Show Announcement

A link to the show announcement on our arts center website..

The lights and signage will be up today and/or tomorrow, so photos will follow....

Quick Glimpses

Just a couple of photos of the gallery empty and with part of the show hung....we won't have any lighting until next week so there will be more photos of the gallery then.


The glass case has the other artist's handmade books in it. Her name is jackie niemi, in case I haven't mentined it yet. I think our work looks great together.

Boxed Set

Three boxes ready to go tomorrow morning...

Update

The pieces are all packed and ready to take over to the gallery on thursday and I have a few extra pieces ready to take over if we have extra room. Today I'll be printing out the background sheets that will be posted next to the series pieces, the guardian spirits, the bjp pieces and the basho pieces. The gallery and office were cleaned over the weekend so this morning we'll be moving the small furniture and files back into the office.
Tomorrow I'll be working on my new laptop (I'm so excited I finally have one!) and learning microsoft's new OS, Vista....I'm not impressed so far, but bless their hearts, they keep trying to match Apple's OS and they're getting closer.
After we hang the show, I'll take photos while the gallery is empty of people and post them.

Matting & Framing Finished

That feels good! Here's a photo of a few of them before framing and after...it always surprises me how much difference a nice mat and frame make.


And I have a question for anyone who has an opinion...should I name them individually or just call them Guardian Spirit One, Two, Three and so on?

It's a Mess

but I've got 7 pieces framed which just leaves a dozen guardian spirits to frame and the dowels to cut and paint for the bjp pieces and I'm almost done. I still have the gallery tags to keyboard in and all the background text to add to the series pieces and then I'm finished until the hanging.
Some photos of the seeming chaos....

BJP

I've got the backs and hinges on the bjp pieces and just have to cut down the dowels tomorrow...a friend is also giving me some black bamboo pieces and if I like them better then I'll use them instead of the dowels...if not, I may paint the dowels black and see how that looks....still, it's almost finished!

The Nature of Things

I've been working on the backs and hinges for the last 9 BJP pieces this week...here's what it looks like this morning before I start sewing and fusing...all the pieces have backs and hinges...now I have to sew the hinges onto the backs and then fuse and sew the backs on to the fronts and then insert the dowels or bamboo (that's still uncertain) into the hinges and the work will be done.
I'm down to the last 11 days before the hanging on the 24-25th and still have many of my small guardian spirits and other small pieces to frame or mount.
I also have a "story" to write about each series....when, how & why I did them and a little bit about the process. When you're working in a non-traditional medium (NOT drawing, painting or standard sculpture) you do a lot of educating about, as well as showing, the work.
My art partner for this show, Jackie Niemi, is showing some of her handmade books, so there will be several stories for her to write as well. We'll print these all out and mount them on black foam core and hang them next to the relevant pieces.
We both think this really adds to the viewer's experience and will give them a bit more knowledge to take to their next non-traditional art exhibit.

Finished At Last!

I can hardly believe it....I think I'll have to go sit awhile and just let it sink in...thanks so much to everyone who has stopped by and left such wonderful and encouraging comments...on days when I was flagging a bit, you made a big difference and gave me the wish to continue!
I'm sorry you can't all be at the show opening...what a party that would be!
I will do my best to take good photos though...I'll make it as "virtual" as I can, lol!

Basho 41 & 42 Beaded

Two more to bead and then the last four to add backing and it's done...we're hanging the show on the 24th & 25th, so I'm just in time!
Today we meet with the director of the OCCA (oregon coast council for the arts) which sponsors our show, to iron out all the details of putting even a small , two-person, show together.

Road Trip

Due to a sudden family situation I have to be gone for a few days...will check in when I get back next week...

Hope you're all well and don't forget to hug your loved ones this weekend...you never know when the last hug might happen.

Tsuruga - Number41

Not finished but close...maybe another hour or so...maybe tomorrow I can get a better photo with natural light...

Ch..ch...ch...changes....

I've pruned down my links to just a very few to make room for my whole blogroll....these are the blogs I visit whenever there is a new post....fortunately, not everyone posts every day and usually of those who do post, I actually read about half and just look at the photos on the rest...
I've limited myself to an hour in the morning, while I'm having my coffee and breakfast and then if I feel like it I check out a few more in the evening after it's dark....right now it's staying pretty light until 9, so I'm not on it much at night....next winter I may have to change the schedule a bit!
I know there are folks who feel it is a waste of work time, but I can only bead so many hours in a day and I consider checking the web as a kind of research as well as inspiration when I need some.
I don't read many magazines any more since the majority of them cover techniques and artwork I've already seen and know well. The web is my source for the new and different and it's well worth the effort for me. Maybe if I lived in a city I'd feel differently, but we're quite a ways from the larger population centers, museums, big library, etc.
So this is my little window to the bigger universe...