Jax n Juls

ASSORTED AMAZING THINGS

2009-12-26T14:35:00.009-06:00

Juls!
I found so many wonderful things to share with you the other night while surfing the internet. Here are a few links you must take a look at:
http://blog.mika78.com/

http://jessicahische.com/

http://www.mrianwright.co.uk/

http://www.studioviolet.se/

I love her shoes:

last but not least, an interesting bit of architecture. Divine:

Portfolio

2009-12-12T14:10:00.004-06:00

I need to work on my website. But until then my portfolio is up at www.coroflot.com/jgk/
Have I shared that with you?

My love for espresso is expressed back to me.

2009-12-08T13:37:00.007-06:00

It is a mutual love.

SISTERS

2009-12-07T19:23:00.004-06:00

Olaf Hajek-illustration

2009-12-06T22:56:00.002-06:00

This inspires me. www.olafhajek.de

Bottletree Craft Fair Dec 09

2009-12-06T21:58:00.005-06:00

Hi Juls!
Craft fairing was excellent this weekend. It really was so much fun to be there and visit with other artists. I am just happy to finally be putting stuff out there. Mostly things no one wants, but hey, you have to start somewhere. Because when someone does appreciate and like something you did solely for yourself and for the sheer purpose of making something beautiful to you, well, that's just a treat and a bonus. I wanted to share the crocheted cat woman hat I got for trade:

And this is my updated inspiration wall. See top left for new drawings I acquired today!

THIS IS JOY!

2009-10-23T23:07:00.001-05:00

Words + Images

2009-04-15T10:43:00.005-05:00

These were some of my favorites from that site you sent I Can Read.
I too have been thinking of making cards like this from things I feel and
have written down.

In progress, I want to watercolor around the letters.
And I love the Very Very Beautiful Blog as well.
Thanks for the inspiring links Juls!

Shadowbox Series

2009-04-13T00:14:00.003-05:00

I've been working on these collages based on maps of cities where good friends live. I seem to work intuitively using the visual vernacular of these places left in my mind's memory from either living there or visiting and also from thinking about the friend who habitats that city. This one is for my friend Ryen who lives in San Francisco. I'm really happy with how it turned out and hope he is too!

Richard Brautigan "It's Raining in Love"

2009-04-10T23:29:00.002-05:00

I don't know what it is
but I distrust myself
when I start to like a girl
a lot.

It makes me nervous.
I don't say the right things
or perhaps I start
to examine
evaluate
compute
what I am saying.

If I say, "Do you think it's going to rain?"
and she says, "I don't know,"
I start thinking: Does she really like me?

In other words
I get a little creepy.

A friend of mine once said,
"It's twenty times better to be friends
with someone
than it is to be in love with them."

I think he's right and besides,
It's raining somewhere, programming flowers
and keeping snails happy.
That's all taken care of.

BUT
if a girl likes me a lot
and starts getting real nervous
and suddenly begins asking me funny questions
and looks sad if I give the wrong answers
and she says things like,
"Do you think it's going to rain?"
and I say, "It beats me,"
and she says, "Oh,"
and looks a little sad
at the clear blue California sky,
I think: Thank God, it's you, baby, this time
instead of me.

Emily shared this poem with me today and I fell in love with it.
Favorite line in the whole poem: "I get a little creepy."
We all know how that feels. Don't we?

Book of Ephemera

2009-04-08T14:00:00.002-05:00

I don't know if you know this, but among collecting receipts, art and supplies, I have been collecting tickets for the last 13 or so years. Here are my first scans of ticket stubs that I have decided I want to compile into a book. I love looking at the typography and variety of color. I think after I have scanned them all in, I will use as material for mosaic/collage work. I look forward to that day=)

Henrique Oliveira

2009-04-02T09:44:00.003-05:00

Thanks Julie for sharing this wonderful artist with me!
I absolutely love his work, both 2d and 3d.
http://www.henriqueoliveira.com/

2009-02-24T01:39:00.002-06:00

This is the logo I did for Bridget's (Bridget and friends) Gallery in Brooklyn. Check it out...they have already had some great shows there! www.cleopatras.us I wish I was there to physically show my support. Let alone soak up some interesting art. I'm so amazed at there tenacity and passion.

Nothing is Original

2009-02-24T01:23:00.003-06:00

Thanks for sending me this! It's a funny thing because I had seen it posted on Kitsune Noir's blog and thought I should save it. I swear we're on the same wave length. I am always inspired by you, other artists, things that I see, my own experiences. And I like to share when I get some of that good feeling in my gut with others. Much love to you. I got your letter today! Will answer all million questions soon. Beijos.

More from Mary Oliver

2009-02-12T11:40:00.004-06:00

I grabbed Yoga Joyful Living Magazine and happened to flip to the last page where there was an excerpt from what looks like a new book by Mary Oliver published in 2008 called Twelve Moons. I wanted to share this passage from one of my favorite nature poets. Beautiful words to start off my morning:

Sleeping in the Forest
I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts,
her pockets full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before,
a stone on the riverbed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

~Mary Oliver~

Just beautiful! Happy Morning, Afternoon, and Night to you.

