stuff about artstuff.

Exciting News about Surtex!

It's that time again!  The pace quickens, the nervousness returns, way too many new ideas for designs (that are dying to be drawn) overcrowd my already packed-to-capacity brain as I wrap up displays, logistics, details ... this can only mean one thing: May is right around the corner, and so is SURTEX.  You know, it's the time of year I tend to disappear into myself for weeks at a time, blogging (and general communicating) sporadically, if at all.  And if you do see me, there will for sure be some kind of incomprehensible muttering (maybe only my lips will be moving) as I stare into what seems to be the deep, dark distance ... yes, I do appear a bit scattered this time of year, although really it's just super-ultra-extreme-mega-focus, yeah, that's what it is.

The most important 3 days of my year start with a month or so of my entire home looking something like this
(you wondered why you were never invited over in April?) 

It looks like this... 
then for a minute it will look something like this... 
then don't blink because suddenly, this is all that's left. 
It's always a whirlwind and as usual I'm super excited about the whole mess.  This is my chance to sit down for face-to-face chats and in-person brainstorming sessions with the wonderful clients I usually only communicate with by phone or email, connect with interesting new companies, and of course see dear friends I've made over the years at the show!  And this year, in addition to the usual busy-bee-at-my-booth stuff, I'll be joining Kate McRostie and Dena Fishbein in a fun Q & A breakfast as part of the SURTEX Conference Program! 

Join us on Tuesday morning, May 18 from 8:30-10 for "The 'Art' of Success: a Dialog with Artists who are Making it Happen".  This is your chance to ask us your burning questions about getting into (and staying in) this crazy business!  Discounted rates apply for pre-registration for this or any of the other great seminars in the program or you can register on-site once you're at the show.  This year's overall theme is "The NEW Reality of Art Licensing & Sales: Strategies for Business Prosperity in a Tough Economy" and the entire program is jam-packed with invaluable information and advice on everything you could possibly want to know if you're really serious about your art licensing business.

If you're at the show, I hope to see you Tuesday morning!

North Head Lighthouse

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting this beautiful old piece of Washington State history last month.

Although aged architecture in decay makes for a neato artsy photo-op, it's not necessarily the respect that should be shown to our historical monuments.

There is a wonderful group, "Keepers of the North Head Light", who are working toward properly restoring the old beauty.

You can see some of the masonry work already done by students from the Historic Preservation Field School at the University of Oregon.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I seemed to have gotten giddy enough while there that I forgot some very basic and vital information about myself. I have extreme acrophobia. Like, standing-on-a-chair-is-too-high-phobia. But caught in some sort of moment - most likely I was out of my mind from the tsunami-advisory-excitement of the day - I seemed to be determined to go up inside and see it for myself.
Halfway up the first flight of stairs, it struck me, "holy crap girl, just what do you think you are doing?"

Those of you who know me well, feel free to answer aloud, in unison:

What is the one thing in the world I hate more than anything else?

"Stairs you can see through."

And what else?

"Stairs with no railings."

Thank you.

Once started, though, I couldn't exactly back down on my hands and knees (you think I'm joking?) and ask for my donation back. I'm sorry, I've changed my mind. I don't really care about your dumb old lighthouse any more. I'm going home now. So I looked up and kept going.
It was worth it. Really cool.

I hesitated for only a second looking at the stairs below, realizing I pretty much had no other choice but to take a deep breath and step down

but that's the only good thing about stairs-that-you-can-see-through - you can see-through much less going back down. And even better, point-and-shoot digital cameras can be held out from one's body while one is firmly pasted to the wall (look at me, I'm wallpaper. I dare you to peel me away). I had no idea what these next 2 shots looked like until I was back down on level ground.

If you're in Southern Washington it's worth a visit, and the folks who are organizing the fundraising/restoration efforts are super nice and are passionate about what they're doing. For more info about their organization or to find out about making a tax-deductible donation, you can contact:

The Keepers of the North Head Lighthouse

PO Box K, Ilwaco, WA 98624

or email them at KeepersOfNorthHead@gmail.com

Garden Inspiration

Last month was the triumphant return of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. I am not being silly and dramatic here, it was pretty triumphant after not knowing if we'd ever have one again for most of last year.

I spent a glorious day with my 2 sisters soaking in every single thing we could ... it was a blast. It was a little smaller this year, but that only made it easier to cover the whole thing in a day without killing ourselves.

There were the usual dramatic textures,

 

Elandan Gardens

gorgeous water features,

Plantswoman Design

serene and inviting settings,

Pacific Stone Company

Ravenna Gardens

and heavenly scents (so welcome in early February!).

But there also seemed to be a little more playful whimsy in the display gardens than usual.

One of my favorites, by Fancy Fronds and Albe Rustics, was full of cool stuff I just want to junk up my own garden with! There were monsters popping up right out of the ground. Can you see his snout, shrimp-eyes, and further back ... wings?!

Maybe if Dune had taken place somewhere more cuddly and Seussian...

I love the glass fiddleheads...

and how cool are these metal ferns?

Even the pavers became a splash of color.

