villa park hearts

Sweets Designs; How I created my first Surface Pattern Design Collection

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VPH Design Part Three: My Surface Pattern Design Guide. I love Christmas. I love the lights and shiny ornaments when they hang on the tree. I love it so much that I have had a little pink Christmas tree in my studio forever. I keep it up all year and it has my favorite ornaments … Read more

Forgiving the Past, How I Began My Dream of Surface Pattern Design

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VPH Design Part One: My Surface Pattern Design Guide. Hey, #GenX. How’s 50 looking for ya? Hi, everyone else! I’m just getting my stride over here. Are you worrying about retirement, like me? Now, I know our pop, capitalist culture hates aging. As we enter our 50’s how are you feeling about that? I’m calling … Read more

She is…

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She is a very pretty girl. I think her life is perfect. But, it is not. She carries pain and wounds unseen by us. Disappointment sits beside her, gently whispering, “It doesn’t matter. It will never happen.” And she listens. She listens too much. And her heart breaks every day with every broken promise. So, … Read more

Lil’ Lit

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Small book. Tiny handwriting. What does it say?

Haiku and small poems about my daily bus ride to Olympia. Over the last 4 years I’ve logged thousands of miles up and down I-5 and hundreds and hundreds of trips.

Here are some in process photos of the making of “The Commute-Tacoma, Olympia”:

I took photos on the bus and had to make some design decisions.
Inspired by an artist book made with a clam shell, I decided to use this shape.
I cut up the most current schedule for my pages and box.

As I am making, all the while I’m thinking about the smells, sounds, rhythmic rocking, and views out the window that I see over and over again. How can I capture it within such a small work, and one I want to fit into a small box?

Things I want to highlight in words. I love words. I love to pepper my work with them.
How can I put this thing together? Do I want to make it permanent?
Now it is a flower, not a starfish. Still organic, not quite sure how it fits with the bus, yet.

 

This book was created for the 2017 Puget Sound Book Artists Exhibit, Northwest Musings. Come see this book and many other beauties through through July at the Collins Library, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma. <3

Carving Again

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I fell in love with printmaking at The Evergreen State College. The ink smell, cleaning “green” using cooking oil, the sound of the presses, hand-cranking them across damp paper, the inspiration of antiquated art-forms… Thanks, Colleen! Rubber and Speed Ball.  

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