A day in the life

RK and I spend most of all day, every day, together, with Stella.  We work at home and we work together.  And even with this, we still chose to spend Saturdays and Sundays together.  In fact, even though when you work for yourself and work from home, the days can tend to blend, the weekend still feels like a deserved weekend.

So, on this past Sunday, RK and Stella and I got up and headed for the beach, one of our favorite Sunday dog trips.  These morning trips to the beach where RK & I walk forever, listening to the ocean, clearing our heads or coming up with the next best thing,  I still get the most pleasure from thinking of a trip to the beach as 'dog trips', a place where Stella is totally free, lets the wind run thru her hair and the ocean up her nose and doesn't stop smiling.  It makes the trip all that more fun, we're doing something super awesome for Stella and we get to enjoy her loving it.  She's the best dog ever, so we try to give back.  Yup, Stella, our dog.

Which isn't the point...

The point is that this morning, as we were headed out on this warm fuzzy beach trip, we passed an ambulance and saw our neighbor lady in the back, with her husband standing at the door, listening to the EMT.  We got about half way up the block and it occurred to us that we should turn around and see if we could help this neighbor man of ours.

This neighbor man of ours, whose name we don't yet know.

We've seen this man and his wife, who are in their 70's, about once a week over the last two years, usually while we're sitting out on the front porch of our apartment building.  Most times, we're sitting with any number of our other neighbors now good friends, who live in our building.  One frienbor (the friend-neighbor combo I just made up) has a tiny dog named Dallas.  Her dog and our Stella are these really neat dog 'friends'.  We all sit on the stoop, when the weather's nice, and drink our coffee and watch our dogs.  This neighbor man and his wife, would often pass in front of our building always on their way to either church or a meal and for a very brief moment notice the dogs and smile, maybe make a comment.  It went on that way for about six months.  One nice, sunny morning, the moment stayed a little longer and an old radio show called "Stella Dallas" was brought up.  I'd never heard of it, none of us had, but it couldn't be cuter that our dogs inspired our neighbor to finally start a conversation.  Months after that, his wife, our neighbor lady, who was also a bowler on the weekends, started pulling out dog treats every time we saw them.  This couple does not own a dog themselves, but she took it upon herself to pick up very special dog treats from the local pet store, keep them in a baggie, inside a tin, for sheer freshness.  Stella & Dallas couldn't contain themselves when this couple came around the corner heading to one of their two destinations:  Oh, how the doggie treats flowed!

Funny thing is, we never once exchanged names.  This is very unlike me:  I ask the name of the guy who bags the groceries, or the cab driver, or the guy at the coffee cart.  And yet, not once did it come up.

A few months ago, our neighbors were passing the porch just as we were coming out the door.  We called our hello's, Stella ran up to them with mad joy, and I mumbled something to the effect, 'you know stella!'  But, the strange thing was, our neighbor lady didn't seem to know Stella.  She stepped back, sort of wobbly, and was amused by the fact that Stella was so excited to see them.  Almost like she was surprised to see a dog at all.  I looked up at our neighbor man and he said very, very softly, 'She's had a stroke' and in an instant it was clear.  She wasn't herself at all, so how was she to know who we were?  We stood just for a moment more and smiled at one another.  Things had clearly changed.  They walked on in the direction headed to one of their two habitual purposes.

Most recently, they were walking past our porch, we stopped and talked and our neighbor lady really seemed like her old self again.  She seemed to recognize me, and she definitely recognized Stella this time.  I came home and told RK I thought it was all looking up for our Stella Dallas neighbors.  But, as you know, if you started this at the beginning, that isn't exactly how it seems to be going.

This morning, when we passed our neighbor man, standing at the door to the back of the ambulance with the medic, and we briefly glanced our neighbor lady on a gurney and it occurred to us to turn around to help, I couldn't stop thinking about how much time they've spent together; the things they've gone through together; the places they've been to together.

We missed our chance at helping, by the time we rounded the corner, the ambulance was closing it's doors and our neighbor man was nowhere to be seen.  We headed out on our morning, thinking and talking and absorbing the weight of life.  We spent a gorgeous morning at the beach, ran Stella until she was happily exhausted and then headed home so Ryan could go bike riding before the wind picked up.

