Welcome to my, Brandy Agerbeck's, Art/Work blog. About my art and craft endeavors. Here's the archives. Contact me with questions and suggestions. Here's the past archives.

2006
I was a lapsed blogger this year, so here'a year's worth of incompletel posts:
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec

Saturday, December 30, 2006

The Forgotten Blog
I'm sorry faithful readers for the lack of posts. If you're up on my Me blog, you know I'm moving January 1. It's a short distance move, but the firsrt in eight years so it's a big endeavor.

Nothing happening here, because I've spent the last 5 weeks sorting, purging, fixing, packing.

Deconstructing instead of constructing. I really like making things, so taking thing apart and putting them in cardboard boxes goes against my nature.

When I get low, I remind myself that after New Years Day I get to unpack and arrange everything and do the stuff I love. I really, really love solving spatial problems, like what goes where. So, I'm giddy at that prospect.

I've come across all sorts of stuff as I go through boxes and boxes of papers. I've thrown away loooooads of stuff. That feels great. I suspect that when I unpack and finally file and sort the boxes of papers, I'll be scanning loads of stuff and making archive galleries.

Here's a card I made once upon a time:

Sunday, November 19, 2006

They're Pillows!
They're Dolls!
They're Pillow Dolls!
(That's the silly sign I made for my doll at the DIY Trunk Show yesterday.

Here are the finished dolls!




































Kitty was a late edition and I missed taking a "flat" picture of her.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Pillow Doll Production
I'm prepping for Saturday's DIY Trunk Show. My favorite craft show of the year! I've got plenty of inventory, so the pressure is off. But, I always like to bring something new, so I'm making more Pillow Dolls. I made 10 in September. My challenge this week was to make 20 more. 17 are well on there way here.

These will all be sewn and stuffed by Friday. If you're instantly smitten with one, they are $40 each and you can contact me to call dibs. These are the flat fronts, for an idea of what they will look like stuffed, check out my Flickr set.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Enameling Class
I am so very, very behind on my blogs. You haven't heard I've been taking a six week enamaling class at Lill Street Art Center. This afternoon, I worked on my biggest project. It's a pair of reversable cuffs with cool colors on one side, warm on the other. Here's the rows of the finished tiles:


The next two weeks are nutso (in a good way), so it'll take awhile to post, but I will show all my projects from the class and explain more.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Aw, heck. Look at this super cute bird-shaped coin purse by k. autumn! It delights me. And I got it at Hazel, a great little shop that carries a lot of indie crafters' work.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Friday, September 15, 2006

Signs of Life!
By all rights I should be chillaxing between my DC business trip and the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend. But I just couldn't wait to take my newest dolls from idea to reality. Here are the fronts of the first three:

Monday, September 11, 2006

Who Am I? Where Am I?
Let me set the scene. Saturday I worked really hard washing, cutting and silkscreening fabric for a new set of dolls. I nearly broke myself. Sunday had to be a day of rest. It was rainy and chilly. The weather wanted me to have a day of rest. I did rest. And napped. At 3:00 pm I got a call asking if I could be in DC tomorrow. Uh... Okay.

Now I'm in DC. Er, Baltimore. Uh, somewhere outside of Baltimore.

Less than 24 hours after the call and I'm here. Wherever that is.

I'm happy to for the new project - should be a very interesting gig. Still switching my brain from drawing and sewing and dollmaking to drawing and graphic facilitation!

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Cozy Blue Armwarmers
I crocheted a coupla armwarmers today. Boy, crocheting is very tough on my hands. I'm not beginning a new life as a crocheter any time soon. This was made with a fuzzy varigated wool and a medium weight blue-green wool. Super toasty.

The bonus to the armwarmers was to tossing the second ball of yarn to Liza and Itch, Alise's cats who I was catsitting:

Liza and Itch and the blue yarn.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

You Are a Gem!
I printed 300+ little felt pennants that say "you are a gem!" 300 were made to give away in the Renegade Craft Fair goodie bags that go to the first 500 shoppers who stop by the Renegade Craft Fair tent at the show on September 16-17 from 11 am to 6 pm. I've got the same great space at booth #16. Come by and say hello. And wish us great weather, after last year's mudbath!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Sunburn Print
A two-color serigraph of a woman with a sunburn. Originally intended to be part of a series of summer themed linoleum cut prints. The drawings survived, the idea of lino cuts didn't. An edition of 20. Printed on white Stonehenge paper.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Sunburn Continued
I printed up the black screen for the sunburn print.

It feels very, very Roy Lichtenstein since the sunburned skin is a halftone pattern. Inadvertant Roy homage aside, the prints look good. I have a solid edition of 20 prints out of the 40 tries.

