keep creating

New Booth Setup

2011-12-15T09:49:00.001-05:00

For the Holly Fair last weekend I thought it would be a good idea to refine my booth setup, which is usually just a bunch of random stands and boxes that I've acquired over the couple years I've lived in the area:

It's always worked out for me in a sort of homey way, but I recently realized that the huge variety might end up overshadowing or obscuring the work. I also wanted to make sure visitors knew that both the maps and the jewelry were made by the same person. I did some brainstorming with a friend and decided that the deep red chests (which I came upon by lucky chance at a yard sale just days before my first craft fair ever!) should determine the look of the rest of the setup, since they're my favorite part. Besides those dark-colored display pieces, though, most of my work (especially the jewelry) looks better on light colors. I decided to go with a frame theme to connect the art to the jewelry, and also to set off the jewelry in their own spaces for each type. It's difficult with work this varied and individual, but I think my solution worked out pretty well:

I kept the earring stand, but painted it to match the fittings on the red chests, and replaced the old plastic cross-stitch mesh with light cream cross-stitch fabric, which still has holes for earrings to go into but is less translucent (so the earrings don't end up being backlit, which gets annoying) and also more organic-looking. I also kept the red frame with white lace since it's always caught people's attention, and goes well with the chests. For the flower earring display, I scrapped my old system of a cigar box with plastic mesh (too distracting and thrown-together) and hung the earrings with more space on two blank canvases hinged together like a book. I like the way it all comes together, and I think visitors enjoyed discovering the jewelry without having to search for it. We'll see if it works as well in the darkness of the Burren's back room this weekend!

Leafy Jewelry

2011-12-02T20:22:00.000-05:00

When I first started making singed fabric jewelry, I tried making some leaves to go along with my flowers, but it never really worked as a form. Maybe it's because I've gotten better at controlling the results, but I was recently inspired to try again and this time had success. So far I've made two pairs of leaf earrings and a leafy, autumnal necklace. I hope to have some more on display at the Union Square Winter Craft Market tomorrow!

Two craft fairs this weekend!

2011-11-30T20:03:00.002-05:00

New items for these fairs will include brand-new holiday cards, leaf earrings and hand-printed woodblock cards. (Links allow you to view them in my Etsy store!)

Saturday, December 3rd, 11am-4pm: Winter Craft Market inside the Precinct at 66-70 Union Square, Somerville. More info

Sunday, December 4th, 10am-4pm: Comicazi-Con comics and craft fair at the Dilboy VFW in Davis Square, 371 Summer Street, Somerville.

You can also see my art in these local exhibitions:

Now through February 4, 2012: ”Plenty” group exhibition on display at 13Forest Gallery in Arlington, MA (167A Mass Ave, near the Capitol Theater, accessible by 77 bus from Harvard/Porter). More info

Now through mid-January: ”Small Works” group exhibition on display at Riverside Gallery in Cambridge, MA (5 Callender Street, near Central Square). More info

Joy Street Open Studios

2011-11-21T22:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had a slightly rushed but still wonderfully edifying trip through Joy Street open studios. Even though I was only there for about an hour, and missed several wonderful artists that I wanted to see, I still had a lot of interesting conversations and came out of it inspired to try new things. The first studio I went into was Elizabeth Heide's, where I was drawn in by the intriguing textures in her work. She uses a variety of printmaking techniques in her work, and was kind enough to explain some of them to me during my visit, particularly gum arabic printing, in which you apply a layer of gum over a photocopied image and then ink, wipe and print it. I've used gum arabic for photo printing before, but I hadn't heard of printing with it.

I also spoke at length with Ji-eun Shim, whose does 2-D work that incorporates repetitive markmaking as well as a variety of 3-D sculptural explorations. Her work is incredibly creative, and I was inspired just standing in her studio. She works with some unusual materials such as twigs and grains - there was one amazing repetitive wall piece done in what appeared to be barley. It reminded me that someday I should try doing twig sculptures again, if I can figure out a way for them not to dry out and fall apart -- I recently lost one of my favorite ones when it fell apart out of the blue. One more project to put on my list for when I have more time...

Ji-eun Shim, Monster Seeds

Upcoming Shows

2011-11-21T12:46:00.001-05:00

Instead of posting separately about each show, since I'm doing so many this holiday season I thought I'd just post a page with everything. Feel free to ask questions about any event in the comments!

Art Shows:

Now through mid-January: ”Small Works” group exhibition on display at Riverside Gallery in Cambridge, MA (5 Callender Street, near Central Square). More info

Craft fairs:

Saturday, December 3rd, 11am-4pm: Winter Craft Market inside the Precinct at 66-70 Union Square, Somerville. More info

Sunday, December 4th, 10am-4pm: Comicazi-Con comics and craft fair at the Dilboy VFW in Davis Square, 371 Summer Street, Somerville.

Saturday, December 10th – Sunday, December 11th: Holly Fair art/craft fair in Harvard Square, Cambridge MA. I will be at the 56 Brattle location. More info

Saturday, December 17th, 12-4pm: SLAM craft fair at the Burren in Davis Square, Somerville MA. More info

Boston Globe Blog Article

2011-11-13T18:26:00.000-05:00

I recently found out that the Boston Globe's blog posted an article about the Ahts Boston festival that I participated in over the summer, and included a photo of me and a short description of my work! Click here to read the article.

Sterling Silver Necklace

2011-10-29T09:37:00.000-04:00

I finally completed a project that was about a month overdue -- a large necklace in the twiggy floral style for Mobilia Gallery's jewelry exhibit "Objects of Status, Power and Adornment". I used oxidized sterling silver wire, iolite beads (which are a shade of blue I can somehow tolerate!), faceted blue-grey glass beads from Toho Shoji in New York, and singed fabric flowers. I think the necklace took so long mainly because many of the techniques were new to me, since I don't usually work in silver. I also noticed that a lot of the chemicals involved (liver of sulfur to oxidize the silver wire, even the wax to polish and protect the oxidized wire) gave me headaches, so I couldn't do them very often or for long stretches. I don't know how metalsmiths manage! I suppose the draw is similar to working in the darkroom -- you have to go through long and tedious processes with smelly and often dangerous chemicals, but in the end something magic and luscious is created and you get to hold it in your hands.

Vermont in the Fall

2011-10-26T19:16:00.000-04:00

Halloween Craft Fair at the Burren Oct 29th!

2011-10-19T22:09:00.001-04:00

I will be participating in a Halloween-themed market (perhaps even in costume!) at the Burren in Davis Square on Saturday, October 29th. New works will include one-of-a-kind woodblock print cards, hand-painted autumn tree pins, and a brand new collection of twiggy floral earrings. Of course there will also be map art and cards as well as other standard goodies.

Woodblock Print Map Cards

2011-10-11T10:27:00.000-04:00

I recently decided to try using the woodblock I used in this post to make one-of-a-kind printed cards. I just love how the prints come out completely differently each time, so that even though the same block is used each time, the cities each look unique.

Those were all done with the same block, but because the ink was particularly watery, different parts of the map was revealed each time. I also love the organic texture of the ink, which makes the black parts look like bodies of water. The process works well with my general concept of map-making; the marks are very controlled, but the outcome of the piece depends on organic processes that are out of my control. The cards are currently available on Etsy if you'd like one of your own!