There's No Place Like Home by WSNLA, Partners for Water and Innovative Landscape Technologies was complete with a flying monkey (I love me some flying monkeys)

and they cleverly landed the entire display on top of the Wicked Witch (ding dong).

And to top it off, the frieze along the green roof reminded me that my favorite quote really needs to be somewhere in my own backyard ... hmmm. I'll work on this...
All the displays incorporated sustainable themes: there were green roofs on almost every structure and I noticed several really clever treatments for rain-barrels - the design dilemma faced by so many of us who want to conserve water but hate that giant plastic glob taking up all that space - my favorite was in the Seattle Tilth and NW Bloom display. Not to mention the way cool blue-bottle downspout, I so want to do this!

And the giant colored-pencil obelisk-trellises (or bean-teepees, depending on where you're from)...

...extras just sat in a giant pencil cup by the door. Suddenly, in spite of the hundreds on my desk, there are not enough colored pencils in my life: I must make giant ones to sit in a giant cup in my yard. Ohmygosh.

They had me at the rain-barrel. And the giant pencils. And the lime green cold-frame. But this display also had chickens and little goats. Look, you get me in the vicinity of little farm animals and I'm suddenly 5 years old again. I want to pet them. Mom can I have a chicken? Please? Why not? I want a little goat then. Please? Please? I want to bring him home. Why can't I bring him home?

And finally, this:

Crops for Clunkers ... a small pickup decked out as an amazing edible garden, by Seattle Urban Farm Co. A-flipping-mazing, this thing!

And the cab had been refitted as a chicken coop.

Yes, that blob on the left there is a big fat chicken butt. How awesome is this? I was in love. This is a scary thing for someone like me to see, as I tend to get a little too attached to my own old cars and have actually threatened to turn them into planters when that sad day does come.

Don't worry, frightened neighbors, I probably won't.

The day really was inspiring and fun and time with my sisters is always a blast.

(obligitory view-from-the-convention-center photo alert)

But all that was back in February, and here it is already the second half of March, time to get moving on the for-real garden! Kicking it off, this weekend here in Seattle is the Seattle Tilth Early Spring Edible Plant Sale. Tilth's plant sales are great ... it's the place to get your healthy, hearty little organic heirloom (and other interesting varieties) starts for your edible garden as well as other goodies, you can even stock up on Cedar Grove Compost for only $5 a bag! This is the first year they've added the early sale to their usual May event.

I'm expanding the vegetable/sunny-garden beds again this year ... I had meant to get this done over the winter but since this pile of wonderful rocks showed up on a soggy morning last November
all I managed to do was stack them neatly between the existing beds and the parking area
and at the end of that day,

I was pretty much through with rocks for ... well, apparently for 4 months. I finally started bed-building this afternoon, and the good news is that after all the digging I still seem to have internet service and a telephone this evening (remember last year?) so I'm off to a smokin' start.

This weekend, I'm ready - it's garden time, and I'm excited! Especially when I saw this tonight...
Whoo hoo! 68?!

Hope you all have a great weekend too!

They're Asking You and Me...

The Federal Government (yes, that Federal Government) wants to hear from you about how copyright law effects you.  No, really, they do.  Let y0ur voice be heard, creative friends and those who care about the rights of all artists and creators!

Please visit this post on Sue Zipkin's blog for the full story.

In the Art Licensing community, we have all been faced with infringement situations on some scale; when those new to the industry ask me about this issue I tell them "it's just a matter of time before it happens to you" and I don't mean that in a "we're all doomed" sort of way, it's just how things are out there.  It's so important that the law continues to protect artists as it always has in these cases, and grows and changes with the digital age as new media becomes available to the public, including those who would take advantage of others.

This is our chance, they're making it simple - you can do it in an email - please take a moment to speak out about how important Intellectual Property Enforcement is to you, and to all of us.

Thanks to Sue and to the Copyright Alliance for getting the word out about this! 
And thanks to the Copyright Alliance for all the great work they're doing.  You can find out more on their website.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 
(another little cottage from the Artstuff Archives)

Go n-eiri an t-adh leat!

Fabric Trends

Look what just arrived in my mailbox today!  It's the newest issue of Fabric Trends magazine, with an adorable pattern for 2 quilts featuring my Noah's Journey fabric by Henry Glass!

 
You can make a girl's version... 
or a boy's version. 
How cute are these?!  I love the clever applique treatment with the big ark & animals from the main panel.  Super cute quilt design, don't you think?

The spring issue will be hitting newsstands in a couple weeks, so if you aren't a subscriber you can find it then! 
You can order the full kits at Pinetree Country Quilts.

As always, I'd love to see anything and everything you make using my designs so please. if you create something, do share pictures, it would make my day!  Thanks!

Lurkers Welcome

No, really.  I know you're out there, and it's ok.  There seems to be much ado about the comment thing here in Blogland.  Most consider it impolite if one visits a blog but has nothing to say.  A breach of etiquette to read in silence.

But I've always known that many of my "regulars" are lurkers.  You mention it to me in person, or by email.  Or, my personal favorite ... this was at the bottom of a particularly adorable and cool Christmas card we received this last year... 
(hi k) ...makes me happy to know that there is some connection to people in my life that maybe I'm not talking to as often as I should be, or would like to be ... makes me smile to know that you're out there, even if you're not feeling chatty.