Amazing Poems

2009-02-12T04:17:00.005-06:00

Ode to Mary Oliver 2009

Bone
1.
Understand, I am always trying to figure out
what the soul is,
and where hidden,
and what shape –
and so, last week,
when I found on the beach
the ear bone
of a pilot whale that may have died
hundreds of years ago, I thought
maybe I was close
to discovering something –
for the ear bone

2.
is the portion that lasts longest
in any of us, man or whale; shaped
like a squat spoon
with a pink scoop where
once, in the lively swimmer’s head,
it joined its two sisters
in the house of hearing,
it was only
two inches long –
and thought: the soul
might be like this –
so hard, so necessary –

3.
yet almost nothing.
Beside me
the gray sea
was opening and shutting its wave-doors,
unfolding over and over
its time-ridiculing roar;
I looked but I couldn’t see anything
through its dark-knit glare;
yet don’t we all know, the golden sand
is there at the bottom,
though our eyes have never seen it,
nor can our hands ever catch it

4.
lest we would sift it down
into fractions, and facts –
certainties –
and what the soul is, also
I believe I will never quite know.
Though I play at the edges of knowing,
truly I know
our part is not knowing,
but looking, and touching, and loving,
which is the way I walked on,
softly,
through the pale-pink morning light.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Ode to Ozymandias 2009

Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

~Percy Bysshe Shelley~

The Inauguration of President Obama

2009-02-03T03:48:00.008-06:00

My Trip to the Washington Mall to Experience the Inauguration of Pres. Barrack Obama from Dustin Bolton on Vimeo.

On a whim, after, oh maybe 5 minutes of deliberating if I would drive 5 hours from Lil' Cumberland Island to Atlanta or a mere 4 more hours (total about a 9 hour drive) to DC for the Inauguration. It was DC all the way! I called up the first person I thought would be up for a spontaneous trip and after 5 minutes of consideration, he obliged to meet me half way in SC. What an experience to hold on to for the rest of my life. I am thankful to the many things that came together along the way to have made this trip possible and so now I can share this video Dustin made to document this amazing moment in our history.

I would not call myself a "political" person in that I have kind of given up on the fact that I will never know enough to really have an authentic say in political matters. I just always feel mildly informed mostly from the lack of time to read all that I would need to feel informed. I could possibly wish for political movement upwards on my priority list but using my hands or taking a walk seems to trumph political inundation everyday. What I do know is that in the hopes of a new era of peace in our world and positive change in our country's history, I believe in the change that Barack Obama promises to bring and have hope in his leadership to guide us through these next few years.

That's all I've got. Peace and Love.

Ships to sail & shores to lose sight of...

2009-01-29T16:00:00.008-06:00

Let go of the shore and trust in the currents of life to take
you where you need to go ---Todd Delaune
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage
to lose sight of the shore ---Andre Gide

FLICKR PHOTOS I CAME ACROSS

2008-12-17T00:12:00.004-06:00

I found this great Flickr group called The Center for Vernacular Typography. So inspiring if one is as interested in letterforms as I am...such variety! One of the pool members has some great poloroids and the other photographs on his site such as these holgas are awesome. He goes by OnPaperWings.

Nude Models Protest

2008-12-16T23:55:00.001-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/16/bittermann.france.nude.protest.cnn

Clifton Burt

2008-12-16T01:50:00.004-06:00

I love this.
I think I have shared his wife's work before as well. Kate Bingaman-Burt has a site called Obsessive Consumption and she draws what she buys everyday...This concept is interesting to me. I love the dedication. Just revisited today and makes me smile to find out that there is going to be a book published of her work in 2010.

Amazing book art

2008-12-02T10:52:00.006-06:00

Georgia Russell transforms books, maps, and music scores into these fantastic sculptures with her scalpel. I am so drawn to these objects because of the amount of work and detail that they contain. I love work that immediately conveys dedication to craft and work that is so tedious that that quality -amount of concentration and time working- is palpable. Oooooh, this just makes my palate water it's so delicate and interesting! It reminds me of a book jacket graphic designer I once met who cut out all the lines from the book, My Antonia, and contructed a box or some sort of paper house...I had the same feelings about that piece...it was the tedious, delicate and intricate nature that struck me. And another artist that comes to mind (I'm so terrible with names. They are written down somewhere in one of my notebooks) did a piece where they cut out all the masculine words, pronouns, possessives and all the feminine ones and quantified them in mason jars. It would be more telling if I could remember what book/document/manuscript they were dissecting and commenting on. There is also something about book arts, art made from books, the printed word that engages me, yet I am personally reluctant to tear/cut apart a book. A book is somewhat sacred...I know how to make one, fix one, not take one apart. I have been recently contemplating using my journals and letters and receipts in artwork but the fear that once the objects/paper/books are used, the content, the words on the page will be lost for good! It is what my memory relies on, these saved and horded relics as informing me of my past selves, reminding me of things I need to remember (or do I?). I suppose someone would say to me if I did use them as actual material, that the material, that is the content, would be immortilized in the piece created.
And I ramble...I'm having such an inspired thoughtful morning!!!

2008-11-25T00:03:00.000-06:00

A few things to note on this rainy day...

2008-11-24T16:35:00.003-06:00

1. I have some wonderful quotes floating around my studio and I am happily surprised to run across them now and again:

We take the position that art is not a luxury. Art making is not frivolous. It is critical to sustain one's soul. It's essential to our lives. It informs us about ourselves in ways that words alone can't. -Bay-Nimoy

I believe in this because my struggle as an artist always comes down to the question of this need I feel to express myself and its validity and significance on the grander scale of life. I have to insist that there is not a better use of my time. I think your first blog posting was on this subject of "is art a basic need?" and you presented an interesting anecdote that I am recalling today...

for example, i went up to my boss yesterday and we were talking about how art is or isn't important. he was telling me that after the concentration camps were "ended," when people got to go home, a lot of little notes were found stuck in the walls, in between bricks, with letters and poems and thoughts on them. he was pondering over what courage it took these people, in the middle of concetration camp hell, to scrape a pencil and paper. to risk ur life for something like that, for expressing urself, for art, in a way...