I also just started doing larger prints that take up most of the card's front. I need to get some more delicate woodcutting tools, though, because the roads stand out a bit too much for me. The watery texture makes the scale really off. So far I think the middle one of these cards is the most successful:

Copper Printing

2011-10-04T09:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went with some friends to New Bedford Open Studios, and we had an amazing time. I especially enjoyed learning how to impress materials into copper at Sue Kowalski's studio (which is beautiful in itself -- it's in an old church!). We placed dried plants on copper strips, and then put a harder brass strip on top and ran it through a roller press. Because the copper is softer, when the plants get squeezed between the two materials they impress their forms onto the copper. I used milkweed pod silk, which is pretty much entirely without substance, so it didn't make much visible effect until I darkened the copper strips with liver of sulfur and buffed off the top layer. The patina stays in the lower indentations made by the plant material and makes the design easier to see. Here are some examples:

Milkweed pod silk

Milkweed pod silk with some seeds attached (which exploded in the press...)

Shepherd's purse, a much more substantial plant

Sanding off the patina struck me as incredibly like working in the darkroom, and selectively dodging or "bringing up" certain parts of the image. The big difference is that when printing plants with cyanotype or other sun prints, the print is made by the differences in opacity, while with physical printing the print is made by the differences in thickness. Of course, there is a direct relationship in many ways between the thickness of a plant and the opacity; in fact, when we were having trouble placing the plants, Sue reminded us to think of the "shadow" of the design (basically the negative space) to judge whether the design would be too dense. The resulting patinaed prints did look pretty much like what you would get from a sun print, but with added texture.

Double-Strand Twiggy Necklace

2011-09-28T10:15:00.000-04:00

I've been working on a prototype for a necklace that I'll eventually make in silver with semi-precious stones and glass beads. I'm a little tired of it because I've been working with the same form for a while, but what do you think?

Front:

Back (the little twiggy accents end up just at the back of the neck):

The chain is all handmade, by the way, which was another new experiment. I think the way it looks works well with the organic look of the links. It's also helpful because that way I can make chain to precisely match whatever wire I'm using.

Large Map Project

2011-09-26T12:51:00.000-04:00

The stop-motion project I linked to a little while ago was part of creating the largest map I've attempted so far (18" x 24"), which is finally somewhat finished. I'm still debating whether I want to make it a little more visually interesting by coloring in all the houses (like some of my previous maps).
Details (the photos got really blown out for some reason):

And the full map!:

More Map Drawing Stop-Motion

2011-08-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

I've been taking a photo every time I draw a line on my large map project, and just added the footage to make a longer animation. It still needs to be cleaned up, but that will happen later.

August Porch Garden

2011-08-28T12:42:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month, the garden featured bee balm in various stages;

a second (and third!) crop of strawberries;

an entirely unstoppable mini rosebush;

several colors of sweet peas;

the first morning glories;

and the first ripening vegetables:

Those cucumbers were surprisingly large, and really tasty! I can't wait for the peppers to ripen.

I went out yesterday to take some photos before Hurricane Irene arrived this morning. My Thai eggplant "tree" (it's the biggest thing on my porch!) finally started putting out buds;

the coleus plants have AMAZING color (entirely different from the colors of the plants I took the original cuttings from, for some reason);

the bell peppers are getting pretty enormous;

the first Heavenly Blue morning glories have finally come out, and the cosmos is starting to flower for the first time too;

some beautiful colors on the tomatoes;

and the lantana, which has just kept blooming steadily through the season.

I brought many of the plants inside, but the garden is so enormous by now that I just can't fit all the plants in the house. I hope that the ones currently out in the hurricane survive!

Large Map Drawing Stop-Motion

2011-08-26T10:09:00.000-04:00

I just embarked on my largest map drawing yet (about 18"x24" - I usually draw very small!), and started making a stop-motion animation of the process. Here's a little rough draft of the first part for your viewing pleasure:

(ähts): The Boston Arts Festival

2011-08-19T09:35:00.000-04:00

I'm currently gearing up to participate in my first juried festival sponsored by the City of Boston! (Actually, it might be the first art festival I've done in Boston, not counting exhibitions and open studios). It's on the waterfront on September 10th and 11th from 12-6 each day; more information is on their website. I'll be showing mostly maps, but I'll probably bring along a little jewelry as well.

Map Vessel - Day

2011-08-07T14:25:00.001-04:00

I recently completed another vessel to go with the one in the previous post for The Vessel Redefined. The engineering was more complicated than the previous one, but it ended up surprisingly sturdy. Photos of various views and components below:

Notice that all the roads meet on each side and come together at the bottom as well (which is why the bottom looks a little less map-like than the sides... I went for continuity over aesthetics there, but at least it worked out!)

July-August Garden

2011-08-04T02:41:00.004-04:00

Map Vessel - Night

2011-08-03T09:35:00.000-04:00

I haven't had much time to post recently because I've been working on a vessel for the group exhibition The Vessel Redefined at Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge.

This was the first one I completed; I have another in the works, but it may be too difficult to put together in time. If it works, I'll be posting photos soon! In the meantime, have a little process photo:

Singed Flower Project

2011-07-12T09:25:00.000-04:00

I've been working on making much larger flowers, with anthers made by twisting wire with beads. It's sort of an inside-out version of my twisted wire earrings, and I like the effect a lot for brooches or hair clips. Here are three that I've been working on:

Midsummer Garden

2011-07-05T23:35:00.000-04:00

The porch garden just keeps expanding! I've got about thirty good-size pots out there, and have been experimenting with more flowers and different kinds of vegetables. Lettuce isn't doing as well as it did last year (it's just not growing for some reason), but the peas and beans have been good.

I got up early enough to catch a zucchini blossom (on the tiniest little zucchini plant that could!):

This is a dianthus plant that somehow sprouted again after the whole plant died over the winter:

The first flowers I planted from seed to bloom (besides the leafy vegetables, which have all bolted already!) are purple alyssum:

Cilantro flowers, which are just so pretty:

And the amazing mini rosebush, which just keeps shooting out flowers:

The Black-Eyed Susan vine is amazing:

I'm impressed that the bean plants produce when they're still so short -- the beans almost touch the ground!

I just had to put in a photo of the radish blossoms, since I think they're actually rather pretty:

First green tomato, on a Roma tomato plant:

Morning glories are slowly starting to climb:

Except this one, which decided it was just going to bloom from the ground -- how weird!

I was so excited to find seeds for shiso, touted as "Japanese basil" but with a much more complex and amazing flavor. You can see where I tried one of the leaves for authenticity. I'm pleased to report that it's totally the real thing.

And lastly, an adorable mini poppy bud. I hope they open before I leave, but I might miss them!

Riveted Flower Cuff

2011-06-30T13:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I made myself a cuff bracelet to add some "edge" to an outfit. I used some of my singed fabric flowers, but the bracelet still comes off as pretty tough! I've listed the bracelet on Etsy here.

Hybrid Maps

2011-06-28T09:53:00.000-04:00

Ever since I started doing cut-out maps I've wondered whether I could combine that with drawn maps, so over the weekend I did some experiments. Here's a couple progress photos:

The dark part is the cutting board below the image. I originally intended to put the pieces on top of white paper, like my cut-out map cards, but that actually ends up being too subtle next to the black lines of the drawing. Luckily, there are a lot of different things I can explore!

Early Summer Garden

2011-06-09T10:37:00.000-04:00

I've been at home a lot lately waiting for a wisdom tooth surgery to heal, which is mostly a pain except that it gives me more time to peer at my little porch garden. I'm trying a lot of new plants this year, and I hope they all work!

There was a big rainstorm last night, so when I went out this morning everything was green and wet -- perfect for taking morning photos!

Marigolds (I don't actually like them much, but they keep bugs off the tomatoes, and the deep red color is rather pretty):

The tiniest proto-stringbean! Can you even see it?

First tomato flower! This year I bought four different heirloom tomato seedlings. I think this one is a pink and yellow striped beefsteak tomato. Can't wait!

