exhibits & events
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May 5, 2008
moving pictures
by gl. at 4:54 pm
in addition to last month being a big poetry month, it was also a big theatre/movie month for us.
we saw sweeney todd on stage and on the small screen, flawed genius, and a weekly movie (or sometimes two). i also saw darkmatter.
but nothing compared to seeing cirque de soleil! i've never seen it before and i was enraptured the whole time. it was like burning man without the dust! though the subject was potentially macabre (a clown imagining his own funeral procession & death), it was transformed into something magical and beautiful. i've often said my favorite genre is "cute & horrible," ala edward gorey. but generally i'm delighted by making ordinary things magical, so dancing on chandeleirs and tumbling on beds is right up my alley, and i liked those scenes better than the more traditional circus acts after intermission. the only thing i regret is not taking toby with us. ;) afterwards while waiting for the traffic to die down we took a pedicab for a short trip down the waterfront, which was also lovely. i even got a chance to wear a dress w/ mismatched stripey socks!
[if you can't wear this to the circus, where can you wear it?]
also, i'm taking an acting "class," for lack of a better word. it's ongoing, so it's not a workshop, and it's not a place where we learn techniques, so it's hard to describe. but it's taken up a significant amount of brain & emotional space the last couple of months.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (9) | categories: exhibits & events
April 27, 2008
poetic license
by gl. at 5:23 pm
it must be national poetry month! i've attended a plethora of wordly events this month:
i started out the month by attending the poemcrazy workshop. we collected words from books & "word tickets" and pooled them together, words like orphans, orchestra, pandora, vigil, eve, mistletoe, rose, admit, doctor, moon, roof, roll, orpheus, fallen, angel, moment, ghost, venus, dark, wine, rumour, grace, plum, devotion, glow, tedium, terror, window, daylight, grim, heretic, dwell, love, clouds, atoms, hollow, swallow, honor, translate, clutter, promise, binge, and trouble.
we spun in place and sat down to try to write to such prompts as i am/i am not/i used to be/i want to be/i love/i remember/i forget, combined with chanting things like my heart says/my mind says/my soul says/my mother says/the door says/the moon says/the river says, and inserting lines like can't give you up/come back to me, later when it's over. we could answer questions like what's an object in the first place you remember living? what container would you be? what source of light would you be? what scares you?
that was a lot to deal with in a short amount of time, and then it was time for lunch! one of the great things about a workshop at innerstandings is that a hot lunch is provided for you (spanikopita, cucumber salad, and tiny cups of ben & jerry's ice cream).
after lunch we gathering objects outside in a little box to use as inspiration for our next writing prompt. we ended the workshop writing about contrast: sleep/awake or inside/outside, like this:
"inside i am raining. outside i am another moon. inside i am columns that support a hall of justice. outside i am a mouse. i am an orphan inside, safe while invisible, a wordless winter. outside i am true, even in the summer sun. stars appear like fairy tales. inside i am a frozen ocean. when i breathe it's like thunder. outside, a yellow bird vanishes. i shiver. safety is written in tiny letters. inside i am a maze of rooms connected by a path of broken china. outside, a golden field rustling against the mountains."
in our spare time we could look at a huge collection of poetry books, read her manuscripts, and look through her photos of boxes & journals.
she thought i had beautiful, if illegible, handwriting. this became important because instead of us reading what we wrote aloud, she read it so we could hear it from someone else's voice. my handwriting is definitely influenced by calligraphy, but the artist's way morning pages style has also affected it: you can't write fast and pretty at the same time.
dayna wrote about her experience at this workshop, too.later in the month i went to see lucille clifton. "breaklight" was the first poem i remember saving in high school. i didn't expect her to hear my telepathic request for her to read it, and she didn't. but of course, what she did read was great. dot hearn wrote about the experience on her blog.
then i took michaelmas to the "secrets & lies" show at 23 sandy. all the books there are poetry, even if they're narrative in nature. i really love book shows at 23 sandy because she has a "hands on" policy, and a book show that doesn't let you handle the books is essentially a sculpture show.
last night i attended vox: a spoken-word chorus. they took a handful of actors and had them speak a dozen or so poems in chorus. sometimes the arrangements were straightforward, and sometimes they were heavily rearranged. "howl" is quite good like this. and e.e. cummings is also very conducive to this sort of arrangement, and so it was no surprise that they featured three poems by him, one of two repeated poets. awesome space: an odd little corner of a shambling industrial building by the railroad tracks by the fremont bridge.
finally, "wolf moon" has been published at counterpunch. it's part of a series of poems i'm writing about the old names for the full moon.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (3) | categories: classes & workshops, exhibits & events, writing
March 11, 2008
recent events
by gl. at 2:42 pm
march is also a busy art month!
we went on the se artwalk, though i was sick so i went back to take a nap in trixie while sven talked to the pacific northwest sculptor's guild. but i did get to see shawn, trillium, mandy & alisa. i picked up a bowl from georgine longfellow and ought to have picked up shawn's "night ride" monoprint.
later that night we went to linda womack's "leap party". linda quit her day job to become a full-time artist, and held a party on her first day of freedom, mar01. i gave her a "leap and the net will appear" wordwear necklace, but could only stay long enough to eat a little cake before i had to go home and collapse.
[linda's cake: prepare to be surprised]
i was feeling better by the next friday, so we went out to see some art shows. first we had a bite to eat at screen door (great mac & cheese!). then we stopped by 100th monkey to see their art therapy show, since creative arts therapy week is this week. then we stopped by art of your life because i suspected emma would be showing at the student show there, and she was! then we stopped by bite studio to see shawn's "stories" show and emma showed up to that, too!
whew! but now i'm sick again. i didn't go to the craft party at twisted or the art therapy afternoon tea on sunday, and an artist's way client just dropped off a deposit this afternoon and found me bundled on the couch in blankets wearing two sweaters, a hat & a scarf. i hope i feel better soon!
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (5) | categories: exhibits & events
February 13, 2008
love, love, love
by gl. at 1:26 am
sven's brain has been gushing essays and i'm still trying to catch up with stuff that happened two weeks ago!
for instance, on first friday we attended both "the love show" at launchpad gallery and "love bites" at bite studio.
i've never been to art shows where i've known so many people! several of my artist's way clients jumped at the chance to show together, and then those of us who didn't show came to support them. so we saw justine, emma, emily, anna, dayna, elizabeth & her niece and lynn, in addition to adrienne, bridget, romaine & alisa! i was also delighted to see art on the walls by people i knew, even if i didn't see them at the opening: shawn, consu, kristen maus, beth ann, jennifer mercede. there was lots of good art but i think my favorite piece was an anatomically-correct heart-shaped book with a niche carved out to fit a tinier heart-shaped book inside.
then sven & i stopped by to see bite's first-ever show, orchestrated by shawn (another artist's way client). she was glowing in pleasure and exhaustion, but took the time to explain to us how "biting" works: it's the process used to create an etching in a copper plate. i was also impressed with a "hard candy print" by another artist which was created by pouring hot hard candy into a mold and then pressing the etched plate into the candy and popping it off when it's solid again, leaving the impression behind.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (2) | categories: artist's way, exhibits & events
February 7, 2008
monster month book release party - part 2
by sven at 7:00 am
Professor Ichbonnsen couldn't make it to the Monster Month book release party -- but he was kind enough to send a letter to be read in his absence.
Watch the video to see me giving a dramatic reading -- (almost worth it for the audience participation alone!) -- or just go ahead and read the text below.
Thank you one and all for coming out tonight.
Your show of support -- not merely for this book which we have published, but for the cause of Cryptozoological Awareness -- means the world to me... And it may, ultimately, be that which saves our endangered world.
For decades, academics and politicians have scoffed at the mere suggestion that Monsters might exist on this planet with us. Narrow-mindedness, pure and simple... A comforting illusion, to believe that all things that can be known already are known.
Those of us who dare to imagine, dare to seek, and by raw courage dare to discover -- we face this tremendous prejudice every day of our lives. And so I want thank you again... For I understand quite well what the personal cost of attending this event may be for those of you here tonight. Ostracism by friends and family.... An FBI file with your name on it... Or perhaps even worse...
Yes, I say "even worse" -- because I have recently discovered that denial of the existence of Monsters is in fact being spearheaded by a well-funded yet shadowy conspiracy of unknown parties!
As those of you who have already read my book know, a serious attempt on my life -- and on that of my trustworthy assistant Scarlet -- was made while we were recently traveling though India. We still do not know who hired the one-eyed pilot, or how the hideous mutants, which we were delivered unto, figure into the conspiracy's far-ranging plot...
But, since then we have suffered, yes, another assassination attempt. And though we escaped with our lives -- I have every reason to believe that this was an act of the same shadowy forces, trying to silence our Cause.
