In Hiding

It's been a quiet month or so on this blog, but certainly the opposite of that in real life! Here's a peek at some of the things I've been up to...
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This has been some time ago now, but here are some shots of the Supersketch event I took part in back in November: my sketch-in-progress is the small image in the middle of the last row.



(Photos taken by Diana Mathews at Quirk Gallery, where the event was held.)

And some images from December 2nd and 3rd, a weekend packed with two art & craft fairs:



I wanted and meant to take more photographs of both events, but as with many things approached with the best intentions, it just didn't happen. I'm so glad I could participate though; it was wonderful talking with other vendors and people stopping by the table.


☷ Machine-stitched signs ☷


≔≔Fabrics!!!≕≕
Hoping to do so much more with these and other designs in the coming year...

And last but not least in this little photo roundup, this past Sunday my boyfriend and I were able to Guest DJ on our friend Michael Murphy's radio show Mellow Madness on community radio station WRIR 97.3 fm.



We'd both done guest segments with him separately but not with each other, so this was a real treat for us. We have an occasional DJ night together called the Cosmic Hum where we play records and do liquid light projections with overhead projectors, so we decided to keep things easy and fit within that theme for the music we picked out for the show. We both like lots of international music from the '60s & '70s so we played a variety of French, Japanese, Brazilian, Portuguese, Turkish tracks and my favorite 45 from what we were able to pick up on our trip to Morocco last April! That find was a seriously lucky treasure, since it's not only my favorite of the bunch but also happens to be the least beat up as well - none of them are in very good shape. We had no way to listen to them beforehand so it was all a matter of chance!

I think the radio show was recorded, so hopefully I'll be able to post the link to the podcast of it here at some point...



I can't believe it's almost 2012!!!

\\\ Local Happenings ///

As the sun goes down on another week, from here it's shaping up to be a busy weekend:
for anyone in the Richmond area who likes vintage soul, funk, and plenty more to move their feet on a Saturday night, I'll be playing some favorite dance LPs & 45s that just never get old:



And before that, of the 4pm mellow afternoon variety, is the annual Screens 'n Suds event at the Capital Ale House downtown:



My good friends Lightning's Girl and DJ Kenny along with G and myself will be playing records perfect for art browsing and mingling! There will be beer tastings, tons of silkscreened posters, shirts and art prints for sale by artists from all over the country, a silent auction and raffles, live music, and all proceeds from donations & Screens 'n Suds series posters go to the Central Virginia Chapter of MS Society and the National Parkinson Foundation. We've been a part of this event before, and it's been a lot of fun!



Photos at the top: The Grateful Dead at the Pacific Cliffs, California, from the book Aquarian Odyssey: A Photographic Trip Into The Sixties by Don Snyder.

Interior View

Just a few favorite photographs found in Charles A. Fracchia and Jeremiah O. Bragstad's amazing book from 1977, Converted Into Houses.
The homes from the rooms shot here all served much different non-residential purposes in their past lives, including a cigar factory, an Armorer's workshop, a cannery, a lumberyard, a ferry boat, a barn and a church, just to name a few. I wonder if any smells from the former cigar factory still lingered around the walls? And how amazing would it be to have a drawing space set up in one of them??

Loom & Luminosity

My weaving class is moving right along and it's been so much fun.
I'm really going to be sad when it's over, especially because I'll miss having the opportunity to work on those large floor looms (not to mention having the guidance on all those steps involved in setting up a project)!
Luckily there are so many different kinds of looms that are much more accessible and conducive to smaller spaces, and this weekend sweet G surprised me with an old inkle loom that he'd brought back from a yard sale he visited early in the morning while I was still sleeping! It was built in 1971 at a community in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and it still had the warp threads wound around its pegs from a past project! He had been really looking forward to this yard sale, which had advertised selling "primitive technology" such as overhead projectors and the like, which have a special interest for us since we do light projections with oil and water for friends' bands and our own DJ nights sometimes. As for the primitive technology that made it back to our apartment, he bought an old 16mm film projector which will be so exciting to use! Hopefully we can figure out some way to incorporate it with our visuals for a future music night. How cool would it be to layer liquid projections over old film?