2. Today, Greg was featured in Communication Arts' Fresh Online and there was something he said that made me think...when asked about his cultural influences he said:

Public radio and the New York Times Magazine. I really love the real people stories I hear on public radio: “StoryCorps,” “This American Life” and “Radio Lab” are remarkable. They underscore how necessary it is to see the commonalities of our lives and not get lost in the details.

I read this and felt immediately that I have lost sight of this - the commonalities of our lives - and I have been lost in the details. So I am back where I always am trying to figure out how to stay grounded, more rational, less emotional...because right now I am somewhere above my head and the sky and I feel I keep floating further and further away from reality. I just read some of your old posts I had missed and realized you have so much wisdom in your almost 30-years. I will take heed because I feel like it's time to come up for air and observe my own life from a bird's eye perspective as sometimes I do in my dreams. Somehow I feel I have become so narrow minded and obsessive-compulsive in attaching myself to some idea of who I want to be and what I want to do that in doing so have forgotten some essential facts. I know this is really vague.

But there it is. My two cents today.

Alabama Chanin

2008-11-23T00:07:00.007-06:00

I had to share! I'm so excited. My mom finally taught me how to use my grandmother's sewing machine!

I have been asking her to teach me for months and I was truly inspired to learn after I went to a holiday bazaar where Natalie Chanin had a booth with her book Alabama Stitch on sale.
She had these handmade quilts hanging up with embroideries of the stories behind them sewn onto them. Her story about her work and how it comes out of such a history and craft and love of handmade things...so good. I have always wanted to make a quilt and already have the fabrics for one. So voila, my first attempt at the machine with a combo of hand stitching and this is what I made...

I think I'll be squirreled away with my new toy for days!

EYE ADORE: handmade edition of 31

2008-11-19T00:01:00.007-06:00

Happy vacation to you. Can't wait for your correspondence. I'm not sure if these were the photos I sent you already. I am trying to get the pdf of the spreads up on www.page31.net. Soon when I'm not so frustrated at the computer I'll figure it out. I am really happy with how it turned out for such a short design time. I folded them and painstakingly perfect bound every single one of them. I hope you will do some drawings for the next one when there is a next one. Talk soon.

Completely Random

2008-10-30T03:42:00.001-05:00

PHOTO SERIES 3: 'COLOR STORY'

2008-10-10T11:43:00.001-05:00

'color story' 2009

PHOTO SERIES 2: 'SQUARECIRCLERECTANGLE'

2008-10-10T11:42:00.002-05:00

'squarecirclerectangle' 2009

PHOTO SERIES 1: 'NIGHT FALLS FAST'

2008-10-10T10:56:00.002-05:00

'night falls fast' 2009

Confession

2008-10-10T01:09:00.013-05:00

Thank you for the letter, especially the watercolor postcard paper.
I will draw you something while in New York! Did you get the box
of goodies?!? I wanted to share because it has been awhile. Tonight
I went to Greencup for an event called Open Mic Confessional.
I decided to read a poem I have had memorized since high school.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high - piled books, in charact'ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And feel that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

---John Keats


Confession: I wish I could have read something I had written.

And more soon on notes from the Leonardo da Vinci symposium and
my experience being blind for an hour through the exhibit,
Dialog in the Dark. Both incredibly insightful experiences and much
stimulus for thought. Then after that, adventures in bookmaking!

Simple illustrations. Simple humor.

2008-09-19T23:56:00.006-05:00

I love this! Marc John post-its.

And this zine I found at Greencup!

Why yes we are!

2008-09-11T23:21:00.016-05:00

I wondered if you knew I was posting. The thing with blogging is that it is always there. Not like a lost letter or words in one ear and out the other. Ironically, I just had a debate last night with my friend Dustin about techonologies' insistence on becoming part of our "humanness". I'm not even sure I know what I'm talking about but I like trying to work that idea out.

I love Miranda July's site. Bold and brazen. Love it. I will add it to our favorites list. I have been told her most recent book is a fantastic read. Speaking of good reading. I found the greatest book at a co-op bookstore here in Birmingham called the Greencup. It is letters between Georgia O'Keefe and her artist friend Anita Pollitzer. It was such a great find as O'Keefe has been on my mind. My photo of my legs below was an homage to her in a loose intuitive sense - the abstraction of form and femaleness. I relate to what O'Keefe thought about and how they shared their ideas with each other. Much as we do and write - I will share the book when I am done. It delves into her relationship with photographer, Alfred Stieglitz and their influencing of each others work. I've been thinking about that lately. Where do I find inspiration? Who influences me? Obvious, that I would try to surround myself with people who are creatively sensitive, see life as art and art as life, people who challenge themselves to think differently, and people who are engaged to the world and really alive.

Another book I am reading is by art critic/theorist Lucy Lippard. It is called Overlay. I just figured out she is the co-founder of Printed Matter! I did not know that. And I bought a book by her there when I was in NY in July. More spheres completing their circles. Anyhow, Overlay is so interesting. I don't know if I'll be very good at explaining why. She basically studies the correlation between art in prehistory involving the land and natural forms and the overlap of some recent contemporary art with ancient imagery. She believes we are drawn to this because

in much art about elementary systems there is a certain longing for precision that is simultaneously anti-technological and anti-romantic

There are so many quotes I want to call out. Maybe in a real letter. My creative spirit is rearing its pretty head and Time is such a luxury. I can't wait for you to come back and share your sights seen in Rio!

we're back!

