SWAN day

Last Saturday I volunteered for CAN at SWAN Day at the Portland Expo Center. SWAN Day--"Support Women Artists Now"--takes place on the last Saturday in March, and is an international holiday that celebrates women artists. While volunteering at this event, I discovered some wonderful artists and going-ons.

CAN, btw, stands for "Creative Advocacy Network" and is an organization who's objective is to increase public funding for the arts in Portland to $15-$20 million a year, or about $25 per household, since Portland is under-funded compared to other metropolitan areas. CAN hopes to bring this measure to the voters in 2010-2011.

One artist showing her work at SWAN Day was Sienna Morris. Sienna is only 25 years old and draws pen and ink pictures using the numbers on a clock--1 through 12.

Sienna also shows her work at last Thursdays on Alberta.
Can you believe that she draws these pictures with numbers? The process of pen and ink means that there is no back-tracking (ie no mistakes, no erasers). The precision that she has achieved, then, is just amazing.



Another group that I found out about is Portland Women Writers. Portland Women Writers "offers inspiration and community support to bring out women's stories and to help them to develop the self-confidence to live a more authentic life."

SWAN Day also had women musicians playing all throughout the afternoon. All in all, it was a wonderful event, with many wonderful women artists as participants!!!

The Girl is Crafty

(Yes, this IS a reference to a Beastie Boy's song).

So yeah, I am pretty crafty, and I am going through a paper-crafting phase at the moment which has been VERY therapeutic and relaxing for me. Feel free to to take a little journey and peruse this blog entry with me and see what I have come up with.




Here's a card with some flowers and what-nots. It says "Happy Birthday" on the inside.






















And here is a very simple card. it is my favorite, because I like the very simple and unhurried look of it. Probably should have left it blank on the inside, but I have stamped "thank you" in very faint light blue.








And finally, here is a very fun card that looks a little bit like a package with flowers coming out. Guess what? I have appropriately written "Happy Birthday" on the inside!
And I even managed to make some handmade envelopes to hold the cards!!

Be nice to me....and who knows, you might receive one of these little cards in your very own mailbox!!

And Here's the Kicker

by Mike Sacks, Conversations with 21 top humor writers on their craft, 2009

here's the nice little picture of the book that I took from Amazon website, but you can't really look inside of this one!

I picked this book up at the library...cannot even remember exactly why. Put it on hold for several months, and when I checked it out, expected to have it sit untouched for three weeks until it became due....but proved myself WRONG because in fact I became obsessed with the interviews and couldn't put it down for the next week!!!

It was fascinating to read these interviews with people behind the creation of so many movies, tv shows and periodicals that have been so much a part of my life.....Buck Henry who wrote The Graduate, Larry Gelbert, (Tooties), Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day), Todd Hanson (The Onion), George Meyer (Simpsons), Allision Silverman (Colbert Report), Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development) Dave Barry, Jack Handy, and countless people who have written for David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, SNL (it seems that about 1/2 of the comedians interviewed spent some time writing for one of these shows).

Also I discovered some people who's work I had never heard of.....Paul Feig who wrote 1999 show "Freaks and Geeks" that I am now watching (and enjoying) on Netflix, and Stephen Merchant, who's interview encouraged me to finally watch all of the BBC Office and I am glad that I did! I found that I actually like it even better than the US version, and I really really wish that it had gone on for several more seasons!!

One of the things that I also liked about this book is that it also gave lots of tips for writers from people like David Letterman or the editor for "Shouts and Murmurs" at The New Yorker. Very encouraging advice, like "don't expect to ever get published even if you have been writing non-stop for over 11 years, but here's some places where you might send some of your work if you are interested in trying." I found this advice very helpful.

Probably largest criticism of the book is that it was just so LONG! (337 pages). I sped read the last four interviews just because I had to return the book to the library and had other things that I needed to start reading. But the interviewer Mike Sacks certainly knew the background on all the people he interviewed, and could ask very detailed questions about shows and material they had written.

Some things I discovered from this reading that fascinated me; did you know that 95% of Bill Murray's role in Caddyshack was improvised? Or that deciding on names for characters in BBC Office took more time than inventing the characters themselves? David Sedaris was an apartment cleaner in NYC before he became a writer, and Todd Hanson, founder of the Onion, only earned $120/month for the first seven years the Onion was published, and made the rest of his living working as a dishwasher? The biographies of these people were fascinating. (the keyword for describing this book is fascinating.)

