easily make comparisons of and assessments about groups of items that might not be obvious if you couldn't see them all together.

2. I'm working on an art project right now that involves making replicas of houses out of felt. In the interest of professional research I've been looking at a lot of pictures of fabric architecture.

This one still remains my all-time favorite. This is an installation by Do-Ho Suh, a full-scale replica of his New York apartment in translucent nylon.

As I find others I'm adding them to the Pinterest board thingy. Send me links if you know of any!

I've got a splitting headache and need an additional 8 hours in each day.

four months?!

2011-02-18T09:50:00.002-05:00

I am bad at blogging.

I suppose the reason, in part, is that I seriously question if anyone is interested in what I have to write.

For example: examination of the Clash's "Jimmy Jazz" as possibly related to Norse creation myth

1. YMIR:
Buri fathered Borr, and Borr fathered three sons, the gods Vili, Vé, and Odin. These brothers killed the giant Ymir, and unleashed a vast flood from Ymir's blood killing all the frost giants but the son of Þrúðgelmir, Bergelmir, and Bergelmir's wife who all took safety in a hollow tree. Odin and his brothers used Ymir's lifeless body to create the universe. They carried it to the center of Ginnungagap and there they ground his flesh into dirt. The maggots that appeared in his flesh became the dwarves that live under the earth. His bones became the mountains, his teeth rocks and pebbles. Odin strewed Ymir's brains into the sky to create the clouds, and took sparks and embers from Muspelheim for the sun, moon and stars. The gods placed four dwarves—Norðri (North), Suðri (South), Austri (East), and Vestri (West)—to hold up Ymir's skull and create the heavens.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ymir)

2. JIMMY JAZZ (the Clash):

The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz
I said, he ain't here, but he sure went past
Oh, you're looking for Jimmy Jazz

Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and chop off his head
Police came looking for Jimmy Jazz

Etymology

Analysis of different Indo-European tales indicate the Proto-Indo-Europeans believed there were two progenitors of mankind: *Manu- ("Man"; Indic Manu; Germanic Mannus) and *Yemo- ("Twin"), his twin brother. The latter, like Ymir, was sacrificed and carved up by his brother to produce mankind.

Traces of this dualistic structure of (also) the Proto-Indo-European creation myth can be found in parallel mythological entities with the same etymology, like the Indic death deity Yama and Avestan Yima, progenitors of mankind; of Remus (according to Jaan Puhvel), the brother of Romulus in the story of the founding of Rome, and Ymir. The underlying Proto-Indo-European form is *yemo ("twin"). The corresponding Proto-Germanic form was either *umijaz or, in better accordance with this theory, *jumijaz (W.Meid).

(also from wikipedia)

oh, hi, blog

2010-10-15T15:42:00.003-04:00

Why hello, blog people. Long time no see. Thought I'd pass along this splendid link I was shown recently that has some great images of old clothing, embroideries and in particular a couple of quite lovely embroidered bookbindings. Check out Lanvin's private library.

I am helping to open a new awesome gallery and studio space here in Bloomington, IN - Paper Crane - if you're nearby, come check it out. Hopefully I'll have some pretty pictures to post after the big opening tonight!

programmable EL wire dress

2010-08-16T14:22:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. It was also the deadline for entry into the Instructables EL Wire contest. My friend Ben Zaitlen and I made this programmable EL wire dress as our entry, so if you think it's cool I hope you'll please vote for it and help us win some free stuff!!

I have to confess I did very little on this. Ben is the brains behind these projects; I understand only the very basics of the electronics. My job is to make stuff look nice (though I am learning!) That said, I am not super happy with the way the EL wire looks on this piece.

After working with the stuff my appreciation for Diana Eng has grown exponentially. EL wire is slippery and has no memory, so to get it to do what you want with fabric can be difficult and frustrating. I would definitely recommend using a much stiffer fabric, like denim, than the flimsy material we used.

However, Ben did a great job and I'm super impressed he figured out this way to control what the EL wire is doing using the Lilypad. Working with him has been a really incredible learning experience and I'm looking forward to doing more of it!

Next up is a new, fancier version of Ben's POV wristband and after that, a ridiculous performance art project involving a hoop skirt and a medieval allegory. That's all I can tell you for now! I'm also trying to figure out how to open a not-for-profit art gallery, getting ready to go back to school and re-reading Brave New World. I'm in the mood for alternate history, so if you have any book recommendations I'd love to hear them!

my new/old obsession, Bloomington Handmade Market fundraiser

2010-07-22T09:36:00.003-04:00

First of all:

These? Exist.

My boyfriend thinks I am crazy because I constantly crave vinegar. I put apple cider vinegar in my juice regularly. So I was pretty freaking excited to see these products at the store.

I have only tried the honey version, because I don't much care for stevia (which is what the other flavors are sweetened with) but I'll probably break down soon and shell out the ridiculously high price of over $2 per bottle to try the ginger one, at least. I cannot explain why these appeal to me so much, since it is really not that hard to add vinegar to one's drink. I think it's just the fact that I can go around drinking something with a Bragg's label, to be honest.

In other news, Sally and I have been working hard on the upcoming Bloomington Handmade Market Silent Auction, which is tomorrow, July 23, from 7-9 pm at the Art Hospital.

Please oh please, if you're in or around Bloomington or have friends who are, tell people about this event! We really need some help and we can't do it without you.

embroidery at the Folger Shakespeare Library

2010-07-19T10:32:00.006-04:00

While doing a little research for work today, I got distracted by other things on the Folger Shakespeare Library's website.

I love this embroidered scrapbook cover. The red thread is still so rich in color and I really like how the lettering is both formal and haphazard at once.

blog lapse

2010-07-13T15:50:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, huh? I'm not very good at blogging, as you may have noticed. Plenty of things have been going on, I just don't feel like most of them are blogworthy.

Big changes are in store for me, both by choice and necessity. I have been doing next to no art because I am having some pretty severe hand/arm/shoulder/neck pain that is keeping me from doing very much at all. To keep myself from going crazy while I am unable to make things, I've been doing more work in the realm of event planning/curation, which is fun but not quite the same as making your own stuff.

Not being able to make art is pretty depressing, I have to admit. And it's not just not being able to make art -- I am also unable to do pretty basic things that I used to be able to do, like open jars and ride my bike. This would be lame even if I didn't used to have rather a lot of upper arm strength, but I did. In fact, it was sort of my one thing I could do as an uncoordinated, not-particularly-sporty kid. I never got picked to be on any teams, and I had zero depth perception, but I could climb the FUCK out of a rope. As well as doing push-ups and chin-ups and all the things girls aren't supposed to be able to do.

Anyway, the point isn't to whine about my situation. Though I would like to please caution you to remember to stretch when doing repetitive work, watch your posture and don't get hit by a car while crossing the street, all factors I'm sure that have conspired to create these problems for me. HOWEVER. I'm trying to look on the bright side, and in fact I'll be enrolling in the Arts Administration program at IU this fall. I'm basically already doing this stuff for free and really enjoying it, so I figured I may as well work toward making it pay. If I can't be directly involved in making art, I at least want to be able to help make it happen for others.

