So, These Ideas Just Pop Out of Your Strange Little Brain?

Um, well, yes. That's pretty much what happens. This, uttered by an older man, who, together with his wife (/partner), have bought prints from me before. He is not unappreciative. He compared my sense of humor to that of New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast, which that's pretty flattering. He asked about the Cakesaurus project and I laid out a couple bullet points. He held up "Sus Pasteles..." and said, "That's a weird thing to be carrying around in your head, M." Well. I didn't have a brilliant response. I was operating on a sleep deficit and the double thermal layers weren't doing their job in the barn. He arched an eyebrow and said to his spouse, "Well I think we should buy lots of things from her, so she can just be an artist." But then this somehow morphed into my adopting THEM because they were ponying up in my direction; I offered my small guest room, but apparently they already HAVE a guest room, and GOODBYE LIFE CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES, even the BEST LAID PLANS, yadda yadda yadda. Pssh. I was all ready for patrons!

A small group of women were in hysterics over a larger, older woodblock print, which may or may not have been about online dating; I wandered over and told them that shockingly, no one ever wanted to buy that one. "Your sense of humor is hysterical, do some people not GET you?" Which was nicely timed, as a few minutes before a man had stood before a framed "Birds Don't Like You"; he frowned and shook his head once. "Strange." He muttered this to himself. To be sure, this is better than someone bubbles, "CUTE!," and fails to notice the stalker's eyes in the next panel. 

So Art on the Farm passed pleasantly along, with moderate sales, heartening interactions and lovely connections picked up once again...

Yesterday I stopped by the Ann Arbor Art Center to investigate the sophomore Liberty Local. Would have loved to join in this time, but schedule did not permit. The artists and craftspeople put on a nice show, though the general consensus was that the crowd was down from its first year -- hopefully third time is a charm, as it's a lovely event -- nicely organized, presented, marketed. Some favorites were there, including Sloe Gin Fizz (a/k/a Nicole Raye), Janelle Songer and Aromaholic.

What especially struck me this time was the photography of Janna Bissett (a/k/a LilacPOP). She sold there last time, and the larger part of her display was given over to her industrial jewelry (lots of repurposed machine parts). I was noodling about with various necklaces, oggling a really cool one Bissett was modeling herself; and just idly began leafing through a couple small bins of sale photos. I scored a number of smaller photos from her "1950s Housewife Goes Mad" series (used as proofs to determine which ones were worthy to blow up). While the link takes you to a happy-happy one, most shots channel tension and domestic unrest, delivered in campy kodachrome tones. Super fun! Apparently this was the first ever shoot for our 50s gentleman, Michael Pack, a football player for Wayne State. He's trouble, that one! They're both adorable, really. The dress she's modelling was designed by Matthew F. Richmond; I think this is a shot of one of his creations made from Kroger bags. 

I wanted to get a snap of the necklace Bissett was wearing yesterday, but my camera was acting up. I fear it's close to giving up the ghost. Here's an instagram shot from her Twitter feed -- NOT the necklace in question, but undoubtedly another one she made. She does photography shoots for some of the automotive big shots, Live Nation and her work recently appeared in Vogue Italia. See more of her great photography here.

On an entirely different note -- and with full understanding that weather isn't subject to well wishes -- am wishing the East Coast well. May Frankenstorm sputter out/dissipate/underwhelm us all. My family told me about gas stations sold out of gas, barren grocery store shelves and possible hotel stays. Fingers and toes crossed.

Liberty Local Wind-down

After day two of Liberty Local, I am feeling tired and lazy. The show went really well for me, which was especially nice after several low-sale days elsewhere. I *CAN* sell well! Doggone it, people like me!  Today was definitely more of a mosey than a sprint, but friend visits (yay!) and cool vendors saved the day. I definitely flitted about a bit more, which also resulted in vendors buying from and trading with each other. In case you don't already know, especially when sales slow, we are swapping goods and money in a crafty zero-sum game. With few exceptions, we kinda can't help ourselves.I am sometimes able to be more stoic and money-minded, but temptation+boredom/restlessness*=ah, sweet surrender...

