Happy Halloween!

I'm going over to Boys Town for the annual costume parade on Halsted today.  Some people come up with the most creative and hilarious costumes.  I plan on bringing my pet horse for the day.  He got into the Halloween spirit too.

Figure Prints

For the first time I am selling archival giclee prints of my figure painting series on maple.  They are 8x10 inches and come signed, dated, and numbered in an edition of 200.  You can purchase them on my Art Etsy site here.

18 Weeks

Woody Guthrie likes to use my bump as a pillow.

Dailies

September 30, 2010,
4x6 inches
water colors, ink and graphite on Strathmore water color paper

From my new project

My Mind is Filled with Silvery Stars

I've been listening to a lot of Wilco on our new record player and Radio Cure is sounding oh so good lately.

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong with me
My mind is filled with silvery stars
Honey, kisses, clouds of fog
Shoulders shrugging off

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong wit h me
My mind is filled with radio cures
Electronic surgical words

Picking apples for kings and queens of things I have never seen
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong with me
My mind is filled with silvery stars
Honey, kisses, clouds of fog

Picking apples for the kings and queens of things I've never seen
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable
Oh, distance the way of making love understandable
Oh, distance the way of making love understandable

Cheer up honey, I hope you can...

*image from here here

Dailies

September 29, 2010,
4x6 inches
water colors, ink and thread on Strathmore water color paper

From my new project

Summerteeth

  The winds were high.  The light was perfect.  A few photos from yesterday.

Daily Art: September 28, 2010

 

September 29, 2010,
4x6 inches
graphite, ink and thread on Strathmore water color paper

From my new project

Dailies: September 27, 2010

 

Since I found out I was pregnant I have been thinking a lot about how my creativity will be affected when I become a new mom.  It was affected sooner than I thought it would when I went through a total block my first trimester (I think I was too tired all the time to create) so I started trying to think of projects I could do that would take only a little bit of time every day.  When I was in London I saw the work of Frederic Bruly Bouabre at the Tate Modern and made up my mind right there that I wanted to do a project like his.  In the 1970's he started drawing on 4x6 pieces of paper using pen and crayons.  The museum displayed tons of these little drawings all together.  So I decided to do my own version and make (semi) daily drawings of my thoughts and feelings.  I told myself it was alright if I skipped days, because I did not want it to turn into a chore.  It's been very rewarding so far, and I can envision myself making a ten minute drawing with my little baby in my lap versus chipping away at a huge painting or drawing every day. 

I'm working on Strathmore heavy weight cold press water color paper, using watercolor, markers, inks and occasionally embroidering into the paper (my favorite!)  Above are my first 16 pieces which I plan on showing each day.  Below is the first one in the series, dated September 27, 2010.  It was hard in the beginning to let go and just draw without worrying too much about what the final piece looked like.  Process, not product is what I keep telling myself.

Tuesday Poetry Post- "Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?" by Ron Koertge

 
“Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?"

Ron Koertge

Give up sitting dutifully at your desk. Leave
your house or apartment. Go out into the world.
It's all right to carry a notebook but a cheap
one is best, with pages the color of weak tea
and on the front a kitten or a space ship.
Avoid any enclosed space where more than
three people are wearing turtlenecks. Beware
any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks
across the muffled tennis courts.
Not surprisingly, libraries are a good place to write.
And the perfect place in a library is near an aisle
where a child a year or two old is playing as his
mother browses the ranks of the dead.
Often he will pull books from the bottom shelf.
The title, the author's name, the brooding photo
on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray
book on brown, he builds a tower. And the higher
it gets, the wider he grins.
You who asked for advice, listen: When the tower
falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody
in the world frowns and says, "Shhhh."
Then start again.

*image from here

Vosges Haut Chocolate

I am participating in an event this Thursday evening at the Vosges Haut Chocolate Boutique in Lincoln Park that I am super excited about.  I'll be selling my handmade accessories and my "Make Your Own Charm" buffet will be ready to go as well.  Have you guys ever tried their chocolates?  They are so  unique and special and they sell creative combinations such as chocolate mixed with bacon, curry, wasabi, and violets.  (Not all together of course!)
Here is more info about the event:

Masque of Mischief: An Evening of Deviant Delicacies
Thursday, October 28th, 6-8pm
Lincoln Park Boutique, 951 W. Armitage
Cost of Event: $30 per person
RSVP: Call 773.296.9866 or email Raquel@vosgeschocolate.com

Celebrate Halloween, Vosges Haut-Chocolat style with gypsy hostesses, costumes, chocolate pairings and a bohemian masquerade vibe. You’ll find tricks and treats in each corner of our chocolate lair. Guests are encouraged to wear costumes and compete in a costume contest in which the winner will be awarded a gift certificate for a private chocolate and wine pairing. Mingle and visit each spooky tasting station to indulge in libations paired with their chocolate mates. Get a reading from our tarot card reader (if you dare) and peruse and shop for hand-made treats from the talented Michelle Hartney as well as Heart Felt by Aviva. Before guests leave, they will have a chance to win chocolate goodies in our raffle. As always, everyone receives a VIP 10% discount on all Vosges Haut-Chocolate purchases during the event.

Better Day

Feeling a little better today.  Running has helped me feel better, as did my first prenatal yoga class.  So did this green chilie burrito I made to take me back to Tia Sophia's in Santa Fe.  These little doggies made me smile too.  (I'm dog sitting Ethyl, my parent's sweet pooch.)  These lovely flowers D got me are making the room pretty.  Lavender oil is reminding me to breathe deep.  I made some art about all that is going on, and that didn't hurt either.   
 

