Archive for February, 2012

Illustrate 2012: February

Illustrate 2012: February
By On February 23, 2012 In Illustrate 2012, Illustration With No Comments Permanent Link to Illustrate 2012: FebruaryPermalink

In honor of Edward Gorey’s birthday, which was yesterday, I finished my illustration for February.  I had planned different subject material–something about cupid being stuck in the strings of a harp–but because I missed Valentine’s Day (I’m not really a fan.) and because I received some sad news yesterday, I decided to switch it up.  Instead, I give you the following.

Illustrate 2012: February

I’m dedicating this month’s illustration to my friend, Lenore, who I’ve been thinking a lot about in the last 24 hours, and who could use a little extra love and good energy.  I’m titling this oneLenore Receives a Gift from the Great Mother Beech.

Looking at the little girl, I’m clearly still feeling a little Goreyesque this month.  Somebody stop me when I grow a beard and break out the furs.

Edward Gorey in Fur Coat

Happy Birthday, Ted!

Renovation or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Wallpaper Scraper

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By On February 19, 2012 In House Renovation, Life With No Comments Permanent Link to Renovation or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Wallpaper ScraperPermalink

One reason I haven’t been making all that much stuff lately is because, shortly after the new year, I embarked on another project.  I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “My God, what is wrong with this woman?  How many projects does she need to have going at one time?”  The answer probably falls somewhere between 5 and 10.  Seriously.  Otherwise I feel like I’m being lazy.  No doubt it’s a character flaw.

So here’s what I’m doing.  I’m renovating my back bedroom.  It’s the last bedroom that needs to be redone, and I will be psyched to have all the rooms–save for the bathroom–finished on the second floor.  My house is old, so the typical things that need to be done in each room are taping and spackling, painting, refinishing floors, and running electrical to add outlets.  But before all of this can happen, there’s the wallpaper scraping.  And after the wallpaper scraping, there’s more wallpaper scraping.  And just when you think you’re done, you remember that the ceilings have wallpaper on them, too.  And then you wonder, “Why the fuck would anyone WALLPAPER THE CEILING?”  (I’m told that this was common practice earlier in the 20th century, but really, unless you’re suffering from a severe case of poor judgment or recently had a lobotomy, why on earth would you choose to wallpaper the ceiling?)

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The Burden of Making Stuff

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By On February 9, 2012 In Life, Making Stuff With No Comments Permanent Link to The Burden of Making StuffPermalink

Now that I’ve embarked on this new plan to make more stuff, I find myself at a crossroads that I’ve come to before.  As someone who’s not terribly into accumulating stuff (even cool, handmade stuff), I find myself asking the question, “Why am I making this?”  Last week, I got sucked into the vicious cycle of surfing around Etsy and alternating between feeling tremendously inspired by the things I find on there and feeling excruciatingly awful about myself because it seems as though everything I come up with has already been done.  The latter feeling is a slight variation on how I used to feel when I was painting growing up–as though every good concept for a painting had already been painted, so why even bother?

Of course, this kind of thinking is totally useless, especially if you’d prefer to spend your days doing something productive, instead of just balling yourself up in a corner and feeling like you’ve never had an original thought in your life.  But I think it does point to a larger question:  What’s my motivation for making stuff?

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