*boredom NOT divided by restlessness.

A few things I did not resist:

Pottery courtesy Janelle Songer, brooch/lapel pins (/hair blooms, if one had hair), court. Deid Goods, Sea Monster! from Andrea Everman. There's another great something, which I can't mention, as it's gifty. I don't think I'm materialistic, but I *do* rather love having pretty things around.

As you can tell, the first photo's a bit overexposed. Here you get a better sense of the glaze, plus the pretty reddish-brown clay at base. Janelle has been working with clay for the past three years. I really enjoy her splashes of color combined with more delicate drawn lines (the delicacy is better conveyed on the glass). She also has some groovy vases that are in the shape of leaves and flowers.

I got to chat with Andrea of Owly Shadow Puppets a little bit, which I was hoping to do. In addition to owning a small laser cutter, with which she creates all her shadow puppets, she also does set design for the Red Moon theater, in the Chicago area. 

"Oh, do you perform, too, do shadow puppet theater?"

"Oh no, I'm shy." She frowns and shakes her head. Which, it makes me think of Jim Henson and the like, because they tend to be shy characters, but they are obscured by the platform stages, so it works out. But this still won't work, I guess. She comes across as somewhat serious, though you can detect a nice, wicked sense of humor threading through some of her pieces. I deliberate over my puppet options.

"Do you need to see what kind of shadow it casts?" What a thoughtful, perfect question!

This is delightful. I want to ask her to demonstrate each one, but I don't want to overstep, or be an nuisance, or seem like I am six years old. 

There's a fun short video of what she does, at the bottom of this post. 

She cited Lotte Reineger as an inspiration-- check out a snippet of the paper cut silhouette animation she made called The Adventures of Prince Achmed or just a Googly image selection -- either is quite impressive.

I seem to be running out of steam, despite my will to hang onto the dredges of vacation time. But tomorrow brings the return of the early morning rise. This morning I dreamed I completely spaced on one of the important daily client reports, delaying it by half a day. Wouldn't happen, but clearly my subconscious was reentering work mode. So be it. 

Off and away, or to bed, to bed~~ Best wishes for a good week to Everyone.   

Shhh, the Halibut is Resting (see also: Liberty Local)

Why, Hello Again. I've got some time, you've got some time...I have dishes to do and clothes to fold and crafty detritus littering my entire Ranchy house.  Clearly it's time for more bloggage.

I am happy to report that from where I stand, Day One of Ann Arbor Art Center's Liberty Local was a solid success. Traffic waned, but started off gangbusters; and when sales were slow, appreciation was nevertheless evident and...appreciated (dur). Organizers Sam and Amy were enthusiastic cheerleaders throughout, volunteers popped over to see if we needed to go on snack runs, and lovely local friends came through, perused my wares, allowed me to wake their sleeping babies, bought cards and were their supportive sunny selves.

MAN, I think I had lost sight of how very nice it is to sell somewhere close to my house. Love Rust Belt and such venues, but after driving almost an hour, part of me is already tired before I even unload and set up--  or talk to would-be fans, friends, the bizarre and the indifferent. I wasn't exhausted when I got home! I arrived home dinnerish time! Halibut is currently marinating, waiting to transform into a hopefully luscious curry, with yogurt, ground cashews, paprika (odd, Neelam Batra, did you really mean it?), wonderful green cardamom...In the meantime, we have a nice Founders Breakfast Stout. Oh! Also, when I got home, I was faced with this:

Several neighborhood kids in my yard. I slowed my driveway entry. Many halted upon seeing me, including a boy who had been trundling a wheelbarrow rapidly up my sidewalk. I love my neighborhood. I am, however, odd (wo)man out: single/no pets/no god-- so, I lack strong ties with the neighborhood youngins.