The details of the plot are almost too tedious to relate... A rare and poisonous snake, secretly deposited in our hotel room -- a species which, I freely admit, I have always been quite eager to see in the flesh -- but not within the confines of my own bed.
You will be glad to know that with quick thinking, lightning reflexes, and the sacrifice of very tasty ham and banana sandwich, both Scarlet and I escaped unharmed.
Unfortunately, we know now that our assailants are very close behind... And so once again, we go into hiding... Traveling by night, using forged identities, staying in the homes of individuals who belong to a vast underground network of Cryptozoological Freedom Fighters.
You, too, my friends may be called to the Cause! Whatever you can do -- whatever small thing, to help spread the word -- please, take that step.
For our own safety, and for the safety of all involved in producing this event, Scarlet and I cannot risk being in Portland tonight, where we will certainly be expected. So I ask you now: Take our place -- be where we cannot be -- be that voice of reason in a world that denies the truth.
For the sake of the defenseless Monsters whose habitats are being lost --
For the sake of the defenseless Humans, who have unwittingly encroached upon the territories of carnivorous Monsters --
For the sake of Monsters and Humans alike, defending our shared world against invasive species from Mars and beyond --
Join me in making a Revolution of Cryptozoological Awareness!
Thank you. Please enjoy the rest of your evening at the Monster Month book party.
Sincerely,
Professor Ichbonnsen
January 31, 2008
posted by sven | permalink | comments (0) | categories: bestiary, exhibits & events
February 6, 2008
monster month book release party - part 1
by sven at 5:24 pm
January 31, 2008, we hosted the Monster Month Book Release Party.
The aspect of the party that I'm most proud of: I made a huge cake and frosted it to look just like the monster on the book's cover!
Two hours to bake, two hours to decorate. Chocolate "black magic" sponge cake, 4 hand-mixed colors of homemade cream cheese frosting, 12"-wide pan. Oh yeaaaahh...
The sign on the front door: "Welcome! Please come in: monsters & humans are both celebrating inside!"
(Thanks to Gretchin for putting together the signage!)
As you enter, there's a stack of books for sale, and the original painting for the book cover.
Lots of yummy snacks. Rice crackers and five kinds of cheese... (Kinda overdid it on the cheese.) Hummus... Apples, pears, almonds, and a sweet pecan-cranberry-pepper mix.
And... Grimberry Juice! Compliments of Prof. Ichbonnsen's colleage Professor Amberson.
In write-ups about events, people often declare "it was a success!" ...What does that actually mean?
In this case, what I can tell you is that people were talking with each other the whole night long... You actually almost had to shout, the room was so loud... None of those pesky awkward silences ever descended on us. And although the event technically ended at 9, it wasn't til 11:30 that the last of our guest finally cleared out.
Heh. I think I've just begun to outline a Beaufort scale of party "success."
People started arriving at 7. At 8, we gathered in the living room for the reading portion of the evening. Pretty much every chair we own was set out... Which just managed to comfortably accommodate the 15 of us.
Despite best-laid-plans, the Professor himself was unable to make it to the event...
But he was kind enough to send a letter of welcome/explanation/apology, to be read in his absence.
I did the honors... Then went on to discuss how the book project came into being, and what it was like working with the World's Foremost Cryptozoologist. I concluded this bit of the evening by reading the chapter from the book titled "An Underwater Adventure - Darker Things Beckon."
The audience participation was hilarious -- gasping at all the right moments, heckling and playing along in the kindest way...
And then came cake and the signing of books. Need I say, this was the first time I've signed a book since... My high school yearbook?
Go ahead -- try to imagine what you'd write in a book, if you published one. If you come up with a clever way to deal with this pleasant-yet-awkward situation, please tell me the secret!
As it was, our friend and fellow Artist's Way teacher Dayna Collins got something to the effect of: "To Dayna -- You are the first person I've ever signed a book for! Thank you for your support and encouragement. -- Sven Bonnichsen."
It got even harder after that.
My friend and Weekly-Get-Together-To-Watch-Classic-Star-Trek buddy, Michael Hall, was kind enough to take a bunch of the photos you see here. Thank you!
Gretchin, in addition to helping with signage, managed getting the food set up, answering the phone, keeping track of time, taking money for book purchases, and and and... Oh, and she also found this website, blockposters.com, which allowed us to assemble the ultra-cool poster version of the book cover. For that and a whole bunch more... Thank you!!
Philip Flores has posted a short review of the event... As has Dayna. And now Linda and Bridget. ...Thank you!!!
And...(oh my)...How could I forget the groupies of my fledgling fan club, Bridget Benton and Linda Womack? ...Thank you!!!!
And lastly, to everyone else, who either came or who sent good wishes: THANK YOU!
posted by sven | permalink | comments (8) | categories: bestiary, exhibits & events
January 27, 2008
scratchpdx
by gl. at 7:49 pm
last night we attended portland's monthly "performance playground," scratchpdx. sven has attended these events previously because he knows people in them who are a part of his theatre improvisation group. i was really surprised to see how many people attended this event at the hipbone studio (that's where the rebel rabbit craft fair is held, too: what a flexible space!).
scratchpdx is the kind of event that can host a variety of artists & arts, including experimental filmmakers, santur dulcimer musicians, stand-up comedians, modern dancers with live DJs, acting collectives and an indescribable character named "mr. happy pants." there was even a little singing & swing dancing by the hosts.
i really enjoyed the structure of the performances and the variety. i especially liked how you could ask questions of the performers and they could ask questions of you.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
January 22, 2008
craft night w/ michael5000
by gl. at 11:59 pm
last week michael5000 invited some people over for craft night. sven did more mending and i brought along a shirt with a little stain i wanted to cover up and one of the patches from the zine symposium in august.
[maybe i should wear this heart on my sleeve]
[revolution begins here]
i've never attached a patch before, but for some reason i wanted to stuff this. i was doing really well until the very end, when i decided it had too much stuffing and i had to resew it. i've fray-checked the edges; i hope it makes it through the washer okay!
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (6) | categories: exhibits & events, miscellany
January 10, 2008
rsvp: monster month book release party
by sven at 4:45 pm
WHAT: MONSTER MONTH Book Release Party!
WHEN: Thursday * January 31, 2008 * 7:00pm - 9:00pm
WHERE: Scarlet Star Studios
Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect -- directions will be emailed
CONTACT: contact@scarletstarstudios.com
ABOUT THE PARTY:
Scarlet Star Studios has just published a book: "Monster Month: Thirty-one New Discoveries from the World's Foremost Cryptozoologist." We're throwing a party to celebrate!
Meet the author, Professor Ichbonnsen, in person! Our famous guest will be joining us to read from the text -- and will be available afterwards for autographs.
[Disclaimer: If, in the unlikely event that the Professor is unavoidably detained by his Monster Hunting duties, a studio representative will read a special letter from the author in his absence.]
Monster Month's illustrator, Sven Bonnichsen, will also be on hand to meet the public. The 33 original paintings that he produced will be available for viewing -- and we will watch the brand new animated commercial that Sven's created to promote the book.
Monster-themed snacks will be served.
HOW TO PURCHASE THE BOOK:
A limited number of books will be available for sale at the party for $31. To reserve a copy for yourself, please mention this in your RSVP.
If we run out of copies at the event, we will gladly ship a copy to you for $34, cash or check. Books should arrive approximately 2 weeks after your order is placed.
You can also order a copy for yourself at any time by visiting the book's website, here: stores.lulu.com/scarletstarstudios
Books ordered online cost $31 plus shipping.
MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:
Thirty-one days, thirty-one monsters: Monster Month!
After a lifetime of trekking jungles, climbing mountains, and spelunking caves, the world's foremost cryptozoologist at last reveals a selection of his greatest discoveries. Herein you will find the Adameve, the Dark Strider, the Opium Gore Golem, the Trick Squilligoss, the Zompire Bat... And many more fantastic beasts!
With the keen mind of a scientist and the bold heart of an explorer, Professor Ichbonnsen provides illuminating descriptions of how the creatures live -- and astonishing tales of how he found them.
Both adults and children will marvel at the Professor's adventures... And be left wondering what else remains yet undiscovered in the unexplored corners of our rich planet. Like the map-makers of old, you will understand: "Here be dragons!"
Monster Month is lavishly illustrated with 32 full-color paintings by Sven Bonnichsen, and 7 full-color maps tracing Professor Ichbonnsen's travels.
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR:
Professor Ichbonnsen: "I have made it my business to track down legends, to investigate strange rumors, to delve into the darkest, unplumbed depths of nature -- searching out species heretofore unknown to humankind. Now, for the first time, I am ready to share a selection of my most prized discoveries with the outside world."