My friend China Blue gave me these strawberry plants from her garden when I visited last summer, and they actually wintered over and started blooming this spring! I think this one didn't get properly fertilized though, it's such a funny shape:

I also bought strawberry seedlings from the nursery since I wasn't sure if the others would flower properly this year:

Pretty pea flowers:

And a little pea! These guys are shelling peas, so I might just try to eat the pods before they get big (like snow peas). I also have the most adorable proto-sugar snap peas slowly growing on the other vines.

I bought some Thunbergia "African Sunset" seedlings at the nursery. When they aren't being mysteriously eaten (what snips off stems and leaves on a second-floor balcony garden? Rogue, sentient clippers?), the flowers are really beautiful. They start out a dark pink and fade to light yellow, like this one:

I bought a mini rose plant for $7.50 (at Brattle Florist in Harvard Square -- super good deal, guys!) and planted it in a larger pot, and immediately it shot out new branches and buds. This one's juuuust about to pop open:

For some reason everything's been bolting before it has a chance to grow leaves big enough to eat (spinach, radishes, bok choi). But I figure if I can't eat it, I might as well see what the flowers look like. Maybe they'll help attract bees up here, which can be an issue for pollination. Chinese mustard buds:

Mosaic Maps

2011-06-02T00:07:00.000-04:00

I was thinking recently about the geometric, relatively inorganic process I use to build up the design in my papercut map cards, and tried applying it back to drawing. The first drawing I did and painted in was sold almost immediately after I finished it (I didn't even have time to scan it!):

I was also working on a larger 9x12 drawing of the same type at the time:

That one's still on hold; I took a break to finish a previous work in progress in the new mosaic style, which I think came out really well:

I also made another small map in plum, like the one in green (but more dense):

I think the first green one and the five boroughs one are the most successful at the moment. Someone recently suggested that I try making a diptych of a cut-out and a mosaic map in the same form, or influenced by each other, that could be a next step.

LIC Open Studios 2011

2011-05-23T23:36:00.000-04:00

I was in New York this past weekend to see some friends at the LIC Arts Open, which this year was a week-long event. Unfortunately I didn't get to see all of them, but I did come across some fun new artists at the Juvenal Reis studios.

I was particularly taken with the detailed, almost obsessive pen drawings of Rena Teratani, who is apparently having an exhibition in Montreal in June. Unfortunately the website images and printed postcards don't really show the incredible detail in her pieces. Her work reminds me a little of Julie Mehretu's mark-making, and apparently reminds others of mine -- at open studios, a friend saw the map I have on the back of my phone and thought it might have been something Rena drew! The fact that she does detailed drawings on a large scale has convinced me that my drawings might actually look okay if I did them significantly larger than my usual 9"x12".

The other super memorable art we came across this weekend was hidden in the lower floor of a secluded gallery in Chelsea. Paul Shore & Nicole Root's photographs had made the Internet rounds a while ago, but the full collection was really amazing. They reproduce iconic works of contemporary sculpture in candy, and photograph them in mini gallery setups that make the candy to scale with the original work. I really appreciated the Dan Flavin light installation (one wax stix candy in the corner of a room) and the initially befuddling Claes Oldenburg (naturally, a real ice cream cone and slice of cake). Do check out the link above if you've ever taken contemporary art history.

Faceted Maps

2011-05-18T09:36:00.001-04:00

The other day I was doodling map ideas in a coffeeshop, and started building this:

It's not maplike in the way my other drawings are, but it's got the same kind of linear fractal aesthetic. I definitely think of them as roads connected into neighborhoods, they're just arranged a little differently. I played around with color when I got home:

I'm not sure how much I like that, though. I think they need some kind of color, but maybe I'm just not good enough with colored pencils to get the effect I want with them. They might work out better with a light watercolor wash that changes over the course of the drawing. I do want to delineate "neighborhoods" with color, and that might be a good way to do it. I started building another drawing on watercolor paper, using archival pens:

I've put this project on hold to work on new "mosaic" style maps (more on those soon!), but it was a sort of promising side project. If anyone has any ideas about extending it, let me know in the comments!

Somerville Open Studios Recap

2011-05-09T23:22:00.003-04:00

Open Studios was surprisingly hectic, but really amazing. I met a lot of people who were really interested in my work; two of my favorites were a young child who came to my table, politely asked to buy a print (after studiously perusing the designs available) and even signed up for my mailing list, and a guy who ran over on a friend's recommendation, took a glance at my table and the drawings I had on display and summed up his review by exclaiming "Holy shit."

Because I was behind the table the whole time, I didn't get a chance to look at many other artists' work, but I did take one opportunity to run around the space a little, and I even had some fans bring me business cards from other artists they thought I'd like. I was recommended to check out one of the tables in the Armory because the artist was working with cut-outs from roadmaps, and when I got a chance to see her work it turned out she already knew about my maps and had bought two pieces from me! It's getting to be a smaller and smaller world, and I love it.

I also met a lot of interesting artists by chatting with the people who came by my table. I had some new, stylized watercolor maps out, and got into a discussion with a photographer about how they resembled some work he'd done with images of cobblestones.

He works with much brighter colors than I do, so his image is a lot more eye-catching. I should definitely think of using more color; even if it's not something I normally do, it does get peoples' attention. I had prints of "Growing Fields" (by far the most colorful map I've done) for the first time at Open Studios, and almost sold out of that one design. I'm thinking of doing the abstract maps (like the one above) in brighter colors, to make more graphic map representations.

Spring Green Earrings

2011-04-16T18:45:00.001-04:00

I've been experimenting with new colors of fabric for my twiggy flower earrings. I'm really excited about these ones -- the combination of light green fabric and pearl beads makes me think of the first snowdrops of spring. I'll be rolling these out at SLAM at the Burren next weekend for their Easter-themed craft fair on April 23rd. Hope to see you there!

Somerville Museum "Artist's Choice" Exhibition

2011-04-15T12:43:00.000-04:00

I am again participating in the Somerville Museum "Artist's Choice" exhibition this year, in conjunction with Somerville Open Studios. There is an opening tonight (Friday, April 15th) from 6-9pm, which should be a lot of fun. Each artist participating in Open Studios was invited to submit one work, so the show is always very varied. I am showing "Sunset Parks", which is pretty much my favorite map. I can't wait to see how the show looks!

Papercut Map Cards

2011-04-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

After my cutout map experiments, I've been thinking about the idea of making one-of-a-kind handmade cards with map imagery. One way that's been successful so far is three-layered handcut map cards. The cards are each a piece of thin paper folded in four; blocks are carved out of the top layer, and houses are carved out of the second layer. When the card is closed, the writing layer provides the background. I suppose that if you were to write densely enough on the card, the writing would show through in the houses.

I'll be showing a few of these cards at SLAM the weekend after next, and if that goes well there should be more available at Somerville Open Studios! They are also currently available on Etsy, if you're not in the area.

Crocheted Flower Necklace

2011-04-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

After making some earrings with crocheted flowers (see this post), I wanted to experiment with using them for a necklace. They seem to "curl up" and get less flower-like over time, but it's still a very comfortable necklace. I challenged myself to make an asymmetrical design, and I think it worked out fairly well.

Inside-Out Gallery

2011-04-07T22:56:00.000-04:00

The windows of the Davis Square CVS always display local art, and have been named the "Inside-Out Gallery". The display is currently various artists who will be participating in Somerville Open Studios. I'm showing two map drawings there this year. If you're in Davis, you should check them out!

