Ghost in the Machine- Kurt Cobain

Ghost in the Machine- Kurt Cobain
Originally uploaded by iri5

Just had to share this amazing work by artist, Iri5. Her medium is cassette tape on canvas. Completely mind-blowing!

[Thanks to Eye Pop Art for sharing this!]

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Hopeless Savages

True Story: I used to draw a webcomic, and I had big dreams of one day moving to Portland and getting into the comic book industry. Oni Press was my favorite comic publisher, and I even sent them samples of my work for one of their talent searches (they told me to keep practicing and send more work along in the future, which was hugely encouraging to me, even though I never did it).

One of the first comics I bought for myself was Hopeless Savages by Jen Van Meter. The story was about a misfit family of musicians and artists, with lots of musical and anglophilic references thrown in for me to relate to. I was immediately hooked.

Fast forward. Not only did my comic heroine, Jen Van Meter, run into me at a recent craft fair, but I also discovered that she's a fan of my glass etching work, as well as a knitter! I was majorly starstruck, and couldn't even believe my awesome luck. She was even nice enough to send me one of these exclusive art cards that she made for comic book conventions this summer, featuring my favorite of her characters, Zero (full name: Skank Zero Hopeless Savage--which is pretty much the best name ever!).

So, I HIGHLY recommend that you read the Hopeless Savages comics, and that you say hi to Jen at a con if you see her. She's absolutely swerval.

Follow Jen on Twitter.

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Recap of Awesomeness

Super Quick Recap of the past few weeks:

1. I taught a class and a workshop at the Summit of Awesome, and attended lots of super-awesome classes and workshops in turn. I got really inspired! Susan Beal is doing a bang up job detailing the Summit week on the Craftzine blog here, here and here (I was quoted a lot in the second link). There are hundreds of photos from the event on Flickr too.
2. I've been creating a whole new ecommerce site using Wordpress, but it's kind of tedious and there's a lot for me to learn. The good news is that it should go live within the next week. Yay!
3. Sean and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with some fabulous baked brie (and more!) at The Farm Cafe. It's amazing to look back and reflect on all the great things we've done together in the past 7 years.
4. We've been clearing out old wood piles, killing blackberries and English ivy, and re-roofing our shed on sunny days. We also planned out our bathroom remodel when the medicine cabinet started dismantling itself, and we've been to every furniture store 3 times since then. We've already started re-planning our kitchen remodel, which won't happen until next spring.
5. Custom orders! We've had tons of custom designs to work on recently, from wedding favors, to baptism candles, and some collaborative work with other artists thrown in.
6. I finally got my badger tattoo! The blurry photo above doesn't really do it justice, but that's the best I could do while trying to click the shutter button with my left hand.
7. A new webcomic is in the works! We're still in the planning stages, but the amazing Kim Werker and I are putting together a fun crafty webcomic based on a concept that she's been carrying around for awhile. Despite being so busy with everything else, this is one of the most exciting things for me right now, and I can't wait to get it together.

[Tattoo by Lew Hess at Atlas Tattoo in Portland, OR

I love this so much, I can't even describe it. Just for reference, I asked Lew to base his design on this old Sailor Jerry tattoo of a panther with a snake.

I shouldn't have to say this, and I know it's weird, but I'd really appreciate it if you're considering getting a badger tattoo like this to have your tattoo artist redraw the design themselves and not just duplicate mine. Someone else found one of my original tattoos on the internet and got the exact same thing (same colors and everything) and it kinda weirds me out. Thanks.]

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Scottish Bagpiper Glasses

I've been working hard to get the new dinosaur designs into production (in case you missed the poll, we're going to be making T-Rex and Brontosaurus glasses very soon!), but there are a lot of custom projects that have been keeping me busy as well.

A lot of personalized wedding glasses have just been mailed out, and I just finished a Father's Day request for a set of Scottish bagpiper pint glasses. This isn't a design I would have come up with on my own, but it was really fun to turn this concept into my own creation. I also had the pleasure to work with a fabulous customer who really gave me the freedom to work in my own style. It's one of those things that make this the best job ever!

I also got to use my new Wacom drawing tablet (another early birthday present from my dad--thanks, Dad!!). I don't know how I ever worked without it. I used to sketch on paper, using tracing paper, filling things in with markers or calligraphy pens, and then scanning it into Photoshop to spend hours "fixing" and smoothing all the lines. Now, I can create my artwork directly in Illustrator, with my left hand, no less! Excellent.

