serendipity

looptopia photos part 2

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing."  --  Dale Carnegie

Performance art came to me by accident.  It started as a means of visualizing the familial bond between my daughter and myself and from there it grew and developed.  What I like about the medium is the direct interaction you have with the viewer.  In my performance work, the viewer ceases to maintain the passive and distant stance of gazing at the object and becomes an active collaborator of making and in a sense the object to be viewed by myself and others.  Did you follow all that?  In short,  I must be doing something right as I was having a whole lot of fun during my performance at Looptopia.  See for yourself, that's me on the right in last photograph.   

A big thank you to Sara Peak Convery for these photos!  

looptopia photos part 1

"I love a hand that meets my own with a grasp that causes some sensation."  -- Samuel Osgood

I am finally sorting through images of the Attachment Project at Looptopia to put on my website, but I decided to give you preview here at the Land of Serendipity.  The photos I am showing today were taken by my friend Sandi Gunnett. You should take a look at her own blog.  Her recent photos of a young engaged couple are beyond too cute

Can you tell that folks were having fun?

happy heart

“If you want to be happy, be.”  -- Leo Tolstoy

I share with you an image from my Chirurgi series.  It's of a happy, healthy leucocyte cell.  Nothing was determined at the hospital.  Once again it took two technicians and a cardiologist to find my heart, but there it was beating madly away.  I loved the comment from one technician who informed me with all seriousness that my ribcage was blocking her ability to get a good ultrasound image.   I thought she was kidding and laughed, but she wasn't joking.  Sigh.  After an hour they finally got a good read, proceeded with the test and then found nothing wrong. I was also told that the test wasn't very accurate.   Well, never you mind, I'm at home feeling fine and am going to put the worrying behind me.

Today has been one of those "golden days."  It has been a day when the sun is high in the sky and the temperature perfect.  I harvested the tansy for the dye pot, read more of my latest novel, drank a superior cup of coffee, knit half a sock and puttered again in the garden.  Lovely.  Better yet, the day isn't over.  I'm heading back out into it.   

inspiration

"Artistic inspiration ignores the law of supply and demand."  --  Mason Cooley

How do you find inspiration?  Does it come by dream, muse, or lightening bolt? 

Last summer the works of Niki de Saint Phalle (see her work above) were on exhibit at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  I had seen her work in Paris outside the Pompidou Center, but never so many works in one place.  I was dazzled!  Intense rich colors reflecting the afternoon sun. If you've read the previous entry, then you can see the effect her work has had on mine.    

I'm currently reading Susan Vreeland's book Luncheon of the Boating Party.   The storyline is tailor made for me.  It is a fictional account of how Auguste Renoir risks everything to follow his dream, to make this one painting.  The painting. 

I am at that juncture.  I need to follow me heart.  Today I said no to steady income.  I won't be teaching much this fall.  It's so strange as I closely identify with my role as an educator.  I've been teaching in some capacity for over 20 years.  Half my life.  (Half my life?!)  I'm excited, but it certainly feels like free falling. 

So these days, when I think about what inspires me, it's people who have followed their dreams.  Niki.  Renoir. And all the others.  They have soared among the clouds, maybe to crash, but with a smile on their lips. 

ta da!

"You are a king by your own fireside, as much as any monarch in his throne."  -- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

A throne built for any lord or lady of the garden with a seat of red creeping thyme and a back of trumpet vine.

I completed the installation on Friday.  The throne resides just outside the front entrance to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.  I am pleased with my first large mosaic piece. 

It has been a learning process, one which I am certain to continue.  The grout is laid thickly, covering much of the glass stones.  Only their tops are now visible.  The grout is close in tone to local soil when dry which works metaphorically with the theme of my piece.  I wanted to illustrate that there are numerous alternatives to lawn which are drought tolerant and require less fertilizer. 

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.

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.