Woodblock Prints

2011-04-05T09:55:00.001-04:00

When I was studying in Japan, I took a class in traditional woodblock printing and really enjoyed it. I realized recently that map forms would probably translate really well to that kind of printmaking technique. It was great to try it out again after a few years. I cut a small 2" x 2" block, and printed a few small envelopes to use at craft fairs:

I like the way that every print comes out completely differently, based on orientation and ink density. I'd love to do some larger ones for the paper shopping bags I give out, as well!

Cutout Maps

2011-03-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

I've been making both maps and pop-ups for a while, and I finally got around to combining the map aesthetic with the papercut technique.

I started with black cardstock:

This was a little too hard to cut, so I moved on to thinner white paper, and experimented with adding depth via multiple layers:

The piece looks entirely different when backlit:

Then I realized it might add visual interest to cut through a printed page, so I worked on obliterating a page from an art course catalog:

I took care to cut out all names and numbers, but kept in some words like "landscape" that I thought would be appropriate. It was a fun project; I'm trying to think of what kinds of pages to try next...!

Ascension by Su-Yee Lin

2011-03-29T23:08:00.002-04:00

My friend Su-Yee has a short story online in Ideomancer's March issue. It's very autumn and very quiet, and you should read it. Su-Yee collaborated with me on an illustration project in 2009, which you can peruse on my old site here. I feel like our styles are very related, and I love reading her work.

Stop-Motion Map Drawing

2011-03-28T11:13:00.000-04:00

I made a stop-motion animation while working on the multi-part map I drew for my senior exhibition in 2009. It was probably the first map I made in this style, so it's interesting to see how different my technique was then.

HTML5 Military Jacket

2011-03-23T21:32:00.006-04:00

My friend has suggested for a while that the HTML5 logo would look good as a military-style patch, and I only recently got around to the project. Originally I was going to do some kind of iron-on transfer, but I figured hand-painting it would make it more personal. I think it came out really well!

Before I started on the large logo, I made a strip of icons representing various tech classes in HTML5, to go across over the jacket's breast pocket. I sketched the shapes freehand and then filled them in using bronze-colored acrylic paint.

The HTML5 logo is graphic and shield-shaped. It works pretty well for a patch. I sketched the logo onto fabric (this time with the help of a ruler, since the straight lines are pretty crucial) and mixed paint to match the orange shades.

I pinned the fabric to a thin corkboard so that it wouldn't buckle too much under layers of wet paint.

I decided that the four logos needed something to make them pop, so I outlined them in pen (I settled on a waterproof, bleedproof Copic after exhaustive testing).

I folded under the edges and made small hems across the top and bottom, then sewed pieces of velcro to the ends and middle of the strip.

The strip attached to a piece of velcro already on the right side of the jacket, and I sewed a slightly larger backing to the HTML5 logo and pinned the whole thing to the left sleeve. Here's what the jacket looked like on:

I might want to make the logo strip a little smaller, but I don't think paint would still work in that case; paint pens might end up being better. Overall, though, I think it worked surprisingly well.

Celtic Knot Bracelets

2011-03-14T17:45:00.001-04:00

I intended to have these ready for the St Patrick's Day SLAM on Saturday, but unfortunately my sewing machine wasn't cooperating. I've finished them now, though, and they're available on my Etsy site for a limited time.

Deconstructed Maps

2011-03-14T13:48:00.000-04:00

I came across this fascinating treatment of maps recently (via Strange Maps). The artist takes city maps and picks out the individual blocks, then arranges them neatly by size and type. It's a very different way to approach the concept of a map. This is what happens with Manhattan and Brooklyn:

Inkpunk Artworks

2011-03-13T12:31:00.000-04:00

I had a great time yesterday at the St Patrick's Day SLAM at the Burren. I chatted with a lot of interesting people, had a lot of people sign up for my mailing list, and I got to trade with a vendor! I was given a wonderful mini painting by Brian of Inkpunk Artworks, and gave him a "Five Towns" poster. When I put them together, they looked surprisingly related:

In the mission statement on his blog, Brian mentions, "I'm finding that there is indeed a universal place where art and science, the sacred and the mundane can meet, in certain forms and colors that seem to appeal to us unconsciously on a variety of levels, and hope to take this exploration further." That's very related to how I feel about map drawing -- I approach it scientifically or algorithmically, but somehow the fractal form of a map has fairly universal aesthetic appeal. Brian's paintings remind me that when I was studying aesthetics, some of the basic findings were that people prefer centered images and round images. I always discounted this as overly simplistic, but I'm finding more and more that there's a thing for circles in art and studio jewelry. I sometimes make fun of this with my maps, drawing illogical traffic circles for purely aesthetic appeal, or making ridiculous spiral roads. But it seems there is something to that design after all.

Somerville Open Studios - Save the Date

2011-03-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

I will be participating in Somerville Open Studios again this year, and again at the Armory (191 Highland Avenue). The event is April 30th and May 1st. I hope that everyone will be able to come!

I will also have three drawings in a show at Bloc 11 in Union Square (11 Bow Street). The exhibition will be up from March 14 to May 3, with an opening reception on March 14th from 6:30-8pm catered by the cafe. Put this information on your Google Calendar with this button:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2011-03-02T16:53:00.000-05:00

I was in New York last weekend, and on Sunday I took some visitors to see the Met.

Francesco Guardi, Fantastic Landscape (c. 1760)

Anthonis van den Wijngaerde, View of Rome (c. 1540)

Henry Lerolle, The Organ Rehearsal

Ancient Egyptian stamps

Pillar in the Greek and Roman Art court

Floral pattern on a suit of armor

Water-Resist Map Timelapse

2011-02-07T12:31:00.001-05:00

After my last water-resist map experiment, I decided to make one with finer lines and brighter colors. I took photos after each step of painting and drawing masking lines to show the process.

The last photo is of the almost-completed map with the yellow masking fluid still on. After removing it, the finished map looked like this (as hung on the wall at First Friday):

I was going to add some pen lines afterwards, but the piece ended up being so colorful that I thought they might get lost. Next time I'll tone it down a little bit more, so there's more of a tonal difference between the river and the land space.

First Friday Photos

2011-02-06T15:57:00.000-05:00

First Friday last night was wonderful. It was great to be able to show so much work in one place, and I got a lot of great responses to both the maps and the pop-ups. I was especially grateful to the other artists in the building who came by to see my work and give their critiques. Here are some photos of the event for those of you who weren't able to attend.

People looking at the work:

There were some dogs in one of the studios down the hall, and they wandered through every so often, padding by the art and circling the snacks table, just like regular open studios visitors!

Someone told me the waterways in the maps looked like this awesome effect she'd gotten by applying rubbing alcohol to a store receipt:

The best part about being in the building was getting my other artist/gallerist friends to come and critique my work.

Resist Maps

2011-02-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

I recently went to the ICA and got to see the Mark Bradford exhibit. It got me excited about the idea of introducing map imagery to paintings using resist techniques. I first tried cutting masking tape into little "blocks" and placing them in city-like formations, but it didn't work too well. Not only was it a bit too difficult to place them accurately, but they didn't actually resist water fully enough, and it was hard to get them into a shape that read as a city and not just a grid. They kept reminding me of old-style telephone keypads.

Watercolor wash over tape:

After removing tape:

Then I tried using some watercolor masking fluid I had used for things like clouds in an earlier series. Because the fluid dries into rubber so quickly, it was hard to paint fine enough lines, so the effect was more like batik than the spindly city lines I'm more used to. If I could get finer lines, though, I think it would be effective, since it did resist the watercolor very well.

For the next one I started by putting down rivers of blue wash, and then drew the roads around them and painted "neighborhoods" of blocks using successive washes of green and brown. Once I was done painting, the original blue shapes were almost gone, but when I removed the dried masking fluid the river boundaries thus revealed helped to bring back the overall shape of the river. I like how that worked a lot, because the organic origins of city plans is something I'm always interested in conveying.

