What Could Have Been

A dear friend of mine recently shot and edited this documentary as part of a class assignment. It is incredibly powerful and beautiful and I hope that she will continue to work on it.

Please take a moment to watch.

Buffalo on the Bowery

I am thrilled to announce my participation in Buffalo on the Bowery, an art auction to support two of my favorite organizations: Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center and PUSH Buffalo, hosted by the Charles Bank Gallery @196 Bowery New York, NY.

The event takes place October 11th, silent auction begins at 6 and the live auction begins at 8. I only wish my schedule allowed me to be there for the event, but I sincerely hope you can!  The event features some of Buffalo's best and brightest, organized by the incredible and unstoppable Julian Montague. I'm excited and flattered to be a part of this event.



From the website:
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Over the last 150 years Buffalo, New York has experienced its share of highs and lows. But from the rise of and fall of a great industrial economy, to the population loss of recent years, the city has always hosted a vibrant and influential art scene. Buffalo on the Bowery is an auction of artworks by artists with strong associations to Buffalo, proceeds of which will support two essential Buffalo institutions both, in their own way, devoted to preserving the city and encouraging and supporting communities that foster this unique creative energy. Artwork by artists, both emerging and established will be represented.

People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center are teaming up to bring this exciting auction to New York. Both grassroots organizations strive to improve the local Buffalo community, whether by directly addressing housing conditions on the West Side, or by providing an invaluable cultural asset to Buffalo’s downtown neighborhood. Outside of Buffalo, both organizations are notable on a larger level—they have great worth to the rest of the state of New York and far beyond. PUSH strives to create a replicable model of grassroots neighborhood organizing and redevelopment that can be employed in other low-income neighborhoods throughout the Rust Belt. Hallwalls is a center for contemporary art from all over the world and a sounding board for challenging ideas, expressed in an atmosphere of freedom.

We are pleased to have Buffalo-based artist Julian Montague serving as the curator for the auction. Julian is an active member of the Buffalo arts community, and has been showing regularly in New York City with Black & White Gallery since 2005. With support from Hallwalls—an organization with a strong history of promoting artists at critical phases of their careers—Julian’s selection will feature artworks by significant artists to whom we should all be paying attention. This event occurs at a grave moment for government funding of cultural institutions, which continues to be cut severely—most recently on a county level.

Tender Ardour

Apparently I've been too busy, or too lazy, or well, both -  to post images of my new apartment. So here's one from my friend Molly's blog Tender Ardour. This is a shot of the 'reading nook' in the front of the apartment. I promise to post more images soon..

And while you're over there at Tender Ardour, you really should check out her new cooking blog: My CSA Adventure. She joined a CSA this summer and has been cooking up some amazing results. I can personally vouch for the avocado and lime coleslaw, seen in the picture below. I'm thinking I need to make some myself...

New Photos

I did accomplish one thing this summer. My good friend, Lukia Costello came by and helped me out by taking some gorgeous product shots of my work. I had a bunch of traditional product shots another friend had taken earlier in the year- but I wanted some less formal photographs too. Below are some examples of the photos, some of the previous shots, and my own images are added in as well.

Of course we also had to get a shot of MacKenzie in there too! She wandered around all during the shoot, and eventually was all worn out and went off to nap. Sunday was her birthday- she's 4 years old already! But still a kitten at heart...

I'll be posting some new listings on etsy soon. I'm also working on a collaboration with the lovely JoAnn of Vintage Refashioned. I'll get some info and photos of that up as soon as possible.

In the meantime I'll be running a photo contest soon! Do you own something by crude crafts? Take a photo of it in your home or office - the best photos will win deals in my etsy shop! So get snapping!

Where did my summer go?

Seriously. How can it be August already?

I had such grand plans, as I always do of what I would accomplish this summer. But moving into a new place that was undergoing some pretty major rehab and working on a web design project pretty much consumed most of my time.

So, some little moments from the summer so far.

Last weekend's CSS workshop at VSW in Rochester. 

 I managed to ruin my favorite table cloth with an ink stain, but managed to cover it and keep it useful by hiding the stain with a multitude of little stitches.

 

The first tomato finally makes its appearance!

 

I taught a workshop on yarnbombing as part  of Camp Create at the Burchfield - Penney Art Center. The camp last over the course of a couple of weeks and different artists come in and talk to the kids ages (6-10, roughly) about their practice and shows them how to make something new. We decided to cover an easel and the kids learned to make small woven pieces on a cardboard loom. The rest of the easel was wrapped with yarn. The kids really got into it, especially two of the boys- which made it a lot more fun. And look at their awesome results!

Photos of my new place will come soon, I promise. For now though, I have to get back to work!

New items: Just Listed!

I listed two items in my shop today, one of my screen printed pillows and some of hand bound journals. More will be posted tomorrow so be sure to check back in!

The Piano

My father found this video and passed it on to me the other day, it has only a musical score, but is so heart-breakingly beautiful and does such a great job of communicating a story through images alone. I think I may have to show this one to my design students!