2008-09-11T07:22:00.003-05:00

ms jackie! i didn't realize u were posting! hi back! how r u?
well, here's a link or two worth sharing: www.mirandajuly.com
today i'm off to www.paratyemfoco.com.br - international photo festival in a town near rio. other than that, i'll post some pix when i get back. there's a ton of art going around here, check out beatriz milhazes (google her), she's a big one.
oh and ur napkins r on their way!! u'll get a package soon since i sent it priority/express.
and also, kavalier and clay is good so far. i just started it so i can't tell yet if i love, but so far, good. (it's my 2nd try reading it) beijo ms jackie, have a nice weekend!
i'll come back soon!

More Bham Artwalk Stuff

2008-09-07T00:10:00.007-05:00

It is amazing to me that I have not started collecting artwork until this summer. I guess I just thought that the upkeep - space and framing - let alone the cost of artwork was just over my head. I now realize that I am willing to spend money on art that speaks to me and well, as for space and money for framing, I'm more committed to the idea of being a collector. I am so thrilled to be framing. So this weekend I purchased a linocut print of the great Majestic Diner in Atlanta.

It's a small print and I just realized she had a larger one on her site of the whole side of the building. Oh well, probably wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway.

The drawings are so precise and technical. Alot of work. Julie, any new rubberstamps? Can't wait to get the napkins...they will get framed ofcourse!

Bridget just reminded me of a project/website called 20x200
where the artists sell small prints for $20, medium prints for $200, and large limited edition prints for $2000. Such an amazing idea. Props to Jen Beckman. I am pretty sure there is a print I want to purchase on that site so I will save for it. Better not sell out. I'll tell you once I get it. I like the idea of The Hand Project by Jason Polan. And I love these sold out prints by Ken Rogowski!

That's it for now. I'm exhausted.

Hi!

2008-09-06T11:06:00.007-05:00

Emily wants to post but we can't figure out how to post it. She said she wrote an essay!
Emily and I went to the ArtWalk in downtown Birmingham this weekend. Interesting to see Birmingham artists' work and all the new development downtown. I am happy to see the revitalization of downtown Birmingham - new lofts and galleries and restaurants!
Will post more with photos.

Bella!

2008-09-03T02:22:00.003-05:00

Oh, and some other things you have to see...a movie called Bella. It was emotionally rich and visually stunning. I cried. Watch that and Factory Girl. Okay! Goodnight.

Labor Day @ Lake Martin

2008-09-03T01:52:00.004-05:00

I should be asleep but I wanted to share some of my creative energy from a good weekend spent at the lake with Kim and Emily doing yoga by the water, bookbinding and of all things, breaking a pinata (my surprise for the weekend ofcourse)!

Mariebelle!

2008-09-02T01:02:00.004-05:00

You would love Mariebelle Chocolates. There are so many unique flavors from cardamom to earl grey, even buckwheat (that's the one with the yogi's - ofcourse). They are so beautiful to eat. Such a treat. I was eating two, sometimes three a day for a month and photographed a few of my daily tea/coffee and chocolates. I was eating from a box I had bought my mom for her birthday (back in December!). She had kept them in the freezer. She said every now and then she would open the box and just look at them because they were so precious! Cute huh? Well, then the power went out after a storm one day and they started to melt, hence my excuse to gobble them up!

DAVID BYRNE ORGAN

2008-09-02T00:41:00.004-05:00

One of the most memorable experiences I had while I was visiting new york was a performance on David Byrne's Organ installed in the Maritime Building, an old south ferry station. It was captivating and meditative as we listened to the building sing, literally. The building was connected to the organ by wires so as keys were pressed sounds were made elsewhere in the building- clacking inside walls, whistling through columns, noise from the ceiling...a orchestra of noise! It was one of those moments where I felt I was in the right place at the right time- and time stood still- though above the sun was setting over the city into nightfall. So special. If you want to read more about it, click here for an article from the NYTimes.

I took those photos above during the performance as well as a few other artsy shots I was inspired to take in the space...the first I call "footsies" and a couple of abstract photos of my legs...homage to georgia o'keefe.

My legs are so marred. You can see a scratch and a giant welt of a spider bite!

Dearest Julie,

2008-08-26T04:20:00.006-05:00

After a long hiatus away from our blog, I am coming back to it...I can say I have followed your napkin project a bit on your blog. Share some more pictures will ya? My summer summed up has been spent in a car (driving back and forth between Birmingham and Atlanta) and in yoga poses (various locations) and in New York (twice) and mostly in my head (in the interstices of being full of ideas and then being emptied whilst meditating) and I will have to post all the missed opportunities for interesting entries and food for thought on art and life and the intersection of the two. Ah, life. It has been an interesting journey. Love from Alabama. Jackie

Inspiring sketches...

