palm tree leaf

palm tree leaves are HUGE
taller than me for sure
but they look so small looking from below

designer/maker & smart hands

Bag maker S. Stein describes the concept of designer/maker and smart hands in the recent October newsletter interview by Heath Ceramics....

Tell us about the importance of the designer/maker tradition — why producing in the US is so important to you and how you found the craftspeople you work with... Regarding US labor, it's not easy but it's the right thing to do if you can make a go of it — as in, compete in a market largely priced using offshore labor. When you experience, first hand, the work a small business provides to the people in your community, it reinforces these ideals more than anything ever could. I've managed to find people in New Mexico who actually love having their hands on their work. My stitcher crafts each piece from start to finish, which I believe contributes to the great pride and deep sense of satisfaction she feels for her work. We make a point of stopping to admire each completed bag — I feel this admiration, more than anything, makes craftspeople into the people they are.

What inspires you? Until I learned about a school in the Netherlands that describes a phenomenon known as 'smart hands' I really didn't know how to put words to my experience as a designer/maker — my hands actually know what to do once they hit the material. That concept alone drives my obsession to create stuff — a desire that I've had ever since I can remember. Today, I'm inspired by vintage everything, Art in America, black and white photography, Monument Valley and the combination of good materials and craftsmanship is simply irresistible to me.

images from S. Stein.

Nadine Light

Nadine, the latest laser cut masterpiece from a collection called Future Flora by Tord Boontje. Check out the little video on how it opens up here.

“ Although I started by looking very closely at flowers, it became a project from memory, to imagine shapes which are like flowers but not exactly, a new kind of species – a flower and light hybrid.” — Tord Boontje

bits of the weekend

dusk view from my kitchen window; combo of my hand's shadow, my book, an old glass window and a sunny corner of the brand art library; halfway through gocco-ing a wedding invitation...

baggage claim yellow

Virgin America has taken over this side of baggage claim at LAX and has already painted red swatches on parts of the tile. This means all this pretty 1960's yellow will soon be gone. Decided to bond with it in the 20 minutes we waited for my brother in law's flight to arrive.

drywall

two tone drywall, wood, concrete, tar paper, yellow electrical wire, symmetry, and lightness and dark.

Bill Clinton

Last night we had the privilege of seeing and older, more relaxed Bill Clinton speak at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. He is part of a lecture series called Distinguished Speakers. What a great speaker armed with facts, genuinely passionate about his message, and always injecting just the right amount of humor make everyone feel comfortable. Admittedly long winded, he spoke for an hour and a half hardly looking at notes.

He spoke most about helping us create a framework from which to build an opinion about the overwhelming issues we hear about every day. It can also be a framework by which to make decisions about how we choose to live. This framework means understanding three things - that there is a lot of inequality in the world, that the world is interdependent, and the world is unsustainable.

There are people dying from malaria, tuberculosis. 80% of the people that die of these dirty water born diseases are children. This is inequality in an age where our country will hardly see the effects of these diseases. I've heard Bill Gates talk about this in regard to his efforts with his Gates Foundation. There are many countries who's citizens still live on two dollars a day. And regarding health care in our country, we are the only wealthy country who spends 17% of our incomes on health care without being able to insure everyone, most other wealthy nations only spend 10-11%.

Our actions affect everyone, prime example - the domino effect of last year's economic crisis.

We already know that the way we are using our natural resources is unsustainable. But did you know that the world's most energy efficient countries - Denmark, Sweden and Germany - became more prosperous by solving their issues of energy efficiency. Not only did fixing these problems save money and resources, it created more jobs lowering the unemployment rate, something our current president in pushing. The Kyoto Treaty also committed 44 countries to cut emissions to 1990 levels by (I forget what date), but only 4 of these countries will reach that goal.

Bill Clinton is also one of those amazing storytellers who transported us to a conversation he had with a man who survived Rwanda genocide. Of the 300,000 people who were brutally killed within a span of 90 days, 73 of them where part of his family up to first cousins. He talked about the part he played in the release of the journalists imprisoned and released in North Korea, and even showed compassion for Sarah Palin saying that she was placed in an impossible position when she was asked to debate in a national election.

Overall, excellent evening. Not enough young people though... Really felt like we got to know a former president more personally.

fires

Plumes of smoke from the 134 fwy of the Station fire.

Recently got to know a local firefighter. I asked what we could do to show our gratitude. He simply said to say thanks.

inspiration and aunthenticity

I've been hearing a lot about authenticity lately. Read this great quote by filmmaker, Jim Jarmusch about stealing or being inspired to find authenticity from Jon's post about his favorite things at Decor8's blog...