That same afternoon, when RK called me, laying on a gurney, from the back of an ambulance and told me to meet him at General Hospital, I thought of our neighbors again.  Then, I thought of how much time RK and I spend together, how much we've been through together and how many places we've yet to go to, together.

And how it can all change in an instant.

Tuesday is for voting...

Thanks for doing so...

The Art of Craft

 I'm super excited to have been asked, again, to be a part of this fantastic weekend with a really great group of creative women, both teachers and attendees:  The Art of Craft.  You can find all the details and sign up on The Art of Craft website right now, or on French General's website starting on November 1st.

The amount of participation and creativity that goes on each year during this fantastically hosted weekend never ceases to amaze me.  My fabulous family comes out in droves:  bar-tending, making delish food, hosting, meeting and greeting and general, all-around party-throwers to the nth degree!
And I'm always really thrilled by all the other artists and teachers that join in the big weekend, as well:  This year, French General has invited Pam Garrison, Charlotte Lyons, Arlene Baker, Jenny Hart and Rebecca Sower.

I'm teaching a really fun project, that fits right into my obsession with small works of wonder:  "Under the Bell Jar".  We'll actually build out parts of the bell jar and then create each individual pin that will eventually live in your own personal mise-en-scene.

And by Sunday night, with all the classes crafted through and the projects brought to light, we pour ourselves a glass of Lillet and toast this creative world with a talk by Nancy Soriano.

I can't wait!  And I can only hope you'll join us for this super fun, super creative weekend filled with old and new-found friends.  It doesn't take place until January 12-14th, but sign-ups begin now (because, really, whether you've accepted it or not, January is RIGHT around the corner!! where does the time go?!?!).

SIGN-UPS LINKED HERE

Type Rider

I love this story.  A typewriter.  A bike.  A storyteller.  And a public coming together that warms my heart. 

I find this story extra inspiring as I am, once again, beginning to write my own future story, a 'what may come' story. 

I lived my childhood on the coast of Southern California. 
My 20's in New York City. 
My 30's in San Francisco. 
And now, in my 40's, I'm setting out to see what there is in Los Angeles.
Creating the ideal, living the dream, and setting out for more keeps me going.

WORKSHOP : San Francisco

I feel like this may be the beginning of a major new chapter...
After teaching in Los Angeles, New York and France, I'm finally leading my first San Francisco-based workshop,

WORKSHOP:  CONCERTINA BOOK
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14th
11:30am-2pm
Women's Building, 18th Street

Besides learning how to construct this very cool, old-fashioned  style book, you will receive all the  materials to work with.  I've gone deep into the vast resources of my studio collections, some items dating back to the 1800's, and put together an entire ephemera kit (that I can't seem to stop adding to!) for you to collage with.
Good, juicy stuff you don't want to miss!
I'll be posting images all week on the 8mm ideas Facebook Page, in  case you need more enticement...

Workshops are a fabulous way to get your creative on with a group of  like-minded peeps!  It gets us off line and into each others creative space, up close and personal.  I never thought I was one for group crafting, but I've learned the fun way, thanks to my good friend Holly, who took me to my very first workshop.  And, to my sister Kaari, who was the first one to start asking me to teach to adults.  I taught for years to kids, it seemed sorta similar and dubiously daunting (exactly).  And I've got my friend, T, to thank for getting me into classes that impressed me enough to want to also lead.
I've loved every workshop I've led:  It has been a thrill.

And that's why I'm so excited to do it here, on my own, creating the space...I'm renting a room at the Women's Building and it is gorgeous.  HUGE half domed windows, overlooking 18th Street, beautiful light, wide open room, in a building with so much history.  For just 3 short hours, one Sunday in October, I plan to turn it into a creative workshop space you won't want to leave.

If you don't happen to live in SF, but know someone who does, feel free to share the word.

Class size is limited.
So get it while the getting is good!

Sofia means Wisdom

Sometimes, I get a nervous feeling about moving to LA.  I compare things to SF, the same way I compared SF to NYC.  For SO many years.  Now, I realize, there are so many things I grew to love, I know I'll miss. 
So,  I want to make great strides, grand gestures, and cast my net wide to explore and grow to love LA.  I believe you're never too old to start again, there's always a new path to discover and hell, if you don't go in, you'll never find out.