(here's one night of us just playing around at home, projecting on the walls)

The woman having the yard sale told him she used to check out films from the Richmond Public Library and play them for the neighborhood children. Apparently the library used to have a huge collection of all kinds of 16mm films, and the terrible part is that when the technology became antiquated they were all just thrown away! Painful!!
But anyway, this woman sounded so wonderful, having such interesting treasures out for sale and sharing a bit of their histories... Dream finds!!

One more thing going on in my neck of the woods - - - this Wednesday evening is the Supersketch night at Quirk Gallery: several local artists (including myself, ahh!) have been invited to do an evening of live drawing in the gallery, and I'm getting so nervous; everyone involved is so talented! Seriously just hoping I can keep up!

When you get there say hello with a flower in your hair

Bullet points of today:

- Scandinavian patterns on textiles & painted
- Suzani textiles, embroidered
- golden threads & colorful tassles
- bright, bold colors and prints on everything
- beautiful lettering
- splashes of honey in steaming tea
- thinking about soft colors and focus in photography
- the rush of people in big cities
- the Quiet of very small towns
- (What would it be like to live in one?)
- remembering to not compare myself to everyone and their place in their lives
- money is so strange!/awful
- loving someone who is so kind and good
- wanting to get out of town
- realizing some things we felt as teenagers will probably never go away
- and hoping that holds true for the parts of us we want to keep forever

Woven up

(via bluesforspacegirl)



I should preface this by saying I truly do not mean to sound whiny or to complain - believe me when I write that I feel extremely grateful for everything I've got in my life right now (cross my heart!) - but it's been one of those times when I can't help but look around and feel completely underwhelmed with the day-to-day. It's kind of like walking around in sludge, and it's not even winter yet!

There's so much beauty, though, I just want to be immersed in it all.
I started a loom weaving class this past weekend and I can't wait to learn more and start using the loom! It's really exciting to think about working on a piece of equipment like that. The loom is so big and traditional, and definitely a little intimidating, but that's so wonderful, right? And as with anything, there are sure to be some new skills and ideas taken away from the experience that will be applicable to art work back in the real world without giant loom access.
I'd also love to learn screen printing, something else I've never done. Not enough time or money for all of this, but just so many ideas!!

These images of Navajo looms posted on Nothing is New show a different way of weaving that is also inspirational and of course extremely beautiful. Thinking about these techniques as being a part of daily life for generations is humbling when considering the times in which we live. For the most part I'm glad to live in the modern age, but there are some things we really miss out on... I'm happy so many people are starting to turn back to them again.








p.s. On a slightly different note, here's something else I just came across this morning - it's things like this that make me want to immediately play hookie from work to start new embroidery projects and sew with linen and other gorgeous natural fibers:


(via Prints Charming)
All those colors of threads bursting with energy...
Just perfect.

David Palladini

from Eye Magazine, 1968

It's hard to miss the work of illustrator David Palladini if you're interested in art from the late 1960s & '70s. His beautiful renditions of the Zodiac from 1969 and especially his famous 1970 Aquarian Tarot are everywhere! I'm drawn to his graceful lines and selective use of color; he somehow manages to achieve the perfect blend of simple and ornate, not unlike predecessors Mucha and Beardsley, whose Art Nouveau styles are heavy influences. Often his imagery is referenced back even further, with an eye toward the Medieval and Renaissance and with a style that could easily be a study on paper for stained glass windows.

One of my favorite artists to turn to when I feel stuck, his magical images often help me remember that as long as one is truthful to what speaks inside, there is always originality to emerge and a new voice to be heard.
Looking back leads to looking forward!

“Inspiration is the essence of art. It consists of several meanings – spiritus, Latin for spirit or soul; and inspirae, to breathe in. To breathe in nature and beauty until the spirit fills you up. Just as air is necessary for life, inspiration is necessary for the artist to live.” - David Palladini









































Images from A Medical History of Henry VIII found here;
Zodiac images found here;
Aquarian Tarot & Eye Magazine scans from my own collection;
Extended biography found here.