Some similarities that I found between all of the interviews; many people cited that good comedy needs to be based in real life, and not on jokes that have already been written in other shows, and also many of the comedians said that having a difficult childhood oftentimes aids in developing a good comic.

New Purse

Here's a new purses style that I am working on.

Here is a close-up of the pleats. It is a pattern that uses strips with pleats alternating on either side of the strip, and then all of the strips are sewn together.






I liked this look, but I think that this purse isn't sturdy enough. I 'm going to continue to work on the style, and today I plan to make something that incorporates some jean into the design.

Freewrite

The world seemed different after her hysterectomy. Before, when she saw dandelions blooming between cracks in the sidewalk or at bus stops, her mind would wander towards little girls in summer dresses picking flowers and playing imaginary games in the backyard.

Now she saw the flowers for what they were; tiny blossoms that had forced their way through a foundation of dry cracked stone.

Or when she thought towards the future, now she was more inclined to see herself sitting alone in a condominium writing late into the night drinking cold white wine snuggled between brown fleece blankets and in bare feet with non-painted toenails.

Whereas before she would have seen and old woman sitting with her husband in a Christmas photo surrounded by a dozen or so grandchildren, all locking ice cream cones on a summer-beach cabin vacation.

There wasn't a tremendous amount of disappointment in this new understanding of her life; in fact there was even a bit of relief since now more than ever she was the creator of her own destiny, fabricating a future for herself. She had even started to dream faintly of having a cabin on a small island and owning a one-person sailboat.

But a part of her also felt crushed; it would pain her, for example, to receive birth announcements from college girlfriends who had just had their third or fourth child; and she saw these friendships that had one been the core center of her life, that had defined who she thought she was, as fading, somehow slipping away.
She put on her sunglasses and closed her book. The beach sandals had gathered some sand that she shook out as she stood up and returned to the beach rental. The chicken soup, still on the stove, was cold now and she poured what was left down the drain, then picked up her cat and walked up the spiral staircase.

Coconut Refrigerator Roll

My roommate is having a party tonight which has given us the awesome opportunity to get this place cleaned up a little bit. We've been doing 'deep cleaning' (or she has mostly, anyway) and not the more superficial kind that we usually do.

It's a joint birthday party for my roommate and her friend (although I just discovered that her friend's birthday is in August, so maybe this is more of just a party, I don't know).

I decided that my contribution would be a coconut refrigerator roll! I found the recipe on the back of my bag of coconut. Just finished making it and had a little tasty and it is pretty GOOD! If you like graham crackers and coconut I bet that you will like this desert!

Here's the ingredients (and I recommend that you make this with heavy whipping cream like the recipe suggests and don't try and use fat free milk or something to cut down on calories.......that would be bad. If you are on a diet just don't make this desert and make something else, because it just wouldn't taste the same with fat free or 2% milk.)

Coconut Refrigerator Roll

3/4 Cup heavy cream
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup marshmallows, finely cut or sliced
2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs, crushed
1 cup flake coconut
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
3 T Maraschino cherries, chopped
1/2 cup flake coconut
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Combine first seven ingredients in mixing bowl and work with hands into a firm ball.
The easiest way, I found, to crush graham crackers was to put them into a plastic zip-lock bag!!!

I found that it is very hard to slice marshmallows and so I just had to tear them into tiny pieces.



Shape in a roll 6 inches long (I actually made my roll much longer and thinner). On a sheet of wax paper, mix 1/2 cup flake coconut and 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (or you can do this on a cutting board like i did). Coat roll by rolling and pressing into coconut-walnut mixture. It takes a little while for the coconut to absorb.
Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 12 hours. Makes 12 (1/2 inch) slices. Top with whip cream to serve!

YUMMY~no baking required!!

The Robin

Today I want to write about the Robin. The Robin in a purse that I designed last fall.

The final version of the Robin came through several trial-attempts. I had been experimenting with pleats, and wanted to design a larger purse, and so last summer came up with a purse similar to the Robin except that it had no pockets.

When I went up to Bainbridge Island for a visit, my sister immediately liked it and even wanted to buy it from me and so I knew that I had struck on something gold (when people are actually going to offer money for something that is a good sign!)

However, later that summer I participated in the Alberta Artwalk and overheard some people looking at my purse and commenting that "it needed to have pockets".

This got my mind thinking, and so I decided to come up with another version of the purse that has two outside pockets plus one inside pocket and a pen holder!