To read about Professor Ichbonnsen's adventures, please visit his personal website: monstermonth.blogspot.com
Sven Bonnichsen: "I co-founded Scarlet Star Studios with my partner Gretchin Lair in 2004. I'm a multi-media artist; over the past five years my focus has been on creating short animated films, using both computer-generated and stop-motion puppet characters. Monster Month represents my first work as an illustrator."
To read about Scarlet Star Studios' ongoing projects, please visit: scarletstarstudios.com/blog
posted by sven | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
December 11, 2007
keeping myself out of trouble
by gl. at 11:46 pm
another busy week last week:
artist's way ended, and there's always a flurry of activity, primarily online, around ending that.
working on a secret project with sven. more, much more, about that later, but it did absorb a lot of time i didn't know i had to spare.
first thursday
shu-ju is a superwoman, but even she couldn't be at three (!) places at the same time, so she asked if i would manage her table at the "portland prints" show at city hall. but of course! i was pretty comfortable (talking about someone else's work is easier than talking about your own), though i was surprised i didn't sell anything.first friday
- thirty!
one of my artist's way clients had thirty pieces in the thirty! show and it was a madhouse! i was flabbergasted at how many people they could pack in such a tiny space. i would have liked some more time & space to appreciate the art: with 900 pieces stacked from floor to ceiling, the format was overwhelming & way too competitive for me. but i was thrilled to get to support shawn and i was happy to leave with one of her pieces -- lucky for me, the one with a hidden poem on the back!
- 23 sandy: "night moves"
i love nighttime art & photography, so i had to go see this show at 23 sandy! some really beautiful work in the main gallery & the "side show" which feature's laura's book arts. one of the highlights was an image of the "aurora australis": the southern lights. - art of your life
stopped by for the holiday sale at the art of your life to see serena barton, diane havnen smith and serena's daughter jane. i bought a pair of earrings that remind me of serena's paintings: romantic pearl hoops in an unusual configuration.
- thirty!
wordwear workshop
there will be more on this later, too, but the strong silent type required some prep time for me & bridget before we taught the class, and then the class took longer than we expected! fun to share those techniques with others, though.masarie curry party
from the creators of the fabulous create the world event, the curry party is a holiday party that focuses around a base of chicken or veggie curry with shared bowls of every possible condiment & different curries. It's delicious, but really, it's just an excuse to have a party. the hosts have always been really supportive of me and i enjoy myself immensely whenever i attend one of their events. it's the kind of place you meet really interesting people each year: this year I spent much of the meal talking to a firefighter from bend.rebel rabbit craft fair
anna's back with the second incarnation of the [rebel rabbit craft fair]. i was on my way to a birthday party so i didn't get to spend as much time there as i would have liked, but i did pick up a tiny (red!) felted starfish as a present from addie pearl. and fortunately for me, the rebel rabbit is TWO weekends this time, so i'll go again this weekend.dinnergrrls dessert potluck
i rarely get to many of the dinnergrrls events, but i try to make a point to stop by for the holiday party in december and the anniversary party in summer (...and when they buy tix for the roller derby ;). i thought i'd only stay an hour but i stayed two, and though i didn't actually eat much, the sugar high was contagious. fortunately i managed to leave before the sugar crash, though i did zonk on the couch for a bit coming home. i had a lot of good conversations and very little awkwardness. such a relief! maybe i'm getting better at this? :)
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
December 2, 2007
'tis the season
by gl. at 11:12 pm
busy week!
can i tell you something?
last week i attended the showing of can i tell you something, a short "audio collage" about keeping & telling secrets (my voice opened & closed the film). other secrets were hung on clotheslines like dirty laundry around the room. i really appreciated the people who came to support me, like anna, sven, michaelmas, todd & kristen. todd noticed it was trying to spit snow that night, which made yesterday's snow slightly less shocking, but no less delightful.bridget's holiday craft party
last night i attended bridget's annual holiday craft party, where i made half a dozen tiny snowmen and sven made an awesome, um... chair/robot creature... with arms that were attached to the puppet with magnets! it was our first time working in bridget's studio & it was quite nice -- though it was so fascinating that it was difficult to get down to work! we expected to stay two hours and instead we stayed four. :)
[tiny snowmen w/ tinier crowns]
shawn demarest: thirty!
shawn is one of my artist's way clients and she just finished 30 small paintings for the thirty! show on friday at om: 30 artists, 30 pieces each, $30 each. but "before they scatter to the winds," she wanted to invite the other artist's way participants to her studio to see all of them. what a treat! we get over 200 people in the studio each year and i do so like getting a chance to see where some of them live & work. and i lovelovelove supporting artist's way clients!dinnergrrls holiday bazaar
today i also went to the dinnergrrls holiday bazaar where i got to see kristen, bridget (hello, again!) & vicki lind. i bought a collage from bridget (and eventually a pillow), two containers of chutney from mona's mom, and lisa tried to convince me to buy some sex toys. eeep! chrissy has some gorgeous photos, including a great story about opposing sunsets on her trip to las vegas. this event was also a good reason to introduce sven to cubespace, which i think is a fantastic idea and i'd probably use if i was doing more freelance work. :) he went to college with the woman who started it.jill kelly's holiday open house
then we stopped briefly to explore the local cash & carry, where we barely escaped the giant room-sized walk-in freezers -- but walked out with a huge bag of fried onions. armed with such savoury fare, we ended the day at jill's holiday open house, where we were greeted with a warm smile & a large cup of mulled cider. that place was jumping! we were talking the whole time, though we did slip in a bit of time in the office to go through jill's big book of collages.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (2) | categories: exhibits & events
November 23, 2007
elements of food styling
by gl. at 11:59 pm
on saturday i also attended the iprc text ball. it was my first time, and so i decided rather than spending my energy creating a costume (which, alas, isn't one of my strengths, anyway), i'd bring a text-themed food product for the snack table.
["print" ingredients]
i still had half a bag of tiny pancakes leftover from shu-ju's "printing with food" class, and i did so want to print something on them. i thought i would print punctuation because they would be small & cute on the little pancakes and i thought other people would be bringing words. but then i read what shu-ju was making: punctuation! curses! but thank goodness she posted about it so i had time to think of something else. :)
inspired by the the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks, i decided a bowl of unnecessary quote marks would be adorable, and on a pancake i would only have to print one quote mark to get both beginning & end quote marks, because you can just rotate it around to the appropriate type! though i ordinarily love palatino as a base font, i really wanted the quote marks to have those big bubbles on the end, so i used times new roman instead.
[quote "marks"]
i took the opportunity to practice "teaching" myself gocco for the gocco workshop i'm teaching next month at the iprc (thanks, gillian!), so i was in the kitchen talking to myself up until i started to mix the "ink." :)
the good news is that they came out pretty well in the end. the bad news is that it's still a hugely messy process and i had to totally clean the screen every eighth print or so, or i'd start to have gaps even when i had plenty of ink. i used the chocolate/peanut butter base i was so impressed with for sven's 62 breakfast, but shuju says she used chocolate & sour cream which may not dry as quickly on the screen. i gotta say that chocolate sauce/peanut butter mix makes a fabulous dipping sauce, though.
["ideal" gocco quote setup: which lasted maybe 30 seconds]
[waiting to "dry"]
["bowl" of quotes]
i thought i wasn't going to know anyone at the text ball except shu-ju. but i also got to talk to jenny (who was a "relative claus" w/ "presents") & her husband (dressed all in white with two large letters hanging around his neck: E and B), gabe (who was "just tex" with books strung together as chaps!) & his daughter anais (who was a "red letter"). i was hoping to see alesia, but i don't think she was there this year.
unfortunately, it doesn't look like the food gets much love at these events. it was tucked way in the back in a dark spot, and other than shu-ju's puff pastry, there wasn't much presentation or punning. for instance, i saw a can of cheez-whiz and thought they totally missed an opportunity to provide something to write on with it -- or at least provide an encouraging sign or funny "directions for use." maybe it's different if you get there earlier, but i'm not sure how many people really saw the bowl of quote marks, even though they were all eaten by the time i left.
i stayed long enough for the costume catwalk, but didn't see who won. i had circled the event for over 20 minutes before i finally found a spot, so it was a long walk back to the car. but it looped me past ground kontrol, so i stopped in and played a few rounds of tempest & joust before coming home. :)
["super"]
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (3) | categories: exhibits & events
November 17, 2007
out and about
by gl. at 11:59 pm
wednesday was a big day-o'-art all across portland! first i met w/ the kind and lovely bren, an art therapist from owl's nest north. then i met with the talented and supportive serena barton over pie at the bipartisan cafe, where we discussed a february workshop. then i dropped off a thank-you note for a woman who was kind enough to drop off my moo cards after they had sent them to the wrong address (twice!). then i crashed the local book arts guild meeting at reed college's special collections room, where we got to share dozens of beautiful artist's books. finally, i stopped at the grand reopening of diy lounge, where i got to see the generous and connected diane -- and bridget's creative and vivacious surprise appearance in her bee costume! i didn't intend to stay long, but there was cake and bridgetbee got her disco on. :) plus, collage carries the tiny hammers i need for the wordwear workshop coming up next month...
