Third Bird

Happy Holiday's blog-o-sphere! I hope yours were as lovely as mine. I've been taking lots of photos and will post them soon.

But for now, I'd like to announce the opening of a fabulous new Etsy shop! Deirdre of Third Bird has opened her shop and has filled it was some gorgeous ceramic mugs.

She's celebrating by having a giveaway and I strongly suggest you pop your head in and see what it's all about. I am always amazed be people who can craft these sorts of things. I have ceramic envy to be sure. She is a self-described "textile designer" and if you know me, you know I love anything fiber based and in looking through the images on her flicker page I am hard pressed to choose a favorite image. I've picked this one for now, but I strongly suggest you go see for yourself!



Until soon friends!

Happy Holidays!

Best wishes for a warm, safe and happy holiday from Me, MacKenzie, and the Bean!

Remembering

One of my favorite parts of the Second Storie sale is checking out everyone's photos after the fact. I used to be a photographer but I've long since lost my knack, and am always so impressed with the photos everyone else's takes, such an amazing combination of candor and beauty- they really capture the moment and the spirit of the event.

A few of my favorites... these (and the one above) are from one of Second Storie's founder's Shanna Murray's blog, I believe she got them from friends.





These are from the Second Storie blog. I can't believe it's already come and gone- I can't wait for next year!

Going ROUGE

Six artists, two days, twelve hours.

We’re setting up shop for two days only! And we’re going rouge. That’s right, the color of Sarah Palin’s cheeks in the frosty Alaskan winter. There’s no telling what will happen.

Framed and unframed prints and drawings, paintings, cards, textiles, 3D works and last minute gifts!

Artists include: Ani Hoover, Mary Begley, Bruce Adams, Lukia Costello, Viktoria Ciostek and yours truly.

Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13. Rouge tag prices!

Conveniently located at 301 Parkside across from the zoo entrance. Stop in and visit.

Special offer: buy any unframed work of art and receive a 10% discount off framing at Wyatt Design, Picture Framing and Frame Restoration, right next door.

SEE YOU THERE!

Thank you.

Second Storie's Indie Market last weekend was the best yet. It was so good to see so many old friends, and to meet so many new ones. It felt a lot like a family reunion.

I had some new items on hand this year, napkins with knitted napkin rings made from kitchen string and jute twine.


I re-designed the tea-stained cards I've been doing and added some fabric collaged journals. I'm very excited about them.

I'm most excited about my new screen-printed pillows. The response was really overwhelming and flattering. I sold so many on the first day of the sale I drove home and made a couple more as well as some little sachets. I have plans to print more fabric over the break and stock my etsy shop with them.


I was also incredibly touched when a repeat customer from last year showed up looking for my glass etchings. I wish I had had some to offer her, but my little engraver is on the fritz and I haven't been able to track down a viable replacement. I've purchased some glass etching cream
but have yet to figure it out. All in time for sure, and I'll post as soon as I've got some made.

One of the best parts of these events is the trading! I made out like a bandit I must say, gorgeous new earrings from small bird, a new calendar from pistachio press, and some amazing flower pins from ReFashioned. I'll be putting up a post devoted to these amazing new items I have and all the other little things I picked up over the weekend.

My heartfelt thanks to everyone for their support and for coming out to this amazing event. It was one of the best sales I've ever participated in.

If you're new to my little world I do hope you'll check in often. Thanks for reading and especially for taking home my little creations, it means a lot to me.

Until soon friends.

Second Storie : Indie Market 2009 - Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first day of Second Storie's Annual Holiday Indie Market. Skip the mall and buy handmade! See you there!

Starting to Settle

It's taken some time but I'm finally getting settled in my new place. The cats really seem to love it, and have spent much time in the large living room windows surveying the new terrain. My landlord told me that MacKenzie would squeak (those who know her also know that she does not meow, she squeaks) at him when he was getting into his car in the morning. Such a little weirdo she is.

I just finished painting the living room two nights ago and am almost finished setting everything up. I think I need more art for my walls though! Now that they are a much lighter color the room seems so big and open. I'll have to get busy working on some new trades. The best part of being an artist is the trading with your friends!

The housewarming is next Saturday, I'll be sure to post more pictures then.

Stay warm friends!

Joetta Maue

I believe this post is LONG overdue.

