sunday afternoon...

I’ve been home all weekend working on sculptures. It’s official – my work will be shown at the UCSF Women’s Hospital. I have to drop off the work on January 12 and so I am crazily busy trying to complete 4 pieces by then. It sounds ridiculous – almost impossible but I am determined to do it. It’s been raining all weekend so I haven’t minded being at home. I’m here in front of my little decorated tree making art and sipping really hot coffee.

I have waves of anxiety off and on but I am glad to say that my Christmas shopping is almost all done and the last batch of Christmas cards will go in the mail tomorrow. I ordered a gift for my brother on December 4th and yet it never arrived. When I contacted the company I was amused and annoyed by the operator. He was so indifferent and unconcerned that I was annoyed and yet I was amused when he stated the obvious.

ME: I made this order on December 4. You guys sent me a shipping confirmation on December 5 and charged my card on December 6th. Yet when I look at the UPS tracking it gives no other information other than it going to the UPS facility. Obviously there is a problem since it’s now the 18th and I haven’t received anything.
OPERATOR: Oh… December 4? That was weeks ago. You know what? I think your package is lost. Yep. Good luck getting that.
There’s more but this story sounds best when I tell it and you can hear me impersonate the guy with his accent and tone of voice and all…

dollhouse

Dolls are substitutes for humans, and are used in both childhood and adult play. A plastic doll, robot, sock monkey, paper doll, rag doll, nutcracker, marionette, soldier, voodoo effigy and blowup sex toy, they are all repositories of our fears, fantasies, and desires. We love them, we fear them; we cherish them, we tear them apart; we talk to them, they talk to us. We imbue them with our imaginary life and in return they transport us into their worlds. For the Holiday Season, Arc Gallery will be figuratively transformed into a giant dollhouse for one-of-a-kind dolls and dollhouses. Artists are invited to liberally interpret their concept of 'dolls' and 'dollhouses,' and bring to life a creature or world from your wildest imaginings.

JUROR'S STATEMENT: "I once heard someone say ' there is nothing funny about a clown after midnight.' I think the corollary in this case would be: ' there is nothing cute or sweet about a doll after an artist has their way with it.' Try as i might to add to this statement of what the doll show is about and why I chose the way I did I am stymied by my inability to add to what the artists have already." - Jack Fischer



Kevin Grady: I've been incorporating dolls into my art pieces for many years now. I have some pieces that are just one doll on a weathered piece of wood - the doll itself to me is art. Other pieces I build around a doll or several dolls, and I consider each piece to be the dolls home.




Liese Lietzke: My sculptural works invade the installation space as bulbous, many-limbed and multi-textured forms, from tiny to larger-than-life, made from second-hand clothing as well as fabricated materials. They seductively invite touch while simultaneously threatening to overwhelm, encouraging a sense of longing for union and a greiving of irrevocable divisions. This work plays in the space between adulthood and regression, magnifying the sweetened artifice and compulsive adornments that shield the ego from the disturbance of the body.




Tracy Sengillo: In our culture, the human body is often presented through heavily mediated guises. For many, it needs to be re-presented in idealizations, in purified forms and sometimes as dolls. This piece exists not as an aesthetic representation of a human body, but as an artifact, a product of the obsessions and desires that tangle one's psyche. In this sense it acts as a metaphorical doll turned inside out, revealing the veiled fears and fixations of the owner.





Audrey Heller: I'm fascinated by imagining a world in a different scale. I enjoy using props that are everyday, yet deeply resonant, to tickle memory and inspire imagination. This triptych is loosely intended as a mythological journey of life. This work, 'Measure' is about a period of reflection.





Yuriko Takata: Water is our most precious and finite commodity. Global water Paper Doll has 4 different regional outfits showing her daily allotment of water. North American girl uses 100 gallons per day. North Kenyan girl uses 4 gallons per day. East Indian girl uses 10 gallons per day. American golf girl uses 2 billion gallons per day for irrigation of America's golf courses.

cutting wire

world AIDS day

Today is World AIDS Day.
Currently, 33 million people worldwide are infected with AIDS. 1.1 million of them are here in the United States.