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (2) | categories: exhibits & events
November 13, 2007
sale of the century
by gl. at 11:59 pm
on saturday i dropped off a plate of apples, cheese, crackers & nuts for the trillium holiday sale, and then i got to shop! i'm not actually a big shopper, but it feels different when you're involved in the organization and supporting real people, you know? :)
i went home with 2 pairs of stubborn earrings, a pair of earrings from carolyn quinn designs, bookmarks from becky bilyeu, a slug family for some very lucky cats for christmas, and one pound of fabric i really don't need but couldn't resist such beautiful scraps for a measly $1.
oh, aaaaaannnnnddd.... a chicken hat from liv and lotus!
[bawk! rawk!]
but best of all, i got to meet the family of one of my artist's way clients. her daughter met trixie and made several poetry fragments, one of which was this one:
[she has enormously sad hair]
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (3) | categories: exhibits & events, trixie
November 2, 2007
handmade holidays
by gl. at 11:42 am
update nov03: i've added the dinnergrrls holiday sale to this list.
'tis the season of holiday sales! this year i've decided not to participate in any (unlike last year, when i successfully launched wordwear), but i have definite plans to support at least three that i am emotionally invested in:
the trillium holiday sale & membership drive supports microenterprising low-income artisans who use upcycled materials. it will be saturday, november 10, from 1 - 6 pm at trillium artisans. as an extra bonus, all items will be 10% off! i'm on the board of trillium because i strongly believe in the educational component of their program: they have a product review board, offer business counseling, and teach artisans to price their work at a livable wage (which in turn educates us to pay a livable wage for artisan goods).
last year, the first dinnergrrls holiday bazaar was my first introduction to tabling at a craft fair and was primarily responsible for the success of wordwear, which i made for this event almost on a lark. i got a lot of support from friends & patrons (and it helped to be set up next to the chocolate fountain, i think ;). i've chosen not to be a vendor at any craft fairs this season, but i'm definitely going to support the other grrls this year! this time it will be at cubespace from noon-4 p.m. on december 2.
the rebel rabbit is back! the rebel rabbit holiday sale has been extended to two dates this time: december 9 and 16 from noon-5 p.m. at hipbone studio. one of my former artist's way clients, anna, created this juried craft fair earlier this year and it was so successful she did it again! check out what i brought back last time! i'm a little excited that the person who makes jewelry from typewriter keys will be there again, though the thought of all those old typewriters being "disassembled" gives me hives.
i really enjoy buying things from local artists, knowing the money i give them goes to support a real person. of course, if your time & money are unlimited, there are plenty of other holiday sales to discover (check out diyalert to stay on top of them!). may this be a profitable and enjoyable sales season for everyone!
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
November 1, 2007
portland open studios tour: westside
by gl. at 2:55 am
this year the portland open studios tour eastside conflicted with a letterpress class and the opening of the portland society for calligraphy show opening, so we made up for lost time on the westside the next weekend. i'm getting better at poking around those areas, which can be pretty confusing and lost-inducing.
we bought the calendar at linda's pre-party for the eastside open studios. i picked potentials from it and plotted their locations on a google map the night before. still, with just one day, we got to relatively few artists:
shu-ju wang: first stop! shu-ju promised me a copy of the print she made for trixie as part of her "portland suite." we even got to see the eponymous "the last bedroom," where shuju has created drying racks out of track shelving: when not in use, the track stay on the walls, but the brackets & foam core "boards" get put away. clever! i also met jeremy from rake gallery, who was a total sweetheart and grand assistant. he & shu-ju play well together.
if you want to buy your own portland suite print, this is what the copy will say: "Ever notice the little toy horses hitched up to the metal rings embedded in the sidewalks? Or Trixie the Poetry Car, a light blue car covered in poetry magnets, zooming around town? These are the things that make Portland wonderful and make me happy to live here. There is at least one more print coming, inspired by the world's smallest public park here in Portland."theresa andreas o'leary: theresa was immedately warm & welcoming to all who walked in the door, and wanted to show everyone what she did in each painting to communicate what she sees in the world around her.
one of the other things i find inspiring on the tour is seeing what artists surround themselves with to inspire and motivate them. in theresa's studio we found large, striking landscapes with striated color, as well as this artist checklist posted to a magnetic board:
- paint with your eyes
- think what things might become
- let the brush talk
- be in love with change
- find the elegance
- see the big picture
- make it a pattern
- identify the extraordinary
- don't get gauche
- keep it fresh at all costs
- take your time
blake van roekel: i saw the website for magma and was entranced. i had no idea what the studio space was like and i was really looking forward to seeing a demonstration. it's in a tiny activspace storefront (i love activespace!), but the woman at the counter was busy with another couple and so we didn't get to see a demo.
nicky falkenhayn: several metal sculpures on display in an intriguing half-finished house addition. but again, not very interactive. where does it all happen? what goes into making a large tangled metal sculpture? she was busy talking to friends, so we never found out.
jane levy campbell: jane extended us an invitation to come visit this year, after discovering our last review of her studio in 2005: "last stop! a watercolorist with a simply phenomenal house who did a hoyt arboredum series i found quite pleasing." this is all still true -- and this time her husband printed maps of their space so you knew where you were and what series of pictures you were looking at. in addition, they've since acquired a sweet blue heeler (?) puppy, who would repeatedly run around in a loop through the back yard stalking & herding you. alas, we didn't get to talk to jane nearly as long as we would have liked, which was a shame because she has such a vibrant personality and though she is blessed with plenty of it, she believes that talent isn't the most important thing in art.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
October 26, 2007
the portable art gallery
by sven at 3:19 pm
Gretchin is curating a "4x4" show at the All Oregon Calligraphers Conference this Saturday. I volunteered to construct a display for her for the art pieces.
I tend to like short-term intensive projects... Our main design meeting was on Friday night, I went shopping for materials Saturday, did carpentry on Sunday and Monday, painted on Tuesday, and put the finishing bits of hardware on Wednesday afternoon.
The main "wall" is 4'x4'; two hinged panels fold out, each 2' wide. We want to give the art -- all of which is 4"x4" -- lots of breathing room... So I assumed 8"x8" for each piece: 1" of "whitespace" above, 3" below, 2" on each side. That's room for 72 pieces of art, potentially.
The walls are made of .25" thick hardboard (AKA masonite). The hardboard has framing braces behind it made from .75"x1.5" pieces of poplar. Pine would have been cheaper -- but I wanted something of better quality, with fewer knots and less warping.
Looking at the calligraphy that's been submitted so far, some of it is on paper and some of it is on small canvases. Thus, it was important to have some shelves for the dimensional pieces. The shelves are .25"x2.5"x2' pieces of poplar, supported by .5"x.5"x2' rails, which attach to the frame using long screws and wing nuts (2 per shelf)
A word of advice: If you ever build a portable display that needs nuts and bolts, use wing nuts! They are sooo much easier to deal with when you're on site!
Everything that was .25" thick got assembled using 5/8" #16 wire nails. The frame was assembled with some massive wood screws for strength.
I used "black black" matte latex house paint, applied with a roller. Before this, I tried black gesso -- but felt that it smudged too much. The finish I got is very good... But I'm still wondering if enamel paint would have been more durable. The toxicity of that stuff is higher, though -- which made me loath to work with it.
The love, though, is really in the details.
People are going to walk up from the sides, so I made sure to paint the backsides of the fold-out panels as well as the frontsides that are going to display art. It looks like we're going to use clip-on lamps for lighting -- so I put hooks in back to help route the cords. Distracting light would come through the cracks where the hinges are -- so I added black canvas there as a shield (painted with acrylics for extra opaqueness).
Transporting the display is going to be a bit awkward no matter what -- but I've tried to make it as easy as possible. There's a shoulder strap in back -- not rope, but this crazy cotton ribbing (I don't know the proper word for it) that gets sewn into furniture. You put that strap over your shoulder -- and then there are side loops to grip onto for extra control. The front "doors" latch shut using the sort of latches you find on a trunk.