"Can we rake your leaves?" Hmm. My yard seemed to be mostly raked. Was this a minor shakedown? Or was I seen as a pity-case/eye sore?  B/c while I am lazy with these matters, my background also makes me loathe to pay someone else for what I would miserably do myself.

"...ummmm~"

Another kid: "It's free!"

Me:"Oh!" Now I was totally confused.

"We're making a huge leaf pile!! In our yard!!"

Me: "Oh! Sure!~~"

Them, emphatically, victoriously: "YESSSSSSSSS!!!!"

Well, alright then. Can't imagine that will happen too often, but pretty awesome.

Weren't you talking about the art thing? WTH. We now you blather, but, g-d.  Well, true. So. To my left was Laura Eckert of Albino Dino. She was doing cute things like snipping fringe into the scarves of long-necked plush dinosaurs. They also sometimes have mustaches and glasses. She also has zombie photos and an elephant, but really, she's on team dino. On my right, Deb of Deid Goods-- she has gorgeous pillows, ipod cases and bags made from felted sweaters. Lovely bright colors, lots of texture and appealing dahlia shapes. One table down was Heather of Bettula -- neat lacquered jewelry from birch bark and small boxes of dried mosses. I love how with table neighbors, it's possible to chat, delve into deeper conversation; and then retreat into more solitary bubbles.

There are so many people I am also tempted to mention, but then this would expand and expand. And while we want the halibut to be sufficiently spiced, we do not wish to eat at 10 PM. Mid-morning I got a text from Ginger that the (NOW LOCAL, kerrazzzy!) Onion had a.)written up Liberty Local   and b.) given me a shout-out, describing me as an "absurdist woodblock printmaker" (LOVE LOVE LOVE). Also given props: Chicago-based Owly Shadow Puppets -- I love the Yeti and dragon especially. But also love the anti-valentine at the Etsy shop "Your crazy emotional needs give my life purpose," which I did not see at her table. Her laser-cut shadow puppets are SUH-WEET.

Aside from my little cards, which usually do pretty well, my "Geese Suspect You Are Withholding" print was the star of the day (at my table, natch). The favorite purchase background I got (which I ALWAYS love) was this: "I MUST have that because I am heartily terrified of geese. I had a very bad experience as a child. And now every morning I go for a walk and there's a gaggle of them. I am convinced one day they are going to launch an attack. But I am ready! I've got my ninja moves ready... This will have pride of place in my home."This was also delivered in a British accent, which we can all agree makes most anything better.

Several people, upon buying this print, confirm a deep fear of geese. I had no idea I was tapping into this well of anxiety (though obviously, I do feel they can be demanding. Swans scare me more. A swan once stole my beach towel when I was studying by a "lake" on the campus of the University of Massachusetts. Aggressive swan! Mean swan!)

I imagine the halibut is sufficiently spiced to take to the next level. I have cashews to grind. Rufus is wondering:

"Why am I always on a plane or a fast train
Oh what a world my parents gave me
Always
Travelin' but not in love

Still I think I'm doin' fine
Wouldn't it be a lovely headline
Life is
Beautiful on a New York Times"

Liberty Local has one more day, tomorrow, noon-5 PM. Maybe I'll see you there, or just online...

Liberty Local!

I suppose this is an eleventh hour post, but I have been meaning to put up a couple more pics about the Ann Arbor Art Center's Liberty Local fair....course, I have been spending more time doing prep for it (except for Thursday, when I ran off to the DIA, to catch a changing exhibit, more on that later). If you're in the area, today's the day! And a fine day it should be: it's supposed to reach the 80s. Yayyyyy, last return of the Summer Dress.

The AAC folk have been doing a wonderful job of promoting the event. I have seen thimble posters all over town, plus take-away cards and artists features on Facebook.














For my own part, I decided to break out those smaller wooden panels for a little bit of block print-collagey action:

Have a glorious Saturday, All!