A little bit of history

This is the view from my morning bike ride to work. I’ve been passing these bales of hay for two days now, wishing I had a camera. I finally remembered it today. You can see the University of California at Davis campus in the distance.

In case you didn’t know (and probably not many people do) UC Davis was originally set up as the farm school for UC Berkeley, way back in 1908, I believe (there will actually be a whole exhibit about UC Davis at the California State Fair this summer in honor of the centennial).

You can see the remnants of that history here, although you might call these remainders more than remnants– the UC Davis students are called “Aggies” (as in agriculture), and there is a very prominent emphasis on plant and food related majors as well as a world renowned Viticulture and Enology program (the study of wine and grapes), and vet medicine with emphases in large animals (as in horses).

I did not go to school here, but what an interesting school it is, which has a huge emphasis on the town of Davis. There’s such a large number of bike-riding, food-growing, environmentally conscious, smart people here. I love it!

Sewing Silks

I went to an “Estate Sale” this weekend on a search for art materials and inspiration. It’s funny, the term “estate sale” just seems like a fancy name people use for a garage sale when they feel they have enough vintagey stuff for them to charge more money.

This Estate Sale was not so badly priced, and I have to admit, there was a greater density of interesting old stuff than at your average garage sale (but maybe that’s just because I happen to be a crafty type and it seems that the owner of this estate was as well).

I use the word “was” because the other detail of this estate sale (maybe estate sales in general) was that there wasn’t just a family moving, but someone died and this was all of her stuff. A local antique store was managing the sale, and there was mention of “the family.” It made me sad to see all of the beat up old things and even a box of family photos.

So, I resurrected this lovely little sewing kit. I’m not sure if you can see it below, but the ribbon in the lid reads “sewing silks,” which I just love– it sounds so luxurious. I find something so aesthetically pleasing about all of the different colors lined up, fitting inside the neat little box. I don’t sew a ton, but my practical voice reasoned that with all of the different colors, these threads would be great for mending! So I bought this little piece of colorful sewing heaven for the small price of $3.

This is Your Brain on Worries

This week’s Illustration Friday word is “worry.” I almost had to laugh when I saw this word because I think I could be a professional worrier. In fact, I think worrying compulsively is hereditary because the only person I know who worries more than me, is my mom.

Anyway, I could not think of any better way to represent the abstractness of worries than with the abstract word itself. Worrying has much in common with fear– they are both very abstract, and they are survivors– they creep in EVERYWHERE.

As long as they are kept in the abstract, for example, worrying that you’re not good enough, worrying that you are a failure, worrying that you don’t have enough money, they win. If you start thinking very concretely, as in, this is how much money I need to make, this is what I need to do to pass the test, this is what I want to do with my life, often times worries go away. But if you let them win, this is your brain on worries:

More Words

I haven’t been posting pictures of my word paintings lately because they’re so challenging to photograph (If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know). I only have a little point and shoot digital camera, which could be part of the problem. Well anyway, here are some word paintings I have been working on:

“Doubles” 9×24 inches

“Nude Fruit” 9×12 inches

“2 Loops” 9×12 inches

These bottom two will be part of a 9 piece series that all have the same size and word format “She is . . .” followed by an “ooh” sound. Some others are “She is stealing tender shoots” “She is wearing blue boots” “She is dancing around hoops” — you get the idea. These are the two I’ve finished so far. They should be cool all hung together in a swarm.

In the Garden

I have always been inspired by food– I love to eat, cook, and lately, I’ve gotten interested in drawing food.

My Homage to the Hamburger Post inspired me to start working on a collection of food drawings for an alphabet book of foods. That project is still in the rough drawing stages, but I decided this week, that it would be fun to do a series of drawings of food growing in my garden. I am also playing around with India Ink, so here is one of my first drawings/paintings, of the carrots that provide such an excellent snack while I am watering my squash seedlings.

“Carrots” 5×7, india ink on paper

Another “V”

This morning, I came upon a drawing I made in the last couple months that I had filed away because I couldn’t figure out how to finish it, or if I even liked it. Inspired by the letter “V” and its shape, and tied into my vessel drawings, I found that I completely liked this drawing now.

It’s funny how that happens, you feel in the moment like you just can’t get the drawing right, but you look at it later, with a little distance, and you are able to see it for what it is.

This drawing is at the root of my interest in the vessel and its ability to hold things– like it’s just waiting for you to fill it up.

“Open V” 5×6 inches, ink on paper

Wide

The word for Illustration Friday this week is “wide.” The image that popped into my head was one of big wide open space, so here it is:

Small Steps

So often, I think we all want to move along faster towards our goals. Once we’ve gotten something we want to do in our minds, we want to make it happen right away. I am very much this way with everything– I want to start and quit and do things immediately, and I get disappointed when things don’t happen very quickly.

My relationship with art is this way; I want to be a full-time artist right now. I am slowly learning that very few things happen that way, and most goals require small regular steps.

I am proud to say that I have been keeping my eyes open for these small opportunities, and one of them is coming up this weekend. I will be showing some of my vessels in the Art Space at The Whole Earth Festival, a great crafty, community festival in my current hometown, Davis, CA.

If you’re in the area, come on out. It’s a crafty good time with lots of live music and a goal of as little waste as possible– you heard me correctly, this outdoor festival charges a deposit for reusable dishes among other waste saving strategies.

For your viewing pleasure, here is one of my newest vessels. I call it “Loud Vessel” because it has a stronger, darker style to it:

Seed

The word for Illustration Friday this week is seed.
Here’s my drawing called “Heartseed.”