2008-03-17T13:51:00.002-05:00

very worth visiting: http://jamesjean.com , click under SKETCHES (i'm not particularly in love with the paintings)

Diaries make their way into my artwork

2008-03-10T08:01:00.004-05:00

this started out as a comment but turned out longer therefore, it's a post.

i think about what i call "one liners" quite frequently. they are not necessarily quotes. in a whole text, there's always one line, sentence, or phrase, that sums up the whole concept of what the person is trying to say. those, to me, are "one liners."

i used to grab "one liners" from my old diaries and use them in my artwork. i once replaced fortunes from cookies with one liners from my diaries. the concept was, basically, that history repeats itself in a small scale and also, that whatever is very specific is also very general. whatever i wrote in those diaries, the viewer has also felt or experienced.

i still have interest in working with old diaries and one liners and i wanted to go into "accessories" as well. i'm always very interested in extremely short pieces of information that convey a lot. i wanted to embroider the one liners from diaries on satin, baby color, ribbons and use them as bracelets. i wonder if people would have any interest, in buying or reading, them as well... (i never found anyone who would embroider such a variety of things on ribbon. i don't want to print 1000 of the same phrase. i'd like variety. if you do know of anyone, definitely let me know because i'll do it!)

do you know these brazilian "fitas do senhor do bonfim"? you tie them on your wrist and make 3 knots. for every knot, you make a wish and we say that your wishes will come true when the bracelet wears out/comes undone/tears. i love the thought that i can wish for things with such an ease and i think it's beautifully brazilian to think that these wishes really will come true and that is why so many people wear them. hm... maybe i should put one back on...

TEETERING BULB

2008-03-08T22:30:00.005-06:00

Kurt and Zelda are amazing illustrators! Again, talented artists I went to school with and I wanted to share their work...

love the style, coloring & line work...I think Kurt sketches and Zelda colors the drawing in the computer...awesome.

QUOTE

2008-03-08T22:05:00.001-06:00

"Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it and his hope for other people is that they will also make it exist by observing it. I call it "creative observation". Creative viewing." William S. Burroughs

FINALLY, SOMETHING WITH TAPE

2008-03-08T21:58:00.005-06:00

I'm beginning to work on tape art....

closeup.
And another one below with cool tape Emily just sent me.

Quoted Jewelry

2008-03-07T21:48:00.011-06:00

I found a necklace as I perused Comfort Station's online store that was simply a quote typed on the shape of a banner. I thought the quote quite beautiful...
"COVER me over in dusk and dust and dreams."
Beautiful. I would like to know what this feels like.

Jeanine Payer is another jeweler whose work utilizes inspirational quotes.

I want to dig up some other quotes I go back to time and time again. For a later post...
Good night m'dear.

Escalators

2008-03-07T21:15:00.005-06:00

Hey Juls,
I pulled up some photos I had taken of escalators at the airport that look like the ad...
I spent one Saturday in the main terminal of the Columbus airport writing and observing people hustling to their gates. I love airports! (Which is why I never mind delays or giving up my seat.) It is a great place to people watch and a good creative writing exercise making up stories about who they are and where they are going. All this talk of airports and I am antsy to travel again soon.
jax

Funny ad

2008-03-06T08:27:00.006-06:00

have u seen this ad by any chance? it's a young & rubicam ad for some hair product. very funny...

More on photography

2008-03-05T08:46:00.010-06:00

browsing through the web i found felicia nitzsche's site. beautiful projects. under the column entitled "works", i especially like the "dove" and "confetti".

Greg Miller Photography

2008-03-04T19:49:00.013-06:00

I went to school with this wonderful photographer! I remember to check out Greg's site every once in awhile and am reminded again and again of how amazing his work is. See for yourself - http://www.seemoreglass.com/ His photos are exquisite, especially the portraits. Interesting angles and perspectives. I love how emotive and moody they are. He makes me care about the subject and the story behind the photo. I wonder what these subjects are thinking about?

I asked Greg if I could pull some of these pictures off of his blog
NEW EQUATION of his daughter, Illiana, and his new son, Finn, to share. Too precious!

I also found a series of photos he had taken of things he found at the bottom of a dried up lake... love the grit...

for more click on dumbo.

This makes me wish to be a better photographer.

Not art at all today

2008-02-27T06:57:00.008-06:00

hi, i've been so insanely busy this week that it's not a matter of not having time to post. it's more of a no space left in my brain to question and consider art these days... crazy hectic. a lot of parties, gallery openings (part of my job - i'm so lucky) and a wedding this saturday. so definitely good things but yes, buuuuusy!

i was noticing waldo and how he sits by the window very often and today, i was glancing at what he was looking at, and how cute is that? he's staring at a little pug by the window as well.

i've considered more than once to get another pet just so he has a fulltime playmate but i think it'd be too much. or too much right now at least. plus, it's not like he's alone all day. my work hours are flexible and i do play with him.

waldo's latest addiction: qtips! (he plays around with them because they're easy to spot colorwise and light. he'd rather a qtip than styrofoam balls or felt clouds and mice) *cute

One last post for the night

2008-02-23T21:09:00.002-06:00

I had my third day of yoga training and I am feeling restful and at peace. This made me want to put together a photo montage of peaceful imagery I have taken photos of in the last few months. The top two are from Christmas at Rabbit Hill Farm. Middle and bottom left photos: The lights from Northstar that are so familar to me now and the blossoming teas at ZenCha are some of my favorite and quite calming things in Columbus. Then, I think it was our second really snowy day when the boughs of trees glistened with the glittery powder of snow. And fitting of all my days, I noticed someone who reciprocated my thoughts, the words written on a back door to a restaurant said, "I have spent the day trying to find the right words." Shanti.

Improv Everywhere

2008-02-23T21:00:00.004-06:00

This is the most incredible idea!
I'm glad you shared. I wanted to post it here because I love the idea that there is one place I can come back to to see these things that I enjoy and am inspired by time and time again.

You as a book!

2008-02-23T20:01:00.003-06:00

I happened across this site that had this...Julie is Book
And I thought, what if we were books? What would it look like? How would you break yourself into chapters? Interesting exercise I just might try...

