serendipity

business cards

"Business is thirty percent patience."  --  Chinese proverb

I'm starting a new category today which I title "business."  This isn't about the marketing forces on Wall Street, though that holds its own interest for me, it's about the business of art.  Students frequently email asking for my opinion and advice.  It's flattering, though a bit misguided.  I don't know everything.  I'm also curious as how they come to think I hold the magic keys to a successful art career, but that's a topic of contemplation for another day.  Boys and girls, today's topic is on the necessity of business cards.

Business cards are an essential way to pass along your contact information.  Imagine that you are at a gallery opening and after an interesting conversation on the theoretical underpinnings of your fabulous art, a collector asks for your card.  What do you do?  Ask for some paper and a pen?  No. You reach into your wallet and hand her one of your business cards. 10 months later this very same collector gives you a call.  It's really that simple. (And yes, this is a real scenario snagged from the life of Lindsay.)

Over the years, I've seen many business card styles.  Students seem to think that making their own from recycled cardboard boxes is the way to go.  It is if the boxes are slim (not corrugated), neatly cut and stylishly printed with the essentials.  One of my favorites was by a fashion design student.  The card was neatly printed in black on white card stock which she hand cut and machine stitched a single line in hot pink thread.   She had given the card a personal touch while simultaneously underscoring her profession.    If the card is clumsy and poorly executed, it screams, "I don't care enough to invest in my career." Business cards need not be expensive to produce.  Vista Print will even print cards for free if you agree to have their website information on the back.

My cards have always been perfunctory - name, phone number, email address.  Nothing fancy, just simple, clean and to the point.  But in preparing for Looptopia I craved a bit more zip.  Zip came in the form of Moo mini cards.  For just $20 you can have 100 different images printed on 100 cards.  I chose only 10 images, but still, the fact that I could have 100 unique images for the same low price was just too cool for this business gal to pass up.

big blue update

"Art is never finished, only abandoned." -- Leonardo Da Vinci

Knitting while twisted like a pretzel and sitting on a very dusty floor is not ideal.  My fingers are covered in blisters, my back hurts and I still have a few more hours of repair work to complete.  Big Blue is not destined for Washington D.C. as originally planned, she is off to San Francisco in August.  It's Baby Blue (a mini replica) that will be in D.C. at the Kennedy Center.  In the meantime Big Blue will be warehoused in a town about 1 1/2 hours out of Chicago, so I am handling repairs now before she is moved into storage for the rest of spring.

It was fun to see the globes again, especially with them clustered together in one space.

Most were scattered across the floor, but a few were on shelves.

Mind you, each globe weighs approximately 250lbs.  Is it any wonder that the shelving unit is made of steel girders? 

For now, I hanker to knit some of the aplaca / silk blend I bought yesterday.  A teasing relief from nylon parachute cord. 

loathe

"I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity."  -- Diane Vreeland

As I prepared the shipment of my work for the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, I reflected on those activities I find particularly loathsome.  Packing art ranks high on the list. 

I put off these and similarly detested activities until the very last minute.  Some activities can be dangerous, such as cleaning gutters.  Others are icky.  Picking up dog poop is one that comes to mind especially if left for a day and its gone mushy in the rain. But then there are those activities which don't have the ick or danger factor, they are just tedious.  Packing art, washing windows, and balancing a checkbook  fall into this category.  I'm no Martha Stewart.  I don't revel in organization.  My office is a declared urban excavation site.  Anything requiring the minutiae of details to complete makes me a bit nutty.

I commiserated with a friend today when she wrote she was going crazy putting together a conference.  She's an idea gal.  She dreams and she dreams big.  But those little details that come with big dreams - she'd rather leave them to others. 

This must be why I loathe packing my art.  The art is made.  The fun part is over.  Besides, every time I pack my art I end up with a zillion paper cuts and those horrid Styrofoam peanuts clinging like mad to every surface in my studio.  You'd think they'd come up with a better solution.  Maybe then I would finally like packing.   

green glass

"What is green? The grass is green,
With small flowers between.
What is violet? Clouds are violet
In the summer twilight.
What is orange? Why, an orange,
Just an orange!"
  -- Christina Georgina Rossetti

Hundreds of glass gems glued in row upon row.

It sounds tedious, but I am having fun.  My first large experiment into mosaics is looking good.  I'm pleased with how it sparkles.   I'm reminded of my early work.

Landscapes done in bead embroidery.  Was that really 20 years ago?