All told, I'm pretty darned happy with how this thing turned out. Can't wait to see it in action!
posted by sven | permalink | comments (2) | categories: calligraphy, exhibits & events, studio space
October 20, 2007
artist's way guided intent (october) & misc book arts
by gl. at 8:38 pm
update 10.21.07: updated the planisphere link. thanks for catching that, sven!
two (!) tuesdays ago michaelmas & i went to the "vamp & tramp" trunk show at 23 sandy, which is a stunning collection of artist's books travelling around the country. michaelmas was impressed with "true to life" by julie chen. i loved a book called "read" whose pages were initially red but would turn white with exposure to heat, so while holding it and reading the primary story, another story would be revealed beneath it.
--*--
the next day, wednesday, was the october guided intent here at the studio. the rainy season prompts us to turn inward, which is a good excuse to literally try to "find yourself" by creating a lifemap. lifemaps are a way to visually explore relationships between the people, places and events that have been important to you.
in what i think is a studio first, bridget wrote about her lifemap on her blog! i've never known anyone to write about these events on their own sites when they leave, so this delighted me. it's good to know this stuff is actually happening and i'm not just making it all up, right? it's good to share the consensual hallucination. ;) plus, it's really lovely to see more insight about a piece develop over time. in addition to lifemaps, this month birch won a metallic marker to gild the edges of autumn leaves, and everyone went home with a wish token in their pocket.
[planisphere: click to see more lifemaps!]
i was obviously hugely influenced by the most recent book i've been reading: dava sobel's the planets. i almost always love astronomy books, but this is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. i found myself marking almost every page. it's poetry. it's what i want to be when i grow up.
so i created a little planisphere here: since the format is naturally meant to mark change over time, the "constellations" represent variously "ascending" art-parts of my life: theatre, poetry, computers, calligraphy & facilitation. in the center is my "solar system" at the studio. i very much like this concept; there's a lot more to explore here!
--*--
i still want to write about the open studio/collage night we hosted a couple of nights ago, but the next studio event is another guided intent: "possibility," where we'll use a variety of fortune-telling tricks as writing prompts. we'll create poetry using coins, cards, cookies & tea leaves!
then we'll host our first 2-day workshop: not just a pretty face. we hosted this as a 1-day workshop last time and decided there was so much to cover it would be better as a 2-day workshop, so you'll have plenty of time to study the masters and create rough drafts the first day, then come back refreshed and ready to dive into your final painting the next day!
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: artist's way, exhibits & events, printing
October 12, 2007
HPLFF drinking game
by sven at 9:00 am
On the last day of the 2007 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, I said to myself: carpe diem!
I've been fantasizing about creating an HPLFF drinking game for two years now... So in the last half hour before heading out to the fest, I assembled my notes into the following document. I made something like 40 copies, and distributed them to the theater-goers.
I'm looking forward to putting together an even better version for next year.
THE H.P. LOVECRAFT FILM FESTIVAL DRINKING GAME
by Sven Bonnichsen, 2007
Lovecraftian cliches. We keep hoping for better films... But even when the films are laughably bad, we love 'em despite ourselves. Here's a game to help get you through some of the more unnameable cinema.
Warning: may cause alcohol poisoning. (In the context of the HPLFF, I recommend replacing shots with pieces of candy or popcorn.)
THE BIG GREEN GUY
someone says: Cthulhu
someone says: ftagn!
someone says: R'lyeh
a single tentacle reaches from offscreen
crazy rant mentioning names of 3+ Elder Gods
READING IS BAD FOR YOU
evil book
someone says: Necronomicon
we see hand-drawn demons inside book
character finds the Necronomicon just lying around in someone's house
character goes insane after reading book
interior of a college library
someone says: Miskatonic
HUMAN SACRIFICE
hooded robe
a circle is drawn on the ground
worshipping giant demon idol
candles
bonus: 50+ candles
woman tied up, awaiting human sacrifice
boyfriend/husband murders his girlfriend/wife
bonus: girlfriend/wife murders her boyfriend/husband
the end of the world is represented by stock footage of marching Nazis
the end of the world is represented by stock footage of an atomic bomb
the gateway to the Elder Gods' dimension is an actual door in the wall
DOCTOR, CAN YOU HELP ME?
padded cell
hypodermic needle
hypodermic needle used as weapon
a shot of blood hitting the wall
blood splatters onto someone's face
intestines
decapitation
BOO!
woman screams
vomiting in horror
lights turn off menacingly
bonus: the lights in a hospital hallway turn off
a dark silhouette runs past the the camera in the foreground
someone laughs unnaturally long
full moon
I'D LIKE TO WAKE UP NOW
creepy little kid stands staring
recurring dream repeats
time loop circles back to beginning of loop
RUNS IN THE FAMILY
protagonist had a relative purported to practice witchcraft
tunnels under old house
BUT IS IT ART?
faux scratchy black and white
voice-over for entire film
an actor who is at least 10 years too young for the part
bonus: 20+ years too young
out-of-the-box digital lightning effect
the auteur's name appears 4+ times in the credits
bonus: if the auteur's name appears 4+ times -- and is the only name in the credits
hard rock soundtrack during credits
credits say "copyright" at the end, despite use of infringed music
JOYS OF THE FESTIVAL
you see someone from the Church of Satan
have to switch crossed legs because your ass has gone numb
you've forgotten how many years you've been coming
catch a whiff of body odor from someone in the next row
the guy in the row in front of / behind you thinks he's funny
fall asleep during a film
you bump into Cthulhu in the lobby
TIME TO QUIT
"What's wrong, Elwood?"
posted by sven | permalink | comments (2) | categories: exhibits & events, writing
October 11, 2007
2007 HPLFF review
by sven at 9:00 am
So, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival happened this past weekend. Had a really good time!
It was great getting to see my teaser in a real theater. But, I've also got notes to remember for next year: When it was shown on the main screen, the aspect ratio seemed off and the text seemed overly jaggy. When I saw it again on one of the smaller screens, those problems didn't seem so bad -- but I really do need to look into how gamma works, because it was definitely a bit too dark. There was no pause afterwards, so people didn't have an opportunity to clap. (Christian was very kind, though, and leapt in with applause the second time around.)
The shorts blocks are always my priority. My top picks:
- A Short Film About John Bolton - Neil Gaiman's directorial debut, retelling "Pickman's Model"
- Frolick - Peter Pan as a cosmic serial killer (really well-acted!)
Also worthy of note:
- Calls for Cthulhu - a call-in show with a plush Cthulhu
- Of Darkness - pre-teen boys read the Necronomicon, and all the lights in the house go out (decent film -- excellent ending)
- The Pit and the Pendulum - high quality stopmo using a silicone puppet -- part of the "Ray Harryhausen Presents" series
- The Statement - "The Statement of Randolph Carter" done with period clothes and pretty decent acting
- Experiment 18 - sequel to "Experiment 17", which fellow HPLFF lifer Christian Matzke showed last year... Nazis re-animating the dead
As for the feature films, John Carpenter's The Thing and In The Mouth Of Madness were satisfying romps. I didn't get to see either Cthulhu or 9 Lives of Mara -- but Wish Baby and Nobody were exceptionally good.
I'm particularly enthusiastic about Nobody. This and Primer are the two best time travel stories I've ever seen. It was gorgeously shot, had a brilliant script, and mesmerizing actors. I really want to see this film win some awards and get broad distribution! ...Even more amazingly, this is the director's very first film -- and it was shot using a regular DV camera. He simply knew how to work with the machine; e.g. avoiding the color red, shooting with high-contrast lighting -- and other tricks I don't really understand. Watch out for director Shawn Linden -- if all goes well, he's going places!
This was the second year there's been a Lovecraftian live comedy performance. "Chuck and Dexter," those lovable cultists, had me belly-laughing. You wouldn't think it -- but Lovecraftian stand-up is really one of the best parts of the weekend!
Thanks to MPH for coming out to the show. It was also good to see Michael B. and Philip F. there. Gretchin: you may have been in England, but even so, you were always with me.
posted by sven | permalink | comments (2) | categories: exhibits & events, let sleeping gods lie
October 3, 2007
a beautiful hoax: the lovecraft filmfest acceptance letter
by sven at 10:00 am
I've been meaning to share this for a while: the acceptance letter that the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival sent me for the new Let Sleeping Gods Lie teaser.
I love this!
I think The Hoax is the highest form of fiction. Cinema comes close, creating an immersive fantasy world; but there's always this fourth wall between you and the imaginary place. With The Hoax, however, fantasy breaks out of its cage and invades reality. I suppose it's sort of like guerilla theater in that sense... The artist's dream life can errupt into being anywhere, at any moment.