More drying...

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Productive Procrastination
I'm supposed to be spending my Sunday putting more craft inventory into my online store. Instead I sorted through a stack of old magazine ripping out what I wanted to keep. And making a print.

Years ago, I got the delusion that I would take up linoleum block printmaking. I bought loads of supplies and since it was summer, I made a series of summer drawings. I began carving a couple blocks. Pulled a test print off of one. They got bored and boxed it all up.

Last winter, I came across the drawings. Good drawings. One worth creating with my Print Gocco. Here's the electronic mockup of it:


Today I printed the red screen. Now I wait for the thick ink to dry...

Tying the Knot
Two friends had their commitment ceremony yesterday. I adore Ingrid and Pat and I adore them together, so I was more than pleased for them.

I hadn't really sat down and thought of a gift for them. Earlier yesterday, I thought , "I gotta make a card..." Then I thought about making a collage as a gift.

It took awhile to get the concept down. Ah - arms hugging as a knot. Yeah, quite on the nose, but could be improved with the execution.

I remembered that I had some wood veener that would make a nice warm texture for Pat and Ingrid. I next went to work on a template for their shape.

Admittedly, the first several attempts were awful. Like a bad sculpture you'd buy at a shitty gift shop in a strip mall.

About the fourth try, I got a shape for a female figure that I thought was iconic and flexible enough to have "rope arms" while being feminine and strong:


So, I traced the cutout twice with the rope arms:


That's more like it. Next, I traced the sketch onto the wood veneers and then painted the lines with acrylic paint. I patiently cut out the figures. The wood veener breaks off easily along the wood grain. No lost limbs. *whew* Had the veneer pieces been wider, I could have made their arms more of a knot, but I also like that I still retain the arch of the back. I lost the bustline.

I was totally pushing the 7:30 start time for the reception, but at this point I was determined to finish the colalge and bring it with me.

Thank goodness my medium isn't oil paint.

I painted a red acrylic background shape and made the nimbuses/glow out of gold colored joss paper.

I glued down the wood veener with thick white glue. Weighted in with a sheet of wax paper and I stack of heavy books. I gussied up.

Thankfully, it all came together in time for me to get to the reception by 9:30 and be a second shift partygoer.

Here's the final collage:


A closeup:


(Hey, did I ever mention my obsession with symmetry?)

I'm vain and eager enough that I asked Ingrid and Pat to open the gift on the spot at their reception. They were nice enough to indulge me.

An interracial couple, I love that Ingrid said, "Look! I'm ivory - not white!" And Pat said, "And I'm not black!" That made me happy.

I had a super time at their celebration. I know Ingrid from Grinnell, so the party was silly with Grinnellians. I had several fantastic conversations with old classmates I barely knew then, but totally appreciated now.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

4 for 4!
The Summer Clearance marches on! I reduced these supercute finger puppets from six dollars each to four dollars each.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Last fall I made a bajillion pillow dolls. It was partly for the Month of Softies theme of "Personal Challenge," which I approached by challenging myself for quanitity of dolls. It was partly for inventory for my Fall shows. They are each hand drawn and one of a kind. The fronts of the pillows are a solid fabric made from recycling clothing, the backs are cotton prints in coordinating colors.

I finally took the time to get them in my shop!

Here are the pillow dolls still looking for homes:







































posted on 7/30/2006 12:35:00 PM

Tour Guide
Again, for the new series. It's too hot to think here, so I let myself get lost in collage. I think I need to buckle down and work on selling stuff today. Happily, much of it is on clearance, so keep an eye out...


Detail:


Detail:

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Last Sands
The latest in the new collage series. I'm thinking that I'm going to keep making pieces through August and then I'll begin to collect them in a location on the site. So, I appreciate your patience in the meantime.

This one is three-dimensional on 5"x7" ArtBoard. A cake decoration (skull and crossbones), take out container lid, moiré cloth, glitter, paint and paper. It took the better part of the day with layers of paint.


Here's a shot on the edge of the ArtBoard with its gold and red stripes.

Here are the cousins to the felt hedgehogs I made awhile back. I blew up a squirrel design from my rubberstamps up, then printed the image (Print Gocco!) on felt. They are sewn with black felt as a backing and stuffed. The tag is a loop for hanging. FYI, I don't know how edible/safe Print Gocco inks are so I wouldn't give these to any child or animals who'll want to gnaw on 'em.

This train car is PACKED with squirrels.