Bummer summer, man. I have been feeling pretty down about this. But I'm getting the opportunity to learn new things and have been doing a lot of reading, both for pleasure and for personal research. In particular, I've been interested in reading about collective organization and collaboration. If you have any books or articles on the subject, I'd love to know what they are. The more that circumstances require me to work with others, both because of my physical limitations and my desire to work more with the community, the more I realize I would like to know about group psychology and the nature of organizations.

One thing I've realized is that I'm not actually a solitary worker as I once believed. I work well on my own, but I also work pretty well collaboratively -- in certain conditions. Collective organization, however, has its downfalls and frustrations, as I have recently experienced with the Art Hospital collective, and I'd love to know more about collectives that are being run successfully and how they manage to do so.

In other news, we've got a fantastic garden going and we're working hard to stave off the dread tomato blight. Here's hoping some serious canning will be happening in the coming months!

Call for artists!!

2010-05-18T09:35:00.001-04:00

Just in time for county fair and parking-lot-amusement-park season, ART HOSPITAL in Bloomington, Indiana is looking for submissions of visual art for CARNIVALESQUE: A celebration of carnival, fairground and circus-themed art.

Open to all media, (including textiles, video, photography, painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media, performance, jewelry, glass, ceramics). Artists of all ages, levels of experience and personal/professional backgrounds are invited and encouraged to apply.

There is a non-refundable entry fee of $10 for up to 3 pieces. Please submit all work electronically to hospital.gallery [at] gmail.com, or mail us a CD with images at 300 dpi in jpg format. If you choose this method, please be sure to write your name and the titles of each piece on the CD! CDs will not be returned. Only original works will be accepted. Artists submitting by mail must provide SASE or email address for notification of acceptance. Deadline for submissions is July 1, with the opening reception taking place Friday, July 16.

Please submit images to hospital.gallery [at] gmail.com or mail to ART HOSPITAL, 102 E. Allen St., Bloomington, IN 47401. Please make checks out to ART HOSPITAL or submit electronic payment via PayPal using the email address: thirdpersonpossessive [AT ] yahoo.com.

Black Bears

2010-04-16T16:20:00.005-04:00

My poor friend Russ of Tinyfolk has been waiting forever for me to finish the album art for his new release, Black Bears. Thankfully, it is at last complete.

It is based on Pamela Smith's artwork for "The World" card in the Rider-Waite tarot deck.

The piece was freehand embroidered on pieces of linen cloth which I recycled from my day job in a paper conservation lab -- the linens had originally been used as a reinforcement backing on maps.

I freehand embroider / refuse to draw patterns on my cloth because I am crazy, and like being frustrated for long periods of time.

You can pre-order the album here. Beware: you will have the song "I was a black bear" in your head for the rest of your life. Or maybe that's just because I have been working on this embroidery for so long ... ?

busy, busy, busy

2010-04-06T12:15:00.003-04:00

I have been pretty absent from the internet unless you're part of the Art Hospital facebook group, in which case you probably think I've been doing nothing else. Work with the Bloomington Handmade Market and the Art Hospital has been keeping me very busy!

The Last Time I Will Talk About The Bloomington Handmade Market (for now)

Can I review an event I helped to put on? If I may say so myself, the Market was a tremendous success. Aside from a few little snafus at the beginning, we got everything set up on time in our venue (KRC Banquets and Catering) and all the artists in place. We had somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300 attendees, all of the artists seemed to do well and have fun, and there were so many wonderful things to choose from. I ended up buying a lot of soap, from all 3 of our soap folks, actually (Get Lathered!, Stinkybomb Soap and The Pink Toque -- what can I say, I was filthy) but there was so much more I wanted.

Thank you thank you thank you again to my lovely fellow organizers, Mia and Sally, as well as all of our fantastic artists, everyone who came, and an extra special shout-out to Luke Woodaman from Opera House Press who, with very little notice and almost no sleep, came through and helped us lug the rented tables to the space in his van.

Organizing an event is a lot of work, but I have to say it gets easier the more you do it. One thing I'm learning from working on the Handmade Market is that it's really not that difficult to mobilize the community and get people excited about art. In fact, it's been so easy that I'm a little confused as to why it doesn't happen more.

I should clarify that when I say "easy" I don't mean "simple." It's a hell of a lot of work. But with virtually no money and a lot of work and talking to people, we have managed to create an event that really speaks to the community and makes everyone feel involved and good about supporting local art. There is no secret, really. The secret is: we actually do involve lots of people in the community.

For example: we needed to rent about 10 6-foot tables for this past event and get them to the venue by roughly 7 am -- well before our rental company opens. None of us organizers has a large enough vehicle to tote this many tables. The delivery fee would have been $55 to bring the tables to the venue. However, with the help of Luke, who volunteered his time and van, and my friend Whitney who volunteered a storage space where we could keep the tables overnight, we managed to save that money and involve two people in the process without whom we absolutely could not be offering booth spaces at the ridiculously affordable price that we do.

At the risk of sounding incredibly trite, I can honestly say that teamwork is what makes the Market a success, with all the great support from local businesses, friends, volunteers and perfect strangers who just think the Handmade Market is neat. We're already looking forward to the next one!

Other Stuff

Now that the Market is over I can "relax," which means "finish this embroidery commission I was supposed to have done a week ago" and also "hurry up and make a tilt sensing bracelet before I have to meet with my friend, collaborator and programmer extraordinare Ben to discuss our new top secret interactive textile project," and additionally "work on a tarot deck with Matte which we have been discussing for about a year now."

Last but not least, here's a small project I completed shortly after I had my eye surgery. Don't take it too seriously. It's funny. Pretty soon I should have a pic of the album art I'm working on for Tinyfolk.

eye surgery - getting personal

2010-03-17T12:42:00.003-04:00

I have been pretty silent here for a while, partly because I've been busy doing other things and partly because I've had to think for a while about what to write.

After a few years of long, hard pondering, I opted to have corrective surgery to straighten out my crooked eyes. This happened Monday. I'm recovering probably rather faster than they predicted, but I'm also probably pushing myself a little hard.

I am not sure I can describe what it's like to wake up and to see things differently. To both look different and to see differently. I guess I probably won't really know until I'm a bit more recovered. The ultimate goal was to be able to do more art with less pain, so as the months unfold I guess I will be finding out if that was the result. Until then I just have to work on getting used to this!

giant binder

2010-02-26T15:17:00.001-05:00

giant binder
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

What would you do with a GIANT BINDER?

And don't say MAKE A GIANT BOOK. I know that.

I mean, I have some ideas, but do you have any?

assignments

2010-02-26T11:36:00.002-05:00

I'll go ahead and say it, I miss doing Embloggery, sometimes. Even though it grew to be kind of a pain, it was still fun having an assignment, knowing what I was "supposed" to do, and having a built-in audience for it afterward. I guess what I'm saying is it was easy, and that was nice.

Now that I've said that I feel sort of dumb, and like I should shut up and make something. Mission accomplished.

LADY GAGA'S HAIR OMG

2010-02-18T12:47:00.004-05:00

I don't really care to debate the artistry of Lady Gaga, but I don't think anyone can deny that HOLY CRAP HAIR HATS

AN ELEPHANT!