Then, my sister texts me this photo

and it hit me deep in the gut, I remembered instantly why I want to move to LA.
Experiencing my niece and her incredible zest for new and love for friends, her joy at creating a Halloween costume, her unbridled passion for learning about things/people/ and places,  her unbelievable understanding of others at age 15,  and her total and complete get-up-and-go at all get-up-and-go opportunities, experiencing these things in person are incredibly powerful and life-affirming.  That may sound overly-dramatic, I guess, but I don't care one whit.  When I'm around Sofia, life feels really charged with goodness.

Of course you must have realized by now, the girl in the photo I'm referring to, my niece Sofia is not one of the girls in the audience with her arms crossed, she is the girl who is bouncing into the photo, with Panda Pride, as the school mascot.
High School Pep Rally:  Only Sofia can make it look so good.

Introducing, Once Again, OPEN STUDIOS

current work hanging on the walls at open studios

It's that time, once again:  OPEN STUDIOS!  It's always a great time to come out and meet all new artists, see all new artwork, and to mix and mingle with your fellow art lover patrons.  A super fun weekend for us artists, to actually open the doors to our little worlds of wonder.  I have a fairly small studio, which works just fine for me, considering I only create in about a 2x2 space when I actually get down to it.  Otherwise, my whole studio is a study in collection and creativity that I revel in on a weekly basis.  As I've mentioned before, I surround myself with old worlds, old lives, old books, photos and the strange finds from all over, and then I get down to business!

OPEN STUDIOS is that awesome time that I get to come out of my head and meet other minds that see eye to eye on things in this strange and wonderful world.

I'd love to see you...
The Art Explosion
744 Alabama Street
San Francisco
STUDIO 227

Ode To A Friend

Letter To N.Y. 

For Louise Crane

In your next letter I wish you'd say
where you are going and what you are doing;
how are the plays and after the plays
what other pleasures you're pursuing:

taking cabs in the middle of the night,
driving as if to save your soul
where the road goes round and round the park
and the meter glares like a moral owl,

and the trees look so queer and green
standing alone in big black caves
and suddenly you're in a different place
where everything seems to happen in waves,

and most of the jokes you just can't catch,
like dirty words rubbed off a slate,
and the songs are loud but somehow dim
and it gets so terribly late,

and coming out of the brownstone house
to the gray sidewalk, the watered street,
one side of the buildings rises with the sun
like a glistening field of wheat.

--Wheat, not oats, dear. I'm afraid
if it's wheat it's none of your sowing,
nevertheless I'd like to know
what you are doing and where you are going.

by, Elizabeth Bishop

When I heard Ira Glass replay a piece with David Rakoff talking with Terry Gross on This American Life, Rakoff recited this poem.  And I cried, almost from the title, and thought of Suzanne.  For so many reasons.
I love that the combination of these things make me think of her.
Today is Suzanne's birthday and this is my ode to my friend.

Only Surround Yourself With Things You Know To Be Beautiful

{we had} learned for many years, like many artists, you don't sort of say well should I go in my studio today or I really don't have any good ideas maybe tomorrow I'd have a better idea. You go in your studio, if you don't have any ideas, you sharpen pencils. If you sharpen pencils long enough, you get an idea. -George Woodman

Some of my happiest, most reflective, float away on a thought, moments happen in my studio.  And it's because of all the things I'm surrounded by,

But it wasn't always a 'studio' in the proper sense of the word.  I haven't always had a 'studio' to retreat to.  So, it's really just being surrounded by my stuff.  (i cried when i watched the previously posted video, that's a guy who gets it!)  That's what makes me happy.  Makes me feel dreamy.
I realized, walking around our apartment tonight, I have a lot of stuff.  I cannot stress that enough.  But because I like a glass half full, I tend to think of it not as too much stuff, as some might think.  It's a lot of little stuff.  Really, I mostly collect smalls.  Mostly.

It's really just that I grow into a place.  And, it seems, we've completely grown out of the apartment we're currently in (see: video).  Looking back, I remember so well feeling like I had so much room to work.  Now, I feel like I could fill up five rooms of the same size, surrounding myself with found things and weird treasures and small talismans.

It seems as if there's no end to this ongoing collection.


Well,
I suppose,
I could stop bring things into my space...



Nah, that's never gonna happen.

This Is My Home

A man after my own heart.

(mom, turn up the volume and hit the little button in the corner that has the four little arrows!)

photo

...When it's over, I want to say 
all my life 
I was a bride married to amazement. 
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. 