I've been tracking a number of blogs for a long time and by and large my favorite is little yellow birds written by Joetta Maue. I look forward to her posts everyday. I refresh my blogger homepage over and over again until the posts appear, because everyday she offers info about some artist who is about to be added to my never-ending list of favorites, or speaks with candor and ease about the sometimes trying process that is the creative life.

I've had the honor of trying to curate her work into a project I'm currently shopping around. Her work is simply gorgeous and if you aren't familiar, you need to become familiar, now.

As for me, I've been busy trying to arrange and settle into this new space. I am truly loving it and will post pictures soon, I promise.

For now, I urge you to see more about Joetta here and here.

NYFA MARK

Information sessions for the NYFA MARK program I mentioned earlier. I highly recommend the program, its one of the best things I've ever done for myself- so do yourself the same favor and go to these information sessions and at least hear what they have to say.

Does the business and career side of your art practice need some attention?

Join us this October and November for free information sessions on MARK, the New York Foundation for the Arts’ (NYFA) statewide six-month program for visual artists.

MARK provides NY State artists with a unique opportunity for individualized focus on the professional side of their creative practice. MARK is designed to address the concerns of artists living outside of New York City while providing them with a new network statewide. Selected artists will participate in four seminars held at local partnering organizations across New York State. The MARK program culminates in June with an artists gathering.


Information Session Schedule and Location:

All information seminars are held at MARK10 regional partnering organizations. Attendance at an information session is not required to apply. If you have questions about the location closest to you, please contact NYFA. Please note that residents of the 5 boroughs of New York City are not eligible to apply and participate in MARK.

Capital Region
Monday, October 26, 6pm
The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy

Western New York Region
Tuesday, October 27, 7pm
Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, Buffalo

Long Island Region
Wednesday, November 4, 5:30pm
East End Arts Council, Riverhead

Hudson Valley Region
Tuesday, November 10, 6pm
Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale

Central New York Region
Date will be posted on NYFA's website within the next week
Cultural Resources Council, Syracuse

MARK10 Application Deadline:
All applications are due in NYFA's office by Tuesday, December 1 at 5pm.

Further Information:
To see the curriculum, the MARK10 spring seminar schedule or for a MARK application, visit www.nyfa.org/mark

Questions:
Contact NYFA Learning at learning@nyfa.org
Funding for NYFA MARK is made possible with generous support from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation

A new drawing...

A small one, only about 1 1/2" x 4" - but I'm happy with it.. what do you think?

So Lovely...

I found this via Abbey's blog Aesthetic Outburst, embroidered headboards.. which she found via emma's design blog. I am in LOVE. What a wonderful idea!

I have a handmade headboard myself and this image makes me kind of want to re-cover it. I *just* finished moving and am busily setting up my new space- I have several projects in the works and I promise to have photos of all of it soon. For now, a sweet picture of my fuzzy-babies sleeping on my bed, which of course includes the headboard.


Until soon friends!

Second Storie : Indie Market 2009

I am excited to announce that I have been selected for this year's holiday market hosted by the lovely Second Storie. It's always an incredible time, both in terms of enthusiastic visitors and and an array of amazing vendors. I'll post images of the work in progress soon (promise).

Mark your calendars!
Saturday, November 28th, 11 am - 6 pm
Sunday, November 29th, 11 am - 4 pm
The Visual Studies Workshop Auditorium
31 Prince Street, Rochester, NY 14607

Call for Work!

Joetta Maue has put out an exciting call for work and I would encourage everyone to apply- I know I am!

Call for Fiber Work

For exhibition at Sweet Lorraine Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.
Exhibition will be held during the month of January 2010.


connective thread

an exhibition of contemporary fiber work that explores the role of thread & the act of making as connective.

The theme is open to all interpretations . Some possibilities are work that has a metaphorical connection to history, the body, family, space, or work can focus specifically on dealing with the literal connections created in the act of making. Please feel free to interpret liberally.

Submission Deadline November 25.

6-8 artists will be selected. Multiple works from each artist will be considered. Most likely 2-4 works per artist. Large works are welcome for consideration.

Criteria: The curator is specifically looking for fiber works that are coming out of contemporary themes, practices, and techniques. All techniques are welcome but work must be original works using no patterns or kits to create and made within the last 2 years. Some techniques to consider are embroidery, knitting, crochet, quilting, and applique. The work can incorporate any medium as long as the majority of the work is exploring the use of fiber techniques and/or fiber itself. (i.e. work made in a traditional technique such as knitting but made with non-traditional materials are welcome for submission)

Non- traditional work is welcome and encouraged. 3 dimensional work is welcome.