I would probably want to continue by making a larger version of the last experiment, with a finer brush. Any other ideas for things I should try?

Dionysus Earrings

2011-01-24T11:29:00.000-05:00

A long time ago I discovered that I could string seed beads onto wire and wind them up into little bunches of grapes. I made a few pins and started on a necklace, but found that it was too likely to get caught on things. I recently realized that the twiggy earrings I've been making would also work well with the grape motif, and tried making a couple. I think they turned out pretty well, but you'd definitely have to keep all hair and clothing clear of the adorable little tendrils.

First Friday in the South End

2011-01-22T19:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my amazing friends Marion and JB, I will be participating in First Friday next month in their studio space! First Friday is a monthly open studio event in the South End that also includes gallery openings and other fun stuff. I will be at the 450 Harrison Ave studio building in studio #223B, and I'll be showing mostly original map drawings and large-scale pop-up cities. I don't really show these pieces outside of exhibitions any more, and certainly not all together like this, so it will be a good opportunity to see the full spread of my current work.

Add this event to your Google Calendar -

Nighttime Map Experiments

2011-01-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

Recently I've been trying to figure out how to make compelling nighttime maps. So far I haven't really been very pleased with any of them. I suspect that is because what interests me in drawing maps is the way people lay out their individual lives around geography, and when streetlights and headlights are the only visible features in the landscape, it becomes a lot less interesting in that regard. I still think cities at night are beautiful aesthetically, but that alone is not really enough to make them interesting.

I first started drawing lines of dots with a gold paint pen on black paper. Then I tried using gouache on a tiny paintbrush using the same technique:

The lines of dots start to look more like interlocking spiderwebs than the maps I usually draw. I tried doing one on lighter paper as well, using different colors for the city centers that melded as they got out towards the suburbs:

Then I tried covering a canvas with black paint and painting lines of gouache dots on that. I think this has some potential for interesting topography effects, but that would also make it harder to paint precisely:

So far I had been doing only lines of dots, which is the general aesthetic effect of aerial nighttime cityscapes, but pretty removed from the way I usually draw maps. So I tried using a similar technique with a metallic pen on black paper:

I like the effect (it's super shiny in real life!), but now it's farther from a realistic depiction of either day or night.

I'm thinking of giving up on this project by now, but would love to know if anyone has any better ideas. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Twiggy Floral Earrings

2011-01-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

I started making these earrings as a slightly easier-to-wear alternative to my twiggy floral necklaces:

Recently I've been making more sparkly ones in the spirit of the snowy season. They've also gotten a little more elongated as I experiment with making them more twiggy and gnarled:

Unfortunately my stock is always fairly low, since they're very popular at craft fairs. I will have more at my next craft fair, which will be February 12th at the Burren in Davis Square. Stop by then to get inspired for Valentine's Day!

Vase

2010-12-30T08:50:00.000-05:00

At my last craft fair at the Burren, I was exhibiting near a ceramicist and traded some earrings for a bud vase at the end of the day. It's so cute! I have in on my work desk right now, with a huge dendrobium orchid in it. It's nice to be able to have flowers at my desk, and the blue-green color is so pretty.

Silverware Ring

2010-12-29T12:33:00.000-05:00

I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present at the Harvard Square Holiday Crafts Fair one day after work last week. Last year my roommate got me a pair of spoon earrings from vendor Shine On, and I've been coveting their rings ever since, so when I ran into their stall I had to get one. It was hard to choose, but I found one with a lovely art nouveau design of a daffodil, which makes me think of spring.

Mini Crocheted Flower Earrings

2010-12-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

I started making these little earrings at my last craft fair. I had been crocheting flowers out of embroidery floss and thought I'd try making them into earrings. The flowers sort of flop around, but I think that's part of what I like about them. I want to try making some with a whole array of flowers. They're really light, and unlike the twiggy earrings they're not likely to catch on anything.

I've been making a lot more things lately besides these, but as most of them are for Christmas presents you'll just have to wait til after the holiday to see them!

SLAM at the Burren

2010-12-13T12:43:00.001-05:00

I took some photos at Saturday's craft fair in Davis Square. I had a whole lot of new things for sale!

Holiday map cards, crocheted flower earrings, twiggy earrings, crocheted flower pins...

My very Victorian earring/necklace display frame. I've been doing a lot of floral designs lately; the crocheted flower earrings are the most recent.

Hair accessories (clips and combs). Again, more florals!

I also had some brand new map posters, which were getting snapped up! I will be at SLAM again this coming Saturday (12-4pm) for my last holiday craft fair of the season, so please stop by if you're in the area.

Crocheted Flower Headbands

2010-12-10T01:25:00.000-05:00

I've been on a bit of a knitting binge lately. First I made myself a truly enormous scarf, and then I made a hat for my friend (more on that one later). Recently I've been making decorative crocheted flowers. I originally intended to put them on knitted headbands/ear-warmers, but as they're a lot more fun and fast to make, I quickly had a lot of them. I made them by crocheting a circle and adding stitches to make a ruffled shape. I then crocheted embroidery floss in contrasting colors onto the edges to highlight the shape. I sewed buttons or beads into the center of the flowers, sewed them to pin backs or hairclips and attached them to headbands.

Massive Scarf

2010-12-04T10:31:00.000-05:00

I found some wonderful yarn in New York when I was there at the end of September. Since then I have been working on a massive scarf project. I had fun working on it during an apple-picking trip at the beginning of October. With their deep reds and green-gold bloom, the apples were exactly the same color as the scarf!

The finished scarf is incredibly long and wide. Right now it's kind of excessively bulky, but I'm sure it will be really useful in the depths of winter!

Upcoming Shows

2010-12-02T22:48:00.001-05:00

There are a lot of events coming up soon -- here is a complete list:

December 2nd-23rd, 2010

"13 Under 30" Group Exhibition

Thirteen emerging artists in the Boston area will be showing a wide variety of art. My contributions include an imaginary map drawing and a large pop-up of a city intersection. The exhibition is at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery of Boston University's Hillel Center, located at 213 Bay State Road in Boston. More information: www.bu.edu/hillel/gallery/

December 3, 5-7pm

"Small Works" Opening Reception

An exhibition of small works (under 12"x12") by artists of the Fort Point art community. I have contributed two imaginary maps, each with a different style. The exhibition is at Fort Point's gallery space "Art at 12", located at 12 Farnsworth Street in Boston. The exhibition will be up through December 31. More information: www.fortpointarts.org/

December 4, 12-4pm AND December 11, 12-4pm

Saturday Local Artist Market

I will be showing lots of new jewelry, maps, holiday cards and more, and would love to have you stop by! There will be lots of other talented artists as well, with a wide variety of handmade products. The perfect opportunity for holiday shopping! As usual, the event is at the Burren in Davis Square, located at 247 Elm Street in Somerville. More information: www.burren.com/SLAM.html

Landlocked Map

2010-11-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

I've always started maps by making waterways of ink, but while flying out for Thanksgiving last week I tried inventing a completely land-locked city. It was inspired by an enormous and spontaneous map I did recently on a friend's wall-sized whiteboard. I started with five city centers and drew around them to create individual dense cities, then connected the cities more loosely. A lot of the drawing was done on planes, which also provided some inspiration.

(Wouldn't it be cool to do a nighttime map on black paper?)

Flying over midtown Manhattan, I was pretty touched by how much my maps owe to New York's geography. I don't usually think about it, but obviously growing up there does explain my innate conception of city aesthetics.

