Keep Calm and Carrion

January 2012 is indeed proving to be ‘interesting’ with rather huge unexpected, un-ignorable events dropping in our already busy laps at this house this week, affecting us next week and a bit beyond.  The hardest part was admitting that I simply had to drop one postponed project and continue to postpone another, but the people involved seemed to take it well; at least easier than I did.  I’m trying to see it as an opportunity to practice acceptance of my limitations. It’s almost working. Almost.

Reports from Iowa about the response to the show are wonderful, which helps.  I return to the school (and hilarious taxidermy-infused hotel) early Thursday for an intense residency after a highly charged, insanely busy early week.

I admit I’m harboring hopes for a quiet February, with time to rebuild my broken web site and to finally address other behind-the-scenes tasks.  You know: winter.

I am not in Iowa again…

…but I was, and had a fine time, and will return again in ten days. If you are in Iowa, I will be giving two public presentations at St. Ambrose University in the Galvin Fine Arts building.  One is geared for artists, on Thursday evening, January 26,  from 6 -7pm, when I’ll talk techniques, about how some of the works in the show were made, with documentation, props and images; the second is the visiting artist’s talk on Friday, January 27 at 4 pm, followed by the show’s reception from 5-7.

The installation went very well; it’s a sweet gallery with some interesting features and the director is excellent; we worked together easily and most enjoyably.  I love the shows when I can be there for the installation, particularly with (S)Edition. This is the largest gathering of copies since the entire edition was installed at the Morgan: 81 of 99. I had much fun toying with the flow of the show, good visits with Professor Joseph, and a nice talkative dinner out with our small group.

I stayed (and will stay again) in a monstrously huge, labyrinthine and hilarious hotel with an interior over-the-top lavish-ly modeled after a German castle; words just fail me.  Breakfast is served in a cavernous two-storied dining hall with towering chandeliers, its upper walls adorned with taxidermy.  On Sunday, throughout the meal,  there was a man playing a grand piano I hadn’t even noticed the day before; it’s that cluttered. Surreal, but highly amusing: definitely not a generic Whatever Inn. I call it Schloss Iowa.

Now, for the next ten days, a plethora of projects. Here’s something unusual that showed up in google alerts while I was gone.  I don’t know this person, but rather like what she did, even if she didn’t.  I do applaud (and encourage) anyone who chooses to step out of their personal boundaries to learn what there is to learn from the attempt.

I am not in Iowa

Statistically speaking, you probably aren’t in Iowa, either, but I am supposed to be, installing this show.  Half the artwork is there; the lovely gallery director and I loaded her car in the dark at 6 this morning, so she could race against the season’s first winter travel warnings (she made it safely).  I couldn’t leave at that time with my half, because I needed to ship out the work for this show first.  (We’d planned to leave at 10, before we knew about the predicted weather). By then, snow had arrived in Chicago, coming down increasingly thicker and faster as I loaded up my half of the Iowa show, and the weather report said Do Not Go There in bold red type with exclamation points.

Ah well; it gave me time to chill (no pun intended) a wee bit after an intense week, and hopefully I’ll write this, get almost an entire eight hour’s sleep, and then the roads will be clear.  If not, then it’ll be Monday and Tuesday, the show will open a day late, and I’ll do a massive rescheduling of next week. That’ll be nothing new, as that’s already happened all this entire strange but productive week.  I’m trying to be zen-like about it all.  Sleep will help.  (Goodnight).

Shrouded, bubble-wrapped stuffed, six-foot book.  All the work I’m hauling had to come out of its crates today, in order to fit into one carload.

Thick Of It

Work, work, work, deadlines, deadlines, deadlines, write, write, write about me, me, me and my work, work, work. I’ll get a break tomorrow for a much-needed haircut, trying out a new, nearby place. At the moment I closely resemble Albert Einstein, probably from pulling on my hair in exasperation while I write, write, write.  Shawn and I got the Natural Cycles show down, got great feedback about it and stole time for a lovely long walk  in the woods, but other than that, the above is all there is, except:

Two lovely one-week summer 2012 classes are online and open for registration, so here are the links, as promised: Arrowmont, June 10-16 (Gatlinburg, TN) and Women’s Studio Workshop, July 9-13 (Rosendale, NY). Thanks for the searches and hope to see you there!  Sign up soon…

Here We Go

I did say 2012 would begin intensely, didn’t I?  Yes, I did, and I already feel as if I’ve put in a full week in the past two-and-a-half days.  To my great consternation, I worked all day on January 1st, no lazy Hogmanay here.  I had not planned to do that at all, but for some reason I felt up to it, and got one of the most tedious projects, one I had been dreading, completely out of the way, and with a good attitude. That’s what a relaxing holiday week can do for you, I guess. I’m currently working on three projects simultaneously, adding a fourth (the de-installation of Natural Cycles) tomorrow, and two more this weekend.  Some will be physical and that will be most welcome.  Above is one I’m currently working on. It includes two trips to Davenport, Iowa: one for installation and the second for a wee residency with lecture, critiques, demonstrations, a workshop, faculty lunches, a show reception and (I quote) frivolity / bourbon.  That certainly fits into the holiday year concept; looking forward to it.  If you are in the area, please stop by. Back to the flying flurries of e-mail…

Into 2012

One of Paul’s friends recently got an embroidery machine. This is his name for me:

Bro left and we headed out to the ‘burbs for our family gathering yesterday. A quiet celebration tonight and this year’s sweet rich holiday season is over: time to see what 2012 will bring.  It will start out with a sustained monthlong busy bang, so I am grateful for the time we’ve just spent with friends and family, and I am always, always thankful for this wonderful connection with all of you here. Thanks so much for visiting with me!