Gallery: Sweet Lorraine Gallery is a Brooklyn based gallery located at the Screwball Spaces Artist Studio building in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Each month a new exhibition opens. There will be a formal reception and opening for connective thread and possibly an artist's talk. (if atleast 3 of selected artists can attend.) Exhibition Postcards will be provided for publicity. Opening date will be announced.

Curator: Joetta Maue is a full-time fiber artist working in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions across the country and in New York. Some recent exhibitions include Re-surrect; the Art of the Reclaimed Object at Mesa Contemporary Arts Center, Historic Interpretations: Contemporary Artists Interpret the Historic Collection at the The Peabody Historical Society and Museum, and Forget me Not at Gallery Hannahou in Soho, NY, NY.

You can currently see her work at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NY, Gallery Lele in Tokyo, and Space 414, in Brooklyn.

Joetta's work will be featured in a number of upcoming exhibitions including a solo show in 2010. She will also be a featured artist in the forthcoming book Indie Craft by Jo Waterhouse.
Joetta authors the popular art and craft blog Little YellowBird as well as regularly contributes to the online journal Hello Craft.

This is the 4th exhibition curated by Joetta.
www.joettamaue.com

Please, Please pass the word!

Indigo Art :: reMARKable

Two new embroidered pieces for the exhibition I'm participating in a Indigo Art in Buffalo. The exhibition features all 12 of the WNY NYFA Mark artists from the class of 2009.

The Mark program lasted 6 months and was an INCREDIBLE experience. We met once a month at Hallwalls to discuss the business side of our artist practice. We worked on networking, our internet presence (and how to control it), artist statements, proposals, resumes, goal setting and gave short artist talks. The experience concluded with a weekend conference in NYC. Even now 3 months after it ended its hard to put words to the experience. The best one, is probably "empowered." I think we all walked away feeling like "I can do this!"

The conference was truly incredible- and totally exhausting! I drove home feeling like I needed to sleep for a week and then start working and never stop! Of course the challenge when I got home was to create a lifestyle that will facilitate that- and I am proud to say I'm on my way!

For now, come see work by the artists at Indigo Art Gallery on Allen St in Buffalo. The Artist's Reception is this Friday, September 11th from 6-9 pm and will feature a talk by the amazing Ed Cardoni, Executive Director of Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center.

See you there!

I have a new home!

No, I didn't buy a house. I rented a lovely new apartment from some lovely people. These images are small- but I will be taking new ones once I get settled. And if you know me, you know that I settle fast. I can't abide an unpacked box or a empty wall! Soon, friends, soon!

Feeling a little better about my love of fashion magazines

One of my girliest habits is my love of fashion magazines, I have subscriptions to a few. Today however, I am feeling a bit better about this because one of my favorites, Glamour has an article this month on "the secrets of happy couples" and it features a lesbian couple!


It's Jennifer & Cat Cora. Some of you may know Cat from The Food Network. I've rarely watched it- but it appears she is the only female Iron Chef! The interview cites their strong family ties as the secret of their relationship. The picture shows two of their three sons and Cat is pregnant with their fourth a little girl. Click here to read the rest of the article and hear about all the other couples featured.

Here's to Glamour! A sure sign of the times....

save red thread

It's tough times for everyone in the art/craft industry these days and tough times turned to tragic for red thread studios. A fire broke out in a nearby building, it spread into the shop and within a few hours destroyed most everything there. I'm sending my best wishes and deepest condolences to red thread. My semi-secret dream has always been to own a studio such as this- a place to sell yarn and fiber, to work and be with friends. If I were to lose everything the way she did, I'm not sure what I'd do.

Design for Mankind put out a call to action and if you are of any means I recommend that you respond. In this community it is through each other that we are able to survive.

back to the making

While out in South Dakota, Susan and I managed to run away to her studio for a couple of divine little hours- and I got to make my first collograph plates! Yeah! The first few attempts at printing them were not so pretty so no images to share yet. Soon though- I hope!



While I was away my Step Mom had her birthday. Since I was away from town and my sewing machine I had to wait until I was home to make her a gift.

She loves green so I whipped up a set of these handmade napkins. I found the pattern in Weekend Sewing - a simple but lovely little pattern, made from fat quarters. I think next time I'll opt for buying it off a bolt, I never thought it'd be so hard to get 4 matching quarters!

