Daniela and the Book Exchange

The Cultural Book Exchange goes on, as you can see here in this little clip...Daniela has informed me there are more on the way....and that makes me feel a little bit overwhelmed!

It's all good in the hood today. Studio is hot as hell, but the work is starting to roll out effortlessly...

Got a big package from Romania last night...Daniela sent some books to be worked on. Everytime I get a new batch I need to step up my game even more...her work is so amazing it makes my work look like shit.....

Tea Community Continues to Grow

Tea bags on loom

I received two lovely gifts in my studio yeaterday. My studio-mate Ren left me a big bag of dried out used tea bags from her sister in Portland, Oregon. My girl-down-the-hall Jeanine also brought me a big box full of them. I am happy to report that these woman will become a part of my new "Tea Diary" I began to weave the bags on my frame loom today and it should be finished by tomorrow. Thank you so very much ladies!

Quiet Times?

It's been a while since I've had any break-through inspirations. I can't understand the state of my being at these times and it's always mystified me. But alas, life goes on. The heart beats, the blood rushes, and the hot flashes keep coming. One thing keeping my interest at the studio is the Cultural Book Exchange project. Daniela and I are now getting our students involved in the exchange, and they will also be represented in the "West meets East" exhibition next year at The National University of Art in Bucharest, Romania. I am currently looking for other venues which the show can travel to in Europe. My first stop was a virtual visit to Moscow's historic Red October Chocolate Factory, which is now a contemporary art space run by Maria Baibakova. Baibakov Art Projects http://www.baibakovartprojects.com/ has an amazing exhibition space and I am hoping that my e-mail will be answered as regards to having the book show travel there in 2011. After the shows in Europe, the books will travel to America to be exhibited in various venues which I shall not name as of yet, due to not having a finalization on things. Speaking of books, Daniela and I currently have 11 in circulaton between Romania and America, with many more to come. To see the entire collection , please visit http://www.papergirlsstudio.com/Collaborative.html.

Flowers from my Boys

Thanks to my wonderful studio neighbors Eric and Joe, for this beautiful bouquet of roses. I appreciate that you appreciate me!

RIP my Sweet

My sweet Harley.

Today is the saddest of days. My baby Harley had to be put to sleep because of a terrible disease (Feline Thromboembolic Disease). I came home Saturday evening to find she had lost the use of her hind legs. I did some research and I found out that this is a rather common disease in kitties, and treating it would have been very painful. Also, only about 5 % actually survive the treatment. What happens is the aorta runs from the heart to the tail and then splits off in two. Blood clots form in this split area, which stop oxygen flow to the legs, and also causes breathing problems. The people in the vet's office (City Kitty in Providence, RI) were absolutely wonderful. I cannot say enough about how they treated Harley and me. Awesome people. After talking with the vet she agreed with me that the only way to help Harley was to euthanize her. My poor little thing was suffering so I did the only thing I could humanely do, and that was to send her to God. I miss her so very much. She was the only thing in my life I have ever loved...truly. I am so very sad. I had Harley for 17 years. I adopted her when she was 3 months old. I put her in my knapsack and I took her home on the back of my Harley (hence, her name). This was in 1992. She cried all the way home, poor thing, but this bonded her to me forever. What a cutie pie! We were stopping traffic all the way home because she kept popping her head out of the top of the back pack. I had actually brought her home to give her to my roommate as a gift, but Harley was mine, no one ever had any doubt about that. She would follow me everywhere...even into the bathroom! She was always at my side...right up until she died. I was the first person she saw when she left her mama, and the last person she saw when she closed her eyes forever. I love you baby!

It's Been a While....

It's been a while since I posted here...lots of bad karma and distraction for the past few weeks. The worst thing was the heat. The studio temperature reached well past 100 this past week and nothing was accomplished at all. I managed to work a few hours, then headed out to find cooler pastures.

Coming up: A new group show happening in Atlanta at the Art House Co-op..."A Million Little Pictures" will be showing from September 25th onward and again in San Francisco on January 8th for a month or so. The idea was to bring together 1000 artists into one space by sending out 1000 disposable cameras. The cameras were very cheap and I ended up with about half being ruined, so I did what I could to save them. Being a mixed-media artist has many advantages...

http://arthousecoop.com/gallery ....if you're in the neighborhood...