This is 100% relevant to fiber art! I really want to know more about the making of these. Whose genius is behind this? Anyone know?

Bloomington Handmade Market

2010-01-29T15:55:00.003-05:00

It's time for the Spring Handmade Market Call for Artists!!
If you are anywhere remotely near Bloomington, IN you should consider applying!

Visit the blog for more info and links to the applications.

Our last market was a smashing success & we'd love to have you on board!

Oh yeah, I forgot - WOMEN'S HISTORIC SPORT FASHION IS THE NEW BLACK

2010-01-25T12:55:00.004-05:00

I have been pretty into women's historic sporting fashion lately. (One of the many reasons I'm so into sewing right now.) I guess it's not just lately ... I have long had an affinity for old cheerleading sweaters. I wouldn't call it an "unhealthy obsession." Anyway, you should know that this is not just for the past anymore. This is bigger than "A League of Their Own." I'll let the images speak for themselves.

Here is a good page about women's sport fashion until 1960.

And Tennis Apparel History.

1894 Women's Cycling Apparel

Some images here with women's figure skating apparel.

I'm not going to post links to historic bathing suit fashion because those are easy to find. I know you know how to use Google.

Anyway, here are some ways to to add these fashions to your wardrobe. Let's bring this stuff back, ok? Summer is icumen in!

Vintage-inspired sports dress

Skater dress. Is this historically-inspired, or just cute? Hard to tell sometimes.

Tennis dress pattern (If you don't applique tennis rackets onto it, how will anyone know?)

Tennis skirt Maybe you don't want to make it.

Cheerleader sweater

WELCOME TO THE BLOGCHINE: update, sewing, book review

2010-01-25T12:08:00.003-05:00

I'm home sick with a cold today and decided that it was a good time to catch up on the internet. I haven't had internet access at home since September (on purpose.) It's kind of funny/embarrassing how out of the loop this makes me feel. I mean, it just looks like y'all are having so much fun on Facebook without me!

These days I am mostly working on local art project stuff here in Bloomington like the Bloomington Handmade Market, the Art Hospital, getting involved at The Collaboration Room, and sewing like there's no tomorrow. I've been feeling more cranky than usual about Fine Art; the logical response seems to be to immerse myself more fully into Craft (and yeah, I'm aware that there may or may not be a distinction there.) I guess what I mean is: I'm sick of stuff that hangs on walls, I'm interested in making objects that are functional.

I actually grew up doing things like sorting buttons and cutting pattern pieces out for my mother, who is quite an accomplished seamstress on top of being annoying good at everything else she tries. Of course, because I have always been contrary, I never took advantage of the fact that I had this fantastic resource in my own home and immersed myself in every kind of art other than the ones my mother did. Now that I live a state away, naturally I have become my mother. Apple not falling far from the tree and so forth. I had a lot of catching up to do, so I got the Built by Wendy Sew U book.

I'm not going to lie; I bought it because it, you know, appeals to my demographic and stuff. I have lots of Singer sewing books, the indispensable Reader's Digest sewing book, and a really excellent 1967 bright orange Coats and Clark sewing book as well, but let's face it, sometimes it's nice, if creepy and disturbing, when things are marketed to you.

Wendy touches on the basics of machines, notions, organization, and fabric and then digs right in, moving from skirts to shirts to pants. Included with the book are three patterns for those items. She then gives you lots of tips as to how to customize the patterns, lengthening/shortening, adding trims, etc.

The book moves fast. Really fast. Which was perfect for me. But would probably not be good for a person that had never seen a sewing machine in her life. Having been raised in a household where sewing and tailoring was commonplace, I had lots of terminology and knowledge tucked away in the far recesses of my brain that helped me out, but I think if I were a total newbie I would have been pretty frustrated by this book.

That said, it does have a lot of really good tips for organizing your sewing space, thinking about what kinds of customization would work and what wouldn't, pocket placement, etc. I wouldn't call it "the only sewing book you'll ever need," but it's a pretty solid addition to one's library, especially if you want to get inspired to do little alterations but feel intimidated by the idea. This book combined with Singer Sewing Essentials (I actually have the old edition of this, but I'm sure the new one is just as useful) was a perfect combination -- what one book couldn't answer, the other could.

No pics or other interesting news for now. But on the sewing tip, you should check out Brenna's awesome Project Runway Playalong Project, because I am obsessed with it and it is great.

Happy new year!

Last piece of the year

2009-12-17T07:28:00.008-05:00

On December 4, the Art Hospital had its staff show. The theme was Keep Away: The Art of Not Making Art. The idea was conceived by staff member Joe Molinaro, and he’s so prolific you wouldn’t imagine he ever has trouble not making art – but, we all do, sooner or later.

Is there a problem with Not Making Art? I guess it depends on why you’re not making it. Fodder for another entry.

I could only come up with one piece for this show, although I went through several ideas. I chose this one not necessarily because it was the best (although, now that it’s done, I think it probably was), but initially because 1) the deadline was approaching and I needed to choose something and 2) it used a medium familiar to me and therefore would be easiest to execute before the intended deadline.

So aside from the literal interpretation of the piece I ended up with, you get the ghosts of all the pieces I didn’t make, either because they were too time-consuming, the idea just wasn’t that strong, or they used techniques I’m not entirely comfortable with yet and wasn’t sure I could master sufficiently in time. All other reasons for not making art!

But the one I chose to focus on is, I think, the biggest reason I don’t make art – overindulging in self-absorption, depression, feelings of dread and hopelessness, and allowing those feelings to paralyze me and keep me from doing what I love.

I got the idea for this piece shortly after reading this post in one of my favorite blogs, A Journey Round My Skull (a constant source of visual inspiration! Check it out!) I have never personally dealt with problems of addiction, but I found Géza Csáth’s description of the feelings of despondence and apathy resonated with me in that they aptly describe the overwhelming feeling of despair that overtakes me when depression is at its worst. I read it over and over again, sharing it with friends (who, I think, were a little confused, frankly.)

The actual installation had a hand mirror positioned near the embroidery so that viewers could hold it up themselves and read the text, forcing them to interact with the piece rather than simply passively viewing it on a wall. Initially I had envisioned it with one of those extendable mirrors attached to the opposite wall, but necessity forced this option, and in the end I like it better.

I worried a lot about the text looking too unpolished. I deliberately freehanded (and always freehand) text in my embroidery, and it’s something that is extremely important to me, though I’ve never been able to articulate why. Last night it finally hit me that for me, when I use text in my embroidery, even when it’s something silly like many of the posts at Embloggery, my words are always carefully chosen and, as you can literally see with that project, often point to more complicated layers of meaning. With this most recent project, obviously the intent is somewhat different than with Embloggery, but the point is: the text is important. If I had written the text on the fabric and then followed the pattern, I would just be tracing lines. The letters would cease to mean anything as I was embroidering them. By forcing myself to freehand (and backwards!) the text, I had to consider each letter. I had to read the text over and over again, each time I moved on to the next couple of words, and think hard about what it said.

