Bijou at Dada

Last week I submitted a few prints for the Bijou Exhibit at the Dada Gallery in downtown Tucson. The exhibit looked great and I was proud to see my crafty junk with some real art. If you live in Tucson you should definitely go down and take a look this Saturday December 13th between 12-6pm. There are a variety of pieces including photography, paintings, prints, sculpture, jewelry, handmade bags and cards. You can also check out the website at http://www.dadatucson.com/.

Etchings,Woodcuts, and Accordians oh my..

To the right is an etching with drypoint print of a boston terrier that I did about a year ago. To the left is a woodcut matrix that I also did. It is a reproduction of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's Kristus und Judas (Christ and Judas). I really enjoy the subtractive process of woodcutting, which is why I posted the matrix rather than the print itself. I have made several woodcuts before but all have been reproduction pieces. I am currently looking for some inspiration to start my own piece. I already found a couple pieces of wood that have a nice grain pattern which will hopefully transfer a most excellent pattern to the paper when inked. Some ideas that I would like to incorporate in a piece or perhaps a series of pieces, not like I have the time or money, old strange signage of Tucson, dogs, islamic designs, intricate machinery, accordians, and maybe old people with wrinkly faces. Nothing very original, I know, but I'm no artist I just want to see if I can 1.) carve detailed designs using various techniques and tools, 2.) incorporate my own ideas, as lame as they are, and arrange them in such a way that will be visually appealling and balanced. Part 2 I feel will be the hard part for me. Its very strange I am good at organizing tangible things like books, archives, ect. but very bad at organizing my own thoughts and then expressing them. Probably because I dont have the tools to do so. Oh well we shall see!

SCarfy Scarf

I love this scarf! I got the pattern from "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker" by Debbie Stoller. I made one for myself in maroon. The orange scarf I made in this photo was a gift for Esther(the lovely model).

Mr. Skull Head..

I saw a similar looking Skull doll somewhere on the Internet. This is my version of it using felt. I am still in the process of sewing and stuffing Mr. Skull Head together but this is what I have so far.

So I finally decided to post

It has taken me a long time to actually start to write something on this blog. Most likely because I have been thinking about it too much. So I decided to just go ahead and write without thinking. In the end it works out better that way. I guess I will start by saying that I love reading other peoples blogs about their own crafts. So I thought I should finally have one of my own.
I really love cute skull heads. So in celebration of Dia De Los Muertos I made a Hinterglasmalerei, which means reverse glass painting in German. I only know this because I had to memorize this word for a paintings conservation class I took during my undergrad and it stuck with me ever since. I actually used paint pens for this project but I think real paints and paint brushes might have a better result.