I want someone to have some kind of olympics and have these as the medals.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Thank You, Kim!
Kim Kutner of Kim's suitcase asked me if I would send her fabric scraps. Surely. I was happy to oblige. Today, I recieved her thank you package of her lovely cards. I loved her simple (simple in the best, best way) drawings on brown paper wrapper:



I love this toothman with feet! He's my new best friend.

I really admire Kim's style. It's so lovely and playful and direct. Her illustration portfolio design of a laundry line is so darn clever. It's a rare case of jealousy where I wish that great idea was mine.

And did I admit that my Twenty Hats project was inspired by this collage? I love Kim's combining of line drawing and paper shapes.

Check out Kim's work at her site, on her blog and with her corner of Flickr.

Monday, July 24, 2006

P.S.

These five headbands happened to be on the scanner at the same it. That's a darn nice combo... Wondering if I have enough of those still around to make something...

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Sassy Summer Headbands - On Clearance!
Here's some lovely headbands just wasting away in my apartment. I got them ironed out and sorted:

and ready for you!





Keep cool with these cotton headbands. My initial quest was to "Build the better headband." Plastic ones gimme headaches and my fine hair keeps me from wearing bulky ones. The result, these snazzy tie-em-yourself headbands with thin ties. They come in a huge variety of patterns (scroll down to see!) and are 1.5" wide and about 30" long. The samples below are a 1" x 2.6" section. I've got one to four of each pattern in stock, I'll remove the pattern as it sells out. If you've got the perfect ensemble for one - snap it up!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

I made the Unikko sundress last night. We've got mad rainstorms so it's not hot or sunny enough to wear it today...

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Weather Induced Sewing
It is hot as Hades here in Chicago. Will be for the next week. !!! Hot weather makes me shut down. Mercury over the 80 degree mark makes me stupid. I don't have air conditioning, so I'm prepping for a slow time.

Time to make a couple more sundresses. This is the fifth time I've made this dress:
1st the dress I made before my college graduation to wear the next day. And the print fabric doesn't thrill me.
2nd too short to wear outside the house, but good for laying around, sweating, drinking lemonade and watch James Bond movies.
3rd long enough but another print I've grown out of. Usually end up wearing it on summer laundry days.
4th a nightgown that I've just about worn out. At this point I lost the pattern, but I made myself a new one out of my 1st dress.

Huh. I thought I had actually made this dress more than that... It's an insanely simple pattern - just four seams. No darts. No zippers. Sometimes interfacing along the collar, sometimes not. It's fairly shapeless. But I still did it, and feel comfy and cool in them.

In June, I went to a neighborhood wide garage sale(s). At one I picked up a piece of striped cotton for one dollar. I really liked the red and turquoise stripes. Thought I might make a scarf from that part and ignore the fuschia parts.

Instead I made it into a short dress/tunic. It's length was limited by the piece. I'll wear it with lightweight pants outside the house.

While listening to Little Britian commentaries I made my dress:

Lousy pics, but you get the idea. What's hard to tell in the pic is that top half is read, the bottom half is fuschia, and it worked out great that the front and back match up that way. On the front, I sewed in a strip of the red and blue vertical stripes as a detail. It's way wide, but it's comfy for summer. Can't wait to wear it tomorrow for a brunch and a meeting with the 90+ temps.

I already know that the 6th dress will be made from a Marimekko table cloth I got as a bargain at the Crate and Barrel outlet a few years ago:

Next collage for the new project. It started this morning looking very different. I didn't like it, so I set it aside. Tonight I looked at it again and decided to give it a face and it came together in a different way.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Another collage slipped out!

This is too much fun.

See? It changed.

Clean Slate
To catch up - June was great but nutso. I was at 110% capacity with work outside the Brandysphere. Everything went very well. Last week I gave myself a big breather and this week I've been tidying up and getting back to my projects.

Last night I cleaned off my table/workspace. Ahhh... Just got started on a new collage this morning.

I added notes over here on Flickr.


Had to take a pic of the start of this collage. It'll look way different soon.

It's part of a new hush-hush project. I'm just letting it take some shape offline. I'm too excited to keep it secret for long.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Garden Skirt Fini!



The blue flower skirt is finished.I'm happy with the results. I was looking in my trim & ribbon tin (one of four old saltines tins) for one thing and was delighted to fond a green and white forgotten trim. Perfect as both kind of grassy and kind of like garden fencing. It's hard to see in the pics, but the small flowers have dark green felt leaves. Not quite so subtle in person.

I'll try to get a pic wearing the skirt and a close up of the trim.

Lest I forget, this is a good reminder to D.I.Y (do it yourself) vs. buying. I've kept an eye out for those cute, embellished circle skirts. Nothing wowed me. So, I took a rarely worn skirt I already had and Brandy-fied it.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Scraptastic!!