And, after all that re-reading, I’m still convinced it’s a beautiful and tragic list, and I’m convinced it expresses very eloquently the feelings I (and probably, many people) face when one feels so despondent that it seems impossible to make art -- or do much of anything. The irony, of course, is that this became an art piece. So, in a way, it’s also an expression of hope, that inspiration can be found even during the worst times, and that ultimately it is only you that has control over whether or not those bad times will destroy you. AND I LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Thanks as usual to my favorite bird who always has good advice on such matters.

some updatage

2009-11-16T10:30:00.005-05:00

Hi, blogpeople. Long time, no see. My international correspondent in Portugal tells me that the European audience is clamoring for updates, so I thought I'd better summarize what's been going on.

There has actually been a LOT going on, but my brain is absolutely full because all I can think about is

The Bloomington Handmade Market

It is totally consuming my life!!!

Sally, Mia and I have been going crazy getting ready for this thing, but we're really excited and can't wait to meet all the artists and get this thing going! It's been a lot of work, a lot of learning and a few mistakes on the way, but overall I think we're all pretty pleased with how it's been coming along. One adventure I had to navigate was YARD SIGNS.

We'd heard from another local art fair organizer that yard signs were a really useful promotional tool, so we figured we'd better get some. However, a few days of internet searching and calling local sign shop revealed that, unless you're buying a HUGE quantity of signs, they're very expensive. Our budget was, well, small. So I ended up having to get a little creative and came up with these:

I thought I was quite clever with this little trick. I even put a rigid cardstock core in the center to make the signs stronger. We saved a ton of money and the signs really do look rather good. However, what I didn't take into account was WEATHER. Of course it started raining mere hours after I put a bunch of signs up. Many of them are still standing, but rather wavy. (and yeah, I work in a paper conservation lab. I know.) They're legible though, so I think it's ok. Still, I feel cheated that my lovely signs look wonky now through no fault of my own. Well, next time here's hoping we have a little bit larger budget.

I can't wait for Saturday. I feel so proud and excited to be involved in this event.

I want to talk more about some other projects and in particular, the navigation of collaborative experiences, but I just don't have room in my brain right now. Maybe after Saturday!

variations on a theme

2009-10-27T21:09:00.005-04:00

At the Art Hospital we're planning a staff show based around this theme:

Reasons not to make art. Different artists explore the distractions, reasons, obstacles, excuses, and feelings that prevent Bloomington artists from creating.

I think about this oh, at least once or twice a day. I'm interested, however, in your reasons for not making art. Or even not wanting to make art. Please comment! I really want to know!

survival skills and stuff in my etsy shop.

2009-10-23T16:14:00.007-04:00

At work we got a couple of Boys Own Paper to work on.

If you click on the images, it'll take you to the Flickr page and if you click on "All sizes" you should be able to read the contents. I'm pretty envious of all the stuff readers of Boys Own Paper get to learn. Useful Fowls for Eggs or Meat? Who doesn't need to know that? And look at these ads:

Why pay a high price when you can just build your own steam engine, indeed?

I was pretty lucky, I guess, in that my parents were fairly hands-on and taught me to do lots of crafty things as a kid, but even so I feel sort of underprepared for many situations. I'm really struck by how these magazines, as silly and gender-specific and occasionally offensive as they may be, are so useful. Kids reading this were learning about animals and survival skills and the toys they could order were real tools!

I don't have kids so I can't really say how this compares to kids' toys and publications now, but I'm going to go ahead and guess you can't just buy a kid a mitre cutting machine. My point is not really to rail about KIDS THESE DAYS; more to say that, I feel like no one knows how to do anything, that so few people know real life skills, and if the grocery and the car dealership disappeared tomorrow, I know a lot of people that would be screwed. Including myself, probably. We could probably stand to learn a little bit about useful fowls and building steam engines. Once upon a time it was vital for people to have this kind of knowledge, but not now.

I guess now we teach kids about computers, which is of course good -- I am not one of those that advocates a return to a Simpler Time, but the basics of life don't change. It's important to know how to grow a tomato and sew a button. I think a lot about the fact that by neglecting all of this important "simpler" information, we're really doing ourselves a disservice.

Of course, I'm preaching to the converted here. I know that all 8 of you reading my blog are fantastically talented and self-sufficient people. I take deep comfort in the fact that we can call on each other when society inevitably collapses!

On a lighter note, I started backing my own cloth for bookcloth and I'm selling some on Etsy, if you like garish patterns. Make some books before you can't order online and have to spin and wax your own thread!

Obviously, now I'm kidding. Mostly.

lazy eye patch

2009-10-05T08:37:00.005-04:00

lazy eye patch
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

Just now getting around to blogging this ... this was a last-minute addition to the Constructive Embroidery show with Meagan Haberman-Ducey and Lucy Robinson I recently participated in here in Bloomington, IN.

The eyepatch is another reverse-punch needle piece (related images: Baby Automaton reverse punch-needle embroidery, a "right-side-up" punch needle embroidery).

Unfortunately because of the rush to get this thing done I didn't document the entire process, & so I don't have a photo of the back side of this piece. What you see here is usually called the the reverse of this type of embroidery, so the other side is actually incredibly dense pile, which I covered with felt so the loops wouldn't come out. It made a nice little pillow for my eye .

This is an actual portrait of my own eye and hence looks even more weird and frightening on than you might expect:

The main problem with this technique is that it's very hard on the floss. If you haven't used a punch needle before, basically it's a hollow needle and the floss is threaded through the shaft of the needle and comes out at the point. The stitches are made by punching the needle into very taut fabric, leaving a pile on one side and small stitch on the other. Because the floss is rubbing against both the needle and the fabric before you're finally done with the stitch, it gets a little shredded on its journey and loses its luster. When you view the image at its largest size you can see how the stitches are very tiny, but also look a bit frayed and messy. So far I haven't found a solution to that, maybe just to use a different kind of fiber than floss entirely. But there are so many pretty colors of floss ... I just don't know. It's still an experiment in progress.

2009-09-30T17:16:00.003-04:00

I've been feeling lots of (irrational?) anger about Art lately; worrying that the act of making art is narcissistic, that I should be doing More To Help The World, that while the drive to create in and of itself is a beautiful thing, the exchange of goods and money for those creations evokes contrary responses in my head that I have a hard time resolving. Not because I undervalue myself or my time, but rather because I have a hard time justifying In This Economy the act of making an object that is not entirely useful or economical -- or expecting my friends to buy it.

Recently I had a conversation that made me step back a little and think kind of hard about the scope of the impact I want to make. Maybe it doesn't need to be huge and world-shaking. I talked briefly with a boy in the coffeeshop the other day. Typical tired-eyed college dude, waiting on me at the counter; I was in a chatty mood, and told him I liked the little turtle figure he wore around his neck. He thanked me, told me where he'd bought it, and then his whole face changed as he said "but I made the cord."

It was a hemp knotted cord, you know the kind. The kind College Dudes That Work In Coffeeshops wear; that kind of frayed-gray color that comes of wearing it every day in the shower and stuff. But I was struck by how fucking excited he was about it. I leaned in closer to look and nodded appreciatively. "That's awesome," I said, truly meaning it. "It looks really good."

He babbled on for a minute about how he did it as he retrieved my change from the drawer. As I left the exchange I was really touched and amazed by the complete and utter transformation I saw. The moment he started talking about Something He Made, his face became animated, he was proud of his work, he wanted to talk about it and share it with me.