A moment of peace

In between the weeks of craziness at camp Susan and I slipped away for an hour to take her dogs for a walk. It was nice to move around little when it didn't mean chasing after any kids!

It's been raining a lot around those parts, much like here, and that's made everything very green. Susan is nearly 6 foot tall which gives you an idea how tall the corn is! There's nothing much growing on the stalks yet, not enough sun to balance out all the water. We did get some gorgeous sunshine this afternoon though, I guess I had to go to the midwest to finally get some summer weather!

Messy Hands Summer Art Camp

This is the Washington Street Arts Center in Vermillion, where the art camp was held and where we all spent weeks chasing after little ones who ranged in ages from 4-14. Though most were on the younger side. The kids could come for the morning session or the afternoons for either 1 or 2 weeks. The classes offered were Printmaking, Ceramics, Drawing and Painting.

A class photo from the first week. I can't name the kids for their privacy but my favorite ones were the smallest kids- and those I loved best all happen to be seated in the front row!

One of what feels like a hundred snacks I prepared over the two weeks. Graham crackers and fruit seemed to be the favorite. I had a lot of almonds and dried cranberries on hand and getting the kids to eat it was almost impossible! The grown ups liked it though so it worked out okay.

Camp was fun but totally exhausting. By the end of the two weeks I was so drained all I could do was sleep! I'd do it all again in a heartbeat though. The chance to get out of town and see an old friend is too good to pass up!

The calm before the storm

I have come to the end of my trip to South Dakota and am feeling sentimental about it already. In some ways it feels like I've only just got here and in others I can hardly remember being anywhere else.

I suppose that's what happens when you arrive somewhere and set straight to work. I flew in the night of the 9th. My plane got into Omaha, NE at about midnight, central time and Susan and her boys were there to pick me up and drive the 2 hours back to Vermillion, SD. Needless to say we were all very tired. The next day we headed down to the Vermillion Area Arts Council (VAAC) to start organizing for the children's art camp that was set to start the following Monday. There was much cleaning and setting up to do- plus we had to screen print all of the t-shirts for the kids.

At home Susan has 2 boys of her own, Kenyan and Kaleb who have grown very tall since last I saw them! Her husband, Mark, has three girls, Drew, Dylan and Dawson. Drew is away at college so I've yet to meet her. There are also 2 dogs, Gus and Pup. Life here at the Hegdablu home is just as I expected, crazy but kind.

As I write this camp has already finished and I just mailed back a couple boxes of treasures back to Sodus where I'll be staying for a few days after I fly back tomorrow. I'll post more about my adventures in Vermillion then. For now I'm going to linger over my last moments and try to soak in the last minutes of vacation.

Until soon.

Frank McCourt: 19 August 1930 – 19 July 2009

One of my favorite writers passed today. News that saddened me a great deal. I am thankful though that such a man lived and was able to tell the tales he did. If you have not read Angela's Ashes, you really must- you owe it to yourself.

NEW YORK (AP) — Frank McCourt, author of "Angela's Ashes," the Pulitzer Prize-winning "epic of woe" about his impoverished Irish childhood, died Sunday. He was 78.

McCourt had been gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and the cause of his death, said his publisher, Scribner. He died at a Manhattan hospice, his brother Malachy McCourt said.

Until his mid-60s, Frank McCourt was known primarily around New York as a creative writing teacher and as a local character — the kind who might turn up in a New York novel — singing songs and telling stories with his younger brother Malachy and otherwise joining the crowds at the White Horse Tavern and other literary hangouts.

The world learned his name, and story, in 1996, after a friend helped him get an agent and his then-unfinished manuscript was quickly signed by Scribner. "Angela's Ashes" was an instant favorite with critics and readers and perhaps the ultimate case of the non-celebrity memoir, the extraordinary life of an ordinary man.

The book has been published in 25 languages and 30 countries.

McCourt, a native of New York, was good company in the classroom and at the bar, but few had such a burden to unload. His parents were so poor that they returned to their native Ireland when he was little and settled in the slums of Limerick. Simply surviving his childhood was a tale; McCourt's father was an alcoholic who drank up the little money his family had. Three of

My Thirtieth Birthday

Thanks to everyone who came out to make it a special day. That's me and my Mom, her birthday is just a few days after mine so we always celebrate together. Big smiles courtesy of a couple martinis!

A HUGE thanks is owed to my dear friends Cait and Marla (below) who hosted my party.

Marla made this incredible vegan strawberry cake for me, sooooo good!