Ah, progress! I've been working on this scrap quilt for a couple years. I can happily say that I've got the top and backing done. From this image you can see one (the other is underneath). They are roughly 67" x 90".

This quilt started with true scraps from projects. It has grown with more and more projects' scraps.

I admit I'm a fabic hoarder. I'm not a huge collestor, because I have very, very specific tastes. But I have hoarded some of my absolute favorites. Months ago, it dawned on me if I got a little bit of those favorites in my scrap quilt, I'd have a hold of them. That would/should free me up to use those fabrics. I added in a bunch of those "greatest hits" fabrics. Those aren't truly scraps from projects, but I am very glad to have them in the quilt.

Not sure how I'm going to quilt it. I have fleece I can use as batting. It would be grand to use that, because the whole quilt would be fabrics on hand. I could quilt it using my "Etch-a-Sketch" method like I used on my African Birds Quilt. That's basically random right angles, as if you were quilting onlu using the X and Y knob on an Etch-a-Sketch. It would look awesome with this pattern. I'm not looking forward to using my lil' machine to quilt this big-ish quilt The African Bird Quilt wassewn on my mom's nice new machine on a big table.

I could tie the quilt. I think the ties would work with this mega-patterned quilt. I wish there was some magical less-hand-labor-intensive way to tie a quilt. It'll be hard on my poor, worn paws.

Still deciding - I'll keep you posted. Truly the best design choice would Etch-a-Sketch. That's the frontrunner.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

A little more progress on the flower skirt -

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Blue Flower Skirt
I don't know if those hyperembellished skirts are still the height of fashion, but I have yet to find one that is "me." Earlier this week, I got an idea for my own, very "me" design.

I had a super long, black Old Navy skirt just sitting around. I whacked 7" off the bottom. Then I just began designing on the fly.

Here's the start. Between the big flowers, there'll be smaller ones, below the white mirrors you see.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Happy Mother's Day!
I was really on the ball, and made my mom her Mother's Day card a few weeks ago. Now I can show you pics:









This was super fun and easy to make. And I was super excited that it was all from things in the Brandysphere. First I punched the tags from a punch I won in a crop night raffle at Windy City Scrapbooking. Next I cut out my letters from scraps that already had Xyron adhesive on the back of 'em. (Since chest pains have ended my spray adhesive career, I've become a big Xyron fan.) Next I folded 3" x 5" index cards. So, the card is 3" high. I used double stick tape to connect the cards. I used super cute, colorful eyelets from Coffee Break Designs. There you have it.

Mom loved the card, and she's keeping it to use as decoration for her beauty shop next year. The attention-seeking kid in me wants to make her decoration for every season. *grin*

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Monday, May 01, 2006

Happy Birthday, Loosetooth.com!
Yowsa. My site is seven years old! I blush with excitement and pride.

Twenty Fancy Hats

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Pink Bumps

I'm working on a collage. This is a fun momentary image. Soon I will cut 'em out. That's a Getty Images ad I tore out of a magazine for it's delicious red color.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Friday, April 14, 2006

(I'm reeeally behind on some blog writing, so this bears repeating/reposting.)
Octopi!
After some fussing, I'm really pleased with these prints. I'm getting the hang of doing multi screen Print Gocco prints. Each an edition of 20. Printed on white Stonehenge paper.

I'm by no means a Gocco expert when it comes to multi screen prints. Factors that help:
1. Having a drawing that allows colors to line up easily (i.e. thick lines, making the screens perfect)
2. Getting into a really consistent groove when printing.
3. Pretty way more than you think you need for the edition to allow for the mess ups.

Redheads, Blondes and Brunettes
Ahhh...
I drew an image of a voluptuous woman with volumes of hair holding a comb. I drew her on December 2nd on a business trip. I wanted to hunker down and draw something for myself, after a day of drawing for other with my graphic facilitation work. I happened upon The Red Shoes on TCM. Though it wasn't the intent, I think the resulting drawing retains a bit of the lines in the movie. I had never seen the movie. I really enjoyed it, and I totally understand peoples' love for and inspiration from this film.

On my birthday, I printed 100+ of the image.

I just finshed hand colored the images with watercolors, resulting in:

30 Redheads:





30 Blondes:





30 Brunettes:





I love to toot my own horn (Woot woot!), and I'll do it here. I'm pleased as punch with how these turned out. They are each handcolored, editioned and signed. They are are 7" x 10" You can have one of your own for $30.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Caterpillar
I came across a big pile of small drawing drawn back in 1998? 1997? Here's a caterpillar. Anyone know what kind it is? I don't think I invent it, but I haven't found what kind it is.


