another few feet...

I worked today at Governor French Academy drawing in seed during the school's open hours. I only completed about half of the form because Sarah, the gallery director, still needed the room to move a few lights. It was a well-spent afternoon, spent overhearing the ill kids who were waiting to be picked up, the bustle of school activity, and talking to a few students about what I was doing. I will return on Thursday to drop off goodies and finish up the drawing.


The Main Street of Belleville is adorable. One of the parents I chatted with said the big push to revitalize it came about 5 years ago. It is very pedestrian friendly. I want to return to browse when I have a good chunk of time. It was too gray today to take lots of photos, but here's an image of my dinner and the view out the Oregon Trail Roasting Co. window. The other is the promised image of the gentleman's WC wallpaper.

Wallpaper & Install Weekend

Last Friday, I installed a 16' segment of Re:place for the SCC Faculty Show 2010 in the Fine Arts Building on campus. Re:place is a rehanging of the wallpaper and valance I removed when I moved into my St. Louis home (here's shots from my McHenry County College install).
Today, after I ate half my weight in blueberry pancakes at Oregon Trail Roasting Co., I began a small birdseed drawing as part of Art after Ours, a group show of Pulitzer F of A employees at Governor French Academy Gallery. The Belleville, IL space has some gorgeous wallpaper (especially in the gentleman's restroom) and wooden paneling, tin ceiling tiles, ceiling medallions and chandeliers with large store-front windows. The floor is an odd plank formation which makes seed drawing more difficult that anything I've worked on before. I ended up leaving in early afternoon to digest the space a bit more before I head back to install on Tuesday and possibly Thursday to expand it out to nine feet. The opening for Art After Ours is this coming Friday evening, opening hours still TBA.

I'll have to post some images of the gentleman's restroom wallpaper pattern and more of the Main Street. I also plan to stop by Schmidt Art Center while in the area on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday.

A productive Sunday- Part II Day 4

I spent this afternoon and evening hard at work, adding a scalloped edge to the stair doily and working clear into the left hand corner. My soundtrack consisted, in part, of Richard Buckner's "The Hill", Archers of Loaf, Nina Simone, Springsteen's "Nebraska", REO Speedwagon, and finally an Oldies radio station once I couldn't seem to find a disc that wasn't skipping on my favorite songs. 'Ye Olde Boom Box' has seen better days.

a little help from my friends...

Just a few people to note for making my night/day a bit better after the school violence tangent, plane delay, & sore throated evening...Heidi for the airport rescue,



Joe Turner for finally getting a web presence for sharing some artworks (and some mighty fine ones at that- see Baghead above), and Michele Bosak for being a marketing guru & Jane-of-all-trades martha stewart-esque installer taking advantage of Art Prize. Wonderful people who make me want to get down to business and make something with meaning.

The New Duck-and-Cover

On a more depressing note than the previous entry, I got a text message from the college about the Test broadcast for "simulated violent act by an armed intruder"while waiting for my flight home. Even knowing that the message was a test- I was sick to my stomach. After being on campus during the NIU tragedy (which I still haven't really processed), I don't know if I would have handled the simulation very well. I applaud the efforts of administrations across the country to try to make schools safe, but it seems like the spector of student or gunman violence on campus is encouraged by advertising it. It seems like the next paradigm to unite people in fear. Nuclear holocaust is still on the table, but more people are worried under the surface about an unstable person with a loaded gun in a public place. Sweeping statements (which are offensive to discriminating audiences) follow, I apologize in advance. I can not process the info, but I am trying to get a handle on it in broad sweeps. Is it a creative outlet for those who have no sense of community or identity? Considering the proliferation of such shows as "Ultimate warrior" and nearly any American depiction of hero violence, is this the contemporary way of getting notoriety without talent/wealth/hard work? Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point discussed the spread of teenage suicide in the South Pacific islands of Micronesia as being viral. Are we seeing the same thing occur here with school violence? ---I was conducting research on violence in my studio practice but I just couldn't detach myself or deal with the info after the shooting at NIU. I only got a few chapters in to Philip Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect before I had to stop.



The experience did however bring me a fresh reason for dedicating my life to art--- the only thing that seemed to heal was artwork. Two things made me feel better during the numb weeks afterward: spending time in Ayomi Yoshida's Yedoensis installation (click on photo gallery at the top of the blog for some better views than my photo) at the NIU Art Museum and hearing former poet laureate Ted Kooser reading his Valentine poems on public radio. (Not only were the poems simple and precise, I heard him read during my residency at the KHN Center for the Arts). Those artworks made sense during a time when not much else did.

Bonfire and bon voyage

I'm happy I came early to the opening tonight and thank those who came out in support to check out the show. I feel really good about our move to St. Louis--- it's hard to beat interesting conversations, being part of an art show you can be proud of, and roasting a late late dinner over a bonfire. I've made more art in the past few months than the past few years. Teaching has felt rewarding. Off to see the new nephew... sorry no pictures of the new dress, I left my camera in the trunk. Plenty of cameras were around, so I'll link to those images as they arrive.

Installing like the wind...

The show is nearly ready for the public. Luckily, my part is complete. I've got a doily creeping under Erin Cork's couch and will have better documentation of the work under the influence of audience participation. After two days of sliding around seed on the beautiful floors- with special thanks to the meticulous hands of surprise volunteer assistant Christine on Tuesday evening- I had enough time to purchase a new dress for the occasion. I found my black lace dress (plan A- the one I purchased to wear for Barbara Cole Peter's "Little Black Dress" vintage clothing show when directing) is torn and bagging up on the top. Not a great look--- so I brought along my trusty shopping lucky charm Heidi and found shoes AND a dress (fitting the vague requirements I was sorta kinda hoping for) for a price of a "maybe" dress. I am looking forward to the opening 6-10.

Here's some install action shots from Tuesday... (Erin fluffing the couch, and the slow growth of the doily).

Looking forward to "Citizenship"

When I checked my Google analytics this morning, I found most visitors were looking at my cv--- and it needed some updating. A complete site overhaul may be in the near future. In the updating process- I found the image on the left, posted by the talented Ms. Annie Heckman from the "For A Limited Time Only" install this past March. Ahh, lots of good memories.

As the deadline approaches for the install of "Material Studies", the anticipation of seeing the work together with some other like-minded artists builds. This past year has been a great one for shows, and I am interested in seeing the conversation of my work with Erin K. Cork, Courtney Henson, Christine A. Holtz, Jessica May, and Alicia Pigg.

Christine is the curator and friend with a similar approach to material but much more humor inserted in to the works. My tongue in cheek approach can sometimes go over as well as my facetious comments that go unnoticed as humor. On our second meeting, we discovered both had created artwork from cigarettes; Her's a pacifier, mine a stole.

Being included as part of Innovations 8 has opened my eyes to the benefits of living in a larger city. The locals have cultivated a rich legacy and vibrant community of textiles and fiber art(ist)s in the region.

Good Citizen has put on several strong shows, including Deborah McClary (some of my favorite painting I have seen since no longer including it as part of my studio practice). The space is both immaculate and full of character with a friendly owner to boot, so you feel comfortable staying to enjoy.

I am looking forward to creeping under Erin Cork's couch... with a birdseed drawing.