Then, I took three of these purses to the Muddy Boots Festival in SE Portland last August and sold ALL THREE at the craft fair! I saw this as a good sign.

I myself thought that the purse was totally fab and started to use one myself! It was a good size, although I found it a little bit too large for my tastes; I found myself putting all sorts of things inside it that I really didn't need to be taking around at all.



For a long time I was at a loss about what to name this purse, and finally decided to name it "Robin" after a nice lady I know who commissioned me to make one of these purses for her out of her great aunt's tweed coat (I blogged about this on January 6th).


The Robin is made from 100% recycled materials, and is machine washable. You can see several of the Robins that i have for sale right here. They are on sale for $44.

The Queen of spades will~


Either ruin you or she will~


Help you shoot the moon.

"The Confessions" by St. Augustine

So I can't seem to find anything lately that I can manage to get beyond the first 15 pages in, and so have decided to write about a book that I read about a year ago...

Probably what struck me most about "The Confessions" is how readable it was. Considering the impact this book has had on Catholic theology and Western culture I was expecting something very dense and esoteric, sort of like "Summa Theologica", but "The Confessions" reminded me more of "Story of a Soul" by St. Therese in that both are very personal 'spiritual autobiographies' that have impacted Church teaching.

I liked coming across the more famous passages; the shaking of the pear tree, "late have I loved thee" and "make me chaste, but not yet"; lines and passages that I had heard repeatedly over the course of my life but had never read in their original context. Also I found some other really great lines that I hadn't read before: "I was looking for You outside myself and I did not find the God of my own heart", and "true beauty is seen by the inner eye of the soul, and not by the eye of the flesh."

Probably what I liked the best was his awesome interpretation of scripture! Although raised Catholic, St. Augustine writes that as a young man he could not accept a literal interpretation of the Old Testament and so had totally rejected it. After listening to the preaching of St. Ambrose, however he realized that these passages needed to be understood figuratively. The last book in "The Confessions" is actually entirely an allegorical interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis. St. Augustine justifies his interpretation with this brilliant line: "When so many meanings, all of them acceptable and true, can be extracted from the words that Moses wrote, do you not see how foolish it is to make a bold assertion that one in particular is the one that he had in mind? Do you not see how foolish it is to enter into mischievous arguments which are an offense against that very charity for the sake of which he wrote every one of these words that we are trying to explain?"

From this passage we see that Augustine is both intelligent and meek, such a rarely-seen combination and such a breath of fresh air!! And additionally that he clearly he understands that for a Christian, charity is paramount to any other quality, including intelligence.

I found it almost comical to read about how OUT OF CONTROL St. Augustine was before his conversion! At one point, he became engaged to a women, and so cut off relationship with his mistress. The engagement was to last for two years, however, and since Augustine "was more of a slave of lust that a true lover of marriage" he actually took in a second mistress to 'carry him through' the engagement! Clearly, chastity was one area that made converting to Catholicism a huge obstacle for St. Augustine! (I actually read somewhere that after he had become the Bishop of Hippo, he wouldn't even allow a women to be in the same room as him (unless it was his sister) to keep himself from being tempted again to enter into sexual sin!)

It is difficult for me to sing enough of the praises of this excellent book, but probably one point in "The Confessions" where St. Augustine seems to depart from ultra-intelligent wont is his rationale for rejecting astrology. He rejects astrology because he believes that making an accurate reading of the stars was based on luck and not on skill. I disagree that reading the stars is so entirely up to chance, as though a person were playing a slot machine. Probably a better explanation of why a Christian would reject astrology is that even thought it bears some validity, its source and its design goes against Christian charity.

But then, what do I know? Who I am to really challenge St. Augustine? One thing that I really can say for certain is that The Vatican certainly did something right when it made St. Augustine a Doctor of the Church!!!!!

Jen Purse

Today I am going to write about the Jen Purse. I designed this purse last summer. It is one of the first purses that I make that has pleats. It sells for $26, and I wish that that was lower but such is life.

The Jen is named after a lady in Seattle who I used to nanny for.

I had intended this purse for older women, but as with all my purses, it sometimes tends for a younger crowd, as in a much younger crowd, as in 4-5 year old girls.

(This is what happened last week at the SE Artwalk; I sold a clutch to a 60-something year old woman, and then about three hours later a mother came by and bought the exact purse for her four year old. I am not kidding. I am having a very hard time identifying who my customer is, for this reason.)

