On a break.

I'm seriously thinking about going on a 6-month-long-ish hiatus with the portrait commission work... it's great and all, but it's been pretty non-stop for the past several years, and I need a little bit of a break. And why not take a break while the economy is tanking and people will probably be less likely to request commissions anyway? Yeah! Anyway, here is a recent one that was kind of fun, though, a little bitty 5"x7" ditty:

portrait commission, 2008, 5"x7", oil on panel, by me, Diane Feissel

Lag.

Once again, falling behind on things. Sigh.

I had intended to get some things done downtown yesterday, and participate in this protest, but alas - felled by a headache likely due to crazy low pressure systems causing tornadoes and such across the state, I missed it, and am very bummed out. It also means that I had to go downtown to do some errands and studio re-configuration on a Sunday, which means taking a cab - no damn busses on a Sunday. Thank you Raleigh! So convenient, really.

Despite my Raleigh public transportation-related gripes, last weekend John and I engaged in a full-force effort to re-discover the positive things about Raleigh and the Triangle region generally, as we hung out with friends who are in the middle of transition and possibly looking for a new place in which to settle themselves. John and I hope they will re-settle here, which would definitely make Raleigh more appealing to us!! In the meantime, since we were trying to sell them on the place, we took them to Morning Times. Good ole Morning Times:

In other Raleigh-based news and art-related news, my studiomate and I partially moved ourselves into our new studio at 311 West Martin Street - at least more or less - in time for First Friday this month. (For those of you who are keeping track, YES, it's the third studio I've been in within the same building - 311 West Martin - since last December. What can I say? I crave change.) Here's a glimpse of the stuff I put on the walls, pretty much the same stuff I had up out in San Francisco in mid-October:

311 West Martin Street Galleries and Studios

Happily, one of these recent "fabrication" paintings sold (to a very good home, yay) - one of my favorites, the following:

global warming will bring us together, oil on printed fabric, 2008, 12"x12", by me, Diane Feissel

Progress, or the lack thereof.

This painting is one I've been working on in between portrait commissions and the "fabrication" series of paintings on fabric... very much in-progress. Needs help. We're getting there.

painting in progress, 2008 (possibly -2009), by me, Diane Feissel.

Phew.

Well, thank goodness.

Diversions.

I'm going to distract myself from the nerve-wrackingness of today, Election Day, and take some time to review some good things from the weekend before last, which I was too lazy to post about at the time.

We got to see (and hear, in fact) Paula Poundstone at the Carolina Theatre in Durham back on the 24th... I even got my book signed, yay!

It's the second time we’ve seen her this year – we also went to see her in Greensboro in January. You can never have too much Paula Poundstone in your year, in my opinion.

Since we had rented a car to get to Durham, we kept it for the rest of the weekend and went to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University to see the "El Greco to Velasquez" show of early 17th century Spanish painters. I have to give Bank of America some props, despite my earlier rant against them, for their sponsorship of this exhibition and therefore for saving me $6 on our admission price when using my BofA card. Whooo! I won’t spend that $6 all in one place, don’t worry.

So anyway, it was a good show, even if there were too many damn people (damn people!!) getting in my way and preventing me from hanging out in front of some of the paintings as long as I would like... such as the Ribera, for example. I was also fond of this one, however – love that still life action, gorgeous!

Unfortunately photos are FORBIDDEN in the Nasher and especially in the special exhibition; but I snuck one in from the front door (and managed not to get busted by any security guards, yesss) of that giant latex head. I love it. Overall, a decent Durham experience. Thanks, Durham.

P.S. This was on the side of the road on the way into the Nasher. Random hubcap or art installation? You decide:

Man, I'm not good at keeping up with this.

Hey, so I'm back. Why does it take me so long to get back to posting updates on this blog? Damn. Anyway, I meant to post updates on last weekend's trip to Durham for the "El Greco to Velasquez" show at the Nasher Museum... I'll get to that soon, but in the meantime here's a recent painting in the "fabrication" series:

Siamese twins oil on printed fabric 2008 by me, Diane Feissel

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.