Bodies in Urban Spaces

I love this.   (via the always interesting Cup of Jo)

Pumpkin Bellies

Seventeen weeks.

So Emotional

I've been an emotional mess the past week.  Everyone is telling me, oh it's just the pregnancy hormones, and I'm sure that's a big part of it, but one huge thing that has not been helping lately is a certain situation with my alma mater that is throwing me off my rocker.  I always knew I wanted to be done with school before I had kids (or got pregnant).  I got my masters two years ago from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in art therapy.  It was a big mistake.  The Art Institute has an incredible reputation which it just does not deserve on so many levels.  I could go on and on about that, but the main problem is I find myself four and a half months pregnant and back in school because The School of the Art Institute of Chicago royally f***ed up my education.  (Even though for legal reasons they won't fess up)   Boils down to this.  My entire graduating class got screwed and as it turns out our school did NOT prepare us to sit for the licensing exams they said we would be prepared to sit for.  So, I am back at school, taking 6 remote courses because of their big mess up, and I find at four and a half months pregnant that this was the last thing I wanted and did not plan for it and I am not dealing with this situation so beautifully.  I'm angry and bitter that I have to spend my weekends and free time reading chapter after chapter, article after article, studying and taking tests because my school messed up.  I spent the better part of yesterday crying (thanks for listening Stacy) because I just can't deal.  I know people are in waaaay worse situations.  I know I am being a baby.  I know I'm wasting time and need to just get over it and finish these classes before the baby comes, and I will, but my brain just isn't clicking the right way lately.  I know my limits, and always knew I couldn't handle being in school while pregnant or with kids (I have a HUGE amount of respect for women who can do this!!) and I am so irritated that someone messed up my plans.  Thanks a lot SAIC.
Ok, so I need to stop my whining.  Put things in perspective.  No more ranting.  Who has time for it?  I need to be studying.


*image from here

EmersonMade

 

I love the company EmersonMade.  They have great products, perfect photographs, pretty packaging and their story is so cool. (They left NYC for a farm in New England equip with ducks and hens!)



I got the above shirt earlier this year and love it and I'm dying for these jeans, but I know they would no longer accommodate my growing belly.

Galleries and Green Chilies

We've been in Santa Fe since Friday to celebrate D's mom's birthday.  I love that city.  The air smells so good and the sky is so gorgeous and it's loaded with galleries and green chilies.  Does it get any better than that??
The last time I was there I had the most incredible breakfast burrito I have  ever had.  I loved it so much I took a video of the burrito.  Yes, it was that good.  So our first stop on Saturday morning was Tia Sophia's for my beautiful burrito with green chillies and it was pure heaven.
We drove about an hour north to Abiquiu to visit the home of Georgia O'Keefe which was so worth the ride.  My favorite part was seeing stacks and stacks of journals where she kept records of what she made.  She was quite prolific.
We had amazing meals, mostly all consisting of green chilies, celebrated with family, visited the most relaxing place in the world (10,000 Waves), sipped away at the Teahouse on Canyon Road and saw some beautiful art.

Here I am at 16 weeks!


 

Slow down

I'm glad yesterday is over.  I had been having visions of car wrecks and nightmares all week, and then while I was on the balcony about to take photos of some necklaces in the sunlight, I heard a horrible crash and saw this awful car wreck.  Woody and I were standing in the very spot on the sidewalk where the gray car crashed just 30 minutes before. Same spot.  I'm tired of people driving while texting/talking on cell phones/in too much of a rush.  I've seen way too many car wrecks outside my window.  I know accidents happen, but I also know a lot are preventable.  This crash totally derailed me and I had to stop what I was doing and literally lie down for two hours and I cried and cried.  I was so upset.  I talked to D and he calmed me down.   It made me think about my friend Julie who was killed in a car wreck last year.  It made me scared to go back outside on the dangerous streets.  It made me worry about my family.  But I didn't let it control me, I went for a run a couple hours later (after vowing to only run on treadmills, which I despise), I went to the crash site (because just two hours before I vowed to never walk at that spot again) because I need to not let these things effect me the way they do.  When they get in the way of real life, that's a problem.
Today is a new day. 

   

Underlined: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

I first read Sylvia Plath's journals five years ago and I remember feeling lucky to have her raw words which so articulately expressed her mental anguish and doubts that they seemed too well thought out to have possibly come from a journal.  I felt less alone with my similar thoughts, and my heart ached for her suffering and the fact that she did not have someone else's words to comfort her during her struggle with depression.  I think of that whenever I cringe at the thought of a person's diary being published after her death.  I know it must have been hard for her family, especially her two kids, to have their mother's private thoughts published, but then I selfishly think about how some people's journals really can help others. 

I was going through some old artwork from when I was in grad school and came across a page of quotes I had written down. This one jumped just as far off the page today as it did for me five years ago, even though I'm in a very different place.

Ah yes, I hate myself for not being able to go downstairs naturally and seek comfort in numbers.  I hate myself for having to sit here and be torn between I know not what within me. ...No, I won't try to escape myself by losing myself in artificial chatter "Did you have a nice vacation?" "Oh, yes, and you?" I'll stay here and try to pin that loneliness down.  p. 30

*image from here

New Charms

I've added a few new individual charms to my website today!