With some courage, here are some sketches

2008-02-23T13:49:00.003-06:00

hi there. feels a little funny to post my sketches here but as i said, it would take some courage but i'd share mine as well. i'm taking another drawing class this semester. it's amazing having a live nude model to draw from. i feel it's the top exercise for me. i'm so in love with it. well, here are the drawings then. i think u can click for a bigger image (will open in new window). at first, after a bachelor's in fine arts, it feels funny to take another beginner's class drawing. but it's always good to learn and u can always improve no matter what level you're on. (i feel i can improve tons in drawing, for example)

first class then, teacher starts by suggesting we do complete blind drawings of the model to warm up and then, start drawing for real. i used it throughout the sketches. to map out with a blind drawing and then, reposition, fill in, continue with observation "regular" drawing techniques. very nice. i think it works out well.

have a good sunday, we're lazy over here watching movies and licking ourselves. waldo, that is. hee hee

A QUOTE ABOUT GROWING

2008-02-23T06:33:00.005-06:00

Hi juls,
Actually, I miss you when you don't post.
I want you to post all the time! =)
I found this along time ago on Keri Smith's Wish Jar Journal site and saved the image...
I asked her if I could post it here. Her site is one of my favorite sites on journaling and creative living...It's amazing!
Enjoy. I'll write more later.
jax

Someone elses Moleskine

2008-02-20T21:04:00.006-06:00

I love molskines and people's amazing sketches in them...

especially architectural illustrations. By CallanBowes off of Flickr.

Perspective drawing of my wall and rafters from my bed...

5 Things I Wanna Share

2008-02-18T22:31:00.014-06:00

1.
I like those F. Santos' sketches! Something struck me about the last image...what's the little toy in the picture? so cute!

2.
I get updates from Gregory Euclide. He has new stuff up but I don't like it as much as his older stuff. I think I've shared his work with you before...I love this.

3.
I've seen some good movies lately. Two I recommend that are really imaginative, weird and kind of trippy... Across the Universe...musical set to Beatles Songs, and then last night I saw Fur, an imaginary portrait of Diane Arbus. I'm not sure I liked Nicole Kidman playing Arbus, but I really enjoyed the story nonetheless. Interesting premise to completely make up a story of a portrait of an artist as she is discovering her art. Very psychological. I never understood what made Arbus' photos great. I think knowing where she came from and the context in which she did her work gives me a much greater appreciation for it. Click on the photo for more of Arbus' photography.

The twins remind me of the scene in the Shining, which I'm sure is a reference to Arbus.

4.
I ordered this catalog of Simon Evans' mix media work from Family, a cool bookstore/gallery in LA that sells artist books, and it came today! Actually, I discovered his work when I visited you in Brazil. He was at the Sao Paulo Biennial and I found him so humorous and clever. He uses office supplies - pencil shavings, scotch tape, pen, highlighter...and his tape is dirty...I remember thinking it was nice to see art that wasn't a perfect clean drawing on a pristine piece of paper. His work actually got me thinking about the things that limit an artist, the things that limit me...There is something to say about working within the confines of your environment and accepting where you are...you might have to give up the idea that you will create magnificent work if only you had a bigger, better, cleaner studio space. I thought about fingerprints on tape, dog hair in paint, dust...how much does good craft figure into the visual value of art?

5.
I finally started drawing...I was trying to practice drawing faces and had Brad and my neighbor, Harumi, sit for me...work in progress...

I'm tired now. I hope this finds you well rested. I start yoga training Thursday!
Jax

L Filipe dos Santos sketches

2008-02-18T10:17:00.006-06:00

hi, stumbled on this today... i'm so jealous of l filipe dos santos's sketches...

(click on the orange words - they're the way i link things)

Gocco going on my wishlist after seeing how easy it is to use it

2008-02-17T16:42:00.005-06:00

click on the image and u'll get a great HOW TO USE GOCCO video - i remember u told me u had one but never used it. i wish i was there so we could try it out together. i'd get one too... fun. thank u julie schneider!

Commercial art

2008-02-17T06:16:00.005-06:00

good morning. i was thinking of what to post and i haven't had much time to think about art and other matters because of tidbits of social activity (5 birthdays coming up soon and one wedding i don't even have a dress for yet). but i was catching up on my artforum reading and i found this:

hirst to open retail store

for six years, the british artist damien hirst was an owner of the Pharmacy, a london restaurant with decor that included hirst's butterfly paintings, glass-fronted medicine cabinets, aspirin-shaped bar stools, and matchboxes illustrated with surgical tools. now he is trying his hand in the retail arena, reports carol vogel in the new york times. hirst signed a ten-year lease last week for a space at the southern end of marylebone high street in central london, where his shop is to open in late spring. "it will be eclectic enough for art lovers but also appeal to a wider audience," said hugh allan, a director of Other Criteria, hirst's publishing company. in addition to selling inexpensive items like t-shirts, posters, and postcards, the shop will offer objects by hirst and other artists. allan said he planned to show pieces by michael joo, thomas scheibitz, gary hume, and the artist team tim noble and sue webster. naturally, hirst's creations will be front and center. among them will be Happy Head, a fifty-thousand-dollar painted plastic skull; a two-thousand-dollar roll of wallpaper decorated with hirst's signature brightly colored pills; and an eighteen-karat gold bracelet with different types of pills as charms, for five hundred thousand dollars.

don't people think he's pushing it a little bit? there's a brazilian artist, romero britto, that is criticized because he's too comercial and his paintings (and now products as well, teacups, t-shirts, posters... u name it) are "cute" at its best. romero britto has a gallery as well called "britto central" and all it does is show HIS work. so... what is the difference between damien hirst and romero britto? i feel betrayed (not sure that's the right word) by hirst because in my head he used to be an artist...