I thought it was springy, so I put it on some CafePress stuff in my store.

I dig the mug.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

I took some time to photograph details of my ever growing scrapquilt.

Much of it is actually scraps, and I can identify many of my other quilts. I tend to be too precious about my favorite fabrics, so some of these are pieces of those gems so I'd always be able to see them in the scrap quilt and I wouldn't be so freaking precious about them. That is liberating. A highly recommended tip to other fabric hoarders.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Small, Furry, Felt Animals
Last year, I made these felt hedgehogs, modeled after my own charmer, Numo:

Recently, a woman emailed asking if I could make pink squirrels. Sure thing. I have pink-squirrel-making capabilities. While printing hers on pink, I also silkscreened (via Print Gocco) a bunch on other colors. Now, as part of Use What You Have Month, I'm finishing up the rest. Here's the piles of squirrels waiting to be stuffed:

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Mr. Principal and Mr. Shaw
I made more progress on two new Print Gocco prints. The genesis was buying some lovely cigar bands on eBay:


They inspired the character of the two men who'd wear them as belts:
Mr. Principal:


Mr. Shaw:


These are the Photoshop mockups of the screens, not the prints themselves. They will be two 3-color prints (red, gold and black), meant to be hung as a diptych, with Principal on the left, and Shaw on the right.

I made good progress on the drawing today. I'm happy with them, but the joke on me is that right now, I can't fit the belts on the gentlemen! I'll change Mr. Principal's tie to a bow tie. I think I'll have to have Mr. Shaw's hands hanging at his sides to fit his cigar band belt.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Tassel Woman
Did you know it is Use What You Have Month? It's a simple idea. Craft-wise, use what you have, NO news craft supply purchases for the month. A great idea, hard to do 100%. When I've done this on my own before, I've had to pick up a certain color of thread or glue or something. I'm going cold turkey this month. Heaven knows I've got a year's worth of supplies stockpiled here.

The latest:

I had a set of 3 nesting dolls open on the floor, because I am a slob. At some point, I stepped on them and broke a couple pieces. I was looking at a remaining top of a doll, and realized that it would make a perfect tassle topper. With that, red fringe, a piece of black cord and a little paint...

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Mending is Better Than Spending
I recently reread Brave New World for a class. I really got riled up by the theme of mass consumption; even the people are just parts of a machine, one big assembly line. The characters throw away instead of fixing. "Spending is better than mending."

I disagree, of course. And if Brave New World were to be remade today, I bet they'd totally gloss over the consumption angle, since that wouldn't sell movie tickets. Anyhow... [catching myself pre-rant]

My friend Anne gave me a hand me down sweater. I love it. It's a thick, gray wool sweater that she had already mended a few small holes with blue yarn. It was developing quite a hole on the right cuff:


Really, not a big hole. It feels gigantic since it's where my right hand fingers can poke through it.

Since I don't know how to darn, I patched it up with felt:

Monday, April 03, 2006

Flower Person
I made a token of birthday appreciation for my super yoga/water aerobics teacher, Cathy.

From above:


"Hello!"

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Miss Pink Hair
Aren't I terribly clever with my names? A drawing from last night. If you like her, she's over here in my CafePress shop.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

The Costa-Jacobsohn Quilt Bonanza!
Thanks so much to Dan and Gwen for sending along these great pics of the family with quilts.

Theo looks none too pleased on his quilt. I'm sure the quilt didn't take it personally. Gwen picked out that super green outfit thinking of me. :)


A Theo and Dan confab:


Theo zonked out on Gwen:


Here's a good pic of the two "sibling" quilts side by side:

I was totally stumped for a sibling design to Max's snowball quilt while Gwen was gestating. Thankfully, I did get my spark of inspiration. Very happy that they both compliment each other and are distinct from each other.

Here's a much bigger Max studying his quilt:


I hope these aren't too staged and that he digs all the patterns on the quilt. :)


Max zonked out now:


Max 25 months ago:

Monday, March 27, 2006

Miss Greenjeans
The WRP (Wardrobe Revitalization Project) continues. My sister Burgundy gave me two pair of hand-me-up jeans. One is already a deep orange color. Saturday night, I dyed the second pair and tasty lime/kiwi green. It's a color only found in nature in the first shoots of Spring and tiny tree frogs. I love it.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Pink Squirrels!
An army of pink squirrels and a set of pink squirrel thank you notes. Why?
I got an email from a woman named Stephanie asking me if I could make more of Jim's pink squirrel for her sister's pink-squirrel-themed birthday/breast cancer survival party?

1. Pink squirrel = rockin' theme.
2. Birthday/breast cancer survival = Rock on, Sister! Hooray!
3. Well, that one pink squirrel took a long time.

