Thursday, October 23, 2008

And yet more tidbits from the San Francisco trip...

So I haven't yet mentioned a cool surprise from the trip to SF... one of the best parts - that is, aside from getting to see my old studiomates, getting to spend some quality time with Sadie and meeting Nowell, seeing my in-laws, catching up with Jennifer, and generally touching base with the ole Bay Area - was accidentally stumbling upon a thoroughly grade A+, awesome, new, little, excellent, fantastic fabric store. Whooo!!! I was planning to sniff around for some more fabric for future installments in the "fabrication" series while I was out on the West Coast... I just didn't expect that I would happen upon the exact perfect place just wandering from my studio over to meet a friend in the Mission. But that's exactly what happened: I was shuffling down 18th Street on Friday afternoon and happened upon Whiz Bang Fabrics, a physically small but amply and carefully stocked repository of awesome fabric product. They had EXACTLY the type of fabric I was looking for - interesting, vibrant prints, primarily 100% cotton. Plus the owner is really nice and her mother and her intern too (yes, I was there 3 different times in my short trip) so I highly recommend you pay them a visit if you are even remotely interested in fabrics and other fabric-related crafts and you plan to be in the SF Bay Area anytime soon. You will be overwhelmed by their awesomeness.

Fortunately, the fabrics I purchased also passed the stringent quality standards maintained by our cats (upheld via extensive sniff tests and vigorous rubbing). Behold:

Above: Libby tests the fabrics for chin supportability. Below: Emmy rubs her entire body against the stack of fabrics, ensuring maximum cat hair dispersion.
I love those guys. And my new fabric.

More Open Studios recap.

So 1890 Bryant Studio #212 is still a groovy place, with groovy people. Here's a view of me with my paintings, which Tessa was kind enough to let me hang in her studio... this particular space used to be mine (the long studio space is divided into 4 semi-separated workspaces and a storage area, currently shared by 4 artists) and I miss it. Sniff.
Though sales were minimal, the reception to this particular series seemed to be relatively positive, although most people seemed to think it was a significant departure from my previous work. For me, of course, I don't see it - maybe because I know that everything I come up with is coming from the same brain, it naturally all makes sense to me. Hmm. Anyway, it left me wishing that I had planned ahead enough to type a little explanation of where this "fabrication" series came from. Its genesis and all that. Naturally lots of credit for the fabric idea goes to Juliette, with whom I did an artistic exchange in the past couple of years; she paints on antique sheets and other linens, though usually those without a pattern. Anyway, that's what gave me the idea initially... I'll elaborate on the full development of the idea soon, when I have more time... in the meantime, let's take a look at what my studiomates are up to - here's Michele King and some of her paintings, and some lilies:
And here's Tessa with her paintings:

As for the stay in SF as a whole, it was great but short - but not so short that I didn't get some quality time with one of my favorite SF residents:

I ♥ Olio.