Green Twiggy Necklace

2010-11-28T19:35:00.001-05:00

I have been experimenting with different colors using the twiggy design from my original plum-colored necklace. I really like the way the dark wire works with this selection of iridescent and matte green beads. I also made matching earrings, which I think came out especially well.

13 Under 30

2010-11-18T11:28:00.001-05:00

Two of my pieces were just accepted to the "13 Under 30" show of young artists at the Rubin-Frankel Gallery at BU. The opening reception is December 2 from 6-8pm, and the show will be up until December 23rd. Please come if you're available! I will be showing the "Russet Map" from a recent post as well as one pop-up from the installation at M55's "Core and Mantle" exhibition.

New Russet Map

2010-11-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

I just finished a new map in a russet color. I thought about making it totally autumn-colored, but I've taken a break for now. It's likely that the trees will end up coming in in the color of early fall. Right now I'm just enjoying the pattern of the houses. I used regular watercolor instead of watercolor pencils for this one, so I started with the most concentrated mix of each color at each city center and diluted it gradually as I moved outwards. I think it helps make it more organic and less strictly colored-in. The piece is 12"x9" and is probably the most densely detailed map I've made so far (with the exception of the map I drew for this year's holiday cards -- more on that later!!)

Recent Press Mentions

2010-11-10T16:11:00.000-05:00

I just found out about two articles mentioning my work. One is an interview with the curator of the "Core & Mantle" exhibition in New York, for which I did an installation of pop-up city blocks. The article is here: http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/on-core-mantle-8232-/2146

The other is an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer reviewing the exhibition "Nowhere: Selections from the Hand Drawn Map Association", currently on view at the art gallery at Arcadia University outside Philadelphia. The article is here: http://bit.ly/az0rXH

Plum Twig Necklace

2010-10-28T13:55:00.017-04:00

Yesterday before work I decided to make myself a new necklace. I'd been wearing my wire twig earrings lately, and thought it would be interesting to make a necklace in that technique that would incorporate the singed fabric flowers as well. I used annealed wire, which is dark, with pearlescent purple beads and a few sparkly glass beads. I like the asymmetry and the very organic shapes. I think I might try to make one in fall colors as well, for the season. Maybe in yellow and green, which with the black "branches" would look like linden trees in autumn.

Paper Teapots: Map and Pop-up

2010-10-12T20:41:00.002-04:00

I've been very busy at the gallery lately getting everything ready for the teapot exhibition that just opened. Artists working in all different media submitted teapot sculptures both functional and conceptual. Unfortunately, and sort of ironically, I was too busy with the administrative end to have much time for my own teapots, but I made small versions of my two ideas: a map teapot, and an urban pop-up teapot.

The city pop-up one was made in the same way as the pop-ups I recently had at M55, but instead of two blocks, there were about eight different sections, including a handle and a spout.

The map teapot was planned out like a globe, with an inserted spout and a lid on top. I started with the same ink blot technique as I would for a flat map, with a fork around where the spout would be inserted, and then drew around it, making sure that the roads would be continuous once the whole thing was sewed up.

And here they are installed in the exhibition:

Mini Watermelon

2010-10-03T11:43:00.000-04:00

I'm going to take a quick break from posting about maps and pop-ups to share some photos of the most adorable watermelon that I picked last week from the vines on the porch. The vines have all shriveled, but two little watermelons were left. The littlest one was a little too squishy, but we ate the slightly bigger one, and it was delicious!

"From Here to There" Map Collection

2010-09-28T12:32:00.000-04:00

A few years ago, I submitted one of the very first imaginary maps I drew to a writer in Pennsylvania who was putting together a book of hand-drawn maps. I just found out that the book was published at the beginning of the month, and my map is on page 82. It's a really interesting collection of real, fictional, useful and speculative maps. It is available from Amazon here. Please check it out!

South End Open Studios 2010

2010-09-26T22:55:00.000-04:00

Today I waded through the slightly clammy weather to visit the South End. I started out at 46 Waltham, which I had missed last year due to some drama among the group I was going with. It's an interesting space, with winding hallways through a generally U-shaped building. I spent a decent amount of time just taking photos from studio windows.

I did learn some interesting things about paper casting from Felice Mendell. It's a technique I hadn't even considered. I've made paper from paper pulp before, but I hadn't thought of casting it in a mold. I briefly thought of doing something similar for my teapot project (more on that later), but it was interesting to see it in action.

I also saw some interesting smoke photography by Stephen Baumbach. It made me think of the smoke and ink projects I saw when I worked for Federico Muelas as an intern.

After 46 Waltham I walked down Shawmut and ended up at Tremont Street. I really don't know the area very well, despite coming almost every month for First Fridays, and I'm surprised that I even managed to find anything. But I saw a big sign up at what turned out to be the Boston Center for the Arts, so I went in. I really love those old studio buildings. I love the high ceilings and creaky, uneven floors - and of course the views from the windows (in this case, from the bathroom):

I saw some beautiful work by Silvia López Chávez, and especially liked her color themes. There was a portrait of a girl with pigeons that I really enjoyed. There were an unusual number of depictions of pigeons today, actually. There was a photograph of one in 46 Waltham, and several drawings and paintings of pigeons at the BCA. I wonder if each artist actually has a different personal reason for choosing them, or if it's just a general trend.

There was also some interesting work by Sophie Truong, who had a lot of textile work with teabags; her blurb in the booklet is "musings of a compulsive stitcher", which does sum it up. I loved the obsessive detail and the effect of masses of teabags. My eye was first caught by her soft sculptures hanging in the studio; I also liked some meandering vines of teabags that were in the corner of the room.

I was getting to the end of the 4th floor and thinking of heading back, but I'm really glad that I decided to stop in to Laura Sapelly's studio before I left. She had some beautiful textile pieces on display, and we had a really long talk about sewing and about aesthetics in general. I've got some new ideas for my next attempt at embroidered maps, as well as a significant reading list! It always makes me realize how little I actually know about what I'm doing. But as I do it, I'll learn.

Photos from M55 Opening

2010-09-25T13:42:00.000-04:00

I wasn't able to attend the opening on Thursday night, but some helpful people sent me photos of the event. I'm very happy with the lighting, and it seems like there were a lot of people in attendance!

Popup Installation

2010-09-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

I installed the city popups at M55 yesterday, and took some quick photos of the setup. There are 4 along one wall and two by the guestbook table.

Architectural Popups for M55

2010-09-13T10:15:00.001-04:00

I've been working really hard making large-scale city popups for an upcoming show at the M55 gallery in Queens. The show's opening reception is on the 23rd of September, from 6-8pm.
Add that to your calendar:

The gallery's site doesn't have information yet for some reason, but I hope it will soon. Here are some photos of the pieces I've been working on for the installation:

Fabric Coasters

2010-09-08T13:34:00.000-04:00

I recently acquired a few bags of fabric scraps and have been devising things to do with them. One thing that we always need in our house is coasters; making coasters has been a project of mine since we moved in, but I could never really figure out an effective method. We did purchase some cheap plastic and cork ones, but I'm pretty sure the plastic scratches the glass coffee table. I tried sewing together some squares of fabric, and I think they're great as slightly rustic drink coasters. They work well to soak up condensation, and they don't scratch glass or wooden surfaces. I'm thinking of making some backed in felt and selling them in sets of three or so.

Wall-Mounted Pop-ups

2010-09-06T23:57:00.001-04:00

For the last craft fair I brought out some new horizontal book-style popups. I find them easier to design and cut than the original ones, and I think they evoke a city more convincingly.

The double ones also have the advantage of being easy to mount on a wall. I mostly market the popups as cards, but since so much work goes into designing and cutting them I would rather just display them as art than write notes on them.

