My Shop is OPEN for Business!

Hello friends,

I've got some exciting news. I FINALLY opened my Esty shop and stocked it with two new pillows. I will be adding items in the coming days so be sure to stop by and check it out: here.




As a special deal for all those who read this blog, until month's end leave me a comment with your email address and which item you would like and I will set up a reserved listing for you at 15% off AND a free tea-stained greeting card! Each card is one of a kind, but here is an example:


I'll be doing more printing this week and will be adding my sachets, more pillows, and a new series of hand-stitched fabric collage cards to the shop! Please check back with me soon and be sure to leave comments- I want to know what people think.

And on that note, a special thanks to those of you have been following my blog and leaving me comments thus far. It's nice to know someone is out there listening!

Enjoy your weekend and be sure to show your Dad some love this Father's Day. I know I will. I love you Dad!

Summer Weddings on a Budget

Maybe its the number of weddings I've found myself at lately, or (more than likely) a dear friend of mine who is currently saving up for a wedding that she's asked me to help plan, but I've been loving the amazing decorating ideas I've been finding in various blogs lately.

These were found through craftzine.




And this was from project wedding.




How cute! And so easily used for any celebratory occasion. I'm in the process of planning my 31st birthday this year and I am certain to use some of these ideas for it....

Louise Bourgeois: December 25, 1911 - May 31, 2010

Monday one of the most amazing sculptors the world has seen died of a heart attack. Louise was easily one of my favorite artists, I have a file of images on my computer and a book on my shelf I thumb through frequently when stuck for an idea. At the age of 98, she remained one of the most interesting and relevant artists of these times.

I've heard tales of the Sunday Salon's she held at her home in Chelsea, they were said to be rather intense. A friend of mine attended one once, he said the understanding was that you were to bring her chocolate in exchange for her time and that the place was set up with a well-stocked bar, I imagine to offset the nerves of those in attendance.

The stories go that many leave in tears after one of her critiques but my friend said they got along just fine. His work is about desire, one of Louise's favorites, so go figure.

I never had the guts, or the time, to go myself. Part of me regrets that but another part of me knows that sometimes its better not to meet a hero. How could the person ever live up to the expectation? How would I feel if she hated my work? I could tell myself that at least it evoked a reaction from her, but I think I'm better off just not knowing.

It's hard to choose a favorite piece but I naturally gravitate toward her figurative pieces, the fiber work and drawings.




And this piece, Blind Man's Bluff,


which inspired a pivotal piece for me during graduate school: "I dreamed the fibroid's overwhelmed my body" latex and bedsheets, 2002.


Rest in Peace, Louise. You will be missed.

missed connections

I was reminded today of how much I love this blog, missed connections. It is so sweet. Written by Sophie Blackall in Brooklyn, NY. She takes missed connections from various sites and turns them into illustrations. If you haven't before, you must go visit the site.

Sadly, my camera still won't turn on and given that today is the last day of classes and I have not yet found a summer job (*gasp*) I will have time to figure out what's wrong with it. I have borrowed a friends for now, and will post the images I have of my exhibition soon. If anyone has advice on camera repair please let me know!

Until soon.

Indiscreet Objects: Opening Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the opening for my new exhibition: Indiscreet Objects at the Olean Public Library Gallery located at 134 North 2nd Street in Olean, NY! The event runs from 3-5 pm and includes a screening on the work of Kiki Smith at 4pm.

I will post images of the completed exhibition soon. The above were taken during installation by the amazing Robert Taylor - who has been working for the gallery for years. My camera decided it doesn't want to turn on anymore (!!!) so until I figure out what's wrong I will be borrowing a friend's camera. Images soon.

I STRONGLY encourage any local artist to consider submitting work to the gallery- my experience with them has been nothing short of incredible. Everyone there is truly supportive and really believes in the role artist's play in society and its a wonderful feeling. Every artist deserves to feel supported in life- and this is one place the gives that feeling in spades.

Enjoy your weekend and the spring sunshine and flowers. I'll post again soon, promise.

Busy Bee!

Oh my, so much to do!

I have two more events this month and if you're in or around the area I hope you can come by!

One is a solo exhibition titled "Indiscreet Objects" that runs from April 17th - May 22 at the Olean Public Library, 134 North Second Street, Olean NY.

The reception takes place on April 25, 2010 from 3-5 p.m and will feature a short screening of the work of Kiki Smith (one of my major influences) at 4pm.

From the gallery release: "For her exhibition, Switzer will present fiber work in the form of stitched antique doilies, curtains, bed linens, and intimate apparel. Meticulously inscribed with representations of tumors and other images of disease, the delicate, familiar, and safe nature of the materials is transformed to elicit a sense of discomfort. The artist describes, "My practice lends itself to the obsessive; continually counting, measuring and recording, as I seek to elicit humor and exaggeration through gross fascination with the feminine dis-eased body. I seek out the rather mundane effect of illness on a person’s sense of self: the changes in day-to-day behavior, the monitoring of intake and output."

This event is free and open to the public. It's a drive for sure, but I would be grateful to anyone who can make it!

I also have a local event for those who can't make that drive. I've hung some new drawings (with a couple old favorites) at Rustbelt Books located at 202 Allen St here in Buffalo.


The work will be up until month's end and will conclude with a readings by Irene Sipos, Edric Mesmer, Geoffrey Gatza and Lisa Forrest on April 30th. Lisa will also be playing original songs accompanied by Sally Fehskens and Jonas Westbrook!

The evening starts at 7, and the readings will start promptly at 8 -- yes, I know this is Buffalo but we do mean 8! :)

I am really excited and flattered that such wonderful people have so willingly offered their time and talents to this event. Please come join us for a glass of wine and an evening of art, music and words (really, does it get much better?)

Hope to see your faces!

The importance of not seeing clearly.

I am so thrilled to have been asked to participate in this exhibition. It features work by NYFA MARK Alumni: Lorrie Fredette, Dorene Quinn and yours truly and was curated by more alumni: Wilka Roig and Ruth Sproul.

It opened this last Friday at the Community Arts Partnership (CAP) ArtSpace in Center Ithaca, 171 E. State Street. Ithaca, and runs through the end of the month.

It's also garnered quite a bit of local media attention a review of the show can be found here, and an interview I gave can be found here.

Curators Roig and Sproul write:

"Why do we need to see things clearly? This compulsive need is perhaps not so much a desire for understanding as it is a need for appeasement, not so much an expression of our curiosity than of our anxiety.

This exhibit is intimately related to the artist´s wager against accepting one version of how things may be explained. It also presents the artist as obsessive researcher, observing, gathering, recording, reordering and reinterpreting; art-making as performance, as passage of time, as a reinterpretation of perception and experience; the art object as an encounter, a adaptative analysis and rendition of the obsessive need to control and understand, a reconstitution of the repetitive cycles of natural and cultural systems.

The artists featured in this composite exhibition have surrendered themselves fully to their questions and reactions through the materials and processes that facilitate each of their investigations, not of what is real, but of the resulting distortions.

In the attempt to reveal what is real, the real evades perception. The Importance of Not Seeing Clearly invites the viewer to accept this uncertainty without reservations, to give into the vertigo that is produced by what we do not understand. The works in this exhibition dare us to pause, delay, and rummage in perplexity itself, to connect that which we know with that which we feel, that which we think with that which we do, and to distrust explanations that satisfy our curiosity."

If you're in or near the Ithaca area, please, stop by and see the show!