I suggested that I could print squirrels on felt and sew little pillow dolls, like the Numo inspired ones I made last year. That sounded good to Stephanie. So, here's 11 squirrels and one set of puffy felt squirrels, and a set of thank you cards.

I'll be stitching the remaining squirrels in a myriad of colors soon. Stay tuned. And more brown squirrel cards coming too.

Tada!

Theo's quilt is done!


Here's the signature block, using tshirt transfer paper. Oof, the sig block was a bear. This is the fourth attempt. First I tried to write directly onto the finished block. Spaced my lettering badly. Then tried writing on a another piece of fabric. Writing was too big. Theodore Evan Costa Jacobsohn is a loooong name. Third attempt was to (try to) wash the ink out of the finished block and iron on a printed labels over it. Totally bollocks up that. Lastly, I ironed on a print to plain orange fabric and appliqued that on. *whew* That worked. But I'm not sure how well it will wear. We'll see. It's all part of The Grand Experiment. And it's only one tiny fraction of the whole. All in all, I'm very happy with the outcome.

Here are some details:


Plenty of gems to look at:

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The Gocco Load
One shelf in my Ikea black metal cabinet/tv stand holds my Gocco hoard. The sad news is that Riso, the parent company of Print Gocco, has decided to phase out the product. Others are fighting to save Gocco. I absolutely don't want to see Gocco go to the way of the dinosaurs, but I can also understand why a company that sells office copiers isn't terribly concerned with these (brilliant) little silk screening machines.

The story is that Riso has stopped producing the machines, and the ink/bulbs/screens will last about 3 years. My solution: cover my ass. I'm hoarding supplies. And I snagged a second machine on eBay. Here's my shelf chock full of goods:

I love looking at this shelf and seeing all of the potential.

(For the eagle-eyed, the ink boxes with X's on them are the one's that came with the 1980's eBay Gocco machine. Still boxed and wrapped in plastic, but I want to make sure they aren't cruddy with age.)

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

More Morning Light

Another night making progress on Theo's quilt. I made a couple changes to the original idea: 1) Made the white borders much thinner, 2) It's all 8 squares wide and 8 square high, vs. 10x10. Both decisions were in the interest of sibling parity to stay closer to the size of Max's 36" x 36" snowball quilt. These are certainly not bed quilts. I like the small square baby quilts because I hope they may stick around as a play mat or a wall hanging.

I know that I have always been transfixed by patterns, so I made both quilts to be full of things to look at and ponder for Max and Theo. Perhaps these two boys won't be hardwired the same way. They'll still have comfy, colorful quilts.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Last Night's Work in the Morning Light

Working on my "auntly" duties. My second "nephew" Theo was born on Jan 27, 2006. He needs a baby quilt! I got his older brother Max's quilt done in one week.

When I heard that Costa-Jacobsohn #2 was in the Gwen incubator, I had to think of a new quilt design. Max's quilt is an Eye Spy type quilt out of snowball blocks.

I liked that it was bright with lots of things and patterns to look at, and SO not pastel. I liked the black borders. Theo needed the quilt that was the sibling to this one. I was stumped until about two weeks ago. I got it. Little windows of all sorts of bright fabrics. It would be an Eye Spy too, but little windows (log-cabin-block-ish) with white borders. And black and white polka dot sashing.

So here's the 100 blocks made last night and now rest in the morning light:

They feel very postage-stamp-y. I like that. And I like that this 2" finished square scale makes the prints feel very close-up, cropped, sometimes abstract.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Correspondence Cards

The cards are printed, dried, folded and collated. The 50 red-orange ones are for the unimitable Anne, the remaining 160 black and white ones are for you!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

A Bajillion Cards

*whew* The cards are printed. 50 in red-orange ink for Anne, the remainder in simple black and white. Soon to be sold in ten card sets.

I've got a cold. I started out antsy, but the printing tuckered me out enough to be ready for a nap. ZZZZzZzZzzz...

Monday, March 06, 2006

Next Gocco Print:

A belated Xmas gift for my friend Anne. Cards with a design suitable for a savvy writer like Ms. Ford.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Friday, February 17, 2006

Octopi!
After some fussing, I'm really pleased with these prints. I'm getting the hang of doing multi screen Print Gocco prints. Each an edition of 20. Printed on white Stonehenge paper.

I'm by no means a Gocco expert when it comes to multi screen prints. Factors that help:
1. Having a drawing that allows colors to line up easily (i.e. thick lines, making the screens perfect)
2. Getting into a really consistent groove when printing.
3. Pretty way more than you think you need for the edition to allow for the mess ups.