I will be putting up an installation of popups in this format (but bigger and more detailed!) at M55 gallery in New York in two weeks. The show opens on the 23rd; more details will be posted later, but save the date!

More Watercolor Maps

2010-09-03T13:09:00.001-04:00

I've decided to experiment with making maps entirely using watercolor. I use watercolor pencils to allow a little more control, although I'm thinking of using regular watercolor instead -- the effect may actually end up being less blurry. I just completed one in shades of green and am currently working on one in blue and purple.

Site Redesign!

2010-08-31T12:56:00.001-04:00

If you happened to be checking out my site at 1am you might already know this, but for the rest of you, I am pleased to present my brand-new website design! Just click on the link to view. It will have more categories and a news section so that you can be up-to-date with my newest events without having to check the blog constantly. Of course, this will still be the place for works in progress, so keep checking the blog as well. Next up will be watercolor maps, horizontal pop-ups and fabric coasters!

Watercolor Maps

2010-08-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

In my constant search for new kinds of maps to draw, I've been experimenting with adding watercolor to my maps. It's very coloring-book right now, but I am hoping to try some watercolor washes as well. I do like the way that it shows the different geographic elements.

The first experimental map:

and a large 9x12 map in progress:

Paper Party in Union Square

2010-08-09T10:19:00.001-04:00

Next Saturday (August 14) I will be at the Paper Party craft fair in Union Square from 3pm to 7pm selling entirely paper creations! The whole fair is paper-themed; see more of the vendors here. I plan to bring paper bead jewelry, tissue paper brooches and pop-ups. If there's another paper product you'd like to see, feel free to mention it in the comments! I know I must be missing something...

Add this event to your Google Calendar so you don't forget!

Men's Polo Shirt Refashion

2010-08-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

I recently acquired a huge polo shirt as a giveaway, and figured I would see what I could do with it.

First I took the sleeves off with seam rippers. Then I tried it on and put pins in the sides at my bust and waist to mark where to cut. I drew a curve (with silver sharpie on the right side of the fabric -- not recommended!) to connect the points and then cut.

I hemmed the sleeves to the point where the side seam would start, then stitched the seam. I had to make some adjustments for a nice flare, but I think it turned out surprisingly well!

Now I just need to work on taking out (or just covering up) that logo, and find some projects for the fabric scraps!

Porch Garden Update II (July 27, 2010)

2010-07-27T17:26:00.008-04:00

It's amazing. The garden just looks more enormous every week. The lettuce is now HUGE, and the zucchini have started flowering. I recently got some fragrant flowering plants (dianthus and heliotrope) to try and attract some bees to the second-floor garden. I took some photos when I went to check on the garden at 5am the other day. It was beautiful.

zucchini flower;

radish flower (I let them bolt because they didn't have the space to properly produce, and anyways the flowers are a pretty color!);

adorable mini lightbulb tomatoes;

and so much lettuce!!

Today I also noticed that the one strawberry still tagging along on the strawberry plants I got from my friends in Warwick has turned pink!

It's so adorable.

Singed Fabric Flowers

2010-07-27T17:17:00.001-04:00

I've seen many tutorials on making fabric flowers, and the multicolored creations I saw at Sew What recently inspired me to start making them myself. I found some remnants that were being thrown out and decided to experiment with them.

The technique I followed involved cutting circles from fabric and singing the edges (I used a candle) to make them curl and also seal the plastic fabric from fraying. Since I was using white fabric, at first I tried very hard to keep the fabric from taking on color from the candle smoke. However, that method doesn't allow the fabric to curl very much, and I discovered that if I dyed the fabric a little with tea (plastic materials don't really take up tea particularly well, but it was enough to make some difference) the slightly charred edges actually provided a nice contrast and a more organic look. Today I wore a necklace with a flower pendant;

I also wore floral hairpins yesterday on a trip to the beach.

The "leaves" are small snips of leather remnants that I received from a handbag designer I met at Somerville Open Studios. Her bags are really amazing, and it was an incredibly thoughtful gift! I've been using the scraps to make cuffs in all colors, and will post when I've worked out some of the ideas I have for them.

Crocheted Lace Bracelet

2010-07-25T18:39:00.001-04:00

I have been experimenting with freeform crocheting with embroidery floss and found an application that I enjoy. It's lacy but not overly so, and the colors are very spring.

I started by doing random and open crochet stitches in an approximately rectangular shape. I pinned the piece to an ironing board so it would settle into a rectangle and ironed over it several times to hold the shape.

Then I laced a piece of nylon ribbon through it. I originally intended the ribbon to be a base to tack the crochet to, but I discovered that the bracelet was easier to tie and had more dimension if I gathered the crochet a little and used the ribbon ends as a tie. I singed the knotted ends in a candle to make sure they don't unravel (that's always so annoying...)

In the end, it's a lot of steps but not a particularly difficult project, and I like the effect and the fact that each one will be unique.

Porch Garden Update

2010-07-13T21:11:00.001-04:00

It's funny to look at photos from when I first started my garden. By now there are plants all around the railings, and some more closer by the house. Everything has sprouted, and the tomato plants have tiny tomatoes already. The zucchini and the radishes are flourishing, and I could probably make a little salad from the lettuce and beet greens. Since the photos for this panorama were taken I repotted my watermelon seedlings, and I hope they'll start growing more. They seem to be super slow.

Click on the panorama to enlarge. It's hard to see all of it on the page.

ArtBeat in Davis Square

2010-07-13T01:12:00.001-04:00

This coming weekend, July 16th and 17th (Friday and Saturday) is ArtBeat, a big yearly music and art festival in Davis Square, Somerville. I will be showing new art and jewelry at the Burren (247 Elm Street) on Saturday the 17th from 12-6 and hope to see lots of people there. For those of you that haven't been to SLAM before, the craft fair is in the back room of the Burren, so it should be nice and cool (as opposed to all the outdoor stalls!). As always, they have $5 lunch specials during the show, which is yet another reason to come by and check it out.

Colored Maps

2010-07-11T13:43:00.000-04:00

I've been experimenting with making entirely colored map drawings. I did a large one using blue and green acrylic paint and the effect worked really well. It also sold really quickly when I showed it at Somerville Open Studios.

I've tried it again, this time using colored pens as well. I like that it makes each element stand out a little more. It's less purely graphic than the other maps, but with the slightly more realistic approach that I'm using these days, I think it helps to make the maps more interesting.

During the last fair in Union Square I talked with a silkscreened clothing vendor who had a stall near me at SOS as well. He said that he had remembered my maps from that show, but he thought they were just drawings over antique maps, not completely new cartography. I thought that was kind of interesting. I'm not really looking to replicate any place too closely because I think it would be more interesting for people to be able to invent a place when looking at them, but it's good that they are recognizable.

Embroidered Maps

2010-07-07T22:08:00.000-04:00

I have been trying different ways to incorporate maps into textile pieces. I tried embroidering a map freehand last week. It was difficult to create order without the blocks of water to separate everything, but it was a different way to work. I found myself referring to it while drawing a paper map, so I suppose the exercise was good for something. It's hard to get the same kind of precise, architectural lines that I like in paper maps. The fabric I was using was just too thin to support backstitching, so I used more of a dashed line, sort of like a treasure map.

After I finished the map, I framed it in a basic clip frame that I had left over from SOS. I hadn't bothered to iron it, so the fabric bunched up inside, but I think I like the effect. There isn't much to suggest topological features in my drawn maps.

Little House Studios

2010-06-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

This week we are moving out of our studio space. I just haven't been going to it at all, since all my craft fair preparations can be done from home, and that's usually what my free time goes to. It was fun to have somewhere to go and create, but also in the summer it would be a lot hotter in the attic studio space than on my porch.