Here's another pic of the Jen. It is pretty simple; just a little purse that closes with a button, and has no pockets inside.



It is good to just carry around if you are going somewhere simple. I took this purse to a ceremony last summer where a friend of mine made his first vows as a Jesuit. Here's a pic of the two of us.



I used to babysit for him when I was younger, and now he is "all grown up". So sweet. All I really needed to take with me was my cell phone, keys and a small wallet, which is why the Jen was perfect for the occasion.

Check out some of the Jens that I have for sale on etsy!

SE Artwalk Re-Cap

So the SE Artwalk has come to an end....here's a photograph of the little booth that I set up:



We had great weather and a pretty good turn-out in our venue at the "Old Wild Oats" building; a large building that had once housed the Wild Oats Grocery Store. It was a great opportunity for me to get some exposure to my purses and I sold a lot of my clutches and coin purses. Additionally I met some fabulous artists!



This is Patrick, and he is standing in front of Haitian artwork that he was selling to raise money for the Haitian Children's Fund. Even more amazing is the airplane that Patrick brought in for the show.



Can you believe that he managed to get this plan through human sized doors? I can hardly believe it and it obviously means that he had to dismantle and re-build the plane in several places. It demonstrated a lot of initiative, I thought. Patricks' father flew this plan in "The Blue Max" and Patrick is showing it in an effort to raise money for its restoration, to begin in Winter of 2010. "It will fly again"

Another interesting artist was Thaddesus, who uses tools to create artwork and practical objects. Here's a picture of a seat that he build from a shovel.



And a beautiful wall hanging that he created (obviously) with a hammer.



I think that Thaddeaus' artwork would be suitable for a 'guys' apartment, since many of the men I have met have no interior decorating sense whatsoever, and think that 'things of that sort' are not masculine enough anyway.

Nikki Dodd Purse

Recently I have made some changes to my tried-and-true Nikki Dodd. The feedback I have received at craft-fairs has led me to believe that some people like to have bows on their purses, and so I have put several bows onto the Nikki Dodd; two on the side, one to close the main compartment....plus an additional bow on the handle for the torso-strap purse!



Nikki Dodd is names for the nice and wonderful lady who started an awesome book/writing group that I participated in while living in Seattle.

We met either weekly or bi-weekly (can't remember) and alternated between writing and book discussion. This is a tiny little picture of her, on the left with her boyfriend. Jen Escober is on the right.



Nikki and I still correspond via e-mail. She is a good friend.



This purse is also awesome because it has FOUR inside pockets and pen holders. With four outside pockets, that comes to eight pockets total! WOW!



This purse sells for $47. And remember...it is made from 100% recycled materials!! xxoo

Southeast Artwalk

This weekend, I will be a participant in the 7th Annual SE Portland Artwalk! I feel so fortunate to be a part of this event that has drawn over 100 local artists!

Although I am not currently a resident of SE Portland, I did live there (in Woodstock) for 8 months. And now I commute twice a week to the Hawthorne Neighborhood where I work as a nanny for two totally cute kids, Esther and Joseph! Just in case you don't want to take my word for it, here's a picture of them!



See? Wasn't I right?

Anyway, back to the point: the SE Artwalk. This Artwalk is the fruit of many of volunteered hours of local SE residents and artwalk participants! I will be selling my purses--handmade from recycled materials--in the "Old Wild Oats" building on the SW corner of SE 30th and Division.

The "Old Wild Oats" building will also be hosting Pinki Tuscadero, James Dunbar, Marcia Vander Schaaf, Mary Volm, Neil Werner, Nina Bindi, William Park, Richard Armstrong, Patrick Garrison, Thadeus Lu, and Anna Todaro. These artists work in the mediums of painting, mosaic, mixed media, glass, etching, ceramic and sculpture.

Can't tell you too much more about these artists right now....you'll just have to come visit us and see for yourselves! We will be showing our work on Saturday and Sunday March 6th and 7th at SE 30th and Division.

Be there!!!!!

Beside a Chrysanthemum

To bring one chrysanthemum
to flower, the cuckoo has cried
since spring.

To bring one chrysanthemum to bloom,
thunder has rolled
through the black clouds.

Flower, like my sister returning
from distant, youthful byways
of throat-tight longing
to stand by the mirror:

for your yellow petals to open
last night such a frost fell,
and I could not sleep.

So Chong-Ju
(translated from the Korean by David R. McCann)