I myself am a pretty shy person.  I know, I know.  Here I am putting myself out here on the Great Big World Wide Interwebs for God and Everybody, and I claim to be shy.  But no, really.  I am.  There are some blogs I've stumbled on, loved, and go back and visit whenever I get a chance, but still have never had the nerve to comment.  I know!  I am a lurker.

I just don't always have stuff to say. 

Or I'm bloghopping on the laptop with Vista, which fights with pretty much all the blog-provider sign-in cookies and sometimes erases comments and shuts down when I try to leave them, so why bother. 

Or, I just don't have stuff to say. 

There was an 8 year lapse between the first time I was introduced to Husband Guy and the time we actually struck up a conversation immediately falling ridiculously and obnoxiously in love, completely aware of how and with whom we would spend the rest of our lives.  During those 8 years, I would see him now and then at parties; we would make short but pleasant small talk and go our separate ways.  My reason for not striking up a conversation? "I don't know, he was always making everyone around him laugh and seemed really funny and entertaining, and I just never had anything clever enough to say to someone like that."

Friends who put up with my constant jibberjabber have always rolled their eyes at this one, but 18 years later, I guess I'm the same way when it comes to chatting up folks I don't already know.

In regular life, one is maybe considered quiet or thoughtful, but in Blogland we become Lurkers.   Mysterious, secretive. 
I do enjoy gabbing with buddies on their blogs, and I can't say I don't totally appreciate each and every comment that I do get here ... you make me smile every time I hear from you, really you do!  But Lurkers, it's alright.  I do it too.  I'm just glad you're here.  I hope you enjoy yourself.

And since I brought it up, although I'm not usually much of a linker or networker here in Blogland, I decided it's about time I give a polite nod toward some of those entertaining and beautiful blogs that I do visit every so often, but have maybe never had anything clever enough to say while visiting (see the new sidebar links!). 

The Wave that Wasn't

It was our last full day out at the coast, and after a very busy week, I was looking forward to a quiet day with no plans ... my art supplies were spread around me on the table, and I was sipping the last of my morning coffee going back and forth between drawing and just watching the rain outside.

That came to a screeching halt with a knock on the door, word about the tragedy in Chile, and a warming that there had been a tsunami advisory for the coast.  The beaches were closed (the much anticipated clamming weekend was canceled until further notice) and although there wasn't an official evacuation in place, many were packing up and heading inland.  Although they were only predicting 2-4 foot swells where we were, that seemed significant enough for concern sitting beach-side, right at sea level on a 28 mile peninsula sticking out into the ocean.  Looking out into the surf, or what you could see through the mist, it was easy to imagine the unknown dangers lurking beyond. 
We scurried around between the television news coverage, worrying about friends and loved ones in Hawaii and Guam, starting to pack, then deciding not to leave ... finally settling on packing up "a little bit" (we would be leaving the next day, anyway) putting some stuff up on tables or shelves "just in case" and heading to higher ground for a few hours.  We decided to make our final decision after reports started coming in from the more southerly beaches.

For us, "higher ground" was a place we'd been talking about visiting anyway ... just maybe at a little more leisure.

There seemed to be a little more traffic than usual, everyone was out doing something: heading to the north end of the peninsula where there were a few hills, heading south to go back inland, or chuckling at those who were doing so from a beer-drinking bonfire party along the highway.

The sun was back out as we arrived at our destination, and we were greeted by cheerful blooms along the path. 
Heading along the trail we'd get ever increasing glimpses of the dramatic ocean below.




 
It seemed a lot of other people had the same idea as we had...
There's just something about lighthouses. 
The symbol of safety, protection; 
looking down from a lighthouse one is easily reminded what could happen to ships if it wasn't here, guiding them away from the rocks.


 
I have much more to share with you about this particular lighthouse, North Head Light - but that will have to wait for another post. 
For now, well, you already know how this story ends.  After a while, reports started coming in that Hawaii had "dodged a bullet"; folks headed back down the trail to their cars, and eager clammers were already gathering on the beach below.
Although there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief upon hearing that the Pacific was no longer in immediate danger, I can't say the mood actually lightened, as the fact remained that earlier that morning, hundreds of Chileans had lost their lives, and it was indeed a sad day.

Is the Ocean Made of Diamonds or Glass?

More from my February visit to the coast.

On one afternoon walk, I was convinced it was diamonds.


 
Or was it glass?

 
I suppose it is just made of ocean.

Thank You!

Big thanks to everyone who purchased items from my Etsy shop during my Haiti-donation promotion, from February 1 through March 10.

Although news coverage of the crisis has tapered off, the Haitian people have a long struggle ahead and are just now facing the rainy (hurricane) season without proper infrastructure, and many are still without shelter.  

With your help, $314 was donated by the Artstuff Studio Store to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, where 100% of the donations received went directly to supplying food, water, shelter, and medical aid to the people of Haiti. and I couldn't have done it without you!  You really are the Bees Knees!