Tea Diaries

I've started a new collection of books entitled "Tea Diaries" Made entirely of tea bags and handmade paper, this collection will be traveling to Romania with me next year (of course, depending on whether or not I receive a Fulbright.)

Book 1


Book 2

East/West Collaboration: BOOK 1

Cover, Pages 1 & 2

A new collaboration is afoot..this time the west is not in California, but here in America! My new friend Daniela who lives in Eastern Europe (Romania) and I have started a traveling book project. So far we have managed to begin one book, with 3 more on the horizon. We are having some issues with the postal services here and the going is slow, but the books eventually reach their destination and we are hopeful that with a little patience, everything will get through and not get stuck in customs here.

Page 3 (and detail), page 4

Page 5 & 6 (and detail)

Wool Diaries

I finished a new piece today. "14 July - 31 August, 2005"(Wool Diaries) was a piece in the making for almost 4 full years. Started in graduate school at The University of Connecticut, this piece never quite went where it was intended until now. Using raw sheep's wool I began felting at the studio in Storrs and made many pieces of felt that I placed in a single pile. The purpose of the work was to show how process and repetition serves as a meditative act. The piece went unresolved, however, and about a month ago I ran across these really big felted pieces of wool and I got caught up in the tactile quality of the wool. In keeping with the original idea, I began to cut up the wool into smaller pieces and bundling them. While I was processing the pieces, I was remembering everything about that time period. The intense heat of the studio, the quiet in my building...my God! I was the only art grad working all through the summer. The campus was very creepy then. I remember calling campus police once...there were some kids on the property breaking into the old vacant asylum buildings on the premises. Some of these memories were so intense I could smell the building the studio was lodged in. It was sad too. I had worked so hard on this piece and everyone hated it...including me! I somehow lost my way while I was intensely processing all that wool. Come to think about it...the piece really was successful in what I was trying to portray, I just couldn't seem to find a way to display the work, thus, it was an abject failure because no one could really get anything from it.

Tea Anyone?

A few weeks ago I hosted a tea party in the building and many folks came and a fun time was had by all. I amassed a new collection of tea bags, all of which will be incorporated into my latest Tea Quilt. Everyone seems to like the idea of being a part of my work... it makes our connection more personal. When the cold weather returns, I think I will host a few more. Here are a few of my neighbors...there were 3 painters, 3 sculptors/performance people (myself included with that group), an architect and an interior designer. Oh yes, musn't forget Len, the property manager. My thanks to all who came and contributed to my project.

News

For those who don't know it yet, I have been working feverishly to come up with a project proposal for a 9 month Fulbright Scholarship to Romania. If everything falls into place, I'll be there next September (2010) working with a community of other artists on a project. I have met a wonderful person who lives in Romania..her name is Daniela and she is a professor of Art at the National University of Art in Bucharest...Daniela has been helping me to get connected with the university because I need a host institution there to invite me to come. The invitation goes a very long way in my being offered a Fulbright. I began the process of learning to speak Romanian a few weeks ago and I am getting on quite well with it. Romanian is a Romance Language , as is Italian, and as I grew up listening to bits of Italian, it seems familiar.

Now...as for the newest self portrait...I have turned 50 and it really suuuuckkkkks, but I am trying to be positive about it. I took this in the studio and thought it wasn't too bad, so I figured I'd post it as a kind of therapy (or torture...I can't figure which!)

Breastplate Armor

I Finally finished my long and tedious project "For St. Jeanne" (Breastplate).This is an important piece for me. I have always marveled at the story of Joan of Arc ...she was an amazing woman. The strength, courage and conviction of this woman is astonishing, yet after everything she accomplished, she was still considered a heretic and burned at the stake. So, you see? no matter how strong your armor, you are never entirely safe.

It took many months to finish this piece and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It is made entirely out of Tetley Tea Bags ('Tetley makes it better') and you know? I e-mailed the company and sent them the images of this piece and the Tea Kimono...you'd think I would have heard something back by now. Hmmm. Maybe I ended up in the spam box?

Mixed Messages

I finished a new piece today . It is a companion piece to one I had done last year. Comments welcome.

"Mixed Messages" and "Victoria's REAL Secret"

Simultaneous Situations #2

Today was the second part of my collaboration with my California friend and fellow artist Anthony. For this situation, we were to sit in an industrial-like setting and have a cup of tea.
So, at 2pm EST, and 11am PST, we did just that. It was 24 degrees here, Hmmm... wonder how warm it was in California?