And now, of course, it’s time for Odd Search Engine Terms 2011 - the most amusing ways people have found their way here.  Most searches were for me, the blog itself, specific artworks, shows and classes, and a nice number for people I’ve mentioned or subjects I’ve written about. I lost the week-by-week list I was keeping in the hard drive crash and didn’t start another, so these are all culled from the WordPress summarization for the year:

• kozo paper fossil leaves
• all therapists are crazy thats why I am one
• paca paca passion stencil
• how do work the Hollander beat?
• “Elizabeth in pain”
• limp clean jaw
• the book are lick mush room
• real life memory card
• art Melissa feet
• piano vibrates on sand and others
• bifocals admin boring
• upside down toonie
• why my tritomas glowing
• mad road is my address
• old linnin beatter
• fourfeetleven
• millimeter melissa
• twist and turns signs
• be museum contextual instal lation contextuall
• mjc healing house fucking
• Melissa Jay Air Canada
• my abaca my life
• Walloshroom
• Listen Listen Listen thirtysix
• Swearing Lichens
• hand felt shoes discoloured lower leg
• Ragdale resllying
• marvelously jay
• dayline focus MK2 headlights
• I ho ohh i
• some have been searching for books
• papersculptur fat ladies
• bindwijze van cater pillabetsy
• bookarty paperarty
• Stencil graffiti fungus animals
• how long it take to hear from resdency program studio center aplacatin notofocation
• Women with one short leg and brace ouch
• the book are have fungus lichen
• Melissa J Craig disappearance 2009
• Translation good for the mind

…aaand my favourite this year: Melissa Jay Craog Blig

Have a warm, happy, safe celebration tonight, everyone. Bliadhna Mhath Ur!

Pie, Productivity, Play

We’ve been having a lovely, relaxed and rather hilarious time here. That said, I’m still working: resolving curating issues, helping a few folks apply to grad schools (the only type of effective academic recommendations I can still do). I’m also applying for a few things soon, so, thanks to last summer’s hard drive crash, once again I must research myself from February 2010 till now, to update the various CVs and resumes. Blahg is invaluable for that! And I’m hammering out the schedules for the de-installation of Natural Cycles and the details of the next quickly upcoming 2012 shows…. so there is really little change, other than the Company of Good Friends and Too Much Good Food (if there is such a thing). I guess the biggest difference of having a holiday week on our own terms is my personal internal permission not to evaluate each day solely in terms of productivity, of What Got Done or more accurately: What Didn’t Get Done. There’s a lesson here about balance: perhaps I should declare 2012 a holiday year.

Paul ensured both productivity and great pleasure with his absolutely amazing gift. He took a look at the structure of a borrowed mould and deckle I’d admired and praised, snuck off to the wood shop, and made seven of them for me! They were all cut from a single clear slab of recycled old-growth lumber, once part of a massive convention center display. I’ll be able to increase my class sizes, and will have new sheet sizes for my own work as well. I am beyond pleased!  (And, he’s going to do all the waterproofing!) Beautiful, yes?

Merriment

Why not a blog on Christmas eve?  For me, it’s the beginning of a sweet holiday week.  For the first time ever, Paul and I are home tomorrow.  I’m progressively cooking a feast, it’s warm and lovely and the house smells like the spicy pie I just baked, and tomorrow the atmosphere will be savory, redolent of our roasting dinner. Monday old dear friend (family) the Bro will arrive and be with us till Friday, and much more cooking and even more warmth and laughter will ensue. (OK, I will need to work a wee bit, off and on, but I’m deliberately not thinking about that right now).  Both Bro’s family and ours are having postponed holiday gatherings at the end of the week, which makes this all possible, and gives us the best of both worlds this season. I hope you are all as relaxed and contented as I am right now: Happy Holidays to you, whatever and however you celebrate!

It’s Now

It’s the Solstice, tonight or tomorrow morning, according to different sources.  So here’s my annual link to the Maeshowe web cam; it’s streaming live this year from 14:00 to 16:00 GMT, which translates to 8am – 10am Central US time.  The sun is setting at about 3:15pm in the Orkneys, and tomorrow is supposed to be partly cloudy there, but the webcam is on till the end of January / early February, and you can view animations from previous years at the site. Hurrah for the return of the light!