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”

Yo Yo Ma

Seemed like everyone had been to the Hollywood Bowl this summer but us. Well, finally, last night, we made it to see celloist Yo Yo Ma who was a guest of Placido Domingo and the LA Philharmonic. It was brilliant. I've always wanted to see Yo Yo Ma live. His music is so vibrant and captivating. He himself was just charismatic, always engaging the orchestra and the audience. The encore that brought the young 10 year old musicians next to us to a standing ovation saying "Bravo, bravo!" was a solo piece from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and then a duet with Placido singing opera.

Washington DC

Spent an August week in DC. The hot and humid weather was brutal, but boy do I feel quite patriotic.

The first thing I noticed in the city - the Evacuation Route signage (little blue sign) all along Pennsylvania Avenue. This immediately put things in perspective about where I was, especially with this administration. Damn.


The first museum to hit was the National Archives to find the original Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Constitution (above you can see "We the People..."), Bill of Rights (freedom of speech...), Emanciption Proclamation that abolished slavery, and the document that gave women the right to vote. Being the product of immigrant parents, if suffices me to say that we are absolutely so privileged here.


My side project was to check out weaving books at the Library of Congress. Got my own library card, found the books I wanted from the online card catalog, submitted the catalog numbers using these sort of old school carbon tickets, got some lunch, and came back 45 minutes later to pick up my books. The Library of Congress is not a lending library so you could only go through your books at a desk in a reading room. I sat at desk #682. I checked out about 13 books that I looked at over the course of two afternoons. The myth is that they have every book ever published, but this is not true.


Super refreshing gin and cucumber cocktail at Vegetate in the Adams Morgan area.


Foods that Meso American Indians ate - hominy, rice, and grilled corn with cojita cheese at the Mitsitam Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian. They also had bison and wild salmon grilled over a fire the way the indians used to do it.


Subway Tunnel/Bomb Shelter deep under the city.


My nephew with Eva from the Wall E movie. He was so happy he happened to be pointing at the plant inside Eva :)


As close as we were going to get to the White House. Kids around me kept asking if Obama was in there. I had read in the paper that morning that he was visiting Yellowstone. It was still a rock start moment for all of us standing there.


Standing at the Lincoln Memorial looking at the Washington Monument... realizing that this is where Martin Luther King did his I Have a Dream speech. Pretty cool. I caught the monument glowing from the sun for a brief moment.


One of the seating areas in the Donovan House lobby. It's a floral pattern cut from wood adheared on glass to make it appear as if it is floating. I love hotel lobbies.


Sunset on the Potomac River that connects Virginia, Maryland, and DC.

Happy Tape

My new favorite thing ... Happy Tape! Found them at a great new little sewing and screenprinting studio/shop in South Pasadena called Common Threads. More about the studio here. Wrapped my nephew's bday gift with happiness this past weekend. Simple pleasures, no?

drying dishes

color inspiration in my sink.

Room Loom Opening Night

The finished Room Loom by Julia Sherman. Amazing community effort. Check out everyone's contributions here. The Room Loom concept is quickly spreading. Sounds like Julia plans to eventually have all the Room Looms show together.

Evelyn Ackerman wallhangings

My favorite Evelyn Ackerman wallhangings at the Mingei. More here.

Summer Sky

summer skies!

Green Pillows

My first shot using an 8 harness loom doing another shadow weave pattern. I love seeing the yarn colors together on the floor; I made 2 pillows each with a 31 end which made my warp a zaggy 90" long on the warping board; my weaving on the loom with 2 boat shuttles; peek into the studio; and then what one pillow will look like on the couch after I actually sew it :)!

Big Sur

Big Sur is one of those majestic place where you are this tiny blip in all this earth! We spent a weekend at Treebones free of the internet and phone reception and did some serious relaxing with a few easy hikes, time in the pool, and playing backgamon. Lots of fog, but that added to the mystery and grandeur.

1. view at one of the turn outs 2. could not get enough of the colors in dried eucalyptus leaves 3. one of the Treebone yurts with the view of the ocean 4. hiking to see the waterfall at Julia Pfeiffer Burns Park 5. one of several ladders you could climb over to walk down to the water (thanks Adam for the tip!).

Bold

Sometimes you just have to be bold! I love it. Brad Moore photograph via David John

yellow and tan yarns

One of the most exciting parts of weaving is choosing your yarns. Ahh, yellow, tan and silver... I'll be making a scarf with a basic shadow weave where one color will mimic/shadow the other. It's so easy to fall in love with color combos. Can never get enough of one pop color balanced out by neutrals.

Update: Tadah, the finished piece.. a simple shadow weave, softball cotton yarns, 15" wide x 72" long, woven on a 4 harness counter balance loom. I like to alternate the pattern with plain weave to see what effects I get with the threading. Took about 20-ish hours total. Works both as a shawl in the summer/scarf in the winter. Did not use the silver, but used another light tan.

another herringbone floor

A picture of the soft colored floor pattern from a book about Morocco....

I'm just dying to make herringbone work on the kitchen floor. I know they are meant for grand areas or long hallways... in Morocco.... sigh, we'll just have to wait and see, I guess.