Persepolis & Embroideries

2008-02-15T23:22:00.004-06:00

I went to see Persepolis tonight and was so tired I fell asleep half way into it! I will have to go back and watch the rest of it. What I did see I loved, especially the visual layering of graphics and how elements were placed in the foreground, middleground, and background within a frame. It was good use of minimal color and pattern in line work. Marjane Satrapi has a third book called Embroideries The women in her family get together for afternoon tea and discuss stories about life as a woman living in Iran: culture, politics and men.

Also,
Speaking of embroideries, I keep running into Megan Whitmarsh's work. Her site is called Tiny Industries. I love her embroideries. Too freakin' cute!

YumiYumi Illustrations

2008-02-15T19:21:00.012-06:00

I found these beautiful prints on Etsy...the artist hails from Columbus!

Spike Lee

2008-02-15T00:15:00.008-06:00

A couple of days ago on a snowy Tuesday night, Spike Lee spoke at the Wexner Center. He was awarded the Wexner Prize and accepted his place among other renowned artists such as John Cage, Bruce Nauman, and Gerard Richter to name a few. James McBride (nice site) who is the author of the book, The Color of Water (which looks to be an incredible portrait of his mother, a jewish rabbi's daugher who marries a black man and has 12 children who she puts all through college), acted as interviewer and asked Spike questions on stage. It was pretty informal and I got to get a glimpse into a creative genius who creates from his heart without compromise. It was inspiring to say the least. I came away believing he is a pivotal filmmaker of this time and his work challenges society to be a more open minded place. With that said, I need to go rent some more Spike Lee Joints!

Happy Valentine's Day Miss Juls!

Cao Guimarães

2008-02-14T06:40:00.011-06:00

{hi jax, sorry that i'll start the same way i did my own blog yesterday, going off about cao guimarães' work at an exhibition here but it's still so present in my thoughts}

going through the panorama dos panoramas exhibition at mam (museu de arte moderna - são paulo), i came across one of the most beautiful words. the artist is cao guimarães and the video is called "histórias do não ver" (translated by the artist to "stories of not-seeing"). cao asks his friends to please kidnap him. people would pick him up at home and take him somewhere. he would photograph everything, without seeing due to a blindfold, and then write about it and develop the pictures. the text and pictures became a book (by the same title) and then, a video. at some point, he talks about memories and mirrors and other things... its very sensitive to other senses other than vision. its a beautiful video. i love this:
a memória é um lugar onde as coisas acontecem por uma segunda vez.
(translates to: memory is a place where things happen for a second time.)
i feel like just this one line can take me places. i definitely want to keep it in mind and think more of it. see where it leads to. very breathtaking, to me.

i was also thinking of other senses other than sight and last nite, after yoga, my sense of smell was more than accentuated. i walked down the stairs, right after class, and i could smell the flowers so strongly. granted, they were lilies (strong smell always), but still, it was really taking up all the air, if u know what i mean.

for some reason, after these words, i'm now thinking about dreams... hm... why did i remember dreams right now? strange... i feel like something's on the same line there.

memory, where things happen for a second time, dreams, reality x dream, intense memory, memory is "verified" by the senses, ... oops. don't know where i'm going with this. hm... food for thought

posted by juls

Visual Maps & my post as an artifact on the Web

2008-02-12T12:47:00.001-06:00

Hi Juls!
I like that music map site. I think I've been to it before. There is something so nice about finding the connections between things. That is what I think of when I see visual maps like this...like a map of Delta flights...I like to connect the dots in my mind. So my next thought I have about mapping are two amazing web projects that my sister sent me about emotions and human desire...We Feel Fine and Lovelines...the artistic collaborations of Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar.

What to make of this information they have gathered. Perhaps it is just about the observation; How we are connected and how we are human. Jonathan Harris' artists statement says "his work involves the exploration of humans through the artifacts they leave behind on the Web."

I have often had a love/hate (I wonder if this will be picked up on the loveline site) relationship with the internet and technology (I realize they are at the same time two hugely different concepts I lump together and speak about interchangeably.) I think about the pervasiveness of technology and try to think critically about its effect on our "humanness" asking questions such as: How do we use it? How will we use it? What does it do for us? What does it make us do? Not do? How does it influence us in proportion to how do we influence it? The part that makes me think, is how the internet makes virtual interaction a part of human interaction and the paradigm shift that is/will take place. To what that effect is on society and to what extent will be our dependence on technology is up for discussion...what do you think of this? do these questions interest you?
I also have many critical thoughts on blogging and voyeurism and the "bare all" syndrome as I finish this post! I participate in order to learn.

jax
LISTENING TO: death cab for cutie. Their latest album Plans is one of those albums I can listen to from beginning to end...it flows. I'm drawn to the piano parts in these songs.

New link & as always, exhibitions...