We charge custom design orders by the hour now, and this has significantly sped up the process for me, which makes everyone happy. I still went over the initial estimate I gave the customer (by about half), but I didn't charge her for it, and I feel really good about the results.

Custom orders are the soul of our business, and this new tablet just makes it so much more enjoyable for me. I still like drawing with "real" tools, but I'm all about embracing technology like this. If you're an artist who works digitally a lot, you should consider getting a drawing tablet. They take a little getting used to, but it's so much faster!

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Crafty Wonderland's Spring Sale

Crafty Wonderland's Super Colossal Spring Sale!
Saturday, May 1st + Sunday, May 2nd

 at The Oregon Convention Center, Hall D 

(777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR) 

from 11am-5pm

FREE * All Ages

www.craftywonderland.com

Our first event of the year is coming up this weekend! We'll be at booth #89, between Crafty and Knotpile. We'll be debuting our newest juice glasses, plus we'll have an assortment of fused glass jewelry, all our most popular tumblers, soap dispensers, oil & vinegar bottles, and super discounted less-than-perfect items.

Check out the other reasons to come to the Super Colossal Spring Sale:

* 200 goodie bags stuffed with fantastic treats from local and national crafty businesses that will go to the first 200 shoppers through the doors - EACH DAY! That's right...200 bags on Saturday morning and 200 bags on Sunday morning!

 

* Local craft supply super store, Collage, doing free workshops both days in the DIY area.

  (a complete schedule is below)

* The lovely folks from Hello Craft running their Make Something Awesome area to help spread the word about the upcoming Summit of Awesome.

 

* Crafty super star Mark Montano will be signing books and leading a craft project in our DIY area!

* A fancy event program featuring a fun craft project, an interview with a local crafty superstar, and a full vendor list + map of the room!

 

* Lots of food options - including vegan and vegetarian options.

* Space to sit and relax between shopping and crafting!

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Send Me Your Badger Artwork

Back in high school, my goal in life was to become a tattoo artist. I bought a whole kit of tattoo equipment (including an autoclave to keep things sterile, of course), and I practiced on grapefruit for a long time. I did eventually tattoo a terrible tribal thing onto my calf when I was 16, and I gave some not-so-great kanji symbols to my friends.

I gave up on the tattoo artist idea a long time ago, but I've still been collecting body art whenever it's affordable. I know that tattoos are an extravagant waste of money to some people, and a regret waiting to happen for others, but it's something that makes me feel good about myself--putting artwork onto my body for everyone to see--and I rarely spend money on myself otherwise.

Not all of my tattoos have stories behind them, but my next one certainly will. I've been especially frugal for all the years since starting Bread and Badger, and I'm finally feeling like the business is successful enough that I can afford to celebrate it with a tattoo. I've made my appointment with a local artist (Lew at Atlas Tattoo) for late June, so I have plenty of time to get my artwork ideas worked out.

A lot of my Twitter followers wanted to share their tattoo artwork ideas with me, so I'd love to see what you guys have got! There are no guarantees that I will actually get your artwork as my tattoo, but I'd love some inspiration.

I'm planning to get a badger (naturally) on my forearm, opposite my purple and blue knitting tattoo. I'm thinking it should be a semi-traditional style with bold black outlines to complement the yarn design. Since honey badgers are my favorite, I'd like to get one of those, possibly fighting with a snake. I mean, it should be pretty badass, right? And they're impervious to viper's poisonous bites, so it would be symbolic of my little business succeeding in this tough economy.

If you want to sketch out some ideas for me, send them this way! I'll post your drawings on the blog here, and let you know what I think. I'm totally open to suggestions (Lew thought I should have the badger and snake in cartoony wrestlers outfits, maybe even as luchadores). It's going to be fun, and colorful, and completely empowering!

[The badger drawings shown are from the Wikipedia page about honey badgers (ratels).]

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New Camera!

My dad sent me an early birthday present this year, and it's a Canon EOS 10D camera! I've been using the same Nikon Coolpix 995 for the past 6 or so years, and it's done me well, but I've been itching for something with more capabilities.

I've been playing with it for the past few days around the house and around Portland. It's amazing how nice the photos are turning out without being edited in Photoshop! The camera is quite heavy compared to my old one, so I'm having to build up some muscles to use it, but it's giving me some really nice results. Plus, the telephoto lens is capturing views of our house renovations that really show off the space. It's so exciting!

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Zombie Apocalypse Teacups

I've been pretty excited about these zombie teacups ever since I found them at the thrift store! I've been trying to do photoshoots with fake blood to get the flesh-eating zombie vibe down, but it's been harder than I expected. I thought our backyard would make a good backdrop for a zombiepocalypse wasteland, but it turned out looking like a teaparty in a slightly neglected garden.