Before we leave, though, have a pretty panorama photo of the studio!

Taken by my studiomate Adam (it's also on his website).

Pop-up Booklet

2010-06-29T12:33:00.000-04:00

I decided to try a horizontal pop-up method, to make more of a book instead of a card. It's a pretty simple folding pattern that I actually learned in 6th grade math class, and rediscovered when going through my notes last summer. The cuts are definitely simpler than my previous cityscape pop-ups; you only need to cut a slit for the top of each building. The math is a tiny bit more complicated and the position of the buildings is a little more limited, but the effect is really nice.

I started by accordion-folding a strip of paper and making clusters of buildings in each concave fold:

Then I glued the pages together to make a book, and glued a back cover on to make it stand up - the black color also makes the intricate cuts more visible.

I think I might prefer the accordion version, because you can see every detail, but a book is a little more accessible. Which do you like?

"Urban Landscapes" Etsy Treasury

2010-06-28T08:45:00.000-04:00

Both my map drawings and my pop-up city cards were chosen to be in the "Urban Landscapes" treasury on Etsy. Please click to view the whole selection. I love a lot of the pieces -- in addition, if the treasury gets enough attention it can make it to the front page. So if you enjoy it, leave a comment!

Art in Stop-Motion

2010-06-24T20:43:00.006-04:00

I am pleased to finally be able to show the reason I haven't had much time to update this blog lately. I've been working on a stop-motion project for an artist who makes intricate metal sculptures that unfold and move. Everything is incredibly ornate, and the mechanical parts are astounding. Links to the YouTube videos are below:

For the full size, please click on the embedded videos to view them in YouTube. There is music with the videos (except for Bloomingdale's, where it was prevented because of copyright issues).

Terrace Garden

2010-06-21T13:35:00.000-04:00

Last Monday, on my day off, I spent a whole lot of time on the balcony of our second-floor apartment. I became very well-acquainted with it when I managed to lock myself outside (the door to the porch locks itself when it shuts, and all the accessible windows were locked). Luckily there were more passers-by than the last time (yes), and I even found someone with a ladder, so it went relatively smoothly.

The couple hours I spent out there later in the day were much more intentional. I had a wonderful time at the local plant nursery and came back with herbs, tomato plants, soil and a mini trowel and rake set. I now have both yellow and red cherry tomatoes, lavender, cilantro, basil and chocolate mint settling into bigger pots out there. It looks a little meager at the moment (even with my hours of work!) but I hope they will all grow and spread. I'm also rooting some coleus cuttings indoors to add more color to the balcony. I know the tomatoes will need much bigger pots pretty soon, but for now at least it's better than keeping them in tiny six-packs.

Since then I've planted morning glories and moonflowers, beets and radishes, and zucchini and watermelons. The watermelons are sort of a joke, but it would be cool if they worked out. I need to make another trip to get soil and maybe another long planter for sweet peas and lettuce. It's an ambitious project, but it's nice to have plants out there.

Earrings Display

2010-06-15T21:10:00.000-04:00

For a while I would set up my earrings at craft shows on a lace stretched across a picture frame. However, in order to have it stand up, I had to keep the back and the glass in, so the earrings weren't freely hanging but just suspended right in front of the glass. I recently acquired some large picture frames with no backs or glass and decided to use them for a different way of hanging earrings on lace. I just taped pieces of lace across the back of the picture frame and use the holes in the lace to hang the earrings. I currently have the whole display hanging on the wall (it makes it so easy to choose jewelry in the morning!), but I want to figure out a way to bring it to craft fairs.

Sew What?! Craft Fair in Union Square

2010-06-14T21:03:00.001-04:00

At the end of June, I'll be participating in Sew What?!, a sewing- and upcycling-themed craft fair in Union Square, Somerville. Along with vendors, there will also be a clothing swap with stations where you can embellish the clothing you find. I'm planning to bring a lot of the things that I no longer wear, and I encourage everyone else to do the same! (Actually, I plan to bring the sweatshirt I picked up from the event last year and no longer wear, as well...) I will be showing only jewelry and accessories this time, which is new for me. I'm working hard so that I will be able to fill my table!

The event is on Saturday June 26th from 3-7pm in the plaza in the middle of Union Square (outside of Precinct, for example). Download the flyer below for the complete information!

New Rings

2010-06-05T09:07:00.000-04:00

I made some paper beads out of a thicker magazine ad, and they're a little too big and fat to use in threes the way I've been making other paper bead rings, but they work very well solo. The process still takes a while but it's a bit less finicky when you only have to worry about positioning one bead. I'm thinking of varying the cage part to make it more interesting. I'm doing a lot of jewelry to prepare for an upcoming fair in Union Square -- more on that later!

Maroon Paper Necklace

2010-05-21T22:10:00.000-04:00

I recently made a maroon-toned necklace that I really enjoy. I used pearlized glass beads at various intervals between the paper beads. I like them because they add a little weight and a different texture.

Somerville Open Studios

2010-05-16T12:38:00.000-04:00

I was too busy to take photos of my booth at Somerville Open Studios, but my dad took some at the event that came out well.

I also had work up at the Little House:

Somerville Open Studios this weekend!

2010-04-30T09:38:00.001-04:00

SOS starts this weekend! I will be at the Armory (191 Highland Ave) selling jewelry, map drawings and other handmade things on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6pm both days.

In addition, the twig structures that I recently posted about will be displayed on the second floor of the Little House Studios (12 Linden Ave) during that time.

There will be many other artists in the Armory with me, and there are over 300 artists participating in Open Studios throughout Somerville, so come by, pick up a map and have fun!

Somerville News mention!

2010-04-28T08:37:00.001-04:00

The Somerville News just did a small piece about Somerville Open Studios (SOS). I met the reporter at the reception for the works that are up in the Davis Square CVS windows, and she later did a short interview with me about my map drawings. Check the link above to see the article!

New Twig Structures

2010-04-27T09:40:00.000-04:00

I've been working on some new twig structures in the same vein as the ones I made for my senior show. I really enjoy some of the effects I've gotten so far. My favorite piece uses a picture frame as the base to support a forest of twigs with spent matches hanging like lanterns between their branches.

Recently I also started a new one using nails as connectors and stairways between the different parts of the structure. It seems that my twig structures, like my maps, always come back to the idea of making a visual and practical path among the elements. I'm always trying to make sure that other viewers will see the same connections that I do, but the differences are interesting too.

When I make freestanding structures like this, I use clothespins to hold up the main branches in the right arrangement until I've put all the connectors in place. At this point, the structure can actually stand on its own, but I've left the clothespins (as you can see in the first photo) because the twigs are balanced in an only barely stable way.

I also have one more that uses toothpicks and spent matches as complex connectors, but I don't have any good photos of it at all for some reason. I will post more once I get them all finished and up on the walls!

Necklace

2010-04-22T09:36:00.000-04:00

I just finished a new necklace project. It's very time-consuming, but yet the result is really delicate. I'm not sure if I want to make more to sell because of that, although they are very sweet.

Artist's Choice Exhibit at Somerville Museum

2010-04-20T09:12:00.000-04:00

Last Friday was the opening reception for the SOS member show at the Somerville Museum. I had one of my favorite map drawings in the show. It'll be up through May 14th. I took some photos of the work at the opening reception:

It was grouped with some other works, a few of which were thematically linked and all of which went together tonally:

The space was too tight to get a wider angle without bumping into the work behind. It was set up with many walls full of art on both sides in the main area and a side room. It was pretty difficult to even see all the pieces until closer to the end of the event. However, it was nice that they made an effort to include as many SOS artists as possible, and I'm looking forward to seeing the ones who will be showing at the Armory with me the weekend after next!