my love for you is a stampede of horses.

The Trading Tortoise: Celebrating the Act of Sharing.

Artist Souther Salazar contacted me this week about a new project he and his wife, Monica have begun called The Trading Tortoise. The overall idea, they say is to "celebrate the act of sharing". Stop. That's basically all I need to know to support this project. But for those of you interested in a bit more, here's an excerpt from their project and blog:

The Trading Tortoise, a traveling art installation/trading post that we would set up in different communities around America to barter objects and stories with people. In exchange, they get something special from another place we’ve been. Either something we’ve collected ourselves or traded for.

They have fully backed the project in a whopping 3 days...but if you are so inclined, please consider adding more, they still have 15 days to go.

Keep in mind you won't be funding just a trip cross country -- The Trading Tortoise will be at many different and very important events along the way. Including, an Ed Emberley - inspired collaborative mural with Caleb Neelon at Children's Hospital Boston (In conjunction with a display of original work by Mr. Emberley)

To find out more check out their Kickstarter page.

 

La Fuerza Silenciosa & The Inside Out Project

Alicia Reyes McNamara emailed me back in December telling me that she and her friend, Kat Burdine would be taking part in JR's Inside Out Project in Honduras. I asked her to give me a holler when she completed it. And she has! Here's what they've done in her own words:

La Fuerza Silenciosa or in English, The Silent Strength is a public art instillation I did in Honduras with my friend, Kat Burdine. We are working in collaboration with the Inside Out project founded by the French artist, JR.

Between both Kat and I, we have lived and work in El Progreso, Honduras for six years and though we worked with various demographics, we were continuously struck by the silent strength of women in the community. We have photographed these women and have pasted their portraits up in the center of town as well as their neighborhoods to give homage to their strength and struggles. With this citywide instillation we hope to start a dialogue about all that women have accomplished. Las Progreseñas, or the women of El Progreso are the foundations of their communities.  They are the teachers, mothers, nurturers, and fighters for future of this town.

We wheatpasted 50 black and white portraits of these incredible women the third week of March of 2012, knowing the first week of April is "Semana Santa," Holy Week or Spring Break, when many people coming from out side cities and even internationally pass through El Progreso to get to the coastal beach towns.  We figured this would be the best time to take advantage of the heavy traffic so more people will have the possibility of seeing this project.

To see all of the images please check out my tumblr.

Video: JR's Wrinkles of the City.

JR has been updating his You Tube page with new videos. Hustler of Culture posted a video of his beginnings in 2000, and I had to follow suit and post one as well.

Last year I posted about JR's project Wrinkles of the City, LA. I was unaware that there was a video documenting the people who's images he wheate-pasted. It's a great video. Wonderful to see the pieces come to life. And man, it's so touching and moving to hear them speak about their wrinkles! I'm creeping up on 40 and it's interesting how I never really once thought about getting old until the past year and a bit. It's a trip, really.

I love the strength and wisdom in these interviews. But above all I love the freedom they each person has all gotten with age. Amazing. I want that.

Above photo courtesy of Sonja Teri, taken by Shannon Cottrell of the LA WEEKLY.

Twitterview: Lucky Jackson.

 

When I started thinking about taking the blog in a new direction last year, it was clear to me that I did not want to get away from the community I had created. If anything, I actually wanted to get closer and be more personal with you guys. Blogging everyday about art started to get kind of lonely and honestly exhausting. I also noticed that the sites I gravitated to most, all had a personal voice and that really appealed to me.

With the new direction, I decided going forward it was important for me to engage and invite the community of readers to be more involved with the posts as well. I wanted to give you guys a platform to ask some of your favorite artists things that you want to know. So today I'm starting a brand new (and experimental!) feature; twitterviews!

How it works is I tweet out on twitter that I'm planning on interviewing a specific artist and ask people to tweet back at me q's for them. Twitterviews are normally conducted on twitter, however my fulltime job makes that a beeeet difficult. I love twitter and it seemed like a perfect way to really engage you, readers. I hope you guys like it! Next week I'll be interviewing Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. Tweet at me!

SO enough of my yammering! For my very first twitterview I asked Lucky Jackson to take part.

Lucky is a crafty maven who's been making beautiful embroidered art, selling in her Etsy shop and attending many of the craft fairs we love. She's also working on a 365 day embroidery project, that is simply incredible considering each piece is made in one day. One day!

I love how her work is really centered around pop culture, friends and family.

I thought she was ideal to twitterview since she crafts, makes art, runs her own business and has a family too! Keep in mind for after your reading, Lucky has just opened a shop to sell her 365 day pieces.

Let's get started!

How did you transition from working a regular job to being a full time artist? What were the steps you took? question from: @AshleyMSheppard

When my first daughter was born my husband entered me in an art show. I had nothing to show at the time. He told me to get started and I did. I fell in love with making art. When I was on maternity leave and Ellie was little I painted all the time. I really want to show my kids that you can have a career that you love. I kept doing shows and opened an Etsy shop. I just kept going...

How do you "make time" to produce beautiful intricate personal pieces daily whilst still doing a real job (running your business side of things)? question from: @leecrutchley

This is the part I find really hard. Making art is easy, but juggling emails, orders and shows...I am working on a system but haven't quite figured that part out yet. I do find that people are pretty patient with me as they know that I am at a loss for time.

I also have two little girls 4 and 6. I try to only work when they are at school and at night. I really try to steal snippets of time whenever I can to just get a bit of work done. The business part is an ongoing "work in progress". I hope by the end of it I will have it down to a fine art.

What do you do when you get stuck? Do you keep a sketchbook? questions from: @czarcastic 

I keep several sketchbooks! I am constantly sketching out new ideas. I can't say that I am ever at a loss for new ideas. Just the time to make them!

What non-art things influence your practice the most? question from: @czarcastic 

My family influences me a lot. Having kids is a constant inspiration. My friends are all really creative and they always give me new ideas.

I also am a book nut. I am constantly scouring illustration periodicals and art and craft books. Music, Movies... you name it.

What continues to drive you to create? question from: @russty

I am in love with art. I really honestly like making something new every day. I look forward to coming up with new ideas, sketching them out, assembling the work. I will be sad when the project is over. It might sound trite but this is what I was meant to do. It took me a long time to realize it but I am glad others recognized it and are so supportive.

How did you get your work seen by larger audiences? question from: @auralaniK

It happened pretty suddenly. I guess Uppercase Magazine tweeted about it and that was then mentioned by Miss Modish who then passed it on to Bleubird Vintage. Miss James wrote a wonderful piece and  that was really the start of people knowing about the project.

How do you handle the uncertainty of earning an income as an artist; especially in tough economies? question from: @Meyertron

The last few years I have just been making very affordable art. When I do shows I have small pieces that start at $15. You just have to think like a business and not overvalue your work. My father once told me "It's only worth what someone will pay", a bit harsh I know but I am finding that there is truth in that. I challenge myself to make art that is accessible to everyone.

I have been doing the craft show circuit for a couple of years now so I have a pretty good idea of what people are willing to pay and produce items in a wide range of price points.

Matthew Reamer & Scraper Bikes.

It's late in the am, but I was scanning some of my favorite blogs and I noticed my friend Jeff from the BOOOOOOOM! is representing the Yay Area with his post about Matthew Reamer and his photography of scraper bikes and the kids that build them in Oakland. Had to reblog and share. Reamer takes pics of kids who customize and build bikes out of scrap parts as a postive and creative alternative to violence that permeates their neighborhoods. You can learn more about the movement here on their blog.