my dirty little secret

++++

SOMETIMES, I HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH MYSELF ABOUT WHY I MAKE. It always starts when I ask myself if I'm still making because I love to make, or because I crave the approval and attention I get after I make.

Welcome to my dirty little narcissistic secret. (You had no idea, right?)

The truth is, if someone likes my work it pretty much gets me high. And just like any good addiction, the more you use the more you need. So every so often I have to check myself and have this difficult conversation in order to reconfirm that I'm making because I love (((so deep inside LOVE))) to make.

With Instagram, Dribbble, Facebook and Flickr so prevalent in my daily life, I constantly fight an urge to share, get liked, and ultimately, (here it is folks) get the approval I've struggled my whole life to be able to give myself.

Yuck. There. I said it.

I need to know that I'm still driven from the right place inside. Otherwise, making becomes as meaningless as the venues I post them to. And don't get me wrong, I love the communities inside the venues, and sharing is a GOOD, powerful, amazing thing! And feedback is an integral part of creative growth and maturity.

For me though, I have to be sure my intentions are still pure and I'm not just feeding the narcissism bandwagon that is EVERYWHERE we look.
++++

it was a productive weekend

++++
BUT MY FAVORITE PART was staying in my pj's all day for mother's day and making stuff like this...

Also made these using vintage photos, lace and paper on old painted wood drawer front (cut to 4 x 6), with black chalkboard paint. Not sure they're finished though...

flowery humanoids

++++
Original handmade collage on paper using vintage magazine and book pages.

lord huron & the coast

++++
LAST MONTH, Michael (my boss, mentor, creative partner and friend) and I spent a few days in Santa Cruz, immersing ourselves in our newest client—a natural foods store with 7 locations in northern California. Visiting as many stores as we could make it to in 3 short days involved lots of driving and music. Michael always has something new for me to listen to and once again found me my new favorite band. Lord Huron.

So. Much. Beauty. It literally made my heart ache. A feeling I can honestly say I've never in my entire life felt about a place. So yeah, if I could bottle up a feeling and sell it to you it would look and sound something like this...



"Die if I must let my bones turn to dust
I'm the Lord of the lake and I don't want to leave
All who sail off the coast ever more
Will remember the tale of the ghost on the shore

I'm goin' away for a long time"

lil indian for angie

++++
Original collage on paper using vintage map, book pages, and wallpaper sample from 1932.

winter time o'brien

++++
Stopped to visit the cottage today on our way back from skiing up north.
She's just as lovely in the winter time, isn't she.

at sea

++++
I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you’re here
Brighten my northern sky

—Nick Drake

This is a recent piece I made using vintage book pages and a wallpaper sample from 1932. Titled "At Sea".
++++

she is my gift

++++

THIS YEAR for CHRISTMAS, my mother in law gave me a box. In this box contained bits and pieces of everything paper that I could ever love. How does someone do that for you? Give you a box full of things you can't just go buy in a store? Give you a box full of collections that likely took hundreds of hours hunting for, sitting around for, sifting through and organizing? Give you a box full of things that will stir a soul to know and show itself? I may never fully comprehend any of this. All I can do is humbly thank the universe for finding her—this woman who thinks enough of me to encourage me and support me in every way a mother should do for her own daughter.

++++

hover craft 2012

++++

TWO WEEKS AGO I was lucky enough to participate in Hover Craft, a one day Milwaukee Art, Craft and Maker show. It was more than I could have hoped for, all around. The atmosphere, the people, the music, the goods—it was perfection. And I am so very grateful to the ladies of Hover Craft for putting on such an event. That was no simple task!

So for someone who doesn't find many opportunities to sell their artwork, being accepted to Hover Craft was the greatest motivator to really get my shit together and sort of curate my own mini gallery. And I have to admit, seeing over a year's worth of work pulled together into one spatial vision... tingles. Just an amazing sense of accomplishment and validation.

And now, since the experience is over, I feel like it's given me permission to move on and explore what's next. In the end, artistic discovery feeds an insatiable beast inside me. And she hungry.

++++

affirmation

++++

Sometimes you will be reminded you don't have it all figured out.
And you can be ok with this.

++++

(mostly) morning pictures

north avenue grill after shots

++++

AND to THINK just a few months ago this was all a bunch of stuff in my imagination I  convinced 4 people was a good idea... Still, this is very much a WOAH feeling for me. One that I could get used to, of course.

Love ya North Ave Grill. Thanks for letting me be a part of your new adventure. I wish you many, many years of success in a community I will always love ♥

++++