Sooooo, last week was a bit of a whirlwind-- a very very full workweek, including several days out and about in the state, followed up by seeing the parents in DC and doing one of my shifts at Artomatic. Which would have all been quite a bit to start with, but when my usual two hour drive to DC turned into a five hour odyssey on the way up and a four hour one on the way back, it really put a capper on a very long week. Which is why I'm trying to think about my garden and stuff instead....
I've also been working on some hats as well-- these are meant for wee heads.....
Lastly, I finished up something that I've been making for a friend... the theme is very much up her alley....
Hope she likes it!
with travel to boot! Heading down into the peanut patches of SoVA for work, then back up to the D.C. for a little Artomatic action and visit with m'parents on top of it. busy busy busy....
Very interesting talk about the mis-intersection of education and creativity. Also, he's quite funny.
We were at Artomatic on Saturday night for meet the artist night:
Rebecca and I enjoyed Dale Hunt's funhouse like paintings. Of course we both like his work in any case, since we both have pieces by him from Artomatics past.
It was lots of fun. Artomatic is pretty superfantastic this year-- great space with lots of interesting stuff. Go visit while it's still going on-- through July 5th!
I spent a bit of the weekend out in the garden, though not as much as I would have liked. Sadly, I spent most of it doing my least favorite gardening task-- weeding. I got about half done, but now it's raining, so I'm sure that all my work will be for naught, as it's meant to rain for the rest of the week.....
We are still having serious earwig problems. They seemed to abate a little when I swabbed the deck (literally!) with homemade insecticidal soap, but with the rain washing away the effects, I'm thinking they'll be back in force. They've started chomping on the zucchinis and beans and peas, which I'm rather unhappy about. And boy howdy do they looooooove the flowers I have on the deck.
So, I've been working on a few projects lately... including a few things that I'm contemplating putting on Etsy. I'd love feedback-- do these look like something you'd be interested in?
I've been experimenting with some placemats:
Last night was First Friday in Richmond (I mean, it was the first friday of the month everywhere, but it was First Friday in Richmond), so we went to a couple of openings. The first was at the VMFA Studio School, where we got to chat with friends and look at art (some very nice prints, and I managed to more or less sell the one I liked best by someone I know to someone else I know). Then we headed on down to VCU for the opening of a neat show that includes two friends of ours-- Tiffany Glass Ferreira and Richard Garrett.
It's a small show, only a few artists, of which Tiffany and Richard are two. (Tiffany on the left and Richard on the floor).
Sadly, yes. Many of the things I planted in containers this year are either a) dying or b) failing to thrive. It is a sad sad story, which I am rather upset about. Suggestions from gardening forums have included: 1) overwatering; 2) underwatering; 3) bad soil; 4) bad plants; 5) bugs; 6) not enough fertilizer; and my favorite, 7) gardening is often frustrating, so try again next year.
For the second year in a row, plants in the garden have failed to hit full growing steam prior to the heat wave, which seems to stunt certain things. I planted a full month earlier this year in response to this problem last year. And what happens? The brussel sprouts very excitedly began to finally grow last week. Today it was 94 degrees and they are looking all wilting.
Much more worrisome is that I have not seen a single bee-- honey, bumble, what have you-- since April. The peas are finally coming into their own, as are some of the tomatoes, and all of those flowers are going unpollinated. No bees, and not even really any butterflies. Nor hummingbirds. And I don't have the time to perform plant sex activities on these things. So we may not get much in the way of food this year.
On the upside, we did manage to have one salad out of the garden last week.
I also ended up making another container using the same materials and colors, although I added some handles to that one....
Finally, I experimented a little with some scrap fabric that I have had around, literally, for years. It's actually scraps going back to my first attempts at sewing a quilt, which I did my first year at grad school, now more than a decade ago. (I thought it might relieve some of the stress of grad school. It might have done, if I hadn't skipped the part where you take a class or at least read a book. Instead, I just bought a bunch of fabric, cut it up, and started sewing it all together. I still have some of the blocks, and it isn't as bad as that sounds like it should be. Although it's probably okay that I never quite finished that project). In any case, I used the scraps to make an oval shaped vessel, and to try out making a lid.....
Artomatic has opened! Lots and lots of inneresting stuff. We started off by watching our friend Bink perform-- including our wedding song. He was great as always-- come see his second Artomatic date if you missed the opening night show! And buy his CD!
We all walked around quite a bit, and by the time we left I was totally beat. Phil actually made it through all the floors. I actually saw the 9th floor, and sort of saw the 8th and 7th, and then was too pooped to really go on. But I did see lots of friends that I haven't see for a good long while, so it was a good night. We saw friend Anita, who has some lovely metallic prints up on the 9th floor. Her son Ben is in the space next to hers.
Our friend Erin Antognoli is also up on 9, with a really well put together display. Our friend the Reverand Pat Padua (he officiated at our wedding) is also on 9 (which is clearly where the cool kids hang out) has some really great pieces. Go see Salvatore Ferro's work, also on 9-- he's gone in a new direction with his work. Our friend Brett Davis is on the 6th floor, and is pushing the boundaries of what photography is with these pieces.
Dear friends Rebecca and Eric, of Antomatic fame, has brought the bugs back, this time with a great bee sound installation. Also on, yes, the 9th floor. She also had the most fabulous dress in the place, and they were very generous in hosting us for the night and plying us with middle of the night popcorn. Thanks guys!
We also met up with Todd Gardner, who has a whole bunch of new work that I like very much. In years past he has shown pieces from a large portrait series that he has been working on for quite a while (I sat for one), which I liked a lot, but it was really interesting to see the new work, and also good to see him. He is next to one of several bondage themed spaces. Ah, Artomatic.
She's on the 8th floor-- don't miss it.
Sooo much to see-- I'll need to spend more time working my way down to check out other floors. What are you waiting for? Get on over to Artomatic!
So come on down!!
55 M Street, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Navy Yard metro stop
It's going to rock!
P and I drove up to D.C. to install my space at Artomatic. What would I do without him? (Answer: not have an installation)
It is a good thing that he was there. Even if he looked grumpy. He wasn't actually grumpy, he just made a grumpy face when I took his picture.
I'm on the 7th floor, space number 5. It's a good spot, near the Peeps, near a window. And close to toilet island.
There are, of course, this being Artomatic, all sorts of interesting things going on. Lots of exciting events, lots of interesting installations, lots of wackiness. Isn't there always wackiness? Some of the usuals, some that I hadn't seen before, but more than a thousand visual artists and a bazillion performers, so all well worth a visit. Everyone should come this Friday, as it is opening night-- always a blast-- and our friend the indominable Bink is playing the Cabaret stage at 8pm. He's going to play our wedding song, which is called Gas and Matches. Phil is his tallest fan :)
So come on down and enjoy the spectacle!
