Paper Pie

Liz & Kalli #21 Happy

Hello! It's Tuesday which means it is time for more fun art and word play. This week's word is happy, Liz's is on top and Kalli's is on bottom. Today, I went to the plaza at the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) to see the installation pictured above called Happy Happy. The artist, Choi Jeong-Hwa, went to the 99-cent Only Store and bought a whole slew of bright plastic kitchen items; bins, tubs, laundry baskets, strainers, bowls, funnels, cups and I even saw a few whiffle balls. Then they were strung in these long, magnificent hanging columns that sort of sway back and forth. It is an amazing sight and it is an interactive piece, you can walk through and be surrounded by all of the glorious color. If you are in LA I highly recommend a visit. Here is a photo of the exhibit at the opening reception. Kalli used my favorite colors to do her happy piece. She says,"There are so many ways to visualize the word 'happy,' but what I ended up doing was showing different paths, or it could be a tree, but it's supposed to represent that I'm happy when I have options to learn and create, and the freedom to grow. I used evening colors because I'm more at ease and my imagination works best at nighttime." Well said Kalli, and a very thoughtful piece indeed.

You Know I Like Ditzy Florals, Right?

Yeah, I do. I can't explain it really, I'm just completely attracted to big, bright funky flowers. Sometimes I watch the Brady Bunch just to see what Carol is wearing. These are fabric designs that I am going to send to Spoonflower to get swatches printed. They offer organic cotton now and I'm anxious to see how it prints. I'm digging this color palette. I think they all work together nicely, but stand strong on their own as well. Plus, I needed to work a little orange in my life and of course it would not be WonderFluff without a little aqua here and there.

Liz & Kalli #20 Gilded

It is week 20 of Liz & Kalli Tuesdays and I wonder where all that time has gone. It seems like only yesterday that we took that hike in Griffith Park and decided we needed a weekly art challenge. So here we are, at week 20 and our word is gilded. Mine is on top and Kalli's is on the bottom. These compliment each other very well I think. I find that the more showy and ornamental something is, the more I am suspicious of its authenticity and sincerity. I was doodling about with great intricacy and detail, trying to create a sketch that was truly gilded, yet at the very center it was hollow. Strangely enough, that is what Kalli has done here with her eggs too. Though she did not express this idea to me, she did say that she hollowed out the eggs and dipped them in gold leaf wax. Then she photographed them out of focus to catch the blobs of light sparkling off the nest of "angelina" fibers. So both of us created something really bedecked and bedazzled, but at their centers there is not a lot of substance. Interesting, don't you think?

Dingbat Monday

I've had this book for a while now and I finally got around to trying a project from it this past weekend. I decided to do glass etching because our glassware is very cheap-y and boring. I prefer to buy inexpensive glasses and dishes because we break them at record pace around here. We don't have a dishwasher, so I wash every dish by hand and it is a pretty regular occurrence to pick up a soapy glass with a soapy rubber gloved hand and to have it shoot against the porcelain sink at rocket speed. Even the most durable glass can not withstand that sort of impact. Anyways, I felt like this project would be a great way to give our unremarkable glassware new life. 

I was right!! I love the way they turned out and it was really quite simple once I got the hang of it. I had to do a few test runs before I got it right, but it wasn't too crazy, maybe a little fussy but nothing that made me cry with frustration or anything. I chose to do a few different dingbat designs from my favorite typefaces. I did nine glasses in all, here are a few of the highlights.

Oh yeah, and you know what else? I'm going to make a door into a dining room table. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks.

More Fabric Still

I've just updated the WonderFluff Shop with 3 new fabric designs. This time I printed on 100% cotton sateen upholstery weight fabric. This fabric is beautiful and lustrous and the colors are really vivid and bright. This would be perfect fabric for home decorating projects or anything that needs to be more durable, like bags. I love the design above because it is so colorful and fun. The two below compliment each other well, and I could imagine a couple of deck chairs with cushions upholstered in this fabric. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

The Confused Hawk

Hi! This Hawk is very confused. By nature, he is meant to be a stealthy aggressor, you know, a bird of prey. The thing is that his jolly appearance and gentle demeanor make it really impossible. Thus, he is confused. I give you a hawk with an identity crisis and a muted (for me) color palette. I've had much fun working on him this week. He is acrylic on paper mounted to paper-wrapped canvas. I found an old book about ship model making at the flea market last weekend. Attached to the back cover was an envelope containing a diagram about how to make a model ship. I used that diagram here to wrap the canvas. He is listed in the Paper Pie Shop now, where you will find the detail shots. Happy Weekend everyone!

Liz & Kalli #19 Book

This week for the Liz and Kalli art project the word is book. Liz's on top and Kalli's is on the bottom. I really love textures, smells and end papers of old books. I scanned in a bunch from my collection and made a collage with them. The stripes in back remind me of spines of books and the ship in the middle is from a really old book about ship model making. I find that there was more of an emphasis on craftsmanship with older books. Books were regarded as more of an art form than a media outlet. I really appreciate how special old books feel, even old cookbooks and textbooks. Kalli describes her photo more as a self-portrait than a crafty thing, but she mentioned that she did find the dresser drawer on the sidewalk and she repurposed it as a little "bookshelf." Kalli examines the books she's collected and what they say about her and her shifting interests. Here is what she says about her books, "It may be hard to make some of them out so there are: travel books, forensic science, books by chefs and food reviewers (The Man Who Ate Everything has a glare on it), short stories by Shirley Jackson and others (Zoetrope), books about sociological trends, design and fabrication, film (film noir, production, etc), Eastern religion and philosophy (Bhagavad Gita is the skinny one), french language, a little bit of science fiction, classic (Ethan Frome at the bottom) and modern fiction that mostly leans towards tragedy or at least dark humor... and of course photography. Also, two sort of flukes are "A People's History of the United States" (I usually find US history pretty dull and haven't finished it), and "Howl" by Ginsberg, one of the only poets I have the patience to read." That collection does reveal a lot about Kalli, a lot that I didn't know. For example her interest in Eastern religion and philosophy and forensic science?? Who knew? 

New Fabric At WonderFluff

Yes, it's really true! All the fabric shown here is now available over at WonderFluff. I've posted up fat quarters, but if you would like a larger amount, just email or convo me and we can work it out. I'm so happy with these! The color came back bright and cheery, just how I had hoped. Hope everyone is having a beautiful start to the weekend.

Peacock Thursday

Hello! I want to show you this pretty peacock I've been working on this week. What a show off he is let me tell you. He's acrylic on paper mounted to paper wrapped canvas and then varnished for a glossy finish. I decided to stick with a traditional peacock color palette because I want the detail and intricacy of this painting to be the true focus. Plus, who can really argue with the color palette of a peacock, it is too good to cast aside. He'll be listed in the Paper Pie shop later today so you can check there for some detail shots. Happy Friday Eve!

Liz & Kalli #18 Poppy

I am so loving these pretty poppies this week. Liz's is on top and Kalli's piece is on the bottom. Mine might not be a poppy per se, but it reminds me of one. This is an embroidery piece that I had started months ago, maybe way back in January. I put it away and hadn't thought about it in a while. It came to mind when I was thinking of this week's word, so I thought it would be a great contribution to this little art project. As you can see, I am not the most skilled embroiderer, but it sure is a fun and relaxing medium. I love Kalli's poppy garden, the colors are just dazzling. She made this with ripped magazine pages and a little Photoshop help to finish it off, and had lots of fun in the process. It is so pretty and cheerful, just what I need to see during this dreaded June gloom season.