This is going to sound pretty sappy or maybe even Sark-esque, but at that moment, that interaction was enough. I wonder what would happen if more people had these moments -- moments in which, even at your minimum wage job, even when you're not 100% thrilled about where you're standing or what you're doing, you can feel pride because you know you're capable of making something. Something tangible, something that requires skill and time and care. Something you can show off a little.

On a similar note, I am part of a small sewing circle and my mother made a special guest appearance. Besides being a talented glass and jewelry artist, she is also an accomplished seamstress, and was all kinds of useful helping the women to learn the basics of their sewing machines and get around frustrating moments. Again I saw this shift-in-expression: the look of elation when the machine is threaded properly and making a nice, even line, the realization that that line could easily become part of a curtain or skirt.

I believe this moment of elation is what my annoying high school math teacher used to call an "aha! experience." I'm pretty sure I never had that in high school geometry, but I've had it while making art. And seeing other people have it, it's a pretty remarkable transformation. I think that living in a time where we can buy or scavenge much of what we need, and where most jobs don't seem to entail a gratifying learning of skills and production of a well-crafted article, the very notion of realizing you can make something yourself is, while maybe not revolutionary, at the least pretty empowering.

Now back to your regularly scheduled cynicism. I have to go empower myself to finish all this stuff for our embroidery show on Friday.

back in the habit

2009-09-29T13:58:00.005-04:00

Long time, no blog, my virtual friends and acquaintances. I currently reside in an internet-free household, which means I have about 700 unread items in my Google reader, many unanswered emails, and stagnating blogs. My house is pretty clean, though, and I'm getting some art done.

Just in case you happen to be in Bloomington, IN, there's an art show -- "Constructive Embroidery" -- this Friday at the Art Hospital - Meagan Haberman-Ducey, Lucy Robinson, and myself. All embroidery! One night only! Cramped hands and cheap wine!

I've been busy doing other stuff besides embroidery. I participated in a performance art piece conceived by Joe Molinaro called "Olive," a small portion of which you can view here. You can only see my back in this, for which I am extremely grateful. All I can remember about the performance was that I definitely ripped fabric with my teeth, crawled around on the floor a lot, ended up with homemade play-dough all over my butt, and woke up VERY sore. Performance art is for the young and fit, friends!

After this show I think I'm going to take a break. I've been so busy I haven't been able to really socialize, do any art for fun, or hang out with my boyfriend. It's my hope to actually make holiday gifts this year, instead of just saying I'd like to. I've been lucky enough to receive some really fabulous handmade gifts in the past, I feel like it's about time I reciprocate. Have you received any really wonderful handmade gifts? Holiday or otherwise. Do tell!

Almost an update - also, need your help

2009-08-25T16:01:00.006-04:00

I have been so busy with landlord and housing related stupidity that I have had virtually NO time to do anything art-wise. Which is pretty unfortunate, because I have a lot of stuff I really ought to be working on. Luckily I found a GREAT apartment, dangerously located just next to an antique shop, and am settling in nicely. I hope to get back to some of my projects soon!

One thing I have been doing is researching for an upcoming show. I'm really interested in embroidered game boards right now. I've found a lot of great examples in my searches, and one in particular is a fascinating mystery. I found this great image on a game blog

with no information about the image other than that it is a game called Chinesenspiel, a variant of Pachisi.

Does anyone know anything about this board? It's definitely a textile, looks to be embroidered but I can't find a better image to be entirely positive. I'm not even sure it's a functional Chinesenspiel board because it differs slightly from the other examples pictured. I don't enough about this particular type of game to say. I think it's really beautiful though and I'd love to know more about where it came from or who did it!

Mr X Stitch Birthday Celeberation & Giveaways

2009-08-23T23:09:00.003-04:00

I mistyped up there in the subject line -- Mr X Stitch is, as far as I know, NOT going to berate you, but I can't really speak for him. Anyway, the deal is that it's the one year anniversary of mrxstitch.com and all kinds of awesome stuff is being given away as a result. Check out the full list of celeb(e)ration goings-on here.

Call for vendors!

2009-08-21T17:42:00.003-04:00

Visit the blog for more information and to download an application!

knowing when to quit, and moving on to other pursuits

2009-08-05T18:48:00.005-04:00

So, I sort of unofficially decided to pull the plug on Embloggery the other day, and what a weight off my mind it is. I hadn't realized how sort of supremely it had taken over my mental energy, even though I wasn't updating very often anymore. Although I wasn't working on it, I was always thinking about it, how I should be working on it, how it felt like a chore, how I didn't have anything more to say.

I'd made this sort of pact with myself that I was going to do it for a year. But there was really no need to continue it; I could keep feeling annoyed with it and making uninspired posts until December, or I could just spare everyone including myself and get on with the business of thinking about things I really want to work on. Embloggery was, after all, a distraction between projects from the start!!

Anyway, services will be held for Embloggery at an as yet undisclosed location in or around Bloomington, Indiana sometime in late September.

I'm really excited to be moving on to new things. These days my tastes run to either the absolutely impermanent and/or purposefully destructive, or embellished functional items, particularly with a nerdy historical bent.

Pockets, pouches and hands-free forms of carrying important items are consuming a lot of my mind right now. Like this. What do you think they were keeping in the little bitty pouches?

I'm super interested in these saccoccias (saccociae?) right now. It's worth reading that whole page, by the way, as well as looking at the images, because it talks a bit about the history of hidden pockets in women's clothing and has a pattern which is, you know, awesome.

I guess I should quit being surprised that people always think I'm in the SCA.

new art supply - random chance.

2009-07-28T14:50:00.004-04:00

colored die
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

The idea of using dice or similar devices to make decisions isn't really a novel idea, but it's an idea I'm intrigued by all the same. So when Matte & I saw this at Super-fly in Yellow Springs, OH, I think we both knew right away I needed it for art-making purposes.

Each face has a square with a different color on it - here we can see the secondaries being represented. The primaries are the ones you can't see.

I'm not sure yet exactly how I will employ this item, but I think it'll be pretty important.

Thinking about liking

2009-07-17T20:36:00.007-04:00

What do I like, and why do I like it?

That might seem like a really simple question, but I think that particularly in this age where it's easy to "like" something by clicking a button on Facebook, it's really important to analyze what actually draws you to certain things. I dropped out of art school after one year, so I didn't really "properly" learn to do critiques or any of that. Perhaps this is part of why I feel ill at ease when asked to articulate my feelings about a piece beyond knowing that I like it, or don't.

I was made aware of two art projects last week that evoked very different, opposite reactions in me. The first, Murmur Study, an installation by Christopher Baker, elicited a strong negative reaction. The second, Environmentally Unfriendly Monoliths, an installation by Peter Robinson, a strong positive reaction. After some thought, however, I realized that the projects have some things in common, and that some further reflection about my feelings might shed some light on the darkness in my soul -- um, I mean, why I had the initial gut reactions that I had.