An elaborate and beautifully crafted Artist's Hoax is different from "viral marketing." It's perpetrated tongue-in-cheek, with a sense of playfulness that invites the audience to play along -- to embellish, even. Viral marketing, on the other hand, is coercive. It's a con job, where shills are planted in the audience purely for the purpose of herding their marks into the slaughterhouse.
[I'm also a big fan of mixing metaphors: the much maligned linguistic mash-up. ...But that's another essay.]
Anyway: Don't forget that the H.P. Lovecraft Filmfest is happening this Friday. Hope to see you there!
posted by sven | permalink | comments (1) | categories: exhibits & events, let sleeping gods lie, writing
October 2, 2007
LSGL teaser kicks off lovecraft festival!
by sven at 6:00 pm
The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival begins this Friday night... And my new Let Sleeping Gods Lie teaser will be the very first thing shown on the big screen!
Doors at the Hollywood Theater (4122 NE Sandy Blvd) open at 6pm. There is often a long line on opening night, so I recommend arriving early or purchasing your tickets online.
My teaser is the first thing in Shorts Block 1.
Shorts Block 1 shows at 7:05pm Friday night on the Main Screen. It will be shown again at the very tail end of the festival, Sunday night at 10:20pm on the Upper Right Screen. The complete schedule is available at the HPLFF website.
Hope to see you there!
posted by sven | permalink | comments (2) | categories: exhibits & events, let sleeping gods lie
September 19, 2007
tba:07: ten tiny dances
by gl. at 3:07 pm
sven & missed going to tba's "ten tiny dances" last year, so we were determined to go this year, even though it meant going at 10:30 p.m. even so, there was a huge line around the block! i don't see much dance, so it's a treat for me and i was glad to see such a devoted fan base.
it was so packed we stood the whole time. i don't know the names of all the dances because the program they gave us was sort of obtuse and they had rearranged the order, but here are some highlights:
goldfish bowl in 9 segments: performed as interstitials between the other dances, i didn't understand what was happening until the fifth or sixth segment, but when i finally got it i wished i could go back & watch the other segments again, because it was a really sweet story.
everything all the time: this is the kind of dance sven thought he would be seeing more of: inspired by butoh, performers crusted with sand, kicking up sand, while a woman spilled a sand-colored silk trail from her voluminous dress as she receded into the crowd.
milk & honey: an impressive pyramid of vegetation which didn't leave the dancers much room to move, this read like a series of dramatic vignettes rather than a dance. (please, hold your applause until it's over, people!) still, it's hard to beat a performance where popsicles fall from the sky at the end.
dolls: a woman wrestled with 5-7 blow-up dolls wrapped around her waist. it was interesting for the first half, but there was no development or arc.
tiny dancer: energetic, kitschy, maudlin & strangely touching, this melodramatic rendition of elton john's "hold me closer" had a great diversionary tactic to slip a 6-year-old onto stage at the end.
fair weather: using a swing is a pretty good way to transcend the 4x4 platform limit. well, that and a giant wig. this was another performance that felt like a one-act play rather than a dance. there was even rhymed dialogue.
almost every dance needed setup and a major cleanup, which meant we didn't get out until 1:30 a.m. so afterwards went to the original 24-hour hotcake and steak house. it was my first time, so i was happy to discover the flapjacks & hashbrowns are superb, even if the rest of what we had was mediocre greasy spoon food.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
September 13, 2007
sunrise, sunset
by gl. at 9:44 am
last week i went to a benefit for dawn mcconnell, an artist from the portland open studios tour. the open studios tour is one of my favorite events of the year, and i remember dawn's distinctive face-pots the first year i attended.
dawn is a teacher and an artist who worked for mcmenamin's. she's suffering from stage 4 lung and liver cancer (there are only 4 stages) and her friends arranged the benefit to help her pay for hospice care.
i bought a print of one of her works and won a bid on one of her pots, which looks something like this but teal with round pinkish spots like roses on it.
if i had the money, though, i might have bought this jaw-dropping, gorgeous vanity:
or this very adorable desk set:
or this bike, which dawn painted as a raffle prize for bicylists attending the portland open studios tour. i have admired it for years, so imagine my surprise to see it at the auction, and then imagine my chagrin since i got a new bike for my birthday this year (but dawn's bike is a single-speed, so it would be great for the flatter areas of portland but not around powell butte!).
those three delectable objects are still available, as far as i know, so if you wanted one of them, you could both receive a one-of-a-kind art piece and provide comfort and support for dawn's medical bills.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
September 12, 2007
excellent birds
by gl. at 3:37 pm
sven & i went to the opening of tba:2007 last week to watch rinde eckert's "on the migration of excellent birds (flash, sorry) performed in pioneer courthouse square. sven remembered seeing rinde eckert in maine many years ago, and i was amused that mph had mentioned laurie anderson's "excellent birds" a couple of nights before.
using a chorus of ordinary voice & simple gestures, they portrayed flocks, rivers and song. it was unexpectedly delightful. bird serendipities abounded, most notably with a flock of normal pigeons flying dramatically out from the chorus as they lifted their voices to sing "amen."
i wanted to write about it because i've seen a lot of mixed reaction, in part because it was intended to be for a larger chorus. but the idea and the reality of it just tickles me. i can sympathize with people who thought this was a bit of an anticlimatic way to end the opening ceremony (as it was both beginning and end with no context about TBA at all), but for a group that usually advertises the annual event where the swifts fly into the big elementary school chimney, it certainly seemed appropriate.
[the umbrella is part of the performance]
this is a really terrible picture: i didn't even think to try for one until it was almost over. but hilary pfeifer has an excellent post with video on her site.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
September 5, 2007
numerology
by gl. at 12:34 pm
last sunday the portland society for calligraphy was asked to write numbers on the participants of the first portland triathlon, which meant we had to be there at dark o'clock. many triathletes said they were really grateful to have beautiful numbers to wear for the next few days: the number they wear is like a badge of honor, but usually they get something scrawled with a sharpie. even the athletes who were wearing full-length body suits wanted numbers!
[smiling in the dark: click to see the other pix from this event]
and even more impressive is that lorinda moholt wrote a poem afterwards, while the rest of us had gone back to bed or were drowning in coffee!
Triathlete Numbers
(more fun than vellum)
5:30 am, dark, no coffee
(do they ever eat donuts),
tall, short, thin, almost-thin
hairy and smooth, they stop
for us to write numbers on
strong, tense bodies.544, 837, 20l, 683, 219;
on thigh below the shorts line,
then upper arm, always the left
side, age on calf. Calm and
cheerful or focused and silent,
they leave our stations with
right sides anonymous.20-something, 40-plus, 68,
calligraphers in the still
dark morning tell each
competitor "I only write
winning numbers." Some
say thanks, then walk to
the cold Willamette.
as alesia says, vellum "is old-school calligraphy material: goat-, sheep - or calf-skin to write on. AKA unoccupied skin, unlike what we did this morning!"
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (1) | categories: calligraphy, exhibits & events, writing
September 1, 2007
monster month challenge
by sven at 8:00 am
Woo-hoo! I've just gotten my first paid illustration contract!
My employer is noted cryptozoologist, Professor Ichbonnsen (no relation). He's hired me to do illustrations for his forthcoming book, "Lifeforms Heretofore Unknown by Science: New discoveries from the world's most renowned monster hunter."
I'm actually kinda baffled as to how he found me, given that I've never really done illustration work before. It's possible that he found Scarlet Letters by googling his own name -- after all, I did mention (1, 2) his work during last year's monster month.
It's also possible, though, that he's mistaken shots from Let Sleeping Gods Lie for actual documentary footage... And thus thinks that I'm a fellow crypto-enthusiast??
Anyway, the Professor -- he's never mentioned a proper first name (hm...) -- has asked me to do illustrations of 31 creatures, to be delivered one-a-day over the course of October. Doing that many is a bit of a challenge, so I've already started work on some sketches and studies. I plan to use this as an opportunity to develop my skills in painting with acrylics; that's how I'm hoping to do all the final pieces.
Ichbonnsen, frankly, seems rather eccentric. I confess, based on the adventure stories he's told me so far, part of me's wondering if he's flat out delusional! But, money is money...
(The "Dark Strider," the "Noble Shellkaye," the "Trick Squilligoss," the "Colossal Ubertuber," the "King Shielyana"... What the heck are these things, anyway??)
an open invitation
I'd like to invite all my artist friends to join in the fun. I'd love it if you'd do up some monster sketches of your own for October and post them on your blogs. ...BUT -- and here's the trick! -- be sure to make them illustrations of purely imaginary creatures!
See, I want to play a little game and test the good Professor -- to see whether he's really the World-Class Monster-Hunter that he claims to be -- or if, rather, he's a Certifiable Loony!