2008-02-12T11:40:00.001-06:00

hi, i just added the link to music map on the "favorite links" there on the right. it's a very cool way to find out about new bands that are already similar to ones of your preference. u fill in the blank and type in the name of the band/singer and hit continue. it'll map out bands that are similar to the one u asked for in a map-like way. it's a diagram where similar bands are closer and clustered together. very cool.
sometimes i get tired of my music u know... this is a good way to go in the right direction.
i did meet someone who was my personal dj once. he knows my taste in music and keeps suggesting things left and right. last suggestions were: vampire weekend and MGMT. i think i prefer vampire weekend. (u ever listened to death cab for cutie?)

either way, went to yet another art opening last nite. this time it's a friend who's showing his toy art. i think it's more elaborate and sophisticated than toy art. also, less humorous although playful. well, here's a picture. his name is roberto stelzer and he has a website but, as a photographer.

posted by juls

Re: Sotto & my love for Maya Lin

2008-02-10T20:50:00.000-06:00

Hi Juls,
I love that piece...the one that looks like a wheat field. It's beautiful.
I like the idea of small things making up a whole. So the individual pieces aren't extraordinary, but together they form a much interesting idea. This reminds me of Maya Lin's Systematic Landscapes. I saw this exhibit in Seattle last year. I like that her work in general is very organic and reflective of environment and she is amazingly conceptual without being too abstract.

Here is a great link to a documentary about her work that I found on YouTube.

I know some of the work I want to do has to do with the idea of small marks making up a larger landscape/image, akin to the idea of pointilism. There is a similarity in minimal materials, easiness of design and repetitive actions in the type of mark making, where the meditative quality of the process comes through in both Sotto's and Lin's works.

I also wanted to comment on the "kinetics" piece you saw. I really liked your description of how "you could understand the chaos but felt at peace with the order." I can imagine that when I see the picture of the installation.

I wish I was able to see more engaging art...I am devoid of that much needed stimulus. I'm happy to get to see what you see and that you can share your experiences with me. This is the best idea we ever had! =)

I'll try to post some drawings I did recently tomorrow.
Beijos,
Jackie

Tidbits of thoughts on 3 different things...

2008-02-09T15:58:00.000-06:00

found a photograph of the work i was talking about last time i posted. (jesus rafael sotto). thought id include, even if it is way overdue... it's the one that looks like a wheat field, in a way.

it's sorta funny to read all your poetry you share. i'm not usually a big poetry fan. it's not that i'm not a fan, but i feel i am a visual person so i need the visuals to go with it. there is one poem that just stops my heart for a moment though:

"people are like mountains, difficult to move, often erupting and then they lie dormant making small bird sounds and breathing soft. and when they disappear, isn't it like the sierras getting up and walking away, and all we're left with is they valley, some wind, and the feeling that the landscape looks all wrong."

a friend, grace, from SMFA, used it in a performance. the poems were printed on white fabric handkerchiefs and she walked around the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston, just gracefully dropping them all over the place. you could pick one handkerchief up and take it home with you, if you wanted. very beautiful.

went to another art opening today that felt like a high school project. strange... (not worth mentioning the name and causing a bad rep for people involved)

Mandela quote

2008-02-08T18:14:00.004-06:00

I grabbed this Nelson Mandela quote from a comment made on your blog by someone who goes by b... it is one that I come across now and again that resonates with me every time I read it.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

b also, said this...
Art for instance… The best art compels us to change ourselves for the better. Perhaps, that's what Rilke tells in his poem: art pushes us to leave the commonplace and to go in the quest of the exceptional. The exceptional is our souls' true motherland.'

Very inspirational e-zine - must see

2008-02-08T09:18:00.000-06:00

sorry to post again but i found this and i HAD to share:
http://designformankind.blogspot.com/2008/01/its-time.html

it's the DESIGN FOR MANKIND's [inspiration], a monthly e-zine.

amazing and most of all... (sorry, but it's true) inspirational

posted by juls

2008-02-08T07:16:00.000-06:00

i went to see an exhibition yesterday called "os cinéticos" and i must say that i was a bit prejudiced before i went. i thought that it'd be cool because i'd see things moving and i'd get a feel for technology and industry coming into the art field... but it was so much more than that. i'm so happy i went. the link for the poster of the exhibition is
http://www.institutotomieohtake.org.br/programacao/exposicoes/cineticos/cineticos.html
(sorry it's such an extensive and long address)

either way, i was very moved by what seemed like a wheat field by jesús rafael soto made up of simple thin sticks (like things you use to make a kebab with) painted yellow. also nice illusion it made as you walked around it. (sorry no photographs in the gallery space...)

another artwork that i feel is very memorable is another sculpture/installation by keiji kawashima. it is called "between order and chaos" and it's so beautiful how all the pieces work together. they are very precisely placed so that nothing hits anything else. they are kinetic (from the word in greek that means "movement") because there are fans blowing into these light circular 2D "plates." so the individual parts are constantly swirling back and forth, this way and that, yet, at the same time, because they are all moving and all the same color, they look very much in unison. this is a beautiful piece that is, to me, very representative of humankind, in general. i feel like i could understand its chaos but was definitely at peace with its order.

a few other names i wrote down:
- sergio camargo
- francisco sobrino
- julio le parc

posted by juls

Beautiful poem I read at Northstar in a poetry journal...

2008-02-06T21:04:00.000-06:00

Kolar: Housing Estate

What you cannot see through those windows
beyond the bare hill
is the hand resting on the table,
is the man lying still
on the bed, is the vague gesture
of the young woman in the hallway
as she remembers something that happened yesterday
is the mouse hesitating under the draining board,
is the twelve year old boy putting on a record
of Weiner Blut that he once saw
his parents waltzing to.

All that you see is the all-but-naked child
on the all-but-naked hill against a naked sky
as if what you could not see were the question
and she the reply.

George Szirtes
(Describing a photo by Vicktor Kolar, Untitled, 1980 from Ostrava)

Posted by Jackie