When it's over, I don't want to wonder 
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.  

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, 
or full of argument. 

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

-

mary oliver 
when death comes

thanks bonbon via what possessed me

Opportunity Lands!

Have you SEEN this?!

If you haven't, I totally understand... you were out of the loop for a few days, no one told you we were going to space, you were super busy with all the things you have to do here, on earth.  I get it.  I, too, can get overwhelmed by all that's happening in my immediate surroundings, let alone the world, let alone what's going on in space!

But, now that you know.. aren't you excited?!

For me, all it took was one look at this photo.  To be in that room.  To feel that excitement! 

But now, really take in. Read slowly.
And realize: What it took to make {this} little Opportunity get to it's destination. What it took to make {the} Opportunity land. What it means for {the} Opportunity to have a "rock-vaporizing laser" oh yeah, and "other instruments", too, of course. It lays out a reasonable calender of time for {the} Opportunity to do what it needs to do. First {the} Opportunity makes a move in Mid-September ("at the earliest"), and the next dramatic move would go down in October or November. {The} Opportunity knows.

Okay, so I'm not going to become a person of space (is that what someone who works at NASA is called?), it's true.  But, I am going to very carefully understand what is happening here.  I'm going to apply it to my own current fluctuating, roiling, "careful and methodical" choices, fate, time and space and friggin go for it.

What's your opportunity?

Mail Art

I just know I have some mail art readers that peek into this little house in the clouds every once in awhile.  You, well, this is for you.  I love a good art benefit and I happen to love the purpose, the mission, behind The Prison Library Project so much so that it's inspired me to go looking for our own Prisoners Literature Project program here in Northern California.  Excited to get my volunteering on!

Considering the love and support of snail mail is part of 8mm ideas own mission statement ,  I couldn't pass this by.  I'll be working on and sending out at least two pieces (will post here or here when finished), partly to keep the USPS in business, as well!

Have fun, get your art on, and support a great cause to create a better world!

The Rules: The ones I actually try to follow

(this sign hung in the art room, stenciled by sister corita)

Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules

Rule I Find a place you trust and then

try trusting it for awhile.

Rule 2 General duties of a student: Pull everything out of your teacher.

Pull everything out of your fellow students.

Rule 3 General duties of a teacher:

Pull everything out of your students.

Rule 4 Consider everything an experiment.

Rule 5 Be self disciplined.  This means 

finding someone wise or smart and 

choosing to follow them. 

To be disciplined is to follow in a good way.

To be self disciplined is to follow in a better way.

Rule 6 Nothing is a mistake.  There's no win and

no fail.  There's only make.

Rule 7 THE ONLY RULE IS WORK.

If you work it will lead to something.

It's the people who do all of the work all the time

who eventually catch on to things.

Rule 8 Don't try to create and analyse at the 

same time.  They're different processes.

Rule 9 Be happy whenever you can mage it.  

Enjoy yourself.  It's lighter than you

think.

Rule I0  "We're breaking all of the rules, even

our own rules.  And how do we do that?

By leaving plenty of room for X quantities." John Cage

Helpful Hints:  Always be around.  Come or go to everything.  Always go to classes.  Read anything you can get your hands o.  Look at movies carefully, often.

Save everything - it might come in handy later.

There should be new rules next week.

It's Friday. oh, how we dance

Brocantes, the life of France

A good brocante is a funny place.

Depending on what you're looking for, it can be a quick run through or an incredible dig.

Two years ago, we happened across an incredible find, a brocante off the beaten path, filled to the brim with crazy goodness.  We emptied our pockets into Guillmile's hands, threw fresh lemonade down our throats, and promised we'd return the following year.

So, when we showed up on a blazing hot day this year, to the same exact warehouse and found it locked up, no one around, we had a slight moment of panic.

