visually

This year was





























































or, in a word, long.

Next year: ?

hidden for the winter (no. 3)

More at the shop.

new additions

I've added a few new silhouettes and drawings to the shop.

In anticipation of this weekend, when I'll be totally without internet access (therefore unable to list or relist anything, horrors!), I'm going to try to list a whole bunch of things, which means work work work tomorrow and the day after.

Stay tuned!

fuck (braille silhouette no. 3)

It's an inappropriate word, but really, what other word so succinctly and viscerally sums up that gnawing feeling that you've just made a horrible mistake?

etsy mentioned in the nyt

The article is titled "Handmade 2.0". Pretty neat.

I'll write more later, but right now I'm recovering from spending four months' tip money at Bazaar Bizarre.

braille silhouettes, no.'s 1 and 2

"Hello" was especially fun and went surprisingly quickly. I've been trying to think of ways to incorporate some typography into the shop and I think I might have started exploring it in earnest.

more warrens and such

The two warrens are the first time I've really played with negative space in these woodgrain silhouettes. I like the way they turned out. I'm even thinking of investing in a good set of knives to cut more intricate designs (still just using scissors, alas) so I can try tackling a really big project along these lines. Maybe a whole ecosystem in hibernation.

More coming later tonight.

FINALLY over

Get it? Eh? Because I just finished my finals - "finally"? Eh? Eh? Eh?

Sorry.

Tomorrow is a day I have all to myself. I'm going to:

1. mail out the two silhouettes that were bought by two very patient people (thank you for letting me get through my exams first).

2. clean like the dickens

3. finish Camden's mom's Christmas present (I'm knitting her some gloves)

4. make lots and lots of cookies

5. bake a chicken pot pie, because Camden asked me for one while I was in the middle of taking my online History of the Middle East final and I kind of snapped at him because I was in the middle of answering a question and he pulled this face:



and I felt so bad I told him he could have whatever he wanted for dinner tomorrow, and without a second's hesitation he said "Chicken pot pie!"

I think I've been had.

I've been working on more of the woodgrain silhouettes, so stay tuned for those and a couple other surprises.

link list no. 1: yarn and glue

Beards? Beards! removeable, handknitted beards from design group Vik Prjónsdóttir (via d.sharp journal).

modern paper ornaments (courtesy of diy wednesdays on design*sponge).

a lovely minimalist gift wrapping idea from a little hut.

hello

winter in california

workworkwork

Nothing has made me wish I could drive like this quarter has. The bus ride to and from campus embodies everything that is wrong with public transportation. Any time I decided to skip school has usually been decided by the question, "Do I have the energy to take the bus today?"

At least the quarter's almost over. I haven't finished picking up the pieces, but hopefully I'll manage to scrape together something resembling a decent record.

In the meantime, I'm working as hard as I can on developing several pieces to consider for my portfolio and registering for classes that can act as a vehicle for it. The painting above is a detail from a work in progress - I still have to fill in the top and bottom with a wash and ink detailing - and one of the pieces I exhibited in October. It was even more unfinished then, but it worked out in the end.

So far I've only registered for two classes (ceramics and environmental biology) but I'm thinking about registering for a class in color theory; kind of fiddly and pointless, but it occurs to me that some of the best advice I've had from my painting teacher has been in the application and use of color. I bought a book recommended by Camden's uncle, Blue and Yellow Do Not Make Green, but I haven't given it a good look yet. If I can finish it in two weeks and still think I need more color training, I'll go ahead and take the class.

holy crap that took forever

"Hidden For the Winter"


Notice how the whole thing is in one piece? That's because I only use scissors to cut my silhouettes. Normally it's not an issue, but for this piece it was like fetching water with a sieve. I was originally going to make it even more complex - there were plans for underground warrens of rabbits and moles at one point - but by tonight I was abridging the root structure just so I could bring it to an end.

I didn't know my hands could cramp in so many places.

Still debating whether or not it's going to go up in the shop.

the girl who trod on a loaf

I've been rereading Hans Christian Anderson a lot lately.

good news bad news

The goods news is that I sold two pieces today.