What I'm loving about the mosaic work is the ability to work quickly on a much larger scale.

singing mona lisa

"Mona lisa, mona lisa, men have named you
You're so like the lady with the mystic smile
Is it only cause you're lonely they have blamed you?
For that mona lisa strangeness in your smile?"
--  Nat King Cole

A friend shared this video with me.  I had to share it with you.  It is just too funny.  The costumes are very clever.  Can't decide which "act" I like best, probably the first.

time present

"Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable."
       -- T.S. Eliot

A day lived in the sun.  The garden is sprouting a rainbow.  Josie, the Monster Pup, makes it a challenge to get much done as she prefers to be in my lap while I'm weeding.  Cute, but also annoying.

Earlier in the day I completed another mosaic panel of the throne.  I am amazed by its development.  The technique is still so new that I'm hesitant, but it progresses.  Impending deadlines help.

When not gardening, cooking, paying bills, or working on my art, I played with my camera. 

I love violets.  They are rich in color, full of vitamin C and lovely on a cake.

Delicate blossoms today, cherry pie in July.  I planted this tree 8 years ago.  It was purchased through a catalog and arrived a week later in the mail.  The little twig of a thing is now a gorgeous 10ft tree.

Looptoped

"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know."  --  Diane Arbus

To borrow the phrase of a friend, I am "looptoped."  I had such a good time that my cheek muscles are tired.  It was a night filled with laughter.  Prior to the performance I had been a bundle of nerves that now I miss the adrenalin rush.  Photos taken by my friends Sara Peak Convery and Sandi Gunnett will soon be posted.  Their assistance made the night for me.  I couldn't have handled the crush of people without them, let alone have taken the photos.  As a taster of the events, check out this newscast.  There is a brief interview with me.  Sandi and her son are also featured.

This morning Sandi patiently taught me how to use certain mechanisms on my little point and shoot camera.  Afterward we went to a local Korean market where I tested out my newly learned skills.  I have fallen in love with the "vivid" mechanism!   

I love the name of this drink - Let's be bitter.  It's a coffee drink.  I had to buy one for the name alone.   And yes, it is indeed quite bitter.

Looptopia - Attachments

at_tach_ment\ 1. the state of being personally attached 2. affectionate regard 3. the physical connection by which one thing is attached to another 4. the process of physically attaching

 

Join me tomorrow evening from 6-10 for my interactive performance Attachments at the Chicago Cultural Center in downtown Chicago. For more on the many events happening at Looptopia, check out this website.

The photo was taken of a performance that was the precursor to both the Attachment Project and The Red Thread Project.  Wasn't my daughter a little cutie back then?  On a historical note, this shot was taken at the site now known as Millenium Park.

you and me and you and me

"I am in You. You are in Me.  There is no distance or distinction."  --  Sri Sathya Baba

I'm getting ready for Looptopia with a collection of hats that join one to another.  One for you and one for me.  Depending on who is wearing which hat, you are either "you" or perhaps you are "me." 

The children at my after school program gave it a trial run.  They loved trying to stay connected and move as one.  As one child put it - "If you are 'you' you are a 'me'."  Out of the mouth of an 8 year old.  Who said philosophers were old and stodgy?

bread

"... gifts, goods, a basket of bread that hurts my shoulders but closes me in fragrance. I can eat as I go."

-- Denise Levertov

The recipe cautioned against the temptation to cut into fresh bread prior to cooling.  I waited the eternity of 5 minutes before I succumbed.  That first bite was sublime!  Steam billowed around my fingertips.  Lip smacking delicious!  A crunchy crust with a flavorful chewy interior.  My daughter the Baker was envious.  I managed to make a beautiful baguette all on my own.

My father has turned me into a bread nut.  Two weeks ago I received a package of King Arthur flour, a baguette pan and his own special sourdough starter (plus a few of his sourdough loaves as incentive).  I haven't tried the sourdough starter as the process is intimidating, but I did try out the baguette recipe in this cook book.  It took some time.  The poolish, a flour, yeast and water concoction, takes 12 hours to develop.  This is where the magic happens.  Have you ever had a baguette that was doughy and tasted of flour?  They used rapid rise yeast and less than 2 hours of rising.  The poolish makes all the difference.  More flour, yeast and water, a dash of salt, some kneading, a few more risings et voila - yummy heaven!

My dogs were going nuts as the bread was baking.  They sat in front of the oven with noses just inches from the door.  As the bread cooled, Monster Pup danced on two feet in hopes of gaining my favor.  What is it with dogs and bread?  Then again, I have yet to understand how they know I am taking cheese out of the refrigerator.  I take out a cucumber, nothing.  I take out some cheese and zooooom! there they are.   Now I can't make toast without the Worshipful Order at my feet.