We all clambered out of the car, walked all over the property, shaking big doors and trying to peek into windows to no avail.  Just as we started to drive away and wonder, if he'd actually closed up shop, would he have left all those fabulous old doors and window panes outside along the property?! we were barked at by a dog and noticed this huge stone house we'd be standing alongside that nearly disappeared into the overgrown ivy.  We knocked on the front door.  An older man opened the door, "Oui?!" and in our broken French, we tried to ask where Guillmile was?  Shouldn't he be open?  Did he happen to know anything about it?  Oui, oui, but of course he did!  This was Gui's landlord, he owned this massive, sprawling  property we were traipsing all over and yes, he had Gui's number if we could wait here at the door just a moment.
Now, we're the curious types and it's hard for us to sit just outside such an ancient looking house and not, at least, poke our heads into the foyer.  So, I began to crane my neck just inside the door, it was so dark, I could barely see a thing...but it was old in there.  Very, very old.  I heard a t.v. and my sister thought she saw a stove of some sort.  We both noticed the incredible wallpaper, peeling right off the walls and the narrow, wood staircase that swirled up to somewhere...when he suddenly appeared again at the door with Gui's phone number and a very nice "Au Revoir!"

We stayed on the property, we rang Gui, he told us he'd be there in 10 minutes (though after a half an hour, we started to wonder if we'd actually understood... did he say "dix minutes" or did he say "dix mois"?!).  Eventually, he opened the enormous warehouse doors and let us in.  He had redecorated, redesigned and had so much new (read: old) great stuff!!  The educational posters were one of the first things I noticed, so we took them all, every last one of 'em!  Gui was thrilled, we were thrilled...this time we gulped down cold, fresh apple juice and we all left happy!

Brocantes are a funny place, and whether its the shops, the owners or the stories that come out of the adventure, they make for some of the best times we have in this fabulous France!

STELLLAAA!

 

while i'm away, yeah, i miss her a little bit...

Outakes From An International Shoot

Though we are here in France for one job, we still need to keep doing the others that keep us in business back home.  Mine is to get some shots together for our new greeting card line, "Greetings 101".  I designed this juicy, super-stripy collection based on the color ways of vintage travel posters and suitcase labels I've collected over the years.

I thought I'd use my niece as a model, as well as the old French chateau we're currently staying in.  It seemed appropriate, as she's half Spanish, and so are the cards!

She's been a real sport about the whole thing (because she's fantastic that way).

These are just some of the shots we probably won't use, among the 40 or so others that we shot.

All cards, in both French and Spanish, are available on our website at 8mm ideas.

ThereYouAre

We celebrated our dear friend, and fellow hostess on the Chateau Getaway, Cathy's birthday today in France. I made her three pieces:  The triptych of life. They were so fun to make, I want to do more when I get back.  Maybe start doing one of a kind pieces again and putting them out into the world.  I'd like to create and follow through on some real tactile goals this coming year.  Making small pieces of art work for others seems as good a goal as any. 

ThereYouAre, a photo by mollshot on Flickr.

LifesShort, a photo by mollshot on Flickr.

allAboard, a photo by mollshot on Flickr.

Boom, is right

We're all getting very excited to head off to the South of France to start the French General Chateau Getaway...leaving tomorrow morning and landing in Toulouse on Saturday.  I'm anxious to see my parents who've been traveling around France for the last two weeks, to hear about all the fabulous places in the Mediterranean they've visited.  I know they'll have a million stories of people they've met, addresses they've exchanged.  And we all land in a house together for the first week to catch up, drink, eat and get a whole lotta merry...  Boom (o boum) is right! (top five favorite songs of all time)

Dads, Pops, Fathers

Fathers Day is coming up...and we have some fabulous new cards in our shop that I'm so excited about.  It's so cool to have this online card shop now:  So nice to be able to finally say,
'oh, whats that? you want to know where can you get my cards? well, online, of course!'
instead of, 
'um, well, if you live in (name town I don't have an account in) I'm not sure...um...'  Soooo, there's that!

I really love our mothers day cards, too, and though that 'holiday' has passed, you can still get all our mom's cards in the shop, as well.  The great thing is, the cards are just right for sending to your mom any day of the year.  I've always been a fan of just celebrating the mom, herself, rather than yelling out 'happy mothers day'... I like sending my mom a card any ole day, just cuz she's my mom (or madre, or mutter, or maja), hence the official cry of that national holiday hasn't hit up my cards yet.

But, back to fathers day, which is what we were talking about in the first place... 

I decided to make a little photo studio to work with...

Compared to other photo shoots I've worked on over the years, this one was surprisingly easy going!  The models were a charm to work with.  And we all really believed in the cause, as well.

Don't forget to send YOUR dad a fathers day card this year!  Tell him stuff you don't tell him all year long, you know, the good stuff, the juicy stuff, the how much you love him and how he's influenced your life in all the right ways stuff.  Dads like that kind of stuff!