A Measured Success

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Better. A new blue (on the right) for the water.


And the orange guys printed.

Once I've got more time and a steady hand, I'll print the black screen.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Octopus Environs

Last night I printed the light blue for the water/tentacles of the first octopus print. The blue isn't as light as I imagined in my head. I'm deciding whether to do them over...

Oh, and here's the computer mockup of the second octopus print:


Would like a third version, but I haven't gotten the "aha" for it yet.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Octopus Progress

The computer mockup of the second screen to be printed in light blue.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Eight Arms to Hold You

Drawn in Albuquerque. I've been wanting to make an octopus print for ages. Finally sat down and did it. (Viva la time to draw on flights!)Working on the second color. Very excited about it.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Red Sweater Day
So, over on my Me Blog, I was wearing a pink sweater:


Now it's red!


As part of the WRP (Wardrobe Revitalization Project), I realized that a gap in my wardrobe was a red sweater. Sounds simple enough, eh? Well, it was a bit of a case of BBBS Syndrome (Black Button, Black Sweater). When you know precisely what you want and it's not to be seen. For instance, when I was in high school, I search in vain for a black sweater with black buttons. No dice.

This time I wanted a red cotton sweater. Layerable and heavy enough to hold its own. So, I start looking. No dice.

Plan B - get a cotton sweater and dye that puppy. I turned to my favorite new online store, Sierra Trading Post. Huge selection, huge discounts and great customer service. I found a $132 cotton and cashmere v-neck for a delightful $40.

I got the sweater and it is fantastic! Perfect cut, fit and a super soft material.

Add $5 of dye and salt and I was in business!

It all worked out great. There's a couple light spots, so I'll spend another $5 of dye and I'll add a little orange, to make it a hair more tomato red, vs. blue based lipstick red.

Success!

Monday, February 06, 2006

I'm dyeing:

Better Living Through Chemistry
Continuing the WRP (Wardrobe Revitalization Project) -
With some hand me downs (hand me ups?) from my lil sis, I've got 6 pairs of jeans. Unheard of. Only one brightly colored pair of pants (red). Also unheard of. So, I'm sacrificing two pairs of jeans to the dye bath to get an orange pair of pants and a green pair.

Tonight, I tried Dharma Trading Company's Dyehouse Color Remover for the first time. I followed the instructions to a T. One pair of jean and one scarf simmered in a ginourmous enamaled pot the super Cinnamon lent me. I was amazed to see the jeans fade to yellow and then to an off white. Fantastic!


Then something happened that broke my brain. Once I did my instructed hour of cooking, I began rinsing. As the air hit the jeans, they turned blue again! And they looked like the same deepness of blue!!

Boy, did I feel like Sisyphus.

What. The. Heck?

Edited to add: Well, after washing and drying the jeans, they are acutally a good chunk lighter. Looks like I have to do a round two. But the Dyehouse Color Remover is working a heck of a lot better than bleach.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Redheads, Blondes and Brunettes
Ahhh...
I drew an image of a voluptuous woman with volumes of hair holding a comb. I drew her on December 2nd on a business trip. I wanted to hunker down and draw something for myself, after a day of drawing for other with my graphic facilitation work. I happened upon The Red Shoes on TCM. Though it wasn't the intent, I think the resulting drawing retains a bit of the lines in the movie. I had never seen the movie. I really enjoyed it, and I totally understand peoples' love for and inspiration from this film.

On my birthday, I printed 100+ of the image.

I just finshed hand colored the images with watercolors, resulting in:

30 Redheads:

30 Blondes:





30 Brunettes:





I love to toot my own horn (Woot woot!), and I'll do it here. I'm pleased as punch with how these turned out. They are each handcolored, editioned and signed. They are are 7" x 10" You can have one of your own for $30.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Saturday, January 28, 2006

In the last five years, I've developed a new birthday tradition:
1.No plans for the day
2.No work (unless it's artwork.)
3. Wake up and follow my whims.

It tends to be a solo adventure. I let my introvert nature lead and do whateer the heck I want to. Simple.

This year, my 32nd:


First,I slept in. Woke up to a call from my sister. We hadn't talked in awhile so it was good to chat with her.

I made my whim list:


I'm not sure what everything means exactly, but I want all these words to be part of my day.


Blue sweater - a new one. A gorgeous cobalt blue, 100% wool, wavy cable sweater. Comfy, unitchy wool. I feel curvy, wavy, sassy myself.

Well dressed and list in hand - I head out.

I get a iced latte from my favorite coffeeshop, Metropolis. This charming drawing sums it up. I love the caped guy on the left who speaks in symbols. That'll play into some drawing soon. The robot rocks. Meto, indeed.