So, Murmur Study. Really did not like it at first. I was struck with the feeling that the idea was stale and had been done before. I was reminded of some project or projects I had heard about a few years ago involving projecting text messages onto buildings. I wasted rather a lot of time doing Google searches to locate these projects, to "prove" that this idea was stale, but then I had the revelation that I didn't need proof to explain my feelings. I feel like it's been done. I feel like I've seen all I need to see of this kind of thing, and it doesn't really matter if I can find the evidence or not. This therapy session is about MY FEELINGS.

Anyway. I do understand that this project is slightly different, and furthermore, this particular project is kind of unique among Things I Don't Like because I consider it to be very well-executed. In fact, the more I read/learn about this piece and consider it, the more I believe that it's really been done as well as it possibly could. The use of the thermal printers in particular is the perfect medium to use to highlight the impermanence of the very archive that is being created.

I'm pretty sure I "get" it. I "get" it and it's well done. I just don't like it. It seems like a waste of paper, it feels stale and overdone to me, an artistic question that has already been answered, or perhaps doesn't really need to be answered. I wonder if my reaction has to do with the fact that I come from the world of library science and preservation, and we think about these topics ALL THE TIME. Almost every day I am faced with questions about permanence and impermanence, archiving, making decisions about what's "important" or "relevant," and so a project like this just seems entirely unoriginal to me. Real librarians are dealing with these questions all the time, and it's nothing new.

However, I realize that not everyone is exposed to these questions all of the time, so perhaps for them the installation is a lot more thought-provoking. Context is everything!

So, why do I like Peter Robinson's Environmentally Unfriendly Monolith installation then? It also addresses similar ideas of waste and permanence.

I guess the short and simple answer is: it feels more honest. There is no "deep" and thoughtful artist's statement (that I could find) and so it is entirely likely I am interpreting this very differently from how Robinson intended (although, I believe that that is a big part of what visual art is really about -- the potential disparity between the viewer's experience and the artist's intention -- but that's fodder for another blog entry entirely.)

If you want, you can meditate on the impact humans have on the environment, or ponder for a while the notion of permanence, but it doesn't force you to do that. It's just huge, ridiculously huge stuff made out of a total "waste" material, and it's never going to degrade, like all things made out of this material, after the installation is done. It feels like a great joke, and it invites you to consider certain issues without cramming them down your throat in an overexplanatory way.

I did quite a bit of internet probing and couldn't find too much information about Peter Robinson, but I did find this review of another, similar installation of his, and I think it's insightful and worth a read. Probably because it seems like the reviewer has reached a similar if more elegantly stated conclusion about Robinson as I. Also fodder for further thought, in a different blog entry.

The entry took me a good week to write, but I think forcing myself into this mode of thinking is useful for me. I'd be interested in knowing your thoughts as well.

Rug pattern

2009-07-10T10:01:00.008-04:00

hello!

Per request, I am posting my circuit board rug pattern as a PDF for download. There are two files, the pattern itself and the color chart. The color chart is unnecessarily huge, but I did that so you could clearly see what was going on. You could easily use this as a cross-stitch pattern if you prefer, but you're on your own as far as the colors!

My color chart refers specifically to MCG Textiles' pre-cut acrylic yarn. You can buy it from their website, or at some larger craft stores.

The number of packets you will need if you use the pre-cut yarn is as follows. DISCLAIMER: you may recall that I had some trouble with math. I re-figured everything; however, if you're really concerned about having the exact right amount of yarn I highly encourage you to double check me, particularly on the "oatmeal" color. Each packet of yarn is supposed to contain 320 pieces.

Black - 4 packets
Light blue, purple, white, ruby, burgundy, pink, dark gold, gold, brown - 1 packet each
Grey, tan - 2 packets each
Oatmeal - 20 packets (but you might get 21 to be safe)

I am making the pattern available for free. However, you may have noticed the capsule-shaped whore-yellow DONATE button to the right. If you do download the pattern, I would really appreciate if you donated a few dollars. All donations go toward keeping Embloggery off the streets -- that is, 100% free and devoid of ads & the weighty burden of physical existence.

Thanks and please feel free to email me if you have any questions or need anything clarified.

Pattern

Color chart

Circuit Board rug

2009-06-29T13:22:00.005-04:00

I am really happy with the Circuit Board latch hook rug!!

Doug gave me this circuit board after replacing his furnace. He knew I thought they were neat and said he figured I could “come up with something to do with it.”

I modified the design slightly for practical reasons. Although there are slight differences, like myself and my brother, I think you can tell they’re related.

This rug was a lesson in both planning and learning math. Sadly, I don’t mean calculus, I mean like simple addition and multiplication. I thought with this rug I would be Really Organized. I planned it very carefully, graphing it with colored pens, and then adding up how many stitches there would be in each color. It was going to be so perfect!

First of all, I was thwarted by Hobby Lobby not having enough of the light oatmeal colored yarn. I purchased what they had, used it all, then returned for more. I thought I was set. Turns out I grossly underestimated, but when I went to purchase yet more of the yarn, Hobby Lobby was sold out and the color I needed was on backorder. (“We can’t figure out why we suddenly can’t keep rug yarn in stock; no one was buying it before!”) I ordered some directly from the manufacturer.

Then I ran out AGAIN.

Finally I went back and added things up yet again, got the correct amount to finish the rug, and well, here it is. I guess the moral of the story is: learn to multiply so you’re not wasting money on shipping yarn and more yarn. I’ll get the hang of this eventually.

For the record, I still think it was worth it and plan to do a few more of this type of rug, maybe one in punch needle next.

Some leisure reading

2009-06-17T11:57:00.002-04:00

I'm taking a little break after the Indieana Handicraft Exchange, but wanted to mention two of my favorite blogs, that you may not know about.

Dolls Stories

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this blog. I'm pretty sure it's my all-time favorite, in fact. Neta makes such beautiful crocheted dolls and her little stories always make my day. You will never hear me use this word again, but I'm going to go ahead and say it's "heartwarming" ... but in the absolute best, least-nauseating way.

Bibliodyssey

This blog always has fantastic eye candy of the ephemera/historical prints/book art variety.

I'm learnding.

2009-06-10T18:51:00.004-04:00

Black ice -- Fiber Arctic Piece
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

So, it probably comes as no big surprise that I'm pretty new to this whole Art thing. I've made "art" for a long time, but I only started this year to put myself Out There in any kind of official capacity. It's been very rewarding and surprising in many ways, but I'm still a total amateur at Just About Everything, and this experience has taught me that I have a lot to learn.

This is the piece I did for the Fiber Arctic show at Schmancy. When Kristen asked me to participate in the show I was really thrilled and honored. Still am! And I thought very long and hard about the subject matter before I began.

First of all, I really thought a lot about this piece and it has a lot of meaning for me, but I don't think I conveyed it all that well. I changed subjects three times. I actually had a piece about 1/3 done when I decided to scrap it. It's one of those things that if I explain it, it might make sense ... but I firmly believe that art shouldn't require a long label in order for it to totally make sense.

Second, I really have no idea how to frame/display embroidery for a gallery setting, and this didn't occur to me until the VERY LAST MINUTE. Then, of course, everything that could go wrong, did. My hoop broke, they ran out of the size of hoop I wanted, etc., etc.