I remember when the AIDS epidemic begin. Here in San Francisco people were dropping like flies. I had an English teacher who died from AIDS. I can't remember his name. I was in seventh grade and he got sick half way through the semester and never came back. We later figured out (I don't remember how even though we all knew he was gay) that he had AIDS. It was when AIDS was still this scary mystery disease that had everyone freaked out because they didn't know how it was transmitted. I remember how everyone in his class knew something was really wrong but none of the adults would tell us what was going on.

I was 11 or 12 at the time and people were freaked out because no one knew how it was transmitted. Hospital workers were dying too. People thought you could get AIDS through breathing on or touching someone, which added to the feeling of fear, this feeling of tension you could sense in the air.

I never want to feel kind of fear again and yet AIDS has managed to destroy so many lives. For this reason I give to the UCSF AIDS Health project and I responded to Alicia Keys’ call to action through her foundation Keep a Child Alive.

hibernation

I’ve been in hibernation this weekend – watching a marathon of TV shows on hulu, eating sweet potato pie, sculpting, working and just keeping to myself. I currently feel more misunderstood than understood (at the moment) and so silence seems to be the best remedy for all concerned. It’s not that anything is tragically wrong but I just feel out of the loop and like somehow my timing is off and my intentions are misread. It’s easier to simply step back, pause, reflect and simply listen.
Nothing glamorous happening here.

a lost interview…

I found this when on a fluke I googled myself tonight… Funny thing is I’d forgotten about doing an interview. Listening to it I remember being really tired and struggling to concentrate because the studio was so noisy at the end of a very long evening.

happy thanksgiving!

pick your diamond pick your pearl there is beauty in the world...

giving back

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love." - Mother Teresa

Last night I was thinking about the holidays - thinking about Thanksgiving and how I haven't really paused to reflect the way I would have wanted to before the holiday. Then I went on with my evening and got excited reading my friend Willie's updates on Facebook about this organization he is working with. I don't know if I have mentioned it much here but I really have a love for missions and efforts to create change globally. I also find myself in love with Uganda and Rwanda and the women and children in these countries. They are somehow a part of my consciousness when I think of the war against AIDS so while I do things to contribute to fighting AIDS locally, I often reach out to programs that affect Uganda and Rwanda when I do something to benefit AIDS globally. It's not just AIDS - but clean water and health issues and many things. If we were chatting over coffee and wanted to go deep, I could talk your ear off and you'd see my heart spill out before you with all of the ways I wish I could change the world.

So anyway...
I was thinking about the big picture and how some of us think the world's problems are just TOO big and we give thinking about it, grab a drink and watch some trash TV instead of dealing with the the heaviness of it.
I understand.
Yet, since we are all probably going to do some Christmas shopping I thought I'd mention a two places that offer great gifts while benefitting people in need of help.

Youme Clothing

Youme Clothing is a collaborative recycling project with a desire to take what is old and make it new, locally & internationally. It is a partnership between people to produce a creative expression of the heart for the people.
RAGS TO RESOURCES!
They currently conduct clothing exchange programs in the following countries:
Uganda, 
Swaziland, Mozambique, and Kenya. Each item is one of a kind, with fabric that comes from a child in either Swaziland, Kenya, or Uganda so color and placement of the swatch of cloth may vary.

Check out this video to get an idea of the impact they make. My friend Willie has gone to Uganda for clothing exchanges before. He's on the video too...



Samaritan’s Purse

Sometimes we think it takes being a millionaire to be charitable. This is SO not true. Here’s one way I have helped others in the past. I realized that for the price of a grande vanilla latte (my favorite café drink) I could provide a child with milk for a week.

A cup of milk seems so simple, but its essential nutrients like protein and calcium are vital to poor children fighting malnutrition. That’s the reason we provide milk and other nutritious items to many schools, orphanages, and hospitals in poverty-stricken countries. A gift of $4 can provide a week’s worth of milk, so we can help a needy child grow. For $7 you can offer a week’s worth of hot meals to children in Calcutta India.

Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Each year they produce a gift catalog with things you can buy as gifts that offer hope to the world. The gifts span from $4 all the way up to hundreds of dollars contributing to a variety of ways of impacting lives from clean water, to livestock, to providing doctors or providing bibles, to rescuing children from exploitation and so much more. Check it out by clicking here.

ordinary monday...

Today was another work filled day - running errands, painting sculptures, sculpting, emailing people... Here are my two latest sculptures that I have created...

inspiration saturday

Clothing I'd sculpt...
This has been a WILD week! I sold a piece the other day and I have a standing appointment with someone about another work of art. Then my art dealer contacts me and tells me she has three clients viewing my work right now. Later I get an email from a woman who saw my work downtown and she had a bunch of questions for me. Then late last night I got an acceptance notification for a juried show I applied for! Out of 297 submissions one of my sculptures was selected! Meanwhile I have been here working on pieces for my etsy shop and completing two big pieces I have been working on all week. Today after I did some laundry and sculpted for a while I pulled up these photos for inspiration. All but one are from the Sartorialist. I read his blog everyday and always find myself intrigued as I find inspiration for my work through the people he photographs. I'm off to put away my laundry, make my bed and maybe select one of these to work on while watching this Julia Roberts movie-a-thon that is on this weekend...


found via The Sartorialist
I like the flip of her skirt.


found via The Sartorialist
I rarely sculpt men's clothing simply because there aren't enough curves and flowing fabric yet this wrinkled jacket really appeals to me.


found via sfgirlbybay
I keep looking at dresses with a top similar to this. I think this will definitely become a sculpture of some sort.


found via The Sartorialist
I like how her suit is wrinkled but at the same time chic... I'd sculpt it wrinkled.


found via The Sartorialist
I like the way her clothing is blowing in the wind.

do what you love

There’s something about getting up in the morning, taking out supplies and working, working, working. Stopping only to eat, drink and take a bathroom break. There’s something about seeing what resides in your mind come into existence as pieces of wire come together. There’s something to be said for pouring effort into a work of art and only stopping because your hands feel like they might bleed and you are so exhausted that as soon as your head hits the pillow you start to snore and drool. And even still, in your dreams you imagine what you will do next and where you will share your work. And sometimes Lenny Kravitz and Lee Daniels are there. Sometimes the sculptures are accessories in a fashion show. Sometimes, the work is in a museum… Other times ordinary people you don’t know are there and whether it’s Oprah that you are talking to or stay-at-home mom or a career woman, you feel good sharing your work and wake up in the morning with a lingering sense of warmth in your heart. Days like today I woke up with sore hands and tight shoulders but with an overwhelming feeling like I needed to complete the wire corset that sat on the floor in the corner where I left it earlier at 2 am when complete exhaustion led me to bed. And so I worked and cut piles of wire and painted pieces in the backyard while coffee brewed. And after a long shower where the warm water loosened my tight shoulders I worked some more, stopping to talk on the phone with a friend and to take care of some things I’d put off – like ordering more packaging for my etsy pieces and hanging up clean clothes in the closet. The day went quickly and eventually I found myself on a bus headed downtown to meet with a potential art buyer. As this man told the story of how my artwork captured him and how it would be the perfect gift for his wife I found myself feeling honored to be able to share my passion in such a unique way as to have my work become a part of their lives in such a special way. We talked and I shared my journey as a sculptor and my goals as I attempt to capture the essence of a person in each piece. I saw a light go on as this guy recognized what I meant. We parted ways happily – he with his new sculpture and me with a check and the satisfaction of being able to share something I love so much. Now after an evening and night of more sculpting, I am heading off to bed. Tomorrow it all begins again and I can’t wait!

for today –

outside my window … sunshine, lots and lots of trees, silence, birds chirping

i am thinking … about joining my man in taking a nap

i am thankful for … my husband and the way we can finish each others sentences at times

from the kitchen … nothing- we are playing it by ear for meals

i am wearing … a pink t-shirt and a purple sweater

i am creating … wire letters leisurely

i am going … to get a second cup of tea

i am reading … a travel magazine

i am hoping … I find some old CDs I have been looking for

i am hearing … music on my iPod

around the house … it is quiet as the two of us are have a rare moment alone

one of my favorite things … daydreaming about christmas cards for this year