I might try to redo these photos another day with some props or something, but for now I'm pretty satisfied with this photo. What do you think?

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Velveteria

Last week, I found out that one of Portland's beloved landmarks was closing its doors and relocating to southern California. The Velveteria is a museum of velvet paintings, both old and new, lovingly displayed alongside vintage ephemera and labeled with the museum owners' humorous notes. When I realized I was about to lose something I hadn't even enjoyed firsthand, I knew I had to go.

A few days after hearing this sad news, Garth of Extremecraft sent an open invitation to join him and his wife at the Velveteria. They were driving up from Eureka to visit it one last time. The place was packed with newcomers like us, getting their first visit before it left town, and old-timers who wanted to pay their respects. They called out their 500th ticket sold while we were there, saying they've never had this many visitors in one day before.

I was awestruck by the variety of paintings inside the museum (they don't allow photos beyond the entry room, so you'll just have to buy their book for more velvety eye-candy). I imagined that I'd see mostly big-eyed dogs and elvises, but there was so much more than that! There are some seriously talented and inspired artists who use black velvet as their medium.

I loved that the paintings were grouped by themes--y'know, Jesus, next to the virgin Mary, next to Mr. T. There was a shrine to Michael Jackson, with portraits depicting the pop icon in various stages of his life. They've even got a black light room, where you can view some of the art in ways that nature never intended.

Having just glimpsed a small portion of the Velveteria's larger collection, I'm disappointed that it's moving away. Locals like to claim the place as an example of "Keep[ing] Portland Weird." I say, Portland can be weird without the Velveteria, and maybe it's time to spread some of that kitschy inspiration to another city.

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Zombie Apocalypse on the Horizon

As the countdown to Christmas draws near, we here in Badgerland are finally able to take a breath, collect our thoughts, and start cleaning up the chaos around our house. I'm not much for long breaks, so I've already got a huge post-holiday sale ready to start on Dec. 26th. Select items (including pint glasses!) will be Buy One Get One 1/2 Off until New Year's Day.

We're going to retire about 6 different designs, so we can make room for lots of new things for 2010! Discontinued glassware is in limited quantities, so don't hesitate to snatch up your favorites now!

Not only are we working on our own meme-themed art for the spring, but we're also collaborating with a number of local artists to bring you brand-spanking new barware and homegoods you've never seen before. Stay tuned for more details.

I wanted our newest design to be a surprise, but I just had to share it with you! We all know that the Zombie Apocalypse is just around the corner, so do yourself a favor by stocking your stronghold with shotgun shells, baseball bats, and lots of your favorite beverages. You wouldn't want to be thirsty during your final hours, would you? (This zombie design will be available in January!)

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1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse

I'm in a book!! It's pretty crazy to see a bunch of my products in a real live printed craft book, but it's even crazier that one of the photos actually has me in it! My fantastic mustache pint glass model, Zoe, (screenprinting helper and daughter of Salmon St. Studio owners) is also featured in the book, and I can't wait to give her a copy.

Garth Johnson's 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse book is a huge image collection of re-purposed crafty projects, products and art. There aren't any instructions for remaking anything in the book, but it's a treasure-trove of glossy, colorful inspiration.

 I would have bought this book, even if I wasn't a contributor. It's great for setting on the coffeetable (or in my case, next to my computer), ready to browse for a little creative boost. I've flipped through it a dozen times, and I'm still discovering new things I hadn't noticed before!

Check out Eye Pop Art's Recycled Record Mandala bowl on the left page here, which is in the same colors as the clock she gave me!

I love that this book includes such a wide range of projects, from wearables to installation art. I keep getting new ideas for furniture and decor items that I want to make (or shop for--let's be realistic, now). I really love the cinder block drawers on the left page above.

This book would make a perfect gift for any crafter, hobbyist, or consumer interested in sustainable design, and looking for some eye-candy. Buy your copy on Amazon, or support our local bookstore, Powell's.

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Housewarming

We've now reached that point in the year when Sean and I are completely incapable of cooking, washing dishes, laundry, or ourselves. So it's a good thing we had our housewarming party a few weeks ago, back when we had time to vacuum the kitchen carpet.

I don't think we've ever had that many friends over at the same time before! It's such a great feeling to have the space for kids to run around in, and adults to talk or sit or eat food, or whatever adults want to do. We had a fabulous evening, and can't wait to have another gathering. Thanks to everyone who made it, and super huge thanks for all the gifts. We loved your company, but fancy food, beverages and thoughtful home decor were extra appreciated.