Hmm. I don't know. This isn't my strongest piece for sure and that makes me a bit sad, because I was/am sooo excited for this show. But at the same time, if it had turned out Really Awesome, I doubt I would have learned so much from it. I feel good about my technique and the idea in general. But next time, I think I'll try to be more organized about my thought process so that what ends up on the fabric is closer to what I'm thinking in my head.

At any rate, I got about two hours of sleep last night, so now I'm going to eat this pizza I ordered (my second in a week ... sad, I know -- but it's got asiago and red onions and artichoke hearts on it!!!) and relax for a bit before getting back to work. There's still the Indieana Handicraft Exchange to get ready for!!

Food Songs

2009-05-26T13:53:00.004-04:00

I cannot resist. People need to know about this.

Documentation of Food Songs Collected by Matt Bua

This is an online collection of 224 mp3's of songs about food. Hours of entertainment.

Inspiration: William Morris

2009-05-21T18:07:00.005-04:00

I went to the IU Fine Arts Library last week with Doug and although I really don't have time to read right now, I couldn't help myself -- I checked out 5 books. I figure if they're about art, it's ok. I've been devouring The Ideal Book, a collection of William Morris's essays and lectures on the arts of the book, in bits and pieces over the weekend.

I have always been a fan of William Morris. I am not alone in this. As a bookworker and letterpress printing aficionado, I don't think you can really avoid going through a Morris/Kelmscott Press phase. I remember when we first began to learn about Morris, there were days that Jerry and I would just pore and pore over images of William Morris prints and books and embroideries, reading and absorbing every bit of information we could find.

One thing I really find despicable about Ye Dayes of Nowe is the fact that everyone is so concerned about not hurting anyone's feelings that very little real criticism occurs. I don't know if most people care about the respect of their peers -- it seems like people tend to be more interested in Having People Like Them. One thing I really appreciate about Morris is his intelligent arrogance and willingness to not just buck the contemporary established norm, but also basically every established norm from the Renaissance onward.

(from The Ideal Book)

... The Renaissance, with its emphasis on classical models, and modern technology, with its destruction of the crafts, had between them -- according to Morris -- disrupted the natural growth of Western art, and he believed the only solution was to return to the fountainhead: the medieval arts and crafts. By going back to their true source, the arts could once again begin to develop normally and organically.

(Summary)

Art is crap. When did it become crap? The Renaissance. No problem. I'll just revive medieval craftsmanship (clearly the pinnacle of art thus far) and then art can go ahead and re-develop as it should under my careful supervision. OK WHAT PROBLEM DO YOU NEED ME TO SOLVE NOW GUYS

Obviously this is a little overly simplistic, but I believe that for the most part it is exactly that kind of informed/naive optimism combined with unerring faith in one's position that is the seed of great things (like the Kelmscott Press).

This is something I think a lot about, lately. The notion of fear and bravado, what causes people to take chances, what inspires people to work toward change -- whether it be in book design or totally unrelated to art. I think I could stand to be more brave, maybe even more rash. Do you consider yourself to be brave?

upcoming stuff and news

2009-05-21T10:08:00.003-04:00

So, I was telling my dear friend the other day that I'm pretty sure my mind is atrophying. I'm spending SO MUCH time on artwork right now that all other aspects of my mind are deteriorating. My ability to read and comprehend? Positively flaccid. Expressing complex ideas verbally? Virtually nil.

But, intense focus can breed good things as well, so I am just going to continue to push through until June and then take a much-deserved break. I've mentioned the events I'm preparing for, but just so it's all in one place:

Kristen, the hard-working lady behind Schmancy, interviewed me recently for this show. You can read it on her blog.

I'm also participating in the Indieana Handicraft Exchange the very same weekend as Fiber Arctic opens -- June 13. If you're within driving distance of Indianapolis, it should be a fun day of art & music and I would encourage you to attend.

Other projects are in the works but I only have enough space in my brain to think about those two right now!

More absurdity from moi

2009-05-14T15:18:00.003-04:00

Madonna toilet lid cover
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

I'm the kind of person that takes jokes to a level that goes far beyond funny. Naturally this spills over into other areas of my life as well. Ridiculous fan art is just one of my obsessions. Fan art that is faux functional (are toilet lid covers REALLY serving any purpose? That's a matter for another, more cerebral blog methinks) ... even better.

I actually owe the genius of this idea to my roommate. One day I was trying to figure out what I could make for the Indieana Handicraft Exchange (in which I'm participating this year with my good friend Erin Drew!) that was like a rug, but smaller and less expensive, and this was her suggestion.

Choosing the image was difficult. It needed to be something simple and iconic enough to be recognized even when highly pixellated. I simplified it to two colors both to speed up the hooking and to make the image more striking.

On to the next one! I have a lot of work to do and a month in which to do it! If you have any good ideas for other subjects (either for a small rug or one of these beauties) feel free to email me or leave it in the comments!

busy, busy, busy

2009-05-08T09:20:00.005-04:00

Guys, I have been so busy, it is not even funny.

I'm working two jobs, preparing for two shows, trying to move, and oh yeah -- have a life on top of that.

Not that I'm complaining. Just saying -- I need some sleep!

First of all: I'm participating in the Fiber Arctic show at Schmancy. The list of artists participating looks awesome and I am really excited to be included in this show. I only wish I could attend the opening!

Second: I've gotten some questions about the construction of the Bryan Ferry rug, so I'll go ahead and elaborate on my process with that.

The rug was made using an old speed tufting tool. I bought it on Ebay for about $5. My internet-friend and awesome artist Andy told me about this tool after we bonded over latch-hook rugs.

The BF rug was the first project I ever made with this tool. This tends to be how I operate: make something really huge and complicated using a technique I've never tried before. Get really frustrated and make lots of mistakes because I didn't bother to do something smaller first.

So, for starters: the tool is not really that speedy. It SEEMS speedy. But in order to actually fill in the canvas enough that you can't see the fabric through the tufts, you really need to make a LOT of stitches. I had to go over certain areas again and again, long after I was certain they were filled in sufficiently. It's also pretty hard on your hands and arms. In the future I'll do this with a better frame and more ergonomic set up (as opposed to kneeling on my hardwood floor with a pillow beneath my knees).

One thing that's nice is you really don't waste very much yarn at all, and if you screw up you can rip out a section and re-do it pretty easily. For future tufting projects I'll probably either go smaller or invest in a real tufting gun for large items. These are pretty expensive, however, so I'll probably have to take up a collection to do it. Potential benefactors: please email me at the address in my profile. :)

People ask me how I make my patterns all the time, and the honest answer is: I really don't. The reason for this is: I know how I work. I view making art as a sort of puzzle, one that I really enjoy solving. If I feel I've solved the puzzle, I don't want to complete the piece. For this reason, I tend to do very little sketching before I begin a piece. This isn't to say I don't plan -- I spend hours agonizing over the colors, calculating how much yarn I'll need, tweaking the design, but when it comes to actually putting the image on the cloth, I do very little. I prefer to look at an image I've drawn on paper and then attempt to transfer that to the cloth with very little assistance from a projector or pattern. The reasons for this include: I am crazy; I like things to be really tedious and difficult; and most importantly: I really feel that I want to have as few steps as possible between the idea in my head, and what comes from my hand. The more messing with and transfers of the image that I do, the more I feel the image deviates from the original idea.

