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A woman in my painting class suggested that I look at the work of Karen Gelardi, an artist in Portland, Maine. Her process is very intriguing. She draws organic patterns and forms on paper and then reincarnates them as pieces of larger works. She silkscreens her patterns onto fabric and then sews three dimensional forms (similar to the ones she has drawn) out of the patterned fabric.
Painting by Leah Schreiber. See the whole piece and her other work on her website.
Ok, I officially submitted two of my drawings to a Chicago zine today. I feel proud for actually drawing something with just ink. I haven’t done that in months. It lifted me out of my painter’s block a little, I think. Let’s hope that they make it into the Zine! These photos are low resolution, but you get the idea.
Pedestrian Hell
At Efebos Café
1640 S. Blue Island Ave.
January 25 – March 6 (2008)
With: Janina Ciezadlo, Miguel Cortez, Tom Sibley, Rebecca Wolfram
SPECIAL EVENT: February 15, 7:00
Call Efebos 312-633-9212
efeboscafe@sbcglobal.net,
or Rebecca 773-523-7275
I made my own “canvas” out of Alpaca hair. Using the cobweb felting technique, I made a thin wispy sheet for screenprinting and painting.
Alpaca roving from Montana.
Wet felting between nylon fabric.
Finished felt drying on a towel.
Finished product
I have two New Year’s Resolutions:
1. Be a better vegetarian by eating fortified foods and making sure that I am eating a well-rounded diet. I became a vegetarian first and foremost for health reasons, so why would I continue to eat PB&J sandwiches and spinach salads all the time? It’s time to re-diversify my diet and bring back the scrambled tofu and nutritional yeast.
2. Switch all of my household items to environmentally friendly types. I took the plunge months ago into all natural beauty products- deodorant without aluminum, chlorine-free tampons, natural soap, etc. I’ve also been using recycled paper towels, natural laundry detergent, and citrus dish soap for a while. However, there are more things that I can switch to in my house. I am going to make my own products from vinegar and baking soda because that sounds fun. I found this website of household recipes.
I’m trying my hardest to get some things together for the CCM Art Show. It was supposed to open at the beginning of February, but the open date has been moved to this Friday. I had big plans for this show, but with the earlier open date, I decided to not buy any materials for my pieces. Why frantically buy new materials with so little time? Thus, I did a thorough alley search through the dumpsters and trash cans in the three block radius around my house. I scored some great materials. People throw away bizarre things.
I got super duper promoted at work. The experience that I will gain from this new position is invaluable and it directly relates to the kind of work I want to do for the rest of my life. I would be a fool to pass on the offer. All of that being said, I feel a little weird about not applying to grad school this Winter. I’ve put so much thought into doing the process right and building my portfolio. And that work isn’t lost, it’s just on hold while I work on sustainable transportation issues in the city.
So, now that I have my sweet promotion and am no longer working 50+ hours a week, I am taking a vacation! Patrick and I are taking the Metra to Harvard and then riding our bikes to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. We have a cabin by the lake reserved for the weekend. Glory be.
The city streets excrete stuff. What do I mean by this? The same way that you find crap in your house like safety pins, fliers, twistee ties, and loose change, you can easily find things on the city streets that are mysterious lost objects. Sure, they may be identifiable, but what were the circumstances that conspired to bring the object here?
During the winter, I remember seeing a little kid’s glove fossilized in ice on the street along with candy wrappers and other objects. The snow and ice freeze objects where they fall, so it’s easy to come across snapshots of activity remnants: plastic grocery bags, chopsticks, cigarettes, earmuffs, CTA passes…. Even now I see things on the streets when I’m riding my bike all the time that I would love to pick up and collect, but I don’t want to collect just any old thing. I have high standards for things that I collect on the street. Here are photos of some of my favorite found objects.
This is the tag from a police car. I found this on the street a few blocks from the 17th Police District Headquarters. I had just given a presentation to a CAPS meeting for work and I was on my bike riding home. This object is interesting to me because it is the tag that sits on top of CPD cars and has been cracked and broken. Instead of buying a new one, the police just took some scotch tape and taped it back together. CPD never fails to amaze me.
I found this in the alley behind my house. I think that it used to be on the top of a very old fence? I like it because it is heavy, built to last- a relic of the way things were built a long time ago.
Side One: Side Two:
This was on the sidewalk on Irving Park Rd. near Monticello.
It speaks for itself.
I’ve been obsessed with tree roots lately. They have emerged in my paintings and now I’m thinking about ways to use them for other projects. I love Steve Tobin’s bronze sculptures from real tree roots.
He is also famous for making bronze sculptures from termite hills.