1000 Tea Bags Revised

I decided to revamp the performance video "1000 Tea Bags". After much debate with myself, I had come to the realization that the video was way too long (even though I had edited it down quite a lot...the performance was about 3 hours long.) To make it much more amusing, I added some music. The whole video is much more cohesive as the music adds to the frantic pace of the performance.

A New Tea Quilt

Am I obsessed? One could say...just a tad. A new project started here in the Paper Girls Studio yesterday...a new tea quilt. This time around, I am using a different method. I am keeping the bags flat and connecting then in a traditional quilt pattern. I will make two layers, stuff with batting, and sew it all together. I don't know how long this will take me...it depends how many cups of tea mom and I can drink. If anyone is interested in donating used tea bags, please e-mail the studio...I could use the help! jo@papergirlsstudio.com

Simultaneous Situations/Anthony Walks on the Beach

I finally got Anthony's documentation of his beach visit. Unfortunately, he forgot the chair! All is well, however, in that he got a nice warm walk on the beach in bare feet. This was documented at 11 am PST, at Crown Memorial State Beach, in Alameda, CA.

Another Tea Project in the Making

Started a new piece a few months ago that is taking forever, due to the fact that we can only drink so many cups of tea in a day. (We, as in, Mom and me). The latest in Tea Fashion is a throwback to the 15th century. I am constructing a breastplate from Tetley tea bags. My inspiration? Joan of Arc, of course.

East Coast/West Coast Situations

Good friend Anthony and I have started a series of "Simultaneous Situations". On Saturday, January 24th, we set out to do some minimalist performance art. Ant lives in the Bay Area of California, 5 minutes from the beach. I am in Rhode Island, living 5 minutes from the beach.

At 2 pm EST, I went to the beach, sat in a straight-backed chair and faced out to sea for a few moments, and recorded this event. Ant did the same thing at the same time (11am his time)in California. We are planning a series of these collaborations and if things go well enough and it turns out the be interesting enough, I am going to suggest publishing a book. If anyone out there has heard of any other artists doing this, past or present, please comment.

The wind was blowing at 31 mph and I froze my teeth off...it was 13 degrees!

Dia Beacon

Best friend Katie and I headed out to Dia in Beacon, NY on Saturday. The trip south went well, and Katie was blown away by the awesome art on display there. Seeing it for the second time reaffirms what I felt the first time. Who can not be affected by this work? The most surprising part of the visit was the Bruce Nauman installations and wall pieces in the basement. It was much better than first time...awesome, in fact. The museum finished installing the rest of his pieces...and made a more permanent home for the "Mapping the Studio" installation. When I was last there, it was partitioned off by draperies. The fabric has been replaced by nice white walls. Same goes for his corridor/hallway pieces. The addition of the neon light pieces were the icing on the cake. I don't always understand Bruce Nauman's work, but I really enjoy experiencing them. With Nauman, you can feel very much a part of his installations, which is a huge bonus in my book. Katie was creeped out by it all, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. (I enjoy anything evenly remotely strange or creepy, trust me.)

Katie became much more alive when we hit the Richard Serra wing. I think she is probably his biggest fan. We both love the challenge of standing nose to nose with those steel walls...
Honestly, when we go see anything by Richard Serra, we behave most strangely. As a matter of fact, we have learned that the best way to experience these large steel works, is by standing nose to nose with one, while simultaneously raising our arms in the direction of the curvature of the steel. We may look silly, but this action gives us more of that physical pull that you experience when standing close to his pieces. Similiar, I imagine, to standing on a ledge of a 20 story building and feeling the need to leap off the edge.

The only disappointment for me was the not-so-accessable Michael Heizer exhibit. This permanent installation entitled "North, East, South, West" was not open for the up close and personal inspection. It could only be viewed from the edges of the room, as it was closed off by a glass fence. The last time I visited we called in advance to make sure someone would allow us to get past the glass baracade. It was awesome. The feeling you get while gazing down into the deep chasms of the floor is similiar to that of the Richard Serra steel pieces. I remember being afraid to get too close to the edge, so I lay down on the floor and peered over. It was wonderful! I had everyone around me doing this as well. I imagine that because it was a Saturday and busy, with small children flittering about, that the museum deemed it too dangerous to open up.

Anyway, back to reality (and work) now, but we are in the stages of planning our next NY Art Stop; Storm King, which houses more Richard Serra to experience up close and personal.