The psychedelic clock is an Eye Pop Art original, hand-painted by our friend, Christine, on a recycled vinyl record. We keep changing our minds about which room of the house it should stay in, since we want one in every room! I love that the copper paint is metallic, and gives an unexpected shine when you're walking past it.

Mary of Lolly-tots gave us some prints of her newest artwork, which have taken up residence next to the seagreen glass hen on a nest that I discovered at a thrift store as we were painting the house. Our plans are still in the works, but Mary and I are working on collaborating this spring on a new project! Stay tuned for more details...

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Fan Art

♠ BOO
Originally uploaded by gbot

This is so brilliant, I'm sad that I didn't think of this myself. A customer bought a mug from us, then turned the skull and crossbones artwork into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween! Then she took some incredible photos.

Thanks, Geniva!!

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Pop-Up LEGO Buddhist Temple

I've always been a huge fan of LEGOs, but I was the type of kid who followed the exact directions on the box and then never dismantled my structures. I bow to those makers who can create their very own design with LEGOs as their medium.

This replica of the Kinkaku-ji Zen Buddhist temple in Tokyo actually pops up out of its "box", and was made by the very talented talapz.

[via Laughing Squid]

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Adventures in Stamp Carving

I've always wanted to try linocutting or woodblock printing, but I never wanted to drop the money for all the little carving tools and paint roller and such. I saw a tutorial a couple years ago for carving your own stamps from rubber erasers, and I was immediately intrigued. I could do that!

I got a really basic carving tool for fine detail work, since my designs were going to have to be pretty small. I bought a Magic Rub eraser at the craft store and made my first "Fragile Glass" stamp, which I've been using for about a year and a half to mark all my postal boxes. I was never really happy with that stamp though, and I really wanted to make something more fun.

I was having an especially inspired day last week, and I finally pulled out the extra erasers I got at SCRAP months ago. I made a second "Fragile" stamp, which looks a lot nicer than the first. It was so fun!

I've been working on this badger design for awhile, and I thought I'd just test it out for carving. I'm so pleased with the results! I don't know what I'll use it for, but I'm just thrilled that I can put that toothy badger face on pretty much anything I want to. Now all I want to do is pick up more rubber to carve into little stamps...

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Maureen Shields Paintings

I have some time this afternoon to sit in front of the computer for a little while (with a cold glass of water and a big fan blowing on me, of course), so I thought I'd finally share some of my favorite artists from Renegade Craft San Fransisco with you.

The first artist whose work really popped our at me was Maureen Shields. It could have been the vibrant colors she uses (I'm addicted to anything turquoise right now), or the amusing animal-people she paints in high-contrast retro styles.

Not only do Maureen's paintings feature bold dayglo colors, but most of her original work is done on wooden plaques. My future home has a wall that is just screaming out for one of these masterpieces!

[Purchase from mosie26.etsy.com or Artist Xchange in San Francisco, CA]

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I Can't Dance

So, I used to want to be a comic artist. Wait, let me try again: I used to be a webcomic artist.

Before I quit my job selling shoes, I drew comic strips and published them online, as an outlet for my frustrations with the daily ritual. Before that, I printed comic zines and sold them to my local comic shop (the New England Comics on Harvard Ave in Allston--go there!!) about four kids on a roadtrip, loosely based on my own cross-country journey fresh from of high school. I even talked at a workshop for comic book artists and writers, and was interviewed for the Boston Phoenix. Pretty cool.

One reason I wanted to move to Portland was because a bunch of indie comic book publishers are here. Being a comic artist was sort of my back-up career, which is hilarious, since I think it's a lot harder to break into the comic biz than to start your own online shop. It's still in the back of my mind though, and I terribly regret that my schedule hasn't permitted me to draw comics in many a year.

For the sake of reminding myself why I love art in the first place (and to give you something to look at while I get my life sorted out), I thought I'd share some of my old No Soap, Radio comic strips. You'll probably need to click on the image to view it at full size.

Here's the original text that went with the strip:

November 19, 2004
This is the first comic in the No Soap, Radio series. Thanks to the mighty Phil Collins for inspiration. I would like to take the time now to point out that the characters in my strips do not represent real people, even if they may look like me, my friends, or people that you know. Also, I don't dance like this, and I certainly wouldn't sing into a can of Pledge.