When I point him to the pictures on your blogs, will he believe that the intentionally made-up creatures are also "new discoveries, heretofore unknown by science?" ...Or will he immediately see through the ruse?
Help me discover the truth!
P.S. I want to give everyone adequate time to start thinking about this. But please DON'T post any of your pictures until October 1st! That's when I'll start posting my own pictures, one-a-day -- and we don't want to tip our hand to the Prof, OK?
posted by sven | permalink | comments (5) | categories: bestiary, exhibits & events, painting
August 17, 2007
portland zine symposium
by gl. at 10:17 pm
last weekend i attended the portland zine symposium, primarily because the amazing anna magruder helped organize it this year (yes, she of the fabulous rebel rabbit craft fair). don't get me wrong: i love that portland has such a strong zine culture and i ordinarily like to support it and the stumptown comics fest (happening next month), but it was easier for me to make the time to go since someone i knew & wanted to support would be there.
also, she was facilitating a mask workshop! i've been responsible for a couple of those, so i was happy to get the chance to make a mask without facilitating it, and i wanted to make sure anna had warm bodies in the classroom. :) she brought some amazing stuff and was an excellent & gracious hostess.
[hard to tell, but the mask is actually a dark blue, not black]
of course, i also picked up several zines & other assorted bits:
typecritters: american typewriter
ornamental icons made from font alphabets, prettily bound.3 max ernst postcards
zinester's guide to portland (4th edition)
if you like bikes, zines, and portland, you'll like this guide.a sorry book: apologies, admissions, confessions, secrets, wrong-doings & regrets (vols 1&2)
this is like a zine mix of "found" & "post secret" but for apologies. it definitely tickles me.long tail kitty
an unexpected gem. i LOVE long-tail kitty & everything he loves!excerpt from city of roses
i wish i had understood what "city of roses" was about before i walked away from the table. when i got home with the free excerpt, i discovered it was an urban fantasy set in portland, and if i had known that i would have bought the whole series right then.eat a sandwich
i was delighted to discover this fat acceptance table with signs from new seasons describing the zines. i bought "eat a sandwich" in part because she was very honest & vulnerable in describing how embarassing & difficult it was for her to write it.the life & times of baby otto zeplin (the fake story of a real boy as told by bt livermore)
i've been following this series online and it delighted me to see a beautifully bound version of volume 1 for sale. with a sweetly odd premise and a retro style, baby otto zeplin has definitely wedged his way into my heart.jane, free to choose, reclaiming our ancient wisdom, beginner's guide to responsible sexuality
several political books. i was really disappointed when i found jane at the original publisher right after having purchased a photocopied version at microcosm publishing. i dropped the photocopy off at the denver library zine collection box.two cloth patches
one with an anatomical heart on it and one with a heart symbol that says "revolution begins here."
in other news, i'm recovering from monday's fatal hard drive crash. it's terrible timing because i need to be preparing for september classes and especially artist's way promotion, but this means i just lost a week. i got celeste back last night with a new drive in her, but am now going through the tedious restore process. we keep weekly backups so i'm not missing too much, but i am really going to miss the answers i was in the middle of writing for diane's diy alert interview.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (2) | categories: exhibits & events
August 6, 2007
100th monkey/write around portland book swap
by gl. at 10:13 pm
on sunday i volunteered at the 100th monkey/write around portland book swap.
i was immediately put in charge of running a table for making accordian books. bookmaking is one of the things I really love & appreciate but am quite bad at. i know that one of the things that makes for a successful bookbinding experience for people who don't have any experience or a short window of time is to precut covers (especially when you only have one cutter), and that's the thing I'm bad at. i tried not to panic, but if I had known this was going to be my task i would have brushed up on it a little first!
a few people visited throughout the event, but 10 minutes before my shift was up, 5 people wanted to make a book at once. :) fortunately, by that time i had done several of my own books and could explain the process pretty well.
[my little accordian books]
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (1) | categories: exhibits & events
August 1, 2007
rebel rabbit yell: more, more, more!
by gl. at 11:59 pm
only computer problems have kept me from writing about the rebel rabbit craft fair sooner! big kudos to anna, a former artist's way client, who organized it. as far as i could tell, it was a smashing success! great atmosphere, a creative raffle for a good cause, and excellent vendors.
i had planned to also go to the handmade bazaar & the sunday art mart, which were at the same day & time, but i spent & saw plenty at the rebel rabbit. :) i got cards, jewelry & gifts. i am thrilled to finally own a locket anna hand-painted, and i've always wanted a bracelet made out of typewriter keys!
[rebel rabbit goods: click for a larger image]
there were lots of great vendors, so what i got reflects only a few of the potential crafts i could have indulged in:
anna magruder: a hand-painted locket (fortune cookie on one side, a hand on the other), a rebel rabbit pin, a delicious krispy treat & a bracelet her husband made out of a bicycle spoke (which i have already bent into a less graceful shape).
cute girl creations: a bracelet i can't say any more about in case someone is reading the blog.
flapper girl: a cupcake pincushion! i don't even sew, but it was too cute not to get... for someone...
sarah landwehr: i loved almost everything sarah made, and managed considerable restraint by walking away with just a few cards and earrings made from vintage buttons. she teaches art to middleschoolers.
wacky women r fun: a bracelet made of typewriter keys. i picked one which had a fun mix of colors & shapes, and she popped another key on for me at the last minute so it would fit better.
sweet bonny: a couple of cards.
ladymade: tiny gifts for young neices. mary ann naylor runs church of girl, which has a similar mission to scarlet star studios: to support people making art!
icarus creations: several cards featuring portland bridges. i love portland bridges!
also, it turned out the rebel rabbit craft fair was a great place to meet people. i'm usually supershy at craft events, but liz recognized me from one of linda's events, and mary ann anylor recognized my voice from the lov.li fair! but best of all was the woman who remembered sven's let sleeping gods lie trailer at the hp lovecraft film festival 2 years ago and remembered the shirts we wore to promote it! she said she was looking forward to the full film this year and i told her we were, too. :) *knock wood*
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (0) | categories: exhibits & events
July 22, 2007
good things come in threes
by gl. at 11:59 pm
three art events this weekend:
- gadzooks! amazing books by northwest artists
shu-ju was exhibiting several pieces at gadzooks; the reception was yesterday and it was a good excuse to visit the maryhill museum w/ michaelmas, todd & kristen. it's a long journey there & back again, but we were rewarded by beautiful books (though they were, alas, behind glass).
in addition to shu-ju's work, i was impressed by douglas schafer's delicate & bold venerius didymus, mar gorman's intricate and compelling songs my mother taught me and diane jacobs' socially astute pair of woven portraits, ann and veda.
muse talk
today i picked up my pieces from fat straw, which means the show is officially over. can't beat a piña colada fat straw smoothie, though. :)contemporary craft museum block party
big day in the north park blocks today: the contemporary craft museum hosted a block party for its grand opening, as well as for the four other galleries who are also sharing that block (two of which have moved from other locations: when i saw grace's work, i suddenly realized i was at the augen!).
all the cool kids were there, including very busy craft tables heroically hosted by diy lounge (ATCs w/ melissa woolsey), church of craft (felt bracelets w/ diane gilleand) and pdx super crafty (matchbox shrines w/ susan stars). i donated some stuff to diane earlier in the week, but i wasn't sure i'd get to go to the event because a friend is visiting from colorado. (it turns out she was in ashland this weekend, which mean i could go do art stuff instead!).
random: i wonder if the CCM "lab" is available for anyone to use. and a funny story: i heard a woman ask her friend, "is antique better than retro now?" the friend said, "no....!"
i had an epiphany while checking out the ccm, though: there's a type of art snobbery that criticizes museum gift shops, implying that only "tourists" visit the gift shop because they can't possibly understand the actual art in the museum. but after 20 minutes of being repeatedly reminded that "Touching Harms The Art," i was thrilled to get to the gift shop so i could touch & hold the bowls, jewelry, clocks, chairs and art i was forbidden to get too close to in the actual museum. that's why gift shops are so popular, because they allows you to physically engage with art in a way that's not possible with most museums & art shows.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (5) | categories: exhibits & events
July 9, 2007
recent shows
by gl. at 4:19 pm
last week was a busy art week: i saw 6 shows in 3 days! these are all up through the end of the month:
linda womack: "above and beyond"
linda has a solo show at city hall: i've seen much of her work before, but it's always great to see it in a new context and see some finished works i had previously seen in a transitional stage. it was also lovely to see the titles: i think titles are really invaluable to focus & interpret art: it helps make the art meaningful to the viewer. linda has a great post about the difference in her studio walls between one day & the next!alesia zorn: "when calligraphy meets mixed media"
alesia has a show at berbati's pan. she does such beautiful work (often with shiny!) and i was completely smitten w/ "solstice," a piece she created during denis brown's gilding workshop. berbati's pan is disarmingly close to voodoo doughnut, so i had to stop & get an apple fritter afterwards.sven bonnichsen: "men's show"
sven showed "pajama dreamer" at 100th monkey. we were surprised to see alex, amelia & miles there! i was disappointed sven's awesome artist statement wasn't posted, though several others were. in addition to sven's work, i also enjoyed troy john mccray's iceland photos, but we must have missed the "artisan beer."christine tandy: "starscapes"
with a name likes "starscapes," of course i had to go see this show! christine loves space, clouds & stargazer lillies, and so do i. :) serena barton hosted this show, which was small but sweet. this was the first time serena had been introduced to trixie!shu-ju wang: "sense & sensuality"
i went to see shu-ju's book "calypso" because she had managed to make gocco ink out of powdered eye shadow! but the whole show was simply stunning. and 23 sandy was considerate enough to provide gloves so we could handle the books, because "art books beg to be fondled."