The bad news is that today's been a really rough day; I woke up to one of the most jarring messages of my life and it's been weighing me down since. I'm trying to act on it by being productive, knitting madly for Christmas and listening to NPR and whatnot, but whenever I slow down or stop doing what I'm doing I feel myself getting sad and upset again.

Oh well. Here's hoping everything resolves kindly and smoothly. And soon.

On a completely unrelated front, my boyfriend and I are embarking on kind of a weird project. We both have a really good mutual friend, Pip, who aside from being hardcore talented and awesome is also vegan. Before Thanksgiving Pip came over to the apartment for a couple small dinner parties, and coming up with interesting and exciting menus over those couple weeks was surprisingly fun - possibly the most challenge I've had in the kitchen in a long time.

So we're going vegan.

Kidding! Well, kind of. Me and Camden eat meat, and we enjoy eating meat. We're lucky in that we live in Northern California, with easy access to companies like Niman Ranch and Rosie's Organics, not to mention the local butchers and charcuterie stands at the farmer's market, so we can support companies that practice humanely and compassionately. Have our meat and eat it too, if you will.

But it occurred to me that I like vegetables, and - miracle of miracles - so does Camden. In fact, I think thanks in great part to the amazing produce we get from our Full Belly Farms CSA, Camden has recently started to enjoy vegetables that he wouldn't even have used as toilet paper a year ago. But now? Pile on the kale and cauliflower!

So, as an experiment, we're going to try to expand our cooking and baking repetoires by alternating weeks of our accustomed diet with a vegan diet, not as a political or ethical statement but just for fun. By not using dairy or meat, Camden hopes to learn more about slow-ferment breads and baked goods, and perhaps resurrect a second batch of sourdough starter (the first died an ignominious death, alas); while I'm hoping this experiment will help me conquer my trepidation towards Indian, Japanese and Korean cuisine. I only wish it didn't get dark so soon so I could take better pictures of the results.

submitted

Finally.

Seven schools crossed off the list, six more to go.

You know what? After all that stress I think I'll treat myself and play hooky today. I'll stay home and knit and make more things for Pen and Paper and work on a couple canvases and drink lots and lots of tea.

Today is going to be awesome.

this close

I am so close to finishing my UC transfer applications. I finished all of my essays and have all of the nitty-gritty filled out online, but I still need my counselor's blessing before I submit anything.

I'm meeting with her in an hour. Here goes!

Due to school assignments and finals and stuff I've not had a lot of time to make new pieces for the store, but there are a lot of ideas I've been playing with in addition to more faux bois designs. At the moment they're all waiting in the wings while I work on a couple canvases for painting and three major drawing projects; I'm pretty excited about the latter, actually, and I'll try to scan some of them once I'm finished.

acceleration: pros and cons

Finals approach. Dun dun dun.

I normally wouldn't feel so stressed out, except that this quarter I'm cursed by something that I'll have to face for the next few years, at least: the ambiguity that is grading art. Personally, I'm really pleased with what I've learned this quarter, and I think I'm starting to learn a lot. This is the first time I really buckled down to learn all the technical stuff that didn't stick in high school, using mediums I'm not really comfortable with.

But I really need that A.

So, so shallow.

I've been distracting myself (probably a little too much) by doing a lot of work for Pen and Paper and making decorations for the apartment. Nothing big (my apartment couldn't really handle "big," anyway) but enough to have fun with the impending holidays. I have to say, not working at a Big Box Clothing Retailer this Christmas has really lightened my mood in regards to the season.

Check out the really nice mention Pen and Paper got in decor8!

The entry is here.

I've been reading decor8 for almost a year and to be included among the rich, lovely variety of stores and wares that Holly Becker showcases feels utterly thrilling.

two more

I'm really having fun with this faux bois paper. Since I cut each silhouette from a small section of the whole roll every piece has a different texture and pattern to it, like a fingerprint; and since the adhesive is already applied I can save a lot of time since I don't have to glue and press each piece.

well that's alarming.

Apparently the IRS is trying to pass legislation that would make it mandatory for online auction and selling sites to collect and report the SSNs of their registered members.

I'm not entirely certian what to make of this article, but it sure didn't feel me with a warm fuzzy feeling either.

faux bois

Newly listed in the store.