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Personal Stuff

There's been a lot of stuff going on recently, and I feel like I've been really falling behind with the blog here. If you're not interested in Sean and my personal life, then please feel free to skip this extra long post. I don't mind. :)

First, Sean and I just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! We got all dressed up and had dinner in the courtyard of the Kennedy School McMenamins. It was really lovely! I made a chocolate cake with homemade strawberry filling and ganache frosting. We've been pigging out on it, but we may have to force it upon some of our neighbors so we can still fit into these nice new clothes we just bought.

Second, our exciting news is that we may be buying a house soon! We've been wanting our own house for a really long time, but it's never been the right time for us to buy. We keep tabs on the market in our area, and I finally said we should talk to a mortgage broker. It could actually happen in the next few months!

We're trying to find a place with a big unfinished basement or garage that we can turn into the new studio space. It would be so convenient to have all our sandblasting equipment in our house with us. We're learning that we may have to sacrifice our proximity to the city to get all the space that we want, but it will be a worthwhile trade-off.


[This is a picture of the bottom of a whiskey glass that my dad carved with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It's so cool!]

The third major personal thing we're dealing with right now is my Dad's health. He just had surgery on his skull for a hematoma. I don't know how he feels about me talking about all this, but it's helping me deal with it by sharing with other people.

Basically, he bumped his head a few months ago, and the injury caused blood to collect next to his brain. He just had the excess blood removed, and now he's waiting for his brain to expand back to the size it should be. In the mean time, he has decreased function from both sides of his brain (so reading and speech can be difficult, and his creativity is impaired), and he has frequent seizures. The seizures aren't like falling-on-the-floor spasms, it's just mis-firings in the brain that make large portions of his body go numb.

Anyway, it's very frustrating for him, since he can't go to work, and he can't get around much. My dad's a really artistic person (he plays--and builds!--a number of musical instruments, he does digital mandala designs, he's passionate about photography, he draws, he has lapidary tools for making jewelry, he engraves glass, rocks and anything else he can get his hands on, and so much more,) so not having creative abilities is probably one of the hardest things he's ever had to deal with. The most recent activity he just got into is drawing Zentangles, and I really want him to do more!
I'm trying to come up with something fun for him to do with his current free time. Maybe he can do some more photography (he's got a new Canon camera that I know he loves to play with), or maybe try a new craft. Is there something fun that he can just follow the directions for? Something that doesn't involve much reading? It's so hard to imagine what he's going through. I know I'd feel completely lost if I was suddenly missing so many skills. We're all expecting him to recover quickly, but that doesn't make this time go by any easier. I love my dad so much, and it's really hard to be on the other side of the country from him.

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Larry Nelson Pottery

I had the pleasure of visiting the convention center this weekend to see new glass, metal and ceramic work from the local guild members. I came away buzzing with inspiration, and wishing I'd had some extra money to snatch up some new treasures! I'll share some of my favorites with you this week.

One of the artists I met was Larry Nelson, who makes the most amazing pottery which looks like it's been fashioned out of metal! The tea set above just blew my mind. He uses molds to make a lot of the shapes in his Acme Boilerworks line, but each piece is one of a kind. I wished I could take these home with me.


If you're in the Portland area, you can see Larry's work at a number of events, or contact him to make an appointment to visit his studio. If you're not local, then I bet he'd be nice enough to ship something to you if you asked.

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Happy Etsy Day!

Today is officially Etsy Day, so I thought I'd share a small sampling of shops from my favorites. Who are your favorite Etsy sellers that you've bought from, or have always wanted to buy from?

[The Risk I Took Was Calculated, But Man, Am I Bad At Math - 8 x 10 ART PRINT]
the Mincing Mockingbird

These guys have beautiful paintings of birds. They used to have lots of funny comments printed on each one (as if the birds were yelling something snarky), but they seem to have switched over to simple realist paintings which are still lovely.

[Morpho Butterfly Landing Ring]
Neile

This shop makes amazing jewelry from real butterflies! No insects were harmed in the making of their unique pieces, since they're found dead. I think this makes them incredible recycling artists.

[SALE Ride the Fox]
She Rides the Lion

I'm a big fan of these whimsical wood block prints. You can purchase original art or prints from this shop.

[Do Not Touch Maternity Tee]
Salmon Street Studio

Sean and I have a few of Salmon Street's t-shirts, and we love them! If I ever find myself "in the family way", I'm snatching up one of these porcupine maternity tees before you can say "ouch".

[Franz Kafka Parable Vladmaster Set]
Vladmaster

This awesome gal takes 3D photos and turns them into little stories that you can view on an old school Viewmaster (remember those??). I bought one of these sets for my friends last year, and it even came with a mini CD of music that you're supposed to listen to while viewing the images. Love it.

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