some of my favorites included (hooray! the entire catalog is online!):
- nicole dextras: myths (which included aphrodite, atlas, narcissus, icarus, persephone, poseidon, zeus, & the muses)
- malina gupta: the story of o (i love letters, but i also loved how the translucence actually helps tell the 'story')
- rutherford witthus: 3 kisses (which is striking in its contrast between almost-empty pages and packed visual pages)
- sue collard: camera obscura (it looks twenty times better in person than the photo)
- pamela paulsurd: touchstones (it's almost ridiculous how appealing these are!)
also, i got a chance to meet laura russell, who is enthusiastic, smart, talented & kind. 23 sandy is still a newish gallery, but she has some plans for her studio space that delight me -- and you can even rent it yourself!
- darlene schaper: "inside out"
darlene curated a show for the opening of Hands on Medicine. a combination of paint, digital compositions & at least one sculpture, elayna alexandera flodin's art is uniquely suited for a doctor's office, since it explores her own health and medical issues. darlene also has some of her own playful pieces as a permanent part of the children's room.
posted by gl. | permalink | comments (1) | categories: exhibits & events
July 6, 2007
"pajama dreamer" at 100th monkey studio
by sven at 9:15 pm
My 3D collage "pajama dreamer" is hanging in a gallery this month... It was selected for inclusion in the 100th Monkey Studio's "First Annual Men's Show."
The show opened tonight, and runs until July 31st. If you want to check it out, 100th Monkey is at 110 SE 16th Ave @ Ankeny.
Huge thanks to Gretchin, who suggested that I submit, and then managed communication with 100th Monkey for me. I am extremely grateful for this help! Consumed as I am with getting Let Sleeping Gods Lie done, I'd never have considered submitting to a show right now -- were it not for Gretchin's generous offer to take care of the details. Thank you!!
posted by sven | permalink | comments (3) | categories: exhibits & events, sculpture
July 2, 2007
animated installations at PLATFORM
by sven at 3:30 pm
I confess, when I heard that the PLATFORM animation festival was going to include animated installations, I felt dubious. I imagined it would just be films being projected onto gallery walls, nothing special. Boy, was I in for a surprise! The installation show turned out to be the most mind-blowing aspect of the entire fest!
Thursday night, as Competition Program 5 was ending, the "voice of god" announced that we should follow the marching band outside to the Walking Tour of Animated Installations. ...And as we streamed out of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, there it was: the March Fourth marching band, already playing their raucous tunes. A joyous crowd followed the stiltwalkers, drums, and brass for at least 10-15 blocks. What a brilliant way to help lead a crowd from point A to point B!
As we arrived at the PNCA (the Pacific Northwest College of Art), Pika Pika started up their performance. What this group does is live animation...
A camera takes a photo of the performers using about a 30 second exposure. The performers draw shapes in the air using multi-colored flashlights. The lights' trails show up as glowing lines on the film. After taking a series of maybe 30 still frames like this, they use a computer to play back the images they've created, thus making an animation.
The animation is very rough, but personally I found it stunning. When a film of Pika Pika's animation showed earlier, during one of the competition programs, the phrase that went through my mind was "paralyzing beauty." It literally took my breath away.
When I went into the PNCA building, the first installation that grabbed me was "Copenhagen Cycles." There were three large spinning disks with paper cut-outs attached to them being filmed by video cameras. The principle is similar to that of a zoetrope -- but the images were actually three-dimensional, and the animation was accomplished by matching the disk's rpm to the camera's fps.
When I discovered the spinning disks, I could only see the animation by looking into the little 2" square viewscreens of the video cameras. I thought this was really cool... Then I walked around the partitioning wall and discovered that the images were actually being projected onto three ten-foot-tall screens! Wow!
The animation titled "Balance" was being projected on a 2-story-tall wall nearby. It was a fairly static piece... It created the illusion of 38 acrobats standing in a human pyramid. The detail that really made this piece work for me was that the uppermost acrobats appeared to be holding onto the railing of the second story balcony in order to keep their balance. A pretty amusing illusion, I thought.
"Dream of Lucidly Living" was a performance art piece by Miwa Matreyek, a student from Cal Arts. Animated images were projected onto a flat screen -- both from in front and from behind. Matreyek would sometimes walk behind the screen, and her silhouette would become incorporated in the images. For instance, her shadow seemed to pet an animated cat; and, at another point, a beating heart was projected onto her shadow's chest -- so it was as if we were seeing an X-ray. At other points, she was in front of the screen arranging white boxes, which were transformed into skyscrapers by front-projection.
The music for "Dream of Lucidly Living" was by a band which Matreyek is a part of; she herself was the singer in the recording.
The most stunning installation of all was "No Never Alone" by Gregory Barsamian. As you entered a darkened room, you saw before you a living sculpture.
It was a seven-foot-tall spherical cage. In the center of the cage was a life-sized human figure, motionless, covered by a shroud. Around the figure, there were two rings of hands. The upper ring was (I'd guess) 24 pairs of hands, each crumpling and uncrumpling eye charts. A lower ring of 48 hands was opening and closing books which showed pictures of hands clapping. At the top of the cage, carrots swung gently back and fourth.
Everyone who walked into the room was transfixed. It was hypnotic, and you just stood there wondering how this living sculpture could possibly exist...
The trick: The spherical cage was actually rotating at about 15 miles per hour. A strobe light was flashing at the precise rhythm required to make the sets of hands seem to exist in stationary positions. I overheard someone refer to this as a "strobascope." Fantastic!
...
In all, there were 18 installations in the show. By necessity, of course, I'm only sharing my favorites. I think one more is worth mentioning, though.
During the installation show, there was a car that was driving around the neighborhood. As it was in motion, it was projecting images of a running tiger onto the sides of the buildings it passed -- creating the illusion of a tiger actually running through the neighborhood. Sadly, I never actually got to see this one in person.
posted by sven | permalink | comments (4) | categories: exhibits & events, movies
impressions from the PLATFORM festival
by sven at 8:00 am
After going to my last screening on Saturday, I walked out into the Performing Arts Center lobby. I just stood there for a moment and looked around the room.
There was Henry Selick having a conversation with Peter Lord. Behind them was Joan Gratz talking with some friends. "Spike," from the Spike & Mike festival, walked by. And just outside I could see Will Vinton sitting at a table.
That moment was emblematic of the festival for me.
What films did I go see at the festival?
- all seven of the primary Competition Programs (which included the "TV for Children" and "Adults Only" blocks)
- two Student Showcase programs
- the Internet Competition - short films that were made for the internet
- the two "Best of Pictoplasma" programs
- "World Animation for Kids"
- "Films By Kids For Kids"
- Tekkon Kinkreet - a gorgeous feature-length anime
- "Creature Comforts" - an unaired episode from the cancelled U.S. version
- "Sita Sings the Blues" - a work-in-progress by Nina Paley
- "Hey, Check Out My Pes Collection" - a Pes retrospective
- "Portland Animation Showcase" - films by Portlanders
- the last 20 minutes of "Princess Iron Fan"
- one of the two Open Screenings (the one that my films were in!)
I prioritized going to screenings of films rather than going to presentations. Nonetheless, I also made it to the following presentations:
- "Attack Of The Blog: Meet The Bloggers" - a panel discussion
- "Aardman Animation: Genesis to Revelations" - by David Sproxton
- "Aardman: Soft Clay, Hard Work, & Lucky Breaks" - by Peter Lord
- "An Afternoon With Henry Selick"
Profoundly exhausting!
The first showing of the day was often at 9:30am, so I'd be getting up at 7:30 in order to eat, shower, drive across town, and find parking. The last showing would often run til 1:00am -- so by the time I'd driven