Just got this fabulous flier from Emily c-d, the curator of the upcoming installation at Whole Gallery:
I am excited on so many levels: 1) haven’t shown in Baltimore in a while 2) haven’t done an INSTALLATION in about a year and 3) look at all of the awesome artists on that there flier! I can’t even begin to express how flattered and honored (and a bit intimidated) I am. But I also can’t wait to get this thing going. I’ve been knitting and bending things, and the collaborative opportunities are just gurgling out of this show.
spread the word, friends! Hope to see you at the reception!
-While taking Charlie on a walk (he is still a cat in this one), we get mauled by 5 ferocious street cats. It’s a cat gang.
-Someone I adore morphs into someone I hate.
-The ole teeth falling out dream (this is somewhat based on reality as this crown that I got a few years back has been pulsing a low, dull pain all week)
-Always late for something… this time it’s my sister’s wedding
-My sometimes hour+ commute turns into an actual beltway, a la Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day. Tank is always full; scenery never changes.
I’m headed up to Northampton with one Mr. JS tomorrow for a long-weekend jaunt at The Garage Annex for a paper conservation workshop. Oh lordy, I can’t wait to be completely away from emails, the jerkfaces that pepper all of 495 and I95 (seriously, what is it about the morning that makes people completely stupid? YOU ARE DRIVING A WEAPON. PLEASE BE MORE CAREFUL), and city sounds.
This place is aces, so I hear. Daniel Kelm works out of this school, and apparently it’s a key stopping-place for the hoppin’ conservation community in Massachusetts. They have lots of old stuff.
Along the way we will be stopping in Philly to lunch with Mandy and gossip and nerd-out about the book arts scene for a while. (speaking of which, we have this great pdf curated collaboration thing in the works. I’m thinking that my project is going to involve women’s Christmas sweaters… fingers crossed) I’m also hoping that at some point, we’ll be able to do a little “field work” for the Wing Blog. or Wang Blog, if you’re in the know.
This gray day is already feeling too long. I am ready to drive, drive, drive.
When I feel I’m spread too thin, or that my brain is full, I think back to what one of my old studio mates told me during that funny Quarter Life Crisis (possibly ongoing?) time of our lives: you need to make time for yourself, your friends, and your family, and when one of these is off-balance, the rest falls apart too. Ms. M also pep-talked me not too long ago with a little Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
I had been feeling off balance for a while, but not in a way that any third compartment of my life was heavier than other; rather that there was just not enough of any of them. And somewhere in here I’m supposed to find time to do my dishes, feed/walk my cat (not kidding here), eat, commute, sleep, manage some semblance of personal hygiene. What else could you possible want from me????
Solutions include: cutting 5 inches off my hair to an edgy, trim bob; rearrange kitchen so I feel less overwhelmed with such little space; make food—freeze food; adjust work hours to have more daylight and studio time; slowly learn how to garden; don’t let the rest overwhelm me.
For the moment (and I emphasize moment because I know myself well enough to say that these phases of inner balance are super super fleeting) I feel palms facing upwards next to me like everything is in its right place. There is a tiny window for flexibility, but there is balance, there is inspiration, there is time.
Instead of struggling to think projects to completion, we ought to see this creative process constantly funneling and releasing. One can’t expect herself to constantly create and make if she is not taking in any stimulation, right?
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I just got word of an installation I’ll be doing in a few weeks at the Whole Gallery located in the H & H building in Baltimore, and I’m so excited! This will be a great opportunity to finish those LED lights crammed into a Trader Joe’s bag in my coat closet. I’m thinking… glowing, hairy, spindly, serpentine things with a possible collaboration.
Drawings are alive!
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My blog-updating efforts kind of blow, sorry folks. I hate to censor myself, but I’m happy to negotiate this space into part inconsequential mind-rambling and news. One of these days I’ll have an image gallery. In the meantime, I do keep up my Tumblr, which has loads of eye-candy and amusement. I almost like that better because it’s more of a dumping ground, an e-notebook without the search for feedback and interaction. (I said it.)
I’m doing lots of crafting this week, with Leslie and the Ly’s in my head the whole time:
Check ya later, all 3 of you who read this! I hope that as sunshine comes, more posts and imagery will come. Enjoy the ric-rac.
Baltimore’s City Council is once again working on legislation that could have a very real (and likely, limiting) effect on some of your favorite DIY spaces and venues throughout the city. With the passing of the Live Entertainment – Licensing and Regulation Bill, venues would have to fulfill an extensive list of prerequisites before applying for licenses for events. Though initially well-intentioned, this vague and poorly-written bill essentially limits some of Baltimore’s favorite happenings–dance parties, small shows for local bands, poetry readings, experimental noise collaborations, and other artistic performances–to the very few venues that can afford the licensing fees and ongoing list of other (often extraneous) required services.
What can you do to support your creative colleagues? Read the proposed document here. Check out the City Paper’s article which details the effects this bill could have on all of your favorite venues. And then join your fellow musicians, artists, and DIY fans in any of the following mobilization meetings:
Tonight, Monday March 16th:
Meeting #1: Metro Gallery, 4 PM (facebook event)
Meeting #2: The Hexagon, 7 PM (facebook event)
Community Work Sessions sponsored by the City of Baltimore:
Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Cristo Rey High School, 420 South Chester Street
Community Work Session (NE)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Morgan State, Communications Center, Room 101, 5601 Perring Parkway
Community Work Session (NW)
Thursday, April 16, 2009, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Baltimore City Community College, Liberty Campus, Auditorium, 2901 Liberty Heights Avenue
Community Work Session (SW)
Thursday, April 23, 2009, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Federal Hill Preparatory School, 1040 William Street