Back to work with me! I have a new latch hook project on the way and another embroidery too. Pics will come as they are completed! As always works in progress can be seen on my flickr.

Bryan Ferry Tufted Rug

2009-05-06T12:53:00.001-04:00

Bryan Ferry Tufted Rug
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

So, this is what's been eating most of my life for the past oh, year or so. This is a slightly-larger-than-life sized portrait of Bryan Ferry in wool.

I have no explanation to offer. I was listening to Roxy Music's first album and thought wow, that would make a great rug. End of story. I have no plans as of yet to make any follow-up rugs featuring other members of Roxy, though I will seriously consider it, particularly if cash advances are involved.

Wow, now I can work on something else! But what ... ?

Sleipnir, 8 Footed Horse / Embroidery

2009-05-05T11:55:00.002-04:00

Sleipnir, 8 Footed Horse / Embroidery
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

A new embroidery - completed! Some other recent works in progress on my flickr.

I've been pretty busy these days between moving and working and trying to make art. Later tonight I'll have time to photograph another finished project and talk a bit more about what I'm up to.

As far as this piece is concerned ... I really like it, but I think this technique was somehow really suited to the automaton embroidery and not so much this image. I'll just have to keep experimenting, I guess.

In the meantime, anyone have any good tips about building a rug frame? I built one for the rug I just finished, and I know what's wrong with it, but not sure how to make it RIGHT. I found a website that shows a giant frame attached to both the ceiling and the floor, with sharp tacks or nails around the perimeter that you attach the fabric to. If I had the room I'd try this for sure. Until then I guess I will have to improvise ...

In which I pass the savings on to you.

2009-04-21T08:57:00.002-04:00

Beading needles
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

Sorry for my lack of posts, all three of you, but I have been super busy and just haven't had much time for extended blogulation. However, I HAD to share this with you.

So, I go through punch needle threaders like crazy. The little wire fatigues really quickly and, let's be honest, I'm not exactly super careful with them. Those things are almost $5 for a pack of two! I just went through one pack in 4 days. So you see, it can get expensive.

Granted, I probably do punch needle more than most folks. Also, I am probably a bigger klutz. But even if neither of those conditions apply to you, isn't $5 for two little pieces of wire rather excessive?

I thought so too, so I went on a vision quest at my local Hobby Lobby. AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND!

Beading needles. You can get them longer if your punch needle shaft is long. Mine is a Clover needle so it is pretty short. These little guys are 12 for $1.47! That's a savings of .. I don't know. A lot.

I found the eye was squishy and sometimes you accidentally smash it shut and need to re-open it with something like a pencil, but otherwise, these work like a dream. If you really wanted you could put a piece of tape or something around the non-eye end to make a little handle.

That's all for now! New projects coming fairly soon. If you just can't stand to wait you can always check my Flickr and see what works I have in progress.

Punch Needle & Miscellany

2009-04-02T08:17:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was a busy day but I really wanted to get a post in!

First I want to take a minute and plug my friend Jerry's sewing blog, Jerry Lee's Western Wear. It's really awesome, and I'm not just saying that because I know him! He writes about sewing techniques and showcases new projects, and his embroidery and hand-tailored western shirts are truly inspiring and worth a look.

Today I have a little more time and thought I'd talk about why I chose to do the terrifying baby automaton embroidery in reverse punch needle. In a lot of ways my choice doesn't particularly make sense. It's a technique that, right side up, is designed to showcase looped pile, and it leaves little threads all over the wrong side. (These can actually be carefully pulled through the fabric if you really want to, but I ended up deciding I liked the look.) The wrong side basically just looks like a running stitch, so why do it?

Here is an image of the "back" of my embroidery which, if I were doing it as a proper punch needle embroidery, would be the front.

If this were truly the front of the embroidery there would be no little threads -- this is where I pulled some through. Yes, I actually did "clean" up my "right" side. (This is getting confusing!) There would have been a lot more loose threads if I had not done this.

For me, the choice to use this technique was a combination of speed and stitch size. I really, REALLY love tiny tiny stitches, but the back tends to get pretty lumpy when you do small stitches with something like a backstitch. Using the wrong side of the punch needle embroidery keeps things flatter and tidier on top.

As for speed, this is negotiable. A lot of people find punch needle tedious and difficult. To them I say -- I may not be the person to ask. I tend to work very slowly and meticulously and so my normal work speed is snail-like. To me punch needle seems fast, but to you it may not.

A big part of being able to go quickly with punch needle is having excellent tools. A cheap, dull needle will slow you down, as will an inadequate hoop or the wrong fabric.

Some quick tips for a not-as-frustrating punch needle experience:

1) Don't buy the cheapest needle, get the Clover punch needle. For this embroidery I used the tiny one-strand needle, though for the avocado.jpg embroidery I used the 3-strand version. There is also a 6-strand version.

2) You need a good, tight hoop that holds the fabric extremely taut.

If you can't find a good hoop, I've made do with a normal hoop, the larger part of which I glued thin slivers of wine cork to at intervals around the hoop. This helped create more friction between the hoops to hold the fabric better. You'll still have to pull it tight every few minutes, but it buys you a little more time. However, you will have to pull it tight occasionally no matter how good your hoop.

3) I've had the most luck with a good, tightly woven cotton fabric.

4) Technique: the best tip I can offer is: don't lift your punch needle. Ever. Punch it through the fabric, pull it back through verrrrry gently, and scratch it across the top of the fabric to where you want to make the next stitch.

In other news, I'm ALMOST DONE with the rug I've been working on for very nearly a year. Within the week I should have a pic!

terrifying baby automaton embroidery

2009-04-01T17:12:00.002-04:00

terrifying baby automaton embroidery
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

My lack of posting does not mean I have not been hard at work! More pics to come very soon. Here's a punch needle embroidery I just finished. From a drawing I did based on a photograph in this awesome book.

avocado.jpg punch needle embroidery

2009-03-04T20:15:00.002-05:00

avocado.jpg punch needle embroidery
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

Punch needle embroidery is soooooooo fun! I am still getting acquainted with the process.

It is the closest thing to drawing with thread, in my opinion. It's just so much faster than traditional embroidery, and even the way you hold the punch needle -- it's more like holding a pencil, than a needle.

I also love the effect of the looped pile of embroidery floss. It's so shiny and catches the light in such an interesting way, completely unlike the way the wool or acrylic pile of a larger rug would. Which is basically what punch needle embroidery is -- it's like making a little punch-hooked rug with embroidery floss.

This embroidered letter I wrote last summer is also done using punch needle, but I left it with the "wrong" side as the right side!

I look forward to experimenting more with this technique and am also very interested in chatting with anyone else who has tried it, as it doesn't seem like very many people know about it.

Red Threads

2009-03-02T18:00:00.001-05:00

Red Threads
Originally uploaded by thirdpersonpossessive

This is why I am spending less and less time on Embloggery right now ... I need to make lots and lots of rugs!

Rugs are actually my real passion. I adore embroidery but sort of view it as my "hobby" whereas rugs are more like my "career." My secret is out!

I've got some art events coming up that require me to up the production of rugs, so I'll be posting here with new projects and works in progress.