Altered Books with some Kids who are 8,9, 10 and 11

This is my first experience working in this medium with kids of this age group. I recently finished another homeschool class made up primarily of teenage girls. Totally different. We looked at Rookie yearbook, cut pages from Vogue, listened to The Smiths on the Ipod and chilled.

The younger set is great because they are so free. Every one of them. But they move quickly.

Can you guess which of these books were created by A a bubbly and smart girl B my dear son (who is a bit of a cut-up) and C a child who works with such precision he would make a grand scientist?

Mother's Day

A stranger named Theresa Jordan emailed me this video through the contact link on my blog. It is simply and beautifully done and lasts just over 2 minutes. The email title was "For Mother's Day".

Last night at midnight my mother-in-law passed away in the other room. She was a character in the highest order. I knew the sweet men from the cremation society didn't know. They wore suits and good shoes and they had to walk through our muddy yard in the rain. They just saw an old woman who stopped breathing.

Her name is Carolyn and she loved jewelry and food. She had a way of cussing that was ingenious and filthy. Her voice was cultured and melodic as she cussed. She was a wordsmith. She called Flatbush Ave "Flabtush Ave" - "I don't know why more people don't say that - it's so obvious."

I'm still looking for the best words to describe her and the best way to honor her. I am not sure what her perfume will be yet.

Thank you Theresa, for your work

Kirsty Mitchell's mother was dying, and she created this elaborate world using nearby locations and handcrafted costumes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2145760/Wonderland-Kirsty-Mitchell-heart-breakingly-beautiful-photographic-series-memory-extraordinary-life.html

Retired Carthedral

Rebecca Caldwell's "Carthedral". Sooooo good.

http://www.carthedral.com/carthedral/

The Magpie Shop

I just opened a curated pay-what-you-think-is-fair thrift store for special things

 

like little treasures, games and toys, vintage and kitsch, housewares, things to make art with, jewelry and accessories.

I've had this idea in my head a long while. Like most of my ideas I struggle with the thought that it is totally brilliant, then foolish beyond measure. I had this idea that if people put their cool stuff in one place and one could go to that place on a day they were really broke and get a gift for themselves or their friends or their kids - well, that would be a cool thing. So I am trying to make that.

I was absolutely moved that people brought things in during the first few days. Even handmade, beautiful things like handbags and leather belts. 

You can pay by leaving cash in the drop-box/safe on the wall. How much? Well, if you take what you need and you don’t feel like you are ripping us off and you don’t feel like we are ripping you off, then the amount is just right.

Magpie is intended to be a place for good little things, a shrine to anti-consumerism and an experiment in honor system ethics.

If you are in Charlottesville, check it out. Inside of Random Row Books at 315 West Main St, 11-5, 7 days a week.

For more details go to www.magpie-mobile.com

 

Altered book and zine making with homeschoolers

It has been an absolute joy working with this kids - 6 girls aged 11 to 15 and one brave guy, 11 years old. I don't know if it is because they are homeschooled, but they are creative, bold and they know how to bring it! We are always surprised when out hour and half has ended and it is time to clean up.

Vollis Simpson Whirligigs

I walked into a friend's house this week and there was a Vollis Simpson whirligig. I thought this couple was cool in the first place, but this took the hummingbird cake. It's like every day I get more Southern and feel more like laying down in a field of metal whirlygigs built by an old man in North Carolina. Please look at http://www.wilsonwhirligigpark.org to get the picture.

Vali Myers and Gianni Menicheti

My friend Jessika told me about this woman who had a pet fox and wore bright red hair and black eyeliner. She had a cage in her house that she liked to go into and a throne for the fox. She lived in Italy with a much younger man who was totally in love with her and over 100 animals in an enchanted, wild valley. They were both artists.

I developed a fixation upon hearing this. It turns out that I had Vali Meyers' picture on my wall, just by happenstance. I just finished reading her biography, written by Gianni Menicheti, whose artwork is posted above. Her is a short, inspiring video, if you have 9 minutes to spare:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK1tflgkX8A

The Sketchbook Project

This is the sort of thing I would dream up, but never pull it off, because I don't have the resources or know- how (my head is FILLED with such projects!)....

"TOGETHER, THOUSANDS OF CREATIVE PEOPLE AROUND THE
WORLD ARE FORMING A TRAVELING LIBRARY OF ARTISTS' BOOKS."

A touring library of over 22,000 sketchbooks from over 130 countries and growing. Eventually they will reside in Brooklyn, New York.

I was happy to learn about this, but I never managed to turn in my $25 to get a sketchbook and participate. Wasn't I overjoyed when my dear friend Michael visited this weekend adn BROUGHT ME A SKETCHBOOK! Happy, happy.

http://www.sketchbookproject.com/

Cornelia Konrads - Killer art in public space

http://www.cokonrads.de/

All of this artwork is by German artist, Cornelia Konrads. Imagine stumbling on this without warning.

Magical landscapes - I will take all I can get.

Here is a great article about a magic maker, word wrangler and "One Thousand Feathers" creator,  Raven Mack. A snippet:

How do you think being born and raised in Virginia has influenced your writing and other creative works over the years? Does living out in the country have a particular effect on your work these days?

I guess I am the product of where I grew up, which even more specific than Virginia is Southside Virginia, which is sort of the abandoned orphan section of Virginia, similar to Southwest Virginia except we have no mountains. But it fits because it’s a trash part of the state, and I am born from trash people. I enjoy living in the country because I can have stinky ass pigs and goats and chickens and broke down cars and jukeboxes beside the chest freezer on my front porch and nobody can say anything; though even where I live, which is allegedly rural as fuck, I have had complaints from the law-abiding, God-fearing assholes who live in proximity. It affects my work because I’m connected to that, though even when I lived in cities or couches or whatever, I tend to see the beauty in the grime, and the disgusting nature of the shiny. Not sure why that is.


http://rvamag.com/articles/full/17120/writing-you-can-stab-people-with-an-interview-with-raven-mackhttp://rvamag.com/articles/full/17120/writing-you-can-stab-people-with-an-interview-with-raven-mack