I head south on the train, drinking my latte, eating a birthday choclate bar from Rose and listening to great music. Including Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz's Water of March.

Yes, that says "dirt chocolate." I like chocolate that's so dark it tastes like dirt. This was a tasty 70% cocoa bar. Yee-yum.





The Lincoln Park Conservatory on the way to the zoo.



The koi are darn hard to catch on camera. I love the patterns and layers of this blurry-but-very-interesting shot.

I didn't get the name of this super plant:




Close up of the super plant.



The zoo is empty and gray and loads of animals are inside unviewable. Including my beloved polar bears. A bit of a drag. A indulge a $3 whim and get stickers of myself in a sticker booth. Honestly, they kinda suck:

My black coat got all garbly in front of the blue screen. ???

My new heroes of the day:


MEERKATS!



Doesn't this meerkat need a remote control, snack chips and a cola in a foam cozy? This meerkat got the memo on Chicago new standing as the nation's #1 fattest city.



These guys are the meerkat equivalent of Klimt's painting, Die Jungfrau.



The meerkat Sears Portrait Studio shot for their engagement announcement. I wish the future Mr. & Mrs. Meerkat a wonderful life together.



Dance party.



Camels are the wierdest shape. It boggles my mind to see all the shapes, sizes, textures and patterns life comes in.



Quick lunch at Eatzi in the Century Mall. Two potato latkes, sour cream and a red grapefruit soda. $3.02 and very tasty. Ate quick-like before I head upstairs to see Soderbergh's new movie Bubble.



*shrug*

I enjoyed the movie, but it didn't kick my butt. Soderbergh is one of my favorite directors; one of the few that'll get my butt in a seat opening weekend. I really appreciate that he'll nail the big Hollywood movie, and then tackle an entirely different artistic idea in the next one. So, I appreciated that he was doing something different (both the movie itself, and the delivery of it). It didn't wow me. It "hmm"ed me. That's okay.

As I left the theater, I glanced up at the sign. I had to laugh at the wording:



True enough.

Next, I wander a bit and shop. Nothing I really need, but I'm looking for "shiny." I like shiny things. Didn't find shiny. Instead:


Furry/Muppet-y! Woohoo. Jackpot. This fantastic Mongolian lamb bright blue scarf for a bargain-tastic $12.



Head back home, dinner in hand. Glad to be home after much walking in the gray and drizzle. I put on good music and sing.

Follow another whim and wrap the new scarf around my head:




I am a ferocious lion! GRRRR.



Another whim - jordan almonds.



Dinner - sushi and seaweed salad.


After dinner, I get down to making stuff. First a pom pom necklace. An idea I got a week and a half ago on my flight back from Seattle. Perfect with my new Marimekko stripey shirt. Began a sibling necklace, with small black pom poms, but I was getting tired and dropping poms.



Set that aside and went onto a project with less fine motor demands:



I printed 100+ copies of the Va-Va-Va-Voom woman I drew on 12.02.05. Glad to see this in print. I'll be taking 90 of these and handpainting 30 redheads, 30 blondes and 30 brunettes. I took my 26"x40" paper and folded and tore it into 16 equal pieces. They ended up 7" wide and 10" high. A happy accident: the 7" width is the width of my Print Gocco machine, making it easy to line up! Expect to see plenty more 7"x10" images. Great to have these drying, soon ready to be colored.



Get a lovely phone call from my new beau, Eric, belting out Happy Birthday to me from Seattle. Rock on, Eric.

I get out my sketchbook odds and ends, but I was just too tuckered out to concentrate on putting new stuff together. I stack it all up and make myself silly with mini cupcakes!



YUM. I love cake. And I love these kids of basic grocery store bakery frosting. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. A rare treat. I eat six. I've been relatively sugar free lately, so those six baby cupcakes and a handful of jordan almonds earlier have me kinda vibrating.

The leftover sprinkles inspires this:


Hee!

(Props to designer Rodrigo Corral and photographer Fredrik Borden for the original A Million Little Pieces cover)

Great, great book cover. Haven't read the book. Only admired the cover at the bookstore. Big old hooha these days about the veracity of James Frey's book. Personally, I don't think a story has to be true to be good. But lest I add to the hooha -

I crack myself up. Instead of a Million Little Pieces, my life is about as complicated as about 14 little sprinkles. Much more my speed, so to speak.

Great birthday.

I'm seriously considering adapting my birthday tradition into a once-a-month Whim Day. One day out of 30 to leave unfettered by obligations and open to the possibility of simple pleasures.

Meerkat reprise:

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